Cyborg 009

- the regression caused by Tezuka's Astroboy. With the American theatrical failures of "The little prince and the eight headed dragon" and "Gulliver's Space Adventures", TOEI animation decided to abandon their typical fare of imitating western animation styles and adapting folktales. Bolstered by the success and glut of weekly animated tv shows featuring Cyborgs and Robots pioneered by Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Productions with Astro Boy and its myriad imitations, TOEI adapted a similar Shounen Manga about a cyborg troupe - Cyborg 009 as a feature film. The reduced budget as a result of financial pressures on the studio is clearly visible in this movie. The animation ispretty lackluster and more reminiscent of budget constrained factory assembly techniques that the fluid and pastel like animation TOEI had come to master in the 60s. The narrative is genuinely schlocky and the characters are all paper thin. Everything serves only as foil for the constant stream of combat and violence, the scale and scope of which strains credulity at moments. A lot of scenes were identically lifted off or poor imitations of some of TOEI's own excellent animated work. The dramatic and eery animated masterpiece of a battle scene between Susanoo and the Yamato no Orochi is reskinned into a fight by cyborg 009 against a horde of Brontosaurus styled robots, only much worse in quality and almost no complex choreography. Japanese animation was going through a period of great change at this moment, as questions arose over the profitability of the theatrical model as the bread and butter of the animation industry. Mushi Production's success in TV with Astro Boy showed a much cheaper and more profitable alternative - the paint by numbers villain of the week model that eschewed narrative cohesion for a dedicated fanbase and character identification. The industry would be forever changed by this move, not just creatively but also in terms of economic prospects for Japanese Animators, who've ended up with slave like wages and overworked to this day.

I actually didn't expect it, but I like the show! The whole "superpower group but each one has a specific power" is kind of nice to see even for a show / movie this old. I mean, some of it was quite cliche of course... well from that time anyways, (the main guy is a handsome, clean-cut bishie, the main girl is obviously the main girl because she's either the only one or the only pretty one, and you have the comic relief character, who in this form, is a tiny dude who can turn into anything). Overall, if I was from that time, I thinkI would be obsessed with it. It's like an old Japanese version of the Avengers.

This is an exceedingly simple anime with no real grasp on subtlety whatsoever. Things happen and then more things happen. There is no real finesse in plot progression, just brute forcing scene after scene of uninteresting dialogue and tedious action sequences. You don't really care about anyone in this story simply because they haven't given you any reason to. Around the halfway mark they try to make the characters sympathetic but the attempt comes across as forced, hollow and void of life. The animation looks primitive even for 1966. Lots of recycled shots and choppy movements. It's in color which was something not yet takenfor granted at the time this film first aired, so I suppose there is that. But beyond the animation quality what I find most disappointing here is the unappealing art design. Characters and machines alike look blobby, rudimentary, and frankly low budget. While I understand this anime is adapting character designs from the original manga series a few glances at the original panels leads one to the conclusion that the author's work was not done justice in this adaptation. The action sequences are largely nonsensical and much of the time downright idiotic. Characters pluck oncoming missiles and rockets out of their flight paths and throw them right back like they were footballs. Any moments that could be tense are quickly ruined by just shooting at the enemy more, this time with a more determined expression or at exceedingly contrived and nonsensical weak spots. Robot sauropods with missiles firing out from their mouths was an early last straw for me. The film attempts at some very basic antiwar commentary as well as a general critique of military–industrial complex that comes across mostly oversimplified except for one particular moment where the anime very briefly elevates itself. At one point the cyborgs are hiding in airfield-adjacent bushes and foliage watching the Black Ghost group conduct and conclude arms sales (outdoors and in full view of any hidden spectators) with each of two warring sides in a global conflict that Black Ghost itself had helped instigate. After witnessing this group arm both sides and profiteer from the ongoing death and destruction of the war one of the characters remarks in disgust "these guys [Black Ghost] are more cruel and evil than the ones actually fighting the war". That caught my attention for a moment as something resembling profundity in an otherwise mess of childish mayhem but the moment passes quickly and soon you are reminded why you shouldn't be expecting too much from this film. Finally, in true fashion for post-war Japan still coming to terms with Hiroshima and Nagasaki the film ends with an atomic bomb dilemma and subsequent detonation, capping off the antiwar message with an exclamation point. The voice acting is mostly sleep-inducing with one exception very late in the film by Masato Yamanouchi which definitely steals the show and comes across as a high effort performance. Though brief this was perhaps the best part of the film all in all but it still falls short of making you feel like it was worth sitting through the first 55 minutes to get to it. Ultimately there is little reason to watch this other than to gape at a historical curiosity. While I am sure this anime was something closer to adequate in 1966 in comparison to what had aired up to that point, I don't think it was ever good and it certainly has not passed the test of time in my view. Recommend passing on this.

The 60s were a time when anime was just getting started. The movie, in particular, was the first anime film that adapted a manga, though I could be wrong. Keep in mind I barely have any knowledge about Cyborg 009 so I'm walking in blind for the most part. It's a decent watch. The movie quickly introduces the main characters and the setting, and I do mean quick, because they only have an hour to make it count. Narration is used sparingly at the beginning and end. A decent amount of detail is through exposition from characters. Not the most natural dialogue, but it's decent enough.Because of its short runtime, there were points where some things were glossed over, characters didn't have time to dwell and drama is kinda kept at the bare minimum in favor of constant action. Not a whole lot of setup either, and there were a couple moments where the main character was able to ascertain a situation quite quickly even if it doesn't show how he exactly figures it out. The movie does a decent job introducing the nine cyborgs, but because of its runtime, they couldn't give equal attention to all. Some were left on the wayside, but the movie does allow them to showcase their special abilities, so the movie doesn't rely on the viewer having read the manga beforehand. The designs were fine and I think captured the essence of the mangaka's original design; maybe a few interesting design choices but they didn't detract from the movie. Mainly, the movie doesn't feel too quick. Has a good enough pace, and the last quarter was quite exciting. Humor's somewhat minimal, but there are a few humorous moments, mainly stemming from 007's ability. There was a particular scene that felt Tom and Jerry-ish. All in all, a good watch for its time, and a historical milestone in anime history.

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