Two Classic Series Clash in Titanic Fashion!

I remember a time long, long ago when Japanese animation was really, really cool. Back in the 80s, trading VHS tapes of sometimes poor quality Japanese TV recordings was a favorite past time of mine. The fact that any of these shows were recorded in the first place was always amazing to me. Even more amazing that the recordings made it into the hands of collectors in the U.S. It wasn’t until the 90s that Japanese animation gained some momentum in the U.S. and began becoming mainstream. Now, forget about it. Words like “anime” and “manga” are firmly established in the mental lexicons of nerds everywhere. Back in the 80s, getting tapes of Japanese cartoons was a hard won victory, each tape a closer step to unlocking new stories and characters, whereas nowadays it is a luxury. Collectors in the 80s always wished for a time when we could have easy access to Japanese programming—perfect quality commercial releases with either dubbing or subtitles. That time has come and we are now enjoying an era of splendor where 90% of everything is easily available at our fingertips, either on DVD, BluRay, fansub download, or streaming online. It is amazing to think about how far things have come since the 80s. It is possible that a lot of younger fans are blissfully unaware of how easy they have it these days. With this bliss might come a gap in knowledge of certain classic characters and older TV shows from the 70s and 80s. Luckily, the characters of CYBORG 009 and DEVILMAN have had some representation in the U.S. over the years. Most fans probably know about DEVILMAN from the two part OVA from the late 80s and not the TV series from 1972 (although that too has only recently gotten a legit release in the U.S.). The DEVILMAN OVA was a lot closer to the original Go Nagai manga, whereas the 1972 TV series followed a more heroic formula. In the case of CYBORG 009, luckily the series was brought back to Japanese TV in 2001 as CYBORG 009: THE CYBORG SOLDIER. This excellent TV series was released in the U.S. and shown on The Cartoon Network. However, I get the feeling that it did not gain many fans and even the release of English translated volumes of Shotaro Ishimori’s manga did not help. Some extra lucky people also remember the 1979 series being aired on UHF channels with English subtitles. It is my opinion that the characters of DEVILMAN and CYBORG 009 are timeless and easily rank with the best that Marvel and DC have to offer. Which is why modern updates are usually well received. However, when I first heard of this crossover, I was immediately skeptical. The characters, on the surface, have nothing in common and do not even share a common creator (other than perhaps the involvement of Toei in the animation adaptations). Furthermore, my faith in the quality of Japanese animation has waned in recent years and I feared the project would turn out to be just another hastily cranked out, poorly animated CGI mess. With these fears in mind, I finally made my way to Shinjuku to see the theatrical screening on the very last day of its two week run. I was planning to see it sooner, but my work schedule and the inconvenient show times kept forcing me to put it off. I was even worried that I would not be able to see it in the cinema at all and have to wait for the home video release. In hindsight, I am extremely grateful that I made the effort to see it in the cinema because the experience was electrifying.

Upon entering the theater and going to my assigned seat I was immediately aware of how crowded the theater was. This gave me a feeling of hope that I was in store for something good. At the time, I just didn’t know exactly HOW good! My positive vibe became a bit shaky once the endless stream of commercials and trailers began showing. Limited theatrical releases of OVAs seems to be big business in Japan and there were quite a handful of trailers for upcoming anime. The reason this was disheartening is because of the quality and subject matter of the actual properties being advertised. To me, Japanese animation has fallen heavily from its high pedestal of super heroic and imaginative fantasy productions of the golden age. What we usually have now is perhaps a sign of the times and changing generations. It is not for me to judge whether something is truly superior or inferior, but I can base my opinions on what I like and do not like. Almost all of the trailers were unknown to me. That in itself is no crime because I doubt that anyone can keep up to date on every single release in Japan. But the thing that I found disturbing is that not one of the trailers impressed me and made me want to see more. In fact, I would be hard-pressed to even describe the stories in most cases. Some of them were a bit straightforward, like high school girls driving army tanks (still not my thing though), while others were artsy-fartsy psycho/techno detective dramas or stories about girls with super powers or high school love stories (usually with supernatural/occult overtones) or whatever. But the subject matter isn’t the real issue it’s the execution and visuals that disturbed me. Everything had a very sterile, flat, computer generated look to it with one set of character designs flowing into the other leaving me with no solid sense of the characters. If these trailers were supposed to get me interested in the properties, then no such luck. I suppose I am not the intended target audience for these productions. But wait, I’m a fan of Japanese animation, right? Yeah, I guess so. I suppose up until the 90s I would have answered “Yes, I am” without hesitation, but nowadays I’m not so sure. Nowadays my answer would be “Yes, but….”. A few things were running through my mind during the time the trailers were showing. One thought was whether or not I was the only one left cold by the trailers. I assume that a lot of the people in the theater were old time fans like me. Most of the people in attendance were older men and women, but there were some younger people as well. Another thought that kept running through my mind was something that has come up quite often over the years, even back in the 80s. A lot of anime fans would talk crap about the “older stuff”, complaining that the art and animation quality was inferior to modern stuff and even go so far as to say that older stuff was “unwatchable”. So this amused me greatly because in my opinion most current Japanese animation productions have vastly inferior art and animation quality to the 70s and 80s. So what do those same fans say now? Do they just embrace all of the current stuff as being great? How could they? The only way that could be possible is if they did not have much of a back catalog of knowledge and grew up only watching modern stuff. And finally all of this led to my increasing apprehension that what I was about to watch would turn out to be just another let down….. It felt so good to be wrong. From the beginning, it was made perfectly clear that we were in for something good. No flashbacks, no retelling of any origins, no modern reboot of the characters-- just the characters in action. Obviously a team up between the cast of CYBORG 009 and DEVILMAN would have to take place in an alternate timeline and I have no issue with that. But they went the extra mile and at least presented events from the manga to anchor the viewers, as if both series were going on at the same time. The first episode starts off with a bang. For Cyborg 009, we see the final fight with Apollo (and his sister Helena) and for Devilman we see the final fight with Jinmen. It is full on from the first second with quick cuts back and forth between both battles, rendered perfectly. Everything is spot on, from the art work, the music, the animation quality, the voice acting, the directing, camera angles, sound effects, you name it. After only a few minutes, my brain was completely accustomed to the characters and world and ready for more. A guy sitting a few seats from me to the left was literally sitting a bit forward in his seat completely engaged. And he stayed like that for the entire 80 minutes or so running time.

The opening credit sequence shows a montage of footage of the characters featured in the OVA, while also showing homages to the CYBORG 009 manga. However, the opening theme song is only about Cyborg 009 and there are no lyrics referring to Devilman. The title is “CYBORG 009- NINE CYBORG SOLDIERS” by JAM Project. The ending theme is opposite, all about Devilman with no lyrics about Cyborg 009. The footage for the ending credits is in a manga artwork motif. The ending theme is also by JAM Project and titled “DEVILMIND- AI WA CHIKARA”. Both songs are in a hard rock style and perfectly complement this production. Without any major spoilers, here is the rundown of all three episodes. I am purposely not describing all of the details for the numerous action sequences, so even if you see it after reading this article you will still be blown away. Suffice it to say that the characters of CYBORG 009 and DEVILMAN have never looked better and it was like stepping into a time machine or receiving a gift from the past. In the theatrical showing, all three episodes were shown in episodic form, with intact opening and ending credits. I thought that was a bit of a waste and would have been better as just one edited together “movie” (the same as the YAMATO 2199 theatrical showings). After the opening credits, the cyborg soldiers are chilling at Dr. Gilmore’s cliffside mansion/secret base. They are on alert for the next Black Ghost incident and are keeping up with the latest news reports. Geronimo/005 has a premonition that something is about to happen and then 001 suddenly levitates and issues a cryptic warning—“The devil is coming.” On their way to high school, Akira Fudo (alter ego of Devilman) and his friend/love interest Miki Makimura stop two purse snatchers on a motorcycle. In fact, it is mainly Miki who does all the work, showing the audience what kind of a strong character she is. Unknown to them, their actions are being observed by two people—a little kid and a large man in a hat and trench coat who appears to be bandaged. Within the mansion base is the docked Dolphin-go ship (in this incarnation, it actually looks like a huge gray dolphin). Inside, the cyborgs discuss 001s ominous message and 004s premonitions. They decide to take it seriously. Meanwhile, a new transfer student is introduced to Miki and Akira’s homeroom class. Her name is Eva. She is blonde and blue eyed and all the boys think she is a beauty. Miki immediately befriends her and fills her in on Akira and warns her that he is a lazy good for nothing who has already skipped class from first period and is hanging out on the roof of the school.

The cyborgs begin an investigation into any uses of the word “devil” (akuma) all over Japan. 002, 004, 007, and 008 hit the streets and the rest investigate using the sophisticated computer and surveillance equipment on the Dolphin-go. 002 and company split up, each investigating any kind of urban street legends concerning devils. 002, 004, and 008 pound the pavement, while 007 takes a more leisurely approach by drinking in a dance club. They come up with nothing, until Dr. Gilmore asks 003 to access all police reports for any unusual cases involving missing people or unexplained happenings. This produces a number of hits and they further narrow the search by checking all of the security camera footage in those areas. Sure enough, they discover a quick shot of Devilman flying at night over the woods near the high school. All those present agree that he sure looks like a real devil. 009 remarks “First the gods of Olympus and next the devil….” They all assume that this “devil” is another Black Ghost cyborg out to cause trouble, just like the Mythos Cyborgs molded after the Olympus gods. Both 009 and 003 volunteer to head to the area. Akira’s demon hunting comrade, Ryo Asuka, senses that something is up in the nearby woods and he and Akira plan to investigate after night fall. He loads an automatic rifle and places it into his car. Miki brings Eva up to the school roof and introduces her to Akira, who is already thinking about his upcoming hunt with Ryo. Miki scolds him for not being polite enough. He tells her that he has plans that night with Ryo and won’t be needing any dinner. Miki complains that he and Ryo seem to go out a lot and she will even stop making him lunch if he continues skipping class so much. Eva is amused by their friendly argumentative banter. 002 and company meet up in a back street to compare notes. Except for 007 who is passed out drunk in the dance club. The three of them agree that they did not find anything useful. They notice that they are being followed and baited by three fast moving shadows and decide to follow the bait, figuring that it might have something to do with Black Ghost. As evening approaches, Akira and Ryo begin their hunt. Akira is scaling the roofs while Ryo is in his car. Akira immediately senses demon activity and races ahead. That night, a group of young people are playing loud music and dancing in the parking lot of a convenience store. A young woman suddenly gets possessed by Lilith, a plant-like member of the Demon Clan. She quickly possesses the rest of the hapless youths and suddenly a small army of demons are ready for battle. The convenience store clerk becomes Pazuzu, a huge winged lion-like demon. Lilith assigns him to take down Devilman, who she already senses is on the move. Lilith and the rest of the demons teleport away. 009 and 003 are on the way to the area by car. 003 has a few fleeting images of what is happening and says a few keywords to 009, including “akuma” and “demon”. A fierce and bloody battle ensues between Devilman and Pazuzu which leads to the air, crashing into the mountains, and ending in the woods, leaving Pazuzu a dead and bloody mess. Ryo is on the scene as well and aids Devilman in his fight with a few well-placed shots from his automatic rifle. At one point, Pazuzu is not impressed with Devilman and says “What`s the matter?? I was expecting the Demon Clan hero, Amon, to be stronger!”. Devilman fires back with, “Shut up! We`re not Amon! We`re Devilman!!”. Back in the city, 002 and the others catch up to the three shadowy figures. The three figures make a dramatic entrance and show themselves. One of them is a large seemingly bandaged man in a hat and trench coat, a young boy riding on his shoulder, and the third is a young man with wild pinkish colored hair. Our heroes are certain they are assassins sent from Black Ghost. 009 rushes ahead of 003 and witnesses the end of the fight between Devilman and Pazuzu. 003 tells him telepathically that there are three opponents and one of them is a human. 009 gets shot up by Ryo. But of course he isn’t damaged by the shots. Ryo assumes that 009 is some kind of demon/mecha hybrid. And 009 assumes that Devilman and Ryo are Black Ghost cyborgs. Devilman and 009 face off in a terrific battle. 003 senses that 009/Joe is in trouble while still running to the scene. While watching the battle, Ryo begins to realize that 009 isn`t what he originally thought. Devilman and 009 seem evenly matched, but 009 is reaching his limit. The fight ends in a draw, with both of them severely injured. They both fall to the ground. Ryo rushes to Devilman`s aid and 003 arrives just in time to see 009 fall and yells “Joe!!!!”. Will Devilman and the Zero Zero Number Cyborgs continue to fight each other? Or is there a common enemy at work? Who are the three mystery characters who appear before 002 and the others? Is 007 still drunk in the club? And is Eva more than she seems? Tune in to episode 2 for these answers and much much more. Stay tuned to SciFi Japan for part 2 of the CYBORG 009 VS. DEVILMAN review!