8 Man
The manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and ran from 1963 to 1966. The anime series was produced by Eiken in association with TCJ Animation Center. It was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System and ran from November 17, 1963, to December 31, 1964, with a total of 56 episodes, as well as a "farewell" special episode, "Goodbye, 8 Man". Plot. Detective Yokoda is murdered by criminals and his body is retrieved by Professor Tani. Tani takes the body to his laboratory where he attempts to transfer Yokoda's life force into an android body, an experiment that  has already failed seven times. Yokoda is reborn as the armour-skinned android 8 Man and is able to dash at impossible speeds as well as shape-shift into other people. He takes on his former body, this time taking on the name "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, are not aware that he is an android. As 8-Man, Hachiro fights crime–eventually avenging his own murder. To rejuvenate his powers, he smokes "energy" cigarettes that he carries in a  case on his belt. In Japan, the character's origin 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. In contrast, the original Japanese version had the main character named as "8 Man", as  he is considered an extra member of the Japanese police force. There are seven regular police precincts and 8 Man is treated as an unofficial eighth precinct. The Japanese manga was presented as serial novella stories along with a set of one-shot stories. Many of these stories were edited down and adapted for the TV series. The novella stories were originally printed every week in "Shukuu Shōnen Magazine" in 16-page increments that 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". These  stories were generally between 30 and 40 pages in length. In the North American version of the series, the resurrected detective/android is known as "Tobor" or the word "robot" spelled backwards. Tani is referred to as "Professor Genius" and the sobriquet of 8-Man is slightly changed to "8th-Man," the name explained as he is the 8th attempt to be a super-robot. The story content was directed toward a wider audience of both young and adult viewers. As such, much of the violence was toned down for Western audiences. Due to changes in cigarette advertising laws in  the 1960s, television characters were not allowed to be seen smoking. As this was a major plot device in the series, the show was forced to be removed from broadcast in the United States. Original Japanese TV series episode titles. The U.S. syndicated 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. Only 52 of the original 56 episodes were translated into English. The characters were renamed as follows: Theme song. Call Tobor, the 8 Man  Reception. 8 Man was ranked ninth in the Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes. The author of the ranking, Thomas Zoth, commented, "Before "Cyborg 009", "The Six Million Dollar Man", and "Robocop", there was 8 Man: The first cyborg manga and anime hero. Building on "Astro Boy", 8 Man helped to shape the trajectory of robot and cyborg heroes for the next decade." Legacy. The 8 Man franchise was revived in the early 1990s with 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 criticized for being tedious and relying too much on the gimmick of its speed-running effect. In 2009, he appeared in the crossover Shonen Sunday & Shonen Magazine White Comic" for the Nintendo DS. 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" (, lit. "8 Man - For All the Lonely Nights"), 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," although the latter was a much  more recent franchise. Section::::"8 Man After". In 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. It was licensed by Streamline Pictures where it went out of print until being released on DVD by Image Entertainment in 2001. It has since been released by Discotek Media in 2016 with Japanese audio, featuring English subtitles for the first time . Section::::"8 Man Infinity". A manga comic strip called is being authored by Kyoichi Nanatsuki under Kodansha, which is being serialized under Kodansha's "Magazine Z". Section::::"8 Man vs. Cyborg 009". A crossover between 8 Man and Cyborg 009 by Kyoichi Nanatsuki (script) and Masato Hayate (art), began serialization in "Champion Red" on July 18, 2020. References. Notes