Cyborg 009

Cyborg 009
First volume cover featuring Joe Shimamura
サイボーグ・ゼロ・ゼロ・ナイン (Saibōgu Zero-Zero-Nain)
Genre	Adventure, science fiction[1]
Created by	Shotaro Ishinomori
Manga
Written by	Shōjo Comic Weekly Shōnen Sunday Monthly Shōnen Jump Monthly Comic Nora
Demographic	Shōnen (except 5th arc) Shōjo (only 5th arc)
Original run	1964 – 1981
Volumes	36 (List of volumes)
Further information Anime film Directed by Yugo Serikawa Produced by Hiroshi Okawa Written by Takashi Iijima Yugo Serikawa Music by Ichirou Kosugita Noriyoshi Oohira Studio Toei Animation Released July 21, 1966 Runtime 65 minutes Anime film Cyborg 009: Monster Wars Directed by Yugo Serikawa Produced by Hiroshi Okawa Written by Daisaku Shirakawa Yugo Serikawa Music by Taichiro Kosuki Susumu Konishi Studio Toei Animation Released March 19, 1967 Runtime 60 minutes Anime television series Directed by Yugo Serikawa Written by Masaki Tsuji Studio Toei Animation Original network NET Original run April 5, 1968 – September 27, 1968 Episodes 26 (List of episodes) Audio drama Station NBS Original run January 29, 1979 – February 23, 1979 Anime television series Directed by Nippon Sunrise Original network TV Asahi English network US: KEMO-TV (subtitled) Original run March 6, 1979 – March 25, 1980 Episodes 50 Anime film Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy Directed by Masayuki Akehi Written by Ryuzo Nakanishi Music by Koichi Sugiyama Studio Toei Animation Released December 20, 1980 Runtime 130 minutes Game Mega CD Released July 30, 1993 Game Super Famicom Released February 25, 1994 Anime television series Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier Directed by Animax US: Cartoon Network (Toonami) Original run October 14, 2001 – October 13, 2002 Episodes 51 (List of episodes) Game Simple Characters 2000 Series Vol. 15: Cyborg 009: The Block Kuzushi Developer Access Publisher Bandai Genre Action Platform PlayStation Released October 10, 2002 Game CR Cyborg 009 Developer NewGin Publisher NewGin Genre Pachinko Platform Arcade Released 2003 Audio drama Cyborg 009: Rebirth Original run September 21, 2009 – September 28, 2009 Manga Gods' War Written by Joe Onodera Illustrated by Masato Hayase Published by Shogakukan Magazine Club Sunday Demographic Shōnen Original run 2012 – 2013 Volumes 5 Anime film 009 Re:Cyborg Directed by Kenji Kamiyama Produced by Tomohiko Ishii Written by Kenji Kamiyama Music by Kenji Kawai Studio Production I.G, Sanzigen Licensed by AUS: Madman Entertainment NA: Funimation UK: Anime Limited Released October 27, 2012 Runtime 105 minutes Original video animation Cyborg 009 VS Devilman Directed by Jun Kawagoe Written by Tadashi Hayakawa Studio Bee Media, Actas Released October 17, 2015 Runtime 30 minutes each Episodes 3 Anime film series Cyborg 009: Call of Justice Directed by Kokai Kakimoto Produced by OLM Digital, Signal.MD Released November 25, 2016 – December 9, 2016 Runtime 100 minutes each Films 3 Manga Bgooparts Delete Written by Tsuguo Okazaki Published by Akita Shoten Magazine Champion Red Demographic Seinen Original run July 19, 2019 – present

Cyborg 009 (

Nine people from around the world are kidnapped by the evil Black Ghost organization, led by the tyrant Skull, to undergo experiments that would allow him to use them as human weapons to promote the production of cyborg warfare. While he succeeds in converting the group of nine into cyborgs with superhuman powers, his most reputable scientist, Dr. Isaac Gilmore, helps the cyborgs escape to rebel against Skull and Black Ghost. The nine cyborgs – from which the name of the series is derived – band together in order to stop Black Ghost from achieving its goal of starting the next world war by supplying rich buyers with countless weapons of mass destruction. After the destruction of Black Ghost, the nine cyborgs go on to fight a variety of threats, such as mad scientists, supernatural beings, and ancient civilizations.

Media

Manga

The first arc was serialized in Weekly Shōnen King (

The second arc, called The Underground Empire Yomi Arc, appeared in Weekly Shōnen Magazine (Kodansha) alongside the release of the film version. The story is highly influenced by Edgar Rice Burroughs' Earth's Core series, including an expedition to the center of the Earth with a drill tank and a reptile race who can use telepathy and grow wings. The story ends with the final battle against Black Ghost. In the final scene, 009 and 002 fall into Earth's atmosphere and are seen as a shooting star by two small children, one of whom wishes for a toy gun and the other for world peace (a scene reminiscent of Ray Bradbury's Kaleidoscope). As such, 001 was able to use his telekinetic powers at the last minute to retrieve 002 and 009 from their plummet before death.

The third arc, serialized in Bōken Ō (Akita Shoten), contained 6 story arcs, including the Monster Island Arc, the Middle East Arc, and the Angels Arc. The series abruptly ended during the Angels Arc.

The fourth arc, called The Battle of the Gods Arc, was serialized in COM (Mushi Production). Ishinomori resumed and retold the interrupted Angels Arc with a new plot, but the series once again ended abruptly. Ishinomori would not resume the series for a few years after this.

The fifth arc was serialized in

The sixth arc followed closely after the fifth arc. Arcs such as the Deinonychus Arc (appeared in Monthly Shōnen Jump (Shueisha)) and Green Hole Arc (appeared in Play Comic (Akita Shoten)) were depicted, then long after, the Underwater Pyramid Arc was serialized in Monthly Manga Shōnen (Asahi Sonorama).

The seventh arc was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Sunday (Shogakukan) alongside the revival anime. A long arc consisting of many short arcs, this series dealt with the battle against Neo Black Ghost as well as the emotional trauma of the 00 Number Cyborgs. The story is set approximately 20 years after the Yomi Arc, and the personalities and conduct of the cyborgs are depicted as more adult.

The eighth arc was serialized in Monthly Comic Nora (Gakken). This longer arc was called People Drifting Through Time and Space Arc, and is a sequel to the Immigration Arc. The Count of St. Germain from the Underwater Pyramid Arc appears, but the design of his drawing is different.

Manga publication history

The series was written and illustrated by Shotaro Ishinomori, serialized in Monthly Shōnen King, published in Japan by Akita Shoten and other companies through its history, and published in North America by Tokyopop.

Digital comics distributor comiXology licensed the entire catalogue from Ishimori Productions in 2012,^[2] and has made the first 10 volumes of Cyborg 009 available to the public.

In April 2012, Shogakukan announced that the Cyborg 009 manga would conclude in Weekly Shōnen Sunday.^[4] Entitled Cyborg 009 Conclusion: God's War, the manga is to be illustrated by Masato Hayase and to be based on Ishinomori's original concept notes, sketches, and novel drafts, all of which had been gathered by his son, Jo Onodera. Conclusion debuted on April 13, 2012,^[5] and ran until February 2014. It was collected in 5 volumes.^[6]

Cyborg 009 Bgooparts Delete

A manga series written and illustrated by Tsuguo Okazaki, titled Cyborg 009 Bgooparts Delete, began serialization in Champion Red on July 19, 2019.^[7]

8 Man vs. Cyborg 009

A crossover manga between 8 Man and Cyborg 009 by Kyoichi Nanatsuki (script) and Masato Hayate (art), was serialized in Champion Red from July 18, 2020,^[8] to May 19, 2023.^[9] In this work, Black Ghost, revived after the Cold War, kidnaps 8 Man's inventor, Tani, to blackmail 8 Man to destroy the 00 cyborgs, so that Black Ghost can dominate the world using a laser satellite created by Professor Demon (one of 8 Man's original antagonists). 8 Man, Professor Demon, and the cyborgs team up to destroy Black Ghost.

Graphic novel

A full-color

1980 anime film

An anime film based on the second anime television series was released on December 20, 1980, named Cyborg 009: Legend of the Super Galaxy (サイボーグ009 超銀河伝説, Saibōgu Zero Zero Nain: Chou Ginga Densetsu).

The theme song was "Love of 1 Billion Lightyears" (10億光年の愛, Jū-oku Kōnen no Ai) (Lyrics: Michio Yamagami, Composer: Kōichi Morita, Arrangement: Reijirō Koroku, Singer: Yoshito Machida).

Cast

2012 film (009 Re:Cyborg)

A 3D film, produced by

Television series

1968 series

An anime adaptation was released on April 5, 1968, on NET and ended on September 27, 1968, with a total of 26 episodes. This series was directed by Yugo Serikawa, Takeshi Tamiya, Tomoharu Katsumata, Toshio Katsuda, Taiji Yabushita, Ryōzō Tanaka, Yoshikata Nitta, Kazuya Miyazaki, Fusahiro Nagaki, Minoru Okazaki, Yoshio Takami.

The opening theme song for the anime series was "Cyborg 009" (サイボーグ009) (Lyrics: Masahisa Urushibara, Composer, Arrangement: Taichirō Kosugi, Vocals: Tokyo Meister Singer. The outro theme was "End the Battle" (戦いおわって, Tatakai Owatte) (Lyrics: Shotaro Ishinomori, Composer, Arrangement: Taichirō Kosugi, Singer: Vocal Shop)

Cast

DVD Box

The "サイボーグ009 モノクロ DVD BOX" was released in January 2006 from Buena Vista Home Entertainment. The low-priced edition "サイボーグ009 1968 DVD-COLLECTION" was released in July 2009 from TOEI COMPANY, LTD.

1979–1980 series

Another anime for Cyborg 009 was released on March 6, 1979, on TV Asahi and ended on March 25, 1980, with a total of 50 episodes.

The opening theme song for the anime was "For Whose Sake" (誰がために, Taga tame ni). The lyrics were by Shotaro Ishinomori, the composer was Masaaki Harao, the arrangement was done by Koichi Sugiyama and vocals were provided by Ken Narita and Koorogi '73); the ending theme was "Someday" (いつの日か, Itsu no Hi ka). The lyrics were by Saburō Yatsude while the composer was Masaaki Harao, the arrangement was done by Koichi Sugiyama and vocals were provided by Koorogi '73. The show was a huge hit in Sweden where it was one of the earliest anime series to be dubbed into Swedish and released in its entirety on VHS. The success with the audience came despite the fact that the entire voice cast was provided by one actor, Danish national Timm Mehrens.^[21]

Cast

2001–2002 series

A third television series, entitled Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier was broadcast on TV Tokyo from October 14, 2001 to October 13, 2002 on Sundays at 18:30. It spanned a total of fifty-one episodes.

The opening theme song for the third anime television series was "What's the Justice?" by Globe. The first ending theme was "Genesis of Next" by Globe followed by "Starting from Here" by Globe and later was replaced with "I Do" by Fayray.

The 2001–2002 series of Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier was dubbed by Animaze, Inc. and ZRO Limit Productions, and was shortened to its manga name. The English-dubbed version of Cyborg 009 aired on Cartoon Network as part of its weekday after-school action anime/animation programming block, Toonami in 2003 with the first 26 episodes, and was on its unnamed late Friday night/Early Saturday morning “Graveyard Shift” line-up in 2004 to air episodes 27 to 42, before it was dropped from their lineup. The edited version of the series was also distributed by Sony Pictures Family Entertainment Group, while the uncut version is distributed by Sony Pictures Television.

Cast

Original video animation

A three-part

Radio dramas

1979 radio drama

A radio drama was produced for NBS's Kirin Radio Theater from January 29 to February 23, 1979.

Cast

2009 radio drama

A second radio drama, entitled Cyborg 009: Birth, was aired in two parts on September 21 and 28, 2009.

Cast

Video games

Three video games based on the series were released only in Japan. One of them was an

In 2002, Simple Characters 2000 Series Vol. 15: Cyborg 009: The Block Kuzushi was released for the PlayStation by Bandai.

English releases

The 1979 series was broadcast with English subtitles on Japanese-language television in Hawaii, California, and in the New York metropolitan area. The English subtitles were produced by San Francisco-based Fuji Television, which did not broadcast the series as part of its Japanese programming on KEMO-TV.

The 1980 film was released in the United States in 1988 by Celebrity Home Entertainment as Defenders of the Vortex, with an edited version of an English dub that was commissioned through the Tokyo, Japan-based Frontier Enterprises. It later received an unedited direct-to-video English release in 1995 by Best Film and Video Corporation with the full version of the same dub.

The 2001 TV series was licensed by Avex Inc. (the North American branch of Avex Mode, the 2001 series' original distributor in Japan) and dubbed into English by

The 2012 movie is licensed by Funimation in North America, Anime Limited in the UK, and Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand. An English dub was produced by NYAV Post, and a theatrical release was released in all three territories.^[18]

References