While franchises such as Dragon Ball and One Piece have long held the title of anime legends throughout the decades, there have been plenty of other series that helped give the medium the leg-up it needed. Franchises like Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, and Speed Racer helped introduce the anime world to the masses. In this age of remakes and reboots, one of the biggest anime of the 1960s is planning to return this year with a brand new look. Get ready to pack some heavy artillery as Cyborg 009 has a new anime adaptation re-imagining the heroes with a wild new look.
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Cyborg 009 Nemesis is the upcoming entry that will once again focus on the nine cyborgs that protect mankind from various threats, set to arrive later this month on July 19th. While the original cast will return with their patented red outfits with yellow scarves, they’ll be receiving glow-ups thanks to a more modern look with a new story that gives them some interesting adversaries. This time around, the team will be taking on another team of cyborgs that look far more technologically advanced than the anime team many fans have come to know over the decades. Aside from the fresh look for the characters, Studio ABEMA will be using CG animation to give them battles unlike any we’ve seen to date. You can check out a new trailer for the upcoming anime adaptation below.
The History of Anime’s Biggest Cyborgs
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For those who don’t know the history of Cyborg 009, the franchise first arrived as a manga in 1964 from creator Shotaro Ishinomori, quickly receiving an anime film only two years after its debut in 1966. Ever since, the franchise has spawned countless manga and anime stories alike, though it has been years since we last saw the robotic team in action on screen. In 2016, Cyborg 009 released a trilogy of films titled “Cyborg 009: Call to Justice” meaning some fans have been waiting a decade to see the group spring to action. Of all the anime properties in existence, this franchise might be one of the stories most fit to be remade using computer-generated animation, though we’ll know for sure later this month.
While Cyborg 009 has plenty of characters to fill out its roster, this hasn’t stopped it from crossing over into other franchises to weave some wild tales. Perhaps most notable, the cyborgs fought against the supernatural world of Devilman thanks to 2015’s Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman mini-series. Devilman as a concept is far different from the cyborgs’ typical stories, not just thanks to its more supernatural subject matter, but its far more mature story beats. Nevertheless, this crossover was a worthy addition to both anime franchises.
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