Cyborg 009 (1966 film)

Cyborg 009 (saibogu009, Saibogu 009) is a 1966 Japanese animated sci-fi adventure film loosely based on the manga by Shotaro Ishinomori. It was directed by Yugo Serikawa, with the screenplay written by Takashi Iijima and Serikawa. It was released on July 21st, 1966, with a runtime of 64 minutes. It is a loose adaptation of the introductory arc, "Birth".
Overview
The earliest signs of the film's production can be seen in some early 1966 concept art by Ishinomori, done after discussions with the film planner Yoshifumi Hatano and the changes that the production team planned to make to the characters.
Many aspects were to be significantly altered in the movie, some to the frustration of Ishinomori. The most notable change that had disappointed him had involved Cyborg 007 being changed to be a young nine-year old boy, in order for the film to better appeal to the child audience. However, it was a compromise that had to be made, under the logic that it was much easier to empathize with a child character. The child 007 can be seen in this concept art, and would be previewed in the January 1966 one-shot "The Man in the High Castle". A redesign for 001 would also be depicted there, with his bangs no longer covering his eyes.
Shortly before the film's release, as the Cyborg 009 feature moved to Weekly Shonen Magazine, Ishinomori had to draw up a new origin story for film viewers who would be reading the magazine, although it was not intended to be canon with the upcoming Underground Empire of Yomi arc. This story, "Prologue", was a brief origin story taking cues from some parts of this film.
Other notable changes in the film included the removal of the biracial angle to 009, as well as him being changed from a delinquent to a race car driver captured by Black Ghost. 003 would also be depicted as a ballerina in her backstory, which would be carried forth to further incarnations.
Plot
After a sabotage on the race track that causes the #9 car driven by the racer "Hurricane" Joe Shimamura to crash, an ambulance arrives on the scene to take him away. But this ambulance is in actuality a decoy sent by the Black Ghost organization, the ones responsible for the wreck, while a real ambulance arrives too late.
In being taken to the Black Ghost base, Joe is found to have gone into cardiac arrest, being clinically dead and necessitating the replacement of his heart, and the Black Ghost scientists set to work on remodeling the rest of his body.
Joe awakens later on in a strange white uniform, but is quickly put through endurance tests, eventually winding up in the ocean and emerging to find the scientists congratulating him. He is introduced to eight other cyborgs of the 00 prototype line, who quickly announce their plans to rebel and bring a captive, Dr. Gilmore, along.
Joe, now called "009", soon learns that Gilmore had organized this rebellion with the cyborgs and that Black Ghost made them as weapons to profit off of war. The cyborgs must fight off the Black Ghost fleet following them in the getaway plane, as 003 introduces 009 to each team member and describes their power.
The team land on a deserted island, but soon find their plane blown up by robotic dinosaurs and must face other threats. 009, 007, and 008 take to the sea to take one of the Black Ghost submarines hostage, and the team manage to escape to freedom- for a time.
At Dr. Gilmore's research center, the cyborgs attempt to get used to being on the run and living away from their home countries. 003 tells 009 of her past, in how her parents were killed in a war and how Black Ghost ruined her life further. It is found that Black Ghost still has a base that the cyborgs must destroy, and 009 opts to take only 003, 006, and 007 along with him.
In the area surrounding the base, 009, 006, and 007 fight off against a spider-shaped mecha, while 003 is abducted and put on an operating table to be re-programmed against the other cyborgs. As the others enter the base and fight off against the soldiers, they find the newly evil 003 waiting for them and attempting to shoot them. 009 then discovers that the true leader of Black Ghost is a brain inside a machine, and shoots at it, causing the brainwashing on 003 to be broken. But with the base set to explode, they must escape.
Outside, as they attempt to get back to their ship, they find more Black Ghost soldiers waiting- along with the other 00 cyborgs, who have come just in time to shoot the soldiers and assist their teammates. The nine cyborgs narrowly escape the exploding island.
In the end, the nine stand in civilian clothing (and 003 holding 001), as for the time, they can now go back to their average lives and have peace from Black Ghost.