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Cyborg 009's 1st New Manga in 18 Years Posted Online
posted on by Egan Loo
Club Sunday, the free comic website of Shogakukan's Weekly Shonen Sunday magazine, posted the first new Cyborg 009 manga in 18 years on Friday. The late manga and anime pioneer Shōtarō Ishinomori (Kamen Rider, Kikaider) created the original Cyborg 009 manga about nine unsuspecting humans who are transformed into cyborgs by the secret Black Ghost organization. However, the nine cyborgs turn on their masters and protect the rest of humanity from Black Ghost's plans for world war.
The new one-shot manga, "Cyborg 009: Trump Tower," began as a script treatment that won the scenario category of the Cyborg 009 Manga Prize. (The "trump" in the title is a reference to the Japanese term for "playing cards," and not to the Trump Tower in New York City.) The winning writer happened to be Ryota Yamaguchi — the anime screenwriter responsible for overseeing Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, Digimon: Data Squad, and Project Blue Earth SOS. He also wrote the third episode of Cowboy Bebop, nine episodes of the Escaflowne television series, and Escaflowne: The Movie. Ishinomori's studio, Ishimori Production, drew the new manga. "Cyborg 009: Trump Tower" will remain online until February 24.
There have been three Cyborg 009 television anime series which premiered in 1968, 1979, and 2001. There have also been three theatrical anime films in 1966, 1967, and 1980. The Ghost in the Shell team of director Mamoru Oshii, composer Kenji Kawai, and the studio Production I.G unveiled a new stereoscopic 3D Cyborg 009 anime short this past October. Tokypop published part of the original manga in North America, and Itochu just launched a North American iPhone app with Cyborg 009 and other Ishinomori titles this week.
Ishinomori passed away in 1998, six years after the last Cyborg 009 manga ran in the Sankei Shimbun paper.
Source: animeanime.jp
Image © Shōtarō Ishinomori Ryota Yamaguchi Ishimori Production Inc./Shogakukan 2010
