RMWC Reviews: December 2020

As mentioned last time, I'm going to be doing smaller posts for series/stories that aren't about Giant Robots, but are still relevant to the overall development of Mecha concepts; cyborgs, space operas, weird sci-fi concepts, that sort of thing. These are meant to be sidebars, a gaiden, if you will. (Astro Boy, which was hugely influential in the early days of anime, and still is, was briefly discussed in the Ambassador Magma post).

Starting off, there was the first Japanese Cyborg Superhero: 8 Man. (or Eightman). The creation of science fiction and manga author Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata. 8 Man was their most significant original creation, but both creators would work on adaptations of Western superheroes. Kuwata worked on the Batman manga in the 1960s and Hirai became the main writer for the dark and gritty Spider-Man manga of the 1970s.

8 Man tells the story of detective Hachiro Azuma, who was shot dead by a thug (in the manga) and run over by a car (in the anime). Either way, he dies, and his consciousness is transferred to a robot body by Professor Tani. Reborn as a cyborg cop who is affiliated with the police, but not officially, he assumes the name 8 Man, because there are seven investigation units in the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, and 8 Man is effectively a one-man precinct. It also played on a contemporary police drama called “Seven Detectives.”

At any rate, 8 Man is a human-sized cyborg who can run at super speed, his eyes can work as searchlights that can detect infrared and radioactive materials, energy emitting, disguises, and other abilities. He had vulnerability to intense heat and electricity, and would have to regularly smoke energy cigarettes which also helped cool down his reactor. The manga ran in Weekly Shōnen Magazine from 1963-1966 and led to an anime adaptation directed by Haruyuki Kawajima produced by TCJ which aired on Tokyo Broadcasting System (TBS) from November 07 1963 to December 31 1964 for a total of 56 episodes. The anime was brought over to the US as Tobor The 8th Man in 1965.

Cyborg 009 is one of Shotaro Ishinomori's first major breakout successes, and next to Kamen Rider and Super Sentai, one of the pillars of Japanese superhero franchises created by him.

Set against the backdrop of the Cold War, young Joe Shimamura was kidnapped by the sinister Black Ghost and his criminal empire and was turned into the ninth in a series of cyborgs. Joe, as Cyborg 009, has super strength, durability, jumping, swimming, and can activate a super speed “acceleration mode.” Joe and the other cyborgs (each with their own powers and exaggerated features) rebel against Black Ghost and escape with the help of Dr. Gilmore, waging a war against the organization and then fighting other bizarre threats against the world.

The initial manga series debuted in Weekly Shōnen King on July 19, 1964 and ultimately ran across several magazines until 1981. On July 21, 1966, the first anime movie (eponymously called Cyborg 009) was released, followed by a second movie, Cyborg 009: Monster Wars, which released on March 19, 1967. This was followed by an anime TV series which ran from April 5, 1968 to September 27, 1968 for a total of 26 episodes. Toei Animation handled the work of all three projects.

Both series were quite successful, and would see continuations and revivals over the years, though Cyborg 009 is certainly the more popular of the two. In July 2020, the crossover manga 8 Man vs Cyborg 009 began running in Champion RED magazine, bringing the two cyborg hero franchises together.