MARINE BOY (1966)

Inspired in part by the novel Deep Range by Arthur C. Clarke, the Toei Studio made three pilot episodes of Dolphin Prince, the tale of an undersea boy with a pet dolphin, who swam in a wetsuit with a built-in jetpack and stunned his enemies with an aqua-boomerang. An experiment in color anime that predated Kimba the White Lion (the first broadcast color anime), Suguru Sugiyama's DP was shelved but then remade the following year as Marine Boy. Marine, whose father, Dr. Mariner, is an oceanographer with the Ocean Patrol, has been genetically altered to have superior underwater swimming abilities and chews Oxygum to supply himself with air underwater. Along with his companion, Whitey the white dolphin (Splasher in the U.S. version), Marine helps his father keep the sea safe. Though originally intended for broadcast on Fuji TV and subsequent sales overseas, the production was dogged by difficulties, and taken off the air after just 13 episodes.

 The series returned with the same crew in 1969, retitled Undersea Boy Marin (Kaitei Shonen Marin), for further adventures about Marine, now equipped with an underwater boomerang, a hydrojet, and a mermaid girlfriend Neptuna (Neptina in the U.S. version). It lasted for a total of 78 episodes, including some recycled from the previous series. Broadcast on TBS, the entire run was not seen until 1971, when it was shown on Nippon TV. 

During all this confusion, the series was already doing well in the U.S., where it premiered in 1966. With three episodes dropped for violence, Marine Boy still incurred the wrath of the National Association for Better Broadcasting, which claimed it was "one of the very worst animated shows. Child characters in extreme peril. Expresses a relish for torture and destruction of evil characters." Strangely, no mention was made of Neptuna's strategically placed hair, which obscured the fact that she spent the entire series topless, or that the three "violent" episodes were considered harmless enough to be screened when the series was rerun during the 1970s. Though obscure today, Marine Boy was a popular anime in its time, outperformed in the 1960s only by Speed Racer in the U.S. and the first anime to achieve any degree of success in the U.K., though its Japanese origins were occluded. According to popular myth, decades later, the same BBC that screened Marine Boy in the 1970s would turn down Pokémon, claiming that "nobody was interested in Japanese cartoons." In another spurious assertion, the father of the five-year-old Jonathan Clements claimed that "Marine Boy always eats his greens," though none of our Japanese sources support this.

PRINCE PLANET (1965)

Prince Planet is the English name given to one of the earliest Japanese TV anime series, Planet Boy Popi (遊星少年パピイ Yūsei Shōnen Papī), when it was televised in America in the mid-1960s. A 52 episode monochrome anime, it tells the story of a member of the Universal Peace Corps from the Planet Radion coming to Earth on a mission to determine if this world meets standards for membership in the Galactic Union of Worlds and assist its inhabitants during his stay. While on his mission, Prince Planet adopts the identity of an Earth boy named Bobby and gains comrades who work together alongside him combating evil forces both alien and terrestrial.

Production overview and history

Prince Planet was originally produced in Japan by TCJ (Television Corporation of Japan) for Dentsu advertising in conjunction with K. Fujita Associates and aired on the Fuji Television network in 1965. The show was one of the first heavily merchandised shows in Japan, with simple things like shoes getting the "Planet Boy Popi" logo. An English-dubbed version was released by American International Television Productions in September 1966, and produced by James Nicholson and Samuel Z. Arkoff. The dubbing was performed in Miami at Copri Films International and directed by Mark Harris with dialog scripting by Reuben Guberman (who also reworked The Amazing 3 for Erika Productions in 1967). The American theme was composed by Guy Hemric and Jerry Styner, who had previously written songs for several of American International's "Beach Party" movies.

Main characters
The main characters that appear throughout most of the series are all introduced by the fourth episode. In episode 1, Prince Planet arrives on Earth and meets a girl, Riko or Diana Worthy in the English-dubbed version and her father, Pops Worthy, who live on a large ranch. In episode 2, a wrestler known as Dan Dynamo, billed as "The strongest man in the world" joins the Prince Planet team. Episode 3 introduces Warlock, who is said to be the "Master of Martian Magic", although his Martian origins seem to be more of a contrivance added to the English dub. The last major team member is a magician named AjiBaba, from the desert of the eastern hemisphere who debuts in episode 4 as an arch-enemy of Warlock. Many of the episodes involve battles with Warlock until episode 30, when Krag from the planet Kragmire banishes (throws) Warlock into the depths of space and becomes Prince Planet's major nemesis until the end of the series. Warlock finally returns in the second-to-last episode of the series.

While on Earth, Prince Planet exists usually as Bobby, a normal boy, but when the need arises he will transform into Prince Planet to fight enemies or protect his friends. He transforms similarly to Captain Marvel (DC Comics) by holding his pendant with both hands and saying "Peeeeeee Pazow!!" with the "Pazow" being added to cover the Japanese "Popi". When transformed into Prince Planet, an appropriate costume comes with the transformation which resembles the apparel worn by the people of his native world. This includes a helmet, which all male members of Radion society seem to wear.

Prince Planet's main powers are not altogether unlike those of Superman, and it is interesting to note that in the original Japanese his home world is named "Planet Crifton". His pendant-endowed powers include super strength, flight, and resistance to harsh environments like outer space although he can be injured in his transformed state. Prince Planet can also use his superior intellect along with the energy of the pendant to transform material objects at will; this power is very useful to create needed weapons, transportation or other devices. A recurring plot element of many episodes hinges on a limitation resembling that of Green Lantern in that his pendant must be recharged, but he cannot perform this himself. Replenishing of the pendant's energy is handled from Planet Radion. As his energy supply diminishes, the "P" in his pendant goes from black to white like a thermometer in dropping temperatures. On his home planet, in the "power tower" there is a person whose job is to monitor the pendant's energy level and ensure it does not run too low. Of course he often seems to be "asleep on the job" while Earth and Prince Planet are hanging in the balance and sends energy to the pendant at the last possible second before disaster. Even completely deprived of the pendant's power, Prince Planet can physically put up a good fight and his high intellect makes him a cunning and formidable opponent.

English dub voice talent
Catherine "Bobbie" Byers (voice of Prince Planet, Bobby, various female voices)
Mark Harris (voice of Dan Dynamo, various voices)
Kurt Nagel (voice of AjiBaba, various voices)
Arnie Warren (voice of Warlock, various voices)
Frank Schuller (voice Of Krag, various voices)
Sandy Warshaw (voice of Diana Worthy, various female voices)
Jeff Gillen (voice of Pop Worthy, various voices)
Other voices performed by: Reuben Guberman, Lawrence Tobin, Jerry Burke

Episode list
1. A Boy From Outer Space
2. Giant On The Matters
3. The Formidable Rival
4. The Arabian Magician
5. Flying Jellyfish
6. Dinosaur Men
7. A Big Showdown
8. Robot Island
9. The Overgrown Lizard
10. Shaberia
11. Fancy Machine
12. S.O.S. Global
13. Gold Picker
14. Attack Of Radioactive Ants
15. The Great Space War
16. The Star In Memory
17. The Space Zoo
18. The Stolen Mt. Fuji
19. Pirate Satan
20. The Planet Terror
21. Robot No. 9
22. Goodbye Saturnean
23. The Earth Zero Hour
24. The Ghost Space Ship
25. Battle On A Desert Island
26. Secret Under The Sea

27. The Rocket Pilot
28. Gaist, the Devilish
29. The Gift From Prince Planet
30. Gollen, the Formidable Foe
31. The Pollen Bomb
32. Operation Rico
33. Rico, The Great Detective
34. A Spy From The Necro
35. The Demon Scientist
36. The Young Spies
37. Alan, The Secret Agent
38. The Magic Gloves
39. Robot Prince
40. Rico's Adventure
41. The Lion In Desert
42. Crisis On The Earth
43. The Horror Of A Snowman
44. Revenge In The Valley
45. The Comet Missile
46. The Mystery Of Mummy
47. The Mystery Of Organ
48. Horror At 10:10 P.M.
49. The Birdman Racket
50. Secret Path Into The Earth
51. Ajababa's Children
52. The Star At Home

Other foreign releases and dubs
Prince Planet was televised in Australia and aired in Melbourne in March 1967 on Channel 9 at 5pm weekdays. The series was as well known in Australia. It last appeared on Australian television in 1974 on The Super Flying Fun Show, a weekday breakfast television series.

In Brazil, Prince Planet aired between 1970 and 1975. The characters were known by the following names:
Diana Worthy - "Estrellita"
Dan Dynamo - "Bruno Retti" or "Strong"
Warlock - "Capirote"
Krag - "Kilitrone"

Reception
Two factors contributed to the hasty demise of Prince Planet as a desirable property for domestic broadcast, one being the fact that monochrome programing was becoming less desirable to television stations with the ever-growing popularity of color television. The other was negative parental reaction to cartoons containing what was perceived as excessive violence for children's television. While fighting for right, Prince Planet's opponents were often killed and this was obvious even despite editing of the dubbed prints to remove violent scenes. Prince Planet kills Warlock and Krag in the last two episodes before returning home to Radion, and they were not the only villains he blasted away with his pendant. In addition to human violence, the Prince was not overly sensitive to Earth fauna either. For instance, in one episode, he transformed a whale into transportation for his friends, effectively killing the whale. Even so, Prince Planet is known to have been televised in the U.S.A until around 1976 in the Chicago area (WSNS Channel 44) on stations hungry for afternoon TV for children to watch after school and Prince Planet claimed many faithful adherents throughout the sixties and those later years. It was also televised on WUTV channel 29 Buffalo, New York, the summer of 1975.

GIGANTOR (1964)

Gigantor is an American adaptation of the anime version of Tetsujin 28-go, a manga by Mitsuteru Yokoyama released in 1956. It debuted on U.S. television in 1964. As with Speed Racer, the characters' original names were altered and the original series' violence was toned down for American viewers. Originally produced in black and white, the show was colorized and revived in the 1990s

Plot
The series is set in the year 2000. The show follows the exploits of Little Jimmy Sparks, a 12-year-old boy who controls Gigantor, a huge flying robot, with a remote control. The robot is made of steel and has a rocket-powered backpack for flight, a pointy nose, eyes that never move, and incredible strength, but no intelligence (although he started to tap his head as if trying to think in one episode). Whoever has the remote control controls Gigantor.

Originally developed as a weapon by Jimmy's father, Gigantor was later reprogrammed to act as a guardian of peace. Jimmy Sparks lives with his uncle Dr. Bob Brilliant on a remote island. Jimmy usually wears shorts and a jacket, carries a firearm and occasionally drives a car. Together, Jimmy and Gigantor battle crime around the world, and clash with the many villains who are always trying to steal or undermine the giant robot.

History
In 1963, Fred Ladd, while working on the animated feature Pinocchio in Outer Space and on the animated TV series The Big World of Little Adam had seen artwork of Mitsuteru Yokoyama presenting a giant robot remote-controlled by a young boy. The Tokyo-based artist had designed the robot for a Japanese shōnen manga series Tetsujin 28 and later a black-and-white animated TV series called Tetsujin 28-go.

Ladd, who had produced the successful international, English-language adaptation of Astroboy, and Al Singer formed a corporation called Delphi Associates, Inc. in order to produce and distribute an English-language version of Tetsujin 28-gō. They took only 52 episodes of the Japanese series for the American market, and renamed the series Gigantor. Peter Fernandez wrote much of the English script, and participated in the dubbing. The series became an immediate hit with juvenile audiences, though adult reactions were sometimes hostile.

It was playing at 7:00 p.m. on New York's WPIX-TV in January 1966 when Variety gave it a particularly scathing review, calling it a "loud, violent, tasteless and cheerless cartoon." which was "strictly in the retarded babysitter class."

The reviewer added that Gigantor was popular; he said "Ratings so far are reportedly good, but strictly pity the tikes and their misguided folks."

Gigantor became a popular Japanese export during this time. The series was shown in Australia on Melbourne television in January 1968 throughTrans-Lux, on ATV-0 at 5:00pm. It was described by the TV Week as an "animated science fiction series about the world's mightiest robot, and 12-year-old Jimmy Sparks who controls the jet-propelled giant." The series aired in other markets around Australia, including Sydney, New South Waleson TEN-10, and in Adelaide, South Australia on SAS-10, (its debut on Monday October 28, 1968 at 5.55pm).It was also screened in New Zealand around the same time.

Gigantor was one of a number of Japanese TV series that enjoyed strong popularity with young viewers in Australia during the 1960s. The first and undoubtedly the most successful of these was the hugely successful live-action historical adventure series The Samurai, the first Japanese TV series ever screened in Australia, which premiered in late 1964. It was followed by a contemporary ninja-based live action espionage series, Phantom Agents, and a number of popular Japanese animated series including Astro Boy, Ken The Wolf Boy, Prince Planet, Marine Boy and Kimba the White Lion, the cartoon series which is reputed to have been the uncredited basis for Disney's The Lion King.

In July 1994, Fox Family Films, a division of 20th Century Fox, acquired the rights to "Gigantor" for a live-action motion picture.Anticipating that Gigantor would become a franchise for the studio, Fox tapped screenwriters Steve Meerson and Peter Krikes to prepare the script and budgeted between $35 million and $50 million for the film.Executive producers Fred Ladd and Aeiji Katayama indicated that Mitsuteru Yokoyama would get an executive producer credit and that the 50 foot robot would be updated and modernized for the 1990s with a 12 foot height and morphed and computer-generated features.However, the project has yet to come to fruition and Mitsuteru Yokoyama has since died.

Characters
Whimsical English names were given to the show's characters, such as "Dick Strong", a secret agent; a funny policeman named "Inspector Blooper"; and enemies, such as, "The Spider", "Dubble Trubble", and "Dr. Katzmeow". Other characters included Bob Brilliant's teenage son, Button, as well as his housekeeper, Lotus.


Jimmy Spark's voice was that of Billie Lou Watt. The voice of Inspector Blooper was that of Ray Owens. Old time radio listeners might find the Inspector Blooper sounds a lot like the Willard Waterman/Harold Peary-voiced character "The Great Gildersleeve." Gilbert Mack voiced Dick Strong. Peter Fernandez provided the voices of other Gigantor characters.

Episodes
#Title
1 "Struggle at the South Pole"
A series of bombings of Antarctic bases and supply ships brings Jimmy and team to Antarctica to do battle against the mysterious Dr. Katzmeow.
2 "Battle at the Bottom of the World"
3 "Sting of the Spider"
4 "Return of the Spider"
5 "Spider's Revenge"
6 "The Secret Valley"
7 "The Diamond Smugglers"
8 "Dangerous Doctor Diamond"
9 "Force of Terror"
10 "World in Danger"
11 "Badge of Danger"
12 "The Smoke Robots"
13 "The Freezer Ray"
14 "The Magic Multiplier"
15 "The Submarine Base"
16 "Treasure Mountain"
17 "The Mystery Missile"
18 "The Giant Cobra"
19 "The Great Hunt"
20 "The Deadly Web"
21 "The Atomic Flame"
22 "The Incredible Speed Machine"
23 "The Monster Magnet"
24 "Target: Jupiter"
25 "Trap at 20 Fathoms"
26 "Monsters from the Deep"
27 "Will the Real Gigantor Stand Up?"
28 "Ten Thousand Gigantors"
29 "The Plot to Seize Gigantor"
30 "The Space Submarine"
31 "Gigantor Who?"
32 "The Robot Olympics"
33 "The Crossbones Caper"
34 "Ransom at Point X"
35 "The Gypsy Spaceship"
36 "The Space Cats"
37 "Return of Magnaman"
38 "Vanishing Mountain"
39 "The Insect Monsters"
40 "The City Smashers"
41 "The Robot Firebird"
42 "Magnaman of Outer Space"
43 "The Robot Albatross"
44 "Battle of the Robot Giants"
45 "The Deadly Sting Rays"
46 "Gigantor and the Desert Fire"
47 "The Atomic Whale"
48 "The Secret Formula Robbery"
49 "The Evil Robot Brain"
50 "The Devil Gantry"
51 "The Robot Arsenal"
52 "Danger's Dinosaurs"

Sequels and spin-offs
The 1980–81 New Iron Man #28 (Shin Tetsujin-nijuhachi-go) series was created with 51 episodes based on a modernized take upon the original concept art. In 1993, Ladd and the TMS animation studio converted the series into The New Adventures of Gigantor and broadcast it on America's Sci-Fi Channel from September 9, 1993 to June 30, 1997.

There was also a sequel series, Tetsujin 28 fx (Tetsujin-nijuhachi-go-Efu-Ekkusu), about the son of the original controller operating a new robot (with Daddy and the original FX-less #28 appearing from time-to-time to help), which ran in Japan in 1992.

In 2004, a new Tetsujin 28-go series was made which returned to the original story established by the manga and original anime series. This version was released in the United States on DVD under the original Japanese title of Tetsujin 28. Unlike Gigantor however, the English translation of this series is closer to the original Japanese version, with all Japanese names retained.

A number of characters and robots from the Tetsujin 28 series appeared (albeit with altered backgrounds) in Giant Robo: The Animation, an OAV series that drew on Mitsuteru Yokoyama's entire body of work. In one of the Giant Robo parodic spin-off OAVs, "Mighty GinRei" (Tetsuwan GinRei), a version of the original Tetsujin appears under the name "Jintetsu".

A comic version of Gigantor ran in the Triple Action anthology series from Eternity Comics from issues #1–4.

An American made Gigantor comic book series was released in 2000 by Antarctic Press. The comic lasted for twelve issues and was later collected in 2005 in trade paperback form. The comic used elements from the anime Giant Robo as well as Marvel Comics references though the later issues became closer to the original animation.

Creators behind Gigantor have unveiled plans for another updated design, a "Gigantor for the New Millennium." This newest form of the giant robot is called G3 and differs from past designs. The new Gigantor is a meld of robot and cyborg. According to the main site: "Driven by a complex neuro-system of DNA-impregnated neurochips, Gigantor G3 is a living Cybot!".

Theme song and miscellany
The title song "Gigantor" was written by Louis C. Singer and Eugene Raskin. A cover version, performed by The Dickies, reached #72 in the U.K in 1982. It can be also found on their re-release of Dawn of the Dickies 2000 Captain Oi! Records Cover version of the theme song "Gigantor", performed by Helmet, is included on the 1995 tribute album Saturday Morning: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, produced by Ralph Sall for MCA Records.
The Gigantor theme is parodied in the Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain episode "How I Spent My Weekend".
The Gigantour music festival, created by Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine is named after Gigantor.
MC Esoteric's 2008 release Esoteric vs. Japan - Pterodactyl Takes Tokyo extensively samples both the theme song and various episodes.
In the film Night at the Museum and its sequel, Jedidiah calls Ben Stiller's character "Gigantor".
References

^ "Fire kills Japanese manga artist". BBC. April 16, 2004. Retrieved 2011-10-23.
^ a b c CD liner notes: Saturday Mornings: Cartoons' Greatest Hits, 1995 MCA Records
^ Variety, January 26, 1966
^ Lannan, Kelly Patrick. (1977 ~ current) Base Koala TX Data Archives.
^ a b c Parker, Donna. (July 19, 1994) Hollywood Reporter Fox reinvents "Gigantor" robot. Page 3.
^ Chuck Scholt (2001). "Gigantor G3". Author Unknown. Fred Ladd's Official Gigantor and more.... Archived from [www.gigantor.com the original] on 5 Feb 2003. Retrieved 27 May 2012. "Driven by a complex neuro-system, Gigantor G3 is a roborg!"
^ Boehm, Mike. (February 16, 1988) Los Angeles Times Punks Make Contact at Lively Dickies/Circle Jerks Show.

8th Man (1963-1964)

8 Man (8マン?) or Eightman (エイトマン Eitoman?) is a fictional manga and anime superhero created in 1963 by science fiction writer Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata. He is considered Japan's earliest cyborg superhero, predating even Kamen Rider (the same year, Shotaro Ishinomori created Cyborg 009), and was supposedly the inspiration for RoboCop.

The manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and ran from 1963 to 1966. The anime series, produced by Eiken with the TCJ Animation Center, was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System, and ran from November 17, 1963 to December 31, 1964, with a total of 56 episodes (plus the "farewell" special episode, "Goodbye, Eightman").

The story
Murdered by criminals, Detective Yokoda's body is retrieved by Professor Tani and taken to his laboratory. There, Tani performs an experiment that has failed seven times; Yokoda is the latest subject to have his life force transferred into an android body. For the first time, the experiment succeeds. Yokoda is reborn as the armor-skinned android 8 Man, able to dash at impossible speeds, as well as shape-shift into other people. He shifts himself into Yokoda, this time christening himself as "Hachiro Azuma". He keeps this identity a secret, known only to Tani and his police boss Chief Tanaka. Even his girlfriend Sachiko and friend Ichiro do not know he is an android. As 8-Man, Hachiro fights crime (even bringing his murderers to justice). He smoked "energy" cigarettes, to rejuvenate his powers, that he carried in a cigarette case on his belt.

In Japan, the character's origin actually varies significantly between the original manga, the TV series, and the live-action movie. In the original Japanese manga and TV series, the character's name does not change when he is reborn as 8 Man. The "Detective Yokoda" name was created for the live action version. In the manga, Detective Azuma is trapped in a warehouse and gunned down while the TV series has him killed when he is run over by a car. Also, in the Japanese story, the character is called "8 Man" because he is considered an extra member of the Japanese police force. There are seven regular police precincts and 8 Man is treated an unofficial eighth precinct all to himself.

The Japanese manga was presented as serial novella stories along with a set of one-shot stories. Many of the stories were edited down and adapted for the TV series but not all of them. The novella stories were originally printed one a weekly basis in Shukuu Shōnen Magazine in 16-page increments that actually consisted of 15 story pages and one title page. Ten additional one-shot stories were presented in seasonal and holiday specials of Shuukuu Shōnen Magazine. The one-shot stories were generally between 30-40 pages in length.

Original Japanese Manga Story Titles
Novella Stories
怪人ゲーレン - Mystery Man Gehlen
サタンの兄弟 - Satan's Brothers
怪力ロボット007 - Super-Powered Robot 007
光線兵器レーザー - The Laser Beam Gun
超人サイバー - The Cyber Superbeing
人間ミサイル - The Human Missile
殺人ロボット005 - Killer Robot 005
魔女エスパー - The Witch Esper
超人類ミュータント - Superhuman Mutant
魔人コズマ - The Demon Kozuma

-Jiro Kuwata was imprisoned for possession of a handgun before the final 16-page serial of The Demon Kozuma was completed. The final serial was drawn by Takaharu Kusunoki for the magazine version. Jiro Kuwata later redrew the final pages of the story himself by request of Kazumasa Hirai and Rim Publishing so that they could publish a complete version of the final story. (The publishers were not able to use Kusunoki's artwork, so the story was omitted or left incomplete in previous official releases.)

Short Episode Stories
死刑囚タランチュラ - The Condemned Criminal Tarantula
決闘 - The Duel
シャドウ・ボクサー - Shadow Boxer
復讐鬼ゴースト - Vengeful Demon Ghost
超振動砲 - The Super Vibration Gun
マッド・マシン - Mad Machine
サイボーグPV1号 - Cyborg Number PV1
殺し屋イライジャ - The Assassin Elijah
燃える水 - Burning Water
幽霊ハイウェイ - Phantom Highway
太陽衛星サンダー (単行本未収録) - Solar Satellite "Thunder" (unreleased story)

This was intended as a lead-in to a series of 23 comic stories adapted from the TV series.

Original Japanese TV Episode Titles
エイトマン登場 - Introducing Eightman
殺し屋ゲーレン - The Hitman Gehlen
サタンの兄弟 - Satan's Brother
死刑台B3 - The B3 Gallows
暗黒カプセル - The Capsule of Darkness
黄金ギャング - The Gold Gang
消音ジェット機 - The Stealth Jetplane
超小型ミサイル - The Micro Missile
光線銃レーザー - The Lazer Ray Gun
ロボット007 - Robot 007
まぼろしの暗殺者 - The Phantom Assassin
海底のウラン - Undersea Uranium
人間パンチカード - The Human Punch Card
スーパーパイロット - Super Pilot
黒い幽霊 - The Black Ghost
怪盗黄金虫 - The Mysterious Thief Goldbeetle
超音波ドクター - The Ultrasonic Wave Doctor
台風男爵 - The Typhoon Baron
ゲーレンの逆襲 - Gehlen's Counterattack
スパイ指令100号 - Spy Command No. 100
ロボットタイガー - Robot Tiger
ゼロへの挑戦 - Zero's Challenge
ナポレオン13世 - Napoleon The 13th
サラマンダー作戦 - The Salamander Strategy
超人サイバー - The Cyber Superbeing
地球ゼロアワー - Global Zero Hour
大怪物イーラ - The Giant Monster Eeler
バクテリア作戦 - The Bacteria Tactic
人間ミサイル - The Human Missile
サイボーグ人間C1号 - Cyborg Number C1
幽霊ハイウェイ - Phantom Highway
太陽衛星サンダー - The Solar Satellite "Thunder"
人工生命ヴァルカン - Vulcan, The Artificial Life
決闘 - The Duel
冷凍光線 - The Freeze Ray
バイラス13号 - Virus No. 13
悪夢の7日間 - 7 Days Of Nightmares
怪人ゴースト - The Mysterious Ghost
まぼろしを作る少年 - Creation Of The Phantom Boy
透明ロボット・ジュピター - Jupiter, The Invisible Robot
エイトマン暗殺指令 - Assassinate Eightman
女王蜂モンスター - The Queen Bee Monster
魔女エスパー - The Witch Esper
世界電撃プラン - Worldwide Attack Plan
死刑囚タランチュラ - The Condemned Criminal Tarantula
空飛ぶ魔人 - The Flying Demon
バブル・ボール作戦 - Operation Bubble Ball
火星人SAW - The Martian SAW
30億人の人質 - 3 Billion Prisoners
怪像ジャイアント - Giant, The Mysterious Figure
狙われた地球 - Target Earth
人喰魚ピラニア - The Man-Eating Piranha
ムタールの反乱 - Attack Of The Mutarl
シャークの掟 - The Law Of The Shark
超人類ミュータント(前編) - Superhuman Mutant (Part One)
超人類ミュータント(後編) - Superhuman Mutant (Part Two)
"Good Bye Eight Man" - a special look back at the TV series.
The US version

In 1965, 8 Man was brought to the U.S. as 8th Man (sometimes called "Tobor the 8th Man," as in its English-language theme music), with ABC Films as its syndicated distributor. 52 of the original 56 episodes were "converted" into English.

The characters were renamed as follows:
Yokota/Azuma/8 Man - Special Agent Peter Brady/Tobor ("robot" spelled backwards)/8th Man
Tani - Professor Genius
Tanaka - Chief FumbleThumbs
Sachiko - Jenny Hartsweet
Ichiro - Skip

English lyrics were written by Winston Sharples for the theme song, referencing the FBI in one line, which would not be relevant to the Japanese storyline.

The lyrics to the US version are as follows:

There's a prehistoric monster
That came from outer space
Created by the Martians
To destroy the human race.

The FBI is helpless,
It is twenty stories tall.
What can we do? Who can we call?

Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Faster than a rocket.
Quicker than a jet.
He's the mighty robot.
He's the one to get.
Call Tobor, the Eighth Man.
Quick, call Tobor, the mightest robot of them all!

Japanese characters on signs would be mentioned jokingly, along the lines of "I could figure out where we were if the signs weren't written in gibberish".

Legacy

1991 video game

The 8 Man franchise was revived in the early 1990s by a live action film, video game and new animated series.
Video game

In 1991, SNK released a video game edition of Eight Man for the Neo-Geo arcade and home video game system (both versions are identical) where the player took the role of 8 Man and his robo-comrade 9 Man in a fight against an invading evil robot army. The game was released internationally. While the game stayed true to the concept of a crime-fighting super-robot, it was widely panned for being tedious and relying too much on the gimmick of its speed-running effect.
Live action movie

In 1992, a live-action film version of 8 Man was produced in Japan. Titled Eitoman - Subete no Sabishī Yoru no Tame ni (8マン・すべての寂しい夜のために, lit. 8 Man - For All the Lonely Night[2]), it was directed by Yasuhiro Horiuchi and starred Kai Shishido as the title character and Toshihide Wakamatsu as Detective Yokota. Distributed in the United States by Fox Lorber video simply as 8 Man, the movie was widely panned for its choppy editing, mediocre direction and low-budget feel. Many modern American viewers, unfamiliar with the older animated series, felt the movie was an inferior version of RoboCop, despite the fact that the latter was a much more recent franchise.
8 Man After

In mid-1993, the mantle of 8 Man was taken up by Hazama Itsuru in the OVA series 8 Man After. Existing in a world far more corrupt than that of his predecessor, the new 8 Man had no qualms about being extremely violent towards the cybernetic criminals who had murdered him previously. Licensed by Streamline Pictures, it has since gone out of print.

8 Man After begins with Sachiko remembering the night when Azuma, the original 8 Man disappeared. After that it cuts to Sachiko working at a cybernetics research firm that Hazama is investigating as part of a case he is working on. Hazama is investigating an employee named Eddie Schmidt who has disappeared and took many cybernetic developments and secrets with him. The head of the research firm is contemplating running for mayor but is also a criminal kingpin named Mister Halloween. One of his cybernetic henchmen named Tony Gleck has a history with Hazama from when they were both cops. Hazama is attacked and mortally wounded by Tony Gleck and the Professor tells the police chief that he is transferring Hazama's mind into the 8-Man's body.

Soon after, Sachiko is witness to a gang war between cyborgs and is in danger when something unseen begins attacking the cyborgs and disabling them via removal of their cybernetic limbs. This unseen something is in fact the 8-Man moving at super speed. After he stops, Sachiko calls to him, calling him Azuma-san but this gets no response from 8-Man who leaves after the fight is over. Soon, Hazama appears on the scene with no wounds from his attack by Tony Gleck and Sachiko is both concerned and suspicious. Sachiko asks Hazama to protect her from the cyber criminals as she is a material witness, and they together attempt to download secret records from the company she works for. This trips alarms and she is knocked out by security. Hazama attempts to escape with her, but then switches to 8-man to complete the escape from the guards.

Later the 8-Man is at the Professor's lab downloading the data for the Professor to study but it is encrypted and will take time to decode. The Professor then gives 8-man a capsule of stimulant, stating that he will need it to stay recharged and assures him that it is safe unlike the illegal cybo-mechamine that other cyborgs use to keep their brains stimulated at the price of getting brain damaged and berzerk. 8-man places this capsule in his belt buckle (instead of it being an "energy cigarette" like in the old cartoon.) The Professor also advises him that even though his body is that of a cyborg, his "heart and soul" is that of Hazama. 8-man assures him that he detects no trace of his "hosts" emotions in him. The Professor warns him that this must always be the case, and that the previous 8-Man paid the "ultimate price" for forgetting this fact.

Later at a football game where the local team is supposedly rebuilt and now a contender for the title is going to face the world champions, Hazama and Sachiko accompany a boy that hired Hazama to find his lost Dad who is an ex-football player that is on the new team. The team however are all cyborgs and under the effects of the cybo-mechamine, making them berzerk. After crippling and killing the other team they attack the fans in the stadium. Hazama ducks out of site and returns as 8-Man however something unexpected occurs. As a woman is killed, some of her blood splashes onto 8-Man's face. This triggers a traumatic memory within Hazama's mind that in turn causes 8-Man's eyes to glow red and he goes berzerk and brutally demolishes the cyborgs and nearly kills the father of his client. It is only seeing Sachiko that snaps 8-Man out of this and causes his cybernetic brain to resume control and 8-Man looks around in shock and confusion and then leaves even as Sachiko realizes this 8-Man is not Azuma-san.

The Professor later speaks to Hazama (8-Man in the form of Hazama) and tells him it was a glitch in the system. He then states that Hazama is the glitch, not the 8-Man. He informs Hazama that the 8-Man cyborg body is a deadly weapon that he long ago installed a behavioral circuit breaker to prevent such outbursts and keep the 8-Man under control. However the mixing of human emotions with cyborg technology is unpredictable and that it can happen again. The Police chief later tells the Professor that Hazama's sister was killed by Tony Gleck as Hazama was forced to watch. In flashback we see that after she was shot, her blood splashed onto Hazama's face. Hazama after this incident has some trouble reconciling that he is a cyborg now and it also seems that he and 8-Man are indeed separate minds for a time.

Tony Gleck takes over the corporation and reveals that Mr. Halloween is the CEO of the cybernetics firm. Tony is slowly becoming more of a cyborg due to the cyber drug destroying his body, and Eddie who is revealed to have had his brain placed into a computer bank tells Tony that if they capture 8-Man then Tony can become the new 8-Man. Tony captures 8-Man and as Eddie scans 8-Man's memory banks so that he can purge Hazama he finds a reference file containing Azuma's name. Sachiko asks him to help Azuma but Eddie reveals that Azuma has been erased from the cyborg's brain. 8-Man gets free and both Tony and Eddie are destroyed.

Hazama then leaves town with the boy having promised to look after him. Sachiko eventually finds them and joins Hazama's detective agency.

Some inconsistencies in the English dub of 8-Man After:

1. When the police chief speaks of Hazama's past as a cop, he states that Hazama killed 3 cops and 4 enforcers of a crime syndicate. It was never proven the 3 cops were dirty, but one of them was Tony Gleck. The chief states they killed Hazama's fiance while he was held down and forced to watch. Later it would be stated that it was his sister and not his fiance that was murdered.

2. The Professor tells Hazama/8-Man that he had installed a behavior circuit breaker in 8-man when the cyborg body was being developed to prevent it from running amok. When the Professor later speaks to the Chief about 8-Man's "malfunction" on the football field he says "the cyborg brain I implanted should have prevented this". This is inconsistent in that to become the 8-Man, the person's brainwaves, memories and personality are transferred into the cyborg brain of the 8-Man.

3. When the Professor speaks to 8-Man (before 8-man had his first malfunction) he warns him to constantly monitor himself to ensure that no emotions affect his systems. 8-Man states "If you refer to the human whose body serves as my host, I detect no traces of his emotions". This again is inconsistent since Hazama's brainwaves were transferred into the body of the 8-Man.

There were two novelizations of 8-Man After in Japan. The first one was titled "8-Man New Generation" and starts off with the words "Another time, another place" (in English). Sachiko's last name, Yokogawa, is not the same last name given for the character in the 8-Man and 8-Man Infinity series.
8 Man Infinity

A manga series called 8 Man Infinity is being authored by Kyoichi Nanatsuki under Kodansha, which is being serialized under Kodansha's Magazine Z.

References
"8 Man After - DVD - 1993 - Region 1 - US Import - NTSC". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved April 4, 2012.
Translation of 8 Man Japanese subtitle by Google Translate
External links
8thManDVD.com Official Tobor the 8th Man English-Dub DVD Website.
8 Man at the Internet Movie Database (1963)
8th Man at the Internet Movie Database (1965)
8 Man - Subete no sabishii yoru no tame ni at the Internet Movie Database (1992)
8 Man After at the Internet Movie Database (1993)
8 Man (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
Review of the video game version of 8 Man for Neo Geo, drawing comparisons with the greater canon

ASTRO BOY (2009)

Director: David Bowers
Actors: Charlize Theron, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson
Genre: Animation

Tetsuwan Atom atau Atom Boy adalah salah satu karya manga terbaik dan terpopuler dari Osamu Tezuka. Ketika saya kecil sekalipun, saya ingat betapa berpengaruhnya manganya bagiku. Saat itu saya melahap banyak sekali kisah Atom Boy di Filipina ketika masih berumur belum sampai lima tahun. Ketika datang ke Indonesia dan komik Atom Boy diterbitkan (kemudian diubah nama menjadi Astro Boy – karena Atom dinilai terlalu dekat pada nuklir) saya kembali mengikuti kisah sang bocah android. Salah satu hal yang membuatku takjub pada manga ini adalah bagaimana Osamu Tezuka bisa meramu kisah Astro Boy menjadi sesuatu yang bisa dinikmati oleh seorang di segala usia. Ketika saya kecil, saya hanya kagum pada pertarungan antar robot. Akan tetapi ketika saya membacanya lagi saat SMP dan SMU, saya menyadari ada banyak sekali pesan yang disisipkan oleh sang mangaka di dalam. Cerita dalam Astro Boy pun tidak ‘ringan’. Ada plot robot yang memberontak melawan manusia, sampai Astro yang akhirnya tewas hancur dan dibangun ulang tapi gagal berkali-kali. Tapi mungkin aspek-aspek itu jugalah yang membuat Astro Boy menjadi sebuah manga yang diapresiasi banyak orang.

Pada masa depan, sebuah kota mengapung didirikan dan disebut Metro City. Metro City merupakan tempat elit di mana orang-orang kaya, brilian, dan ilmuwan semua tinggal di sana. Kehidupan di Metro City pun sangat menyenangkan karena orang-orang tidak lagi melakukan tugas mereka seorang diri. Ada berbagai macam robot yang bisa membantu mereka. Ada robot pekerja, ada robot pembersih jalan, dan segala jenis robot-robot lainnya. Yang jelas berbeda sekali dengan kehidupan di Surface alias permukaan bumi yang terlihat kotor dan kumuh. Semua robot tersebut adalah hasil dari penelitian seorang ilmuwan jenius Dr. Tenma. Dr. Tenma bersama dengan koleganya Dr. Elefun telah menemukan sebuah terobosan baru dalam sumber daya berupa bongkahan batu biru positif dan residunya batu merah negatif.

Dalam percobaan pengaktifan robot dengan sumber daya batu merah tanpa sengaja Toby, anak dari Dr. Tenma terbunuh. Kematian Toby mengguncang sang ilmuwan. Enggan kehilangan sang anak, Dr. Tenma menciptakan sebuah android yang mirip dengan Toby. Tidak hanya itu, ia memberikan android tersebut DNA dan memori Toby dan menyempurnakannya dengan energi batu biru positif. Lahirlah Astro / Toby android. Kegembiraan Dr. Tenma tidak lama, karena walaupun Astro mirip dengan Toby, sifat mereka mulai menunjukkan perbedaan-perbedaan. Dalam kekecewaan dan frustasinya, Dr. Tenma ‘membuang’ Astro. Astro yang diserang kemudian terjatuh ke Surface dan menjalin persahabatan dengan anak-anak yatim piatu di Surface. Apakah Astro akan pernah mendapatkan tempatnya di Surface maupun Metro City?

Seperti yang kutakutkan, film Astro Boy ini diubah menjadi Imagi menjadi lebih berorientasi ke anak-anak ketimbang segala umur. Tema filmnya jadi klise di mana keberadaan Astro sebagai android dimasukkan dalam seseorang yang berusaha mencari tempat yang bisa menerima diri dan keberadaannya. Tema seperti ini sudah saya lihat berulang kali sebelumnya, baik dalam Over the Hedge, Hercules, dan segudang film animasi lain. That said, saya mendapat kejutan yang menyenangkan. Film ini boleh jadi memiliki jalan cerita yang klise, tetapi Imagi mengeksekusinya secara solid. Ada jalinan persahabatan sejati antara Astro dengan kawan-kawan barunya juga hubungan Astro dengan sang ayah. Memang sih sosok Astro di film ini agak terlalu sempurna – tetapi itu mungkin karena pengaruh batu biru positif yang menjadi sumber energinya. Ada beberapa unsur juga seperti bagaimana berbedanya Astro dan Toby yang kurang berhasil dimaksimalkan di sini, mungkin karena Imagi takut filmnya bakalan terlalu berat di drama dan kurang pada action yang nantinya bikin anak-anak ngantuk.

So my verdict is… lepas dari kekurangan-kekurangan yang saya sebutkan di atas, Astro Boy sendiri adalah film animasi yang bakalan lebih dinikmati oleh anak kecil, tetapi bagi orang dewasa yang menemani mungkin juga memiliki kenangan nostalgia tersendiri saat menontonnya.

ASTRO BOY (1963-1966)

Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム Tetsuwan Atomu; juga dikenal dengan nama Atom Boy) adalah seri anime yang 1952 hingga 1968, sedangkan anime-nya diputar pada tahun 1963-1966. Di Indonesia, manga-nya pernah diterbitkan dengan judul Atom Boy.

Sinopsis
Serial Astro Boy adalah serial tentang futuristik dimana Astro Boy hidup berdampingan dengan manusia yakni Doctor Tenma, kepala bidang pengetahuan membuat robot berbentuk manusia kecil bernama Astro yang memiliki sifat rendah hati dan suka menolong walau banyak yang membencinya karena keberadaan robot. Doctor Tenma sengaja membuat Astro Boy mirip anaknya untuk mengenang kembali anaknya bernama Tobio yang telah meninggal dunia karena kecelakaan mobil. Maka dari itu Doctor Tenma menyayanginya sepenuh hati seperti layaknya anaknya sendiri. Sampai akhirnya pada suatu ketika, Doctor Tenma sadar bahwa Astro Boy tak pernah sama dengan Tobio karena memang Astro Boy tak dapat tumbuh seperti layaknya manusia sehingga tak dapat mengekspresikan perasaannya. Pada manga aslinya di tahun 1960, Doctor Tenma kemudian menjual Astro Boy kepada Hamegg, pemilik sirkus yang bengis yang memperlakukan Astro dengan kejam dan merana. Kepala bidang pengetahuan yang baru bernama Profesor Ochanomizu yang mengetahui keberadaan Astro Boy segera meminta Hamegg untuk menyerahkan Astro Boy kepadanya.

Lalu, Astro dibawa pergi jauh dan diperlakukan dengan baik dan penuh kasih sayang, Astro Boy pun diangkat menjadi pelindungnya. Kemudian Profesor Ochanomizu ketika menyadari Astro Boy memiliki kekuatan luar biasa. Profesor Ochanomizu lalu menambahkan keterampilan dan kemampuan dalam mengungkap ekspresinya seperti layaknya manusia. Astro Boy pun menjadi superhero baru. Ia dapat memerangi kejahatan dan ketidakadilan yang merugikan manusia. Kebanyakan musuh Astro adalah robot-robot yang tak senang pada manusia, robot yang marah, dan serangan alien. Hampir disetiap cerita yang melibatkan perang robot, Astro Boy selalu ikut. Pada intinya, cerita dalam Astro Boy menekankan kepada masalah moral, tanggang jawab, kepahlawanan, dan juga tentang kehilangan.