|
|
||||||||||
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 9 |
 Anonymous #1598
|
[series:607#1598] | |
|
I shall try and give a good review from my POV. I am not a fangirl, although I have been of this show around three times. BUT, I got over it. I mean, there are just things about the characters. Okay, I can't make any frippin' comparrisons, for I've never never ever watched Kikaider. Okay, the art is just so cute, in my opinion. I mean, they put in how they believed the people of those nationalities would look as Anime. I think some of it's pretty close. So what if it's a bit cleshé? They ACCUALLY make it look like they're moving. I mean, from half the stuff I've seen, they seem to move like lopsided goats. I mean, half the time, in some animes, someone'll get seriously hurt. Then five seconds later they're perfectly fine. I think that the animation deserves a 10, except for that little thing in Goodbye, My friend and in Tears of Steel, what with the twitching... Character design? I think I explained in Art... The music simply rocks. I've never understood the opening music, but am captivated with Genesis of Next. I mean, that song fits so well with the story... I think. So the series story is pretty original. I mean, the cleshé with the cyborgness. That's acceptable. They have alot of humor in it! And so what if the followed the old 'Hero[being 009] falling in love with the only female[being 003]' bit? It's still cool. I mean, who woulda thunk[that a word?] that An actor An african slave escapee A framed teenager A teen gang leader A ballerina A baby An East Berlin escapee A Native American And a chinese chef, would make a heroic fighting team? And they're not only fighting for justice, that they're not. They're fighting for their right to live as per normal without Black Ghost destroying them/causing mass destuction/starting world war 3/4/5 and so on. Overall, I think it's an adorible anime, with cute graphics, lovable characters, AND it mixes a good amout of humor in it! Last updated Friday, September 17 2004. Created Friday, September 17 2004. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
 Kino-Reviewer
|
[series:607#1413] |
|
Excellent remake of the 60's series, that influenced authors all around the world, as Rumiko Takahashi--that declared that "Cyborg 009" was the first manga she bought in entire life-- Masamune Shirow (creator of the amazing "Ghost in the Shell") and even Stan Lee--during the planning stage for the launch of "New X-Men". As manga/comic, "Cyborg 009" was first published in 1963 and basically launched the concept of "fighting group of super-beings against evil", alongside with its contemporary from US "The Fantastic Four" (Marvel, 1961). Has also pioneered in the concepts of characters from multiple origins and backgrounds working together and in the journalistic/historian approach of the world around (something that we would see more effectively only later in 70's with Keiji Nakazawa's masterpiece "Gen"), thats works fine even if dealing with a sci-fi argument. This 2002 version give us a more contemporary view of the lives of the nine cyborgs and their mentor, Prof. Gilmore, while respecting the basic plots of manga/anime early versions. There's a few changes: some characters had their backgrounds redefined to suit better the times of 21th century (I really got happier to see Pyumma as a guerrilla fighter from a troubled country in Africa than I was seeing him as a fugitive slave). The care with a time line extremely delicate to handle, as deals with existing events, is awesome: it matches a fluent story with historical key points as the tech race during Cold War, Berlin Wall, civil wars in Africa and the marginalization of the Native Americans. But the work on psychology of the characters is really the greatest highlight. More than in other versions, the impact in life of being a human subject of experiments (indeed a theme that is very present in nowadays) the consequence of these transformations and the question of the real meaning of being "human" are core points, around of which the entire plot develops. The characters are not of the flat kind we got used to see in comics/anime, dealing many times with deep traumas, internal conflicts, major flaws in personality and weaknesses usually absent in "heroic" people. Even if flirting with stereotypes sometimes, the text is efficient enough to avoid the pitfalls and turn tridimensional people that could otherwise become cliché: the characters show much more than the labels of the surface, giving a good color of humanity into the (nowadays) basic super-hero team theme. Even if that became an "old" thing, it never gets outdated when the heroes are given a life that goes beyond ink and paper. The art of 2002 series intends successfully to respect the originals from 1963 and at the same time, modernizes looks and refines the whole realization. The general appearances of the characters are rounder and in many ways less detailed and muscular/"pneumatic" than the ones we use to see in modern manga, some of them with sort of unusual features (long/aquiline/enormous/round noses, potty-bellied bodies, cartoon-ish looks and so it goes), reporting to the early origins of Japanese comics (such as Osamu Tezuka, whose assistant was exactly the author of "Cyborg 009", Shotaro Ishinomori/Onodera). The re-creation of real places/times is visually accurate, and even the mythical references we see in several episodes are done properly into the whole context. Moreover is really great to see ethnic differences in anime (what is indeed very rare) and in a uncommon way: treated with efficiency, without slide to the approach of "funny look of foreigners" that multi-ethnic series tend to explore (to put it clear: even this one, in early versions such 1966 anime). The animation of this version is good but not outstanding as the ones seen in more "purely authorial" works, as "Pet Shop of Horrors", "Jin-Roh", "Akira" and the later works of Hayao Miyazaki, but is far above the average for a TV-oriented series. Special attention at the scenes of static/de-accelerated world seen when Joe "009" Shimamura uses his power of high speed. The music of the show is another highlight: besides not used as background soundtrack, the theme songs "What's the Justice" and "Genesis of Next", two trance/EBM voyages performed by the reverenced band techno-experimental Globe, give the right wrapping to the cybernetic/contemporary feel of the stories. One thing that can make some of the audiences get confused are chapters after the first part of the series, called from there "S2 series" or "blue season". These "blue" episodes finalized after the death of Shotaro Ishinomori don't follow the solid storyline of the main part of the series, and in some moments seems to be telling all diverse events. As long I won't reveal details about, this is only the accomplishment of a work without its creator, giving realization to all the planned screenplays. So is not a big issue, and indeed a very praiseworthy effort than a storyline flaw or a crazy twist in the narrative (a welcome courtesy that admirers of other works as "Dungeons & Dragons", "Invader Zim" and--up to this moment--"Farscape" were deprived of). All in all, a very remarkable work. That isn't really suitable to all the preferences (the retro-looking characters can be unacceptable to fans of more "modern canon anime" as Gundam Wing, Saint Seiya and Sailor Moon), but the quality of realization and the realistic approach of the characters personalities is more than enough to give to this anime a good legion of passionate and devoted fans. Recommended to buy in most of the cases (as can be good not just for the admirers, but also is a nice guidance for people that want to develop writing skills and graphic arts students, as explores a now not much used visual style) Some recommended works to the fans of "Cyborg 009": Book- The Bicentennial Man (Isaac Asimov) Book- Frankenstein (Mary Shelley) Book- The Plutonium Files: America's Secret Medical Experiments in the Cold War (Eileen Welsome) Movie- Osamu Tezuka's Metropolis (directed by Rin Taro. Also the manga original version is very interesting, but can be hard to find in some places) Movie- RoboCop (the original, directed by Paul Verhoeven, not the sequels) Movie- Blade Runner (Ridley Scott's Director's Cut) Comics- New X-Men (Chris Claremont series, Marvel) Comics- All "Weapon X" series (Marvel Comics) Comics- Ghost in the Shell (Masamune Shirow. Also watch TV series) Short story- Herbert West, Re-Animator (H.P. Lovecraft) Essays- Of cyberpunk culture mistress Donna Haraway Last updated Friday, May 28 2004. Created Friday, May 28 2004. | ||||||||
| Watch | 9 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 10 |
 Anonymous #1321
|
[series:607#1321] | |
|
Maybe i'm too old...or most of you are kids or teens. I'm used with this kind of draw, i mean, a really 60's,70's early 80's style.It brings me back to when i was five or six. The story is really good, this mangaka(the creator) is the one that showed us a very more "dark" Masked Rider(get the Masked Rider Black manga and you'll see a different hero from the one you know from TV).If you are new in the anime and manga stuff..maybe you'll find this kind of style a little weird and maybe "ugly", you won't see any bishonen or pretty sexy girls...mhhh, have you seen Astro boy?...well..that is a very old anime..just like Cyborg 009. Maybe you think: "those guys dress very stupid, those powers are very stupid,all that stuff was already used"...guess what?! The original story is older than you!!! get it? I also loved the ending music, nice...i'm not a lover of techno or electronic music..but this one is very nice. The stories in each epsidode are very nice, you can see the heroes in a normal life circunstance or in very sad situations. This one is good for the people that miss oldies like Queen Millenia or Astro Boy.If you are new or are used to Dragonball/Sailor Moon style(drawing and animation) then...maybe you wont find this very atracctive. Another thing, i'm from Mexico and Cyborg 009 has 2 months on air, the dub is amazing, the only sad thing is the the anime is aired all week at 1:00 am. =__= Last updated Wednesday, April 07 2004. Created Wednesday, April 07 2004. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 4 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 4 |
 Amada
|
[series:607#989] | |
|
I can't stand the characters. They're so annoying - looking, and in the way they act. I mean, honestly, a BABY genius? It's been done - too much. 009 is the hero that doesn't understand anything, bo-ring, and honestly, why would a super military organization need to kidnap people so that they can make cyborgs? Why not just do it to your own men? -_-; The character designs are so annoying and highly resemble some other stupid cyborg show that had the same art style on Cartoon Network. You would have to be a fangirl with really bad tastes to like this pile of garbage. If I were an anime teacher, I'd give this an *F*.
Last updated Thursday, September 25 2003. Created Thursday, September 25 2003. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 4 | 4 | 7 | 8 | 4 |
 Anonymous #911
|
[series:607#911] | |
|
action???? hhhhmmmmmmmm, interesting yet untrue way in which to evaluate this animated show. Let me just start by telling readers where I am coming from with this review. I dont claim to be any sort of "otaku" but I have seen quite a fair share of anime spanning from the begining all the way to stuff i have friends in japan send that is recently being released. So while reading this please if you dont agree with me at all please,please!!!! at least do not be under the pretense that I "just dont appreciate a good oldy" or whatever. ok so I will get down to it now. Art: this has some of the most badly drawn and overused anime archetypes i have ever seen, i mean christ give 003 longer hair and the entire character is maytel. further more the drawing is simple, dry, and uninteresting, and no dont pull that "they gain something in there simplicity" crap with me, yes they gain something, hours of sleeping fun. and all the use of hard colors and occasional blockyness and lack of shading(colors were almost layered on top of each other never really fading into one another) wouldnt have been so bad if the drawing were a little more innovative,diverse, and complex. Animation:..............i wish something good could be said about this, I mean usually I am not discouraged from anime with bad animation(harlock, lupin etc) but the fighting scenes and character movement is just so lame(come on how many animes do that stupid shit where they just draw lines where a character stands then draw them elsewhere, christ you would never see that in one piece or trigun), and not only that but the backgrounds were stale, lacked movement, and werent never imaginative. this guy could take a few pointers from hayao miyazaki.........seriously. Character designs: I feel like I am in a freakin crazy house here. these character designs were so boring and often out right uninteresting/underdeveloped actually even unoriginal(sorry I stick with my comment about maytel and 009 reminds me of hiro/ many other similar abandoned individual turned unexpected leader types) it makes me sick. On that note too, nothing is really ever totally original I mean just the other day I brought it to the attention of a long time squaresoft fan that xenogears ripped off a ton of books and concepts (some so much they might warrant plagerism). but even in that case these characters did very little with there moralistic attitudes and stupid dialogue. And some people have written about how its interesting to see the character of multiple cultures??(huh)?? well I am sorry to tell you this but that is just so dumb I can finally understand why some authors have a problem with modern concepts of multiculturalism, furthermore all the relationships were so predictable it completely mutes this fact. though that last fact does become interesting when you consider that a group of characters who dont like each from the very begining must work together toward an end which hasnt even been determined yet is always a fun thing to watch. Music: ok the music is decent, so what. I mean I have a large enough taste in music to say that even though this was trance/techno(which I usually hate on the grounds that if there lyrics they suck and its artificial crap) I mean it was actually pretty good. Story: ok besides the fact that this has to do with a group of individuals who probably dont like each other and are generally scared of their pasts that are thrown together to fight something that hasnt revealed itself even is the only way in which this caught my attention. oh and i forgot 002 rules. besides that the one thing that could be said about this story is "gogo power rangers"!!!! Ok it sucked end of story Last updated Wednesday, August 13 2003. Created Wednesday, August 13 2003. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 5 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 9 |
 Youkai Battousai
|
[series:607#874] | |
|
I'm sorry, but no. I really dislike this show, I wont say hate because there are a few episodes I find myself watching. This series just seems to annoy me. I don't like the art in this, it's not original anime and it bugs me. It's like Kikaider, same idea with art and such. Can't say I'm one for that show either. But this story line seems to go no where. Black Ghost just keeps creating more cyborgs, and often they run into 0012 and 0013 and so on and so forth and it just gets old. I mean, c'mon think of a new idea for god's sake. But I'll give it a rest. I haven't realy sat down and watched many episodes together so I shouldnt judge too badly, but from what I've watched this ones a no.
Last updated Friday, July 25 2003. Created Friday, July 25 2003. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 8 |
 Kari
|
[series:607#798] | |
|
This is a good show from the year 2001. People keep saying the character designs for Cyborg 009 look old...well that's to be expected. This manga was originally released back in 1963. The character designs have improved a little. For some reason the leader of Black Ghost, with the skull mask on his face, reminds me of Darth Vader, and Dr. Claw from Inspector Gadget. The music is nice. The opening and ending songs What's the Justice? and Genesis of Next, are performed by Globe. All of the characters are valid in terms of defeating the enemy, with the exception of 003. Next to 001 (the baby), she's one of the physically weakest characters. Cyborg 009 was dubbed by Animaze...Inc. Joshua Seth and David Umansky voiced 009, and they did their jobs well. I can't complain about the dub. Note: I won't write a review saying I don't like this show simply because other people say they don't. You don't have to be a "fangirl" to enjoy this. I'm certainly not a fangirl, and I find nothing attractive about animated characters...nobody in their right mind would. Last updated Friday, November 17 2006. Created Thursday, July 03 2003. | ||||||||
| Watch |
 Anonymous #824
|
[series:607#824] | ||||||
|
I see that basicly nobody else has ever reviewed this show. So, though I usually play video games, I feel I must review. I only saw one episode, but I got enough from there. It really is pretty cool. It has a style similar to Kikaider. it's real asset is that is that it is different. The style, showing people from all around the world, is cool to see in a Japanese show. But the thing that makes it the most unique is that it doesn't seem to follow the theme of "fate". It seems like every other action enemy has "an ancient hero" or "the blood of a warrior" or was "born to protect and fight evil". This is different. None of these people were destined to be heroes. They were kidnapped for no reason from their homes around the world, then subjected to evil experiments. They never asked to be heroes. In a "Spiderman" like twist, they were given (or cursed) with these abilities for no particular reason. That's refreshing to see something original in the sea of standard animes.
Last updated Wednesday, July 02 2003. Created Wednesday, July 02 2003. | ||||||||
