Cyborg 009 VS Devilman

Cyborg 009 vs Devilman is the latest offering in both the Cyborg 009 and Devilman franchise.

Some background first: A young Go Nagai (Devilman) initially worked with the creator of Cyborg 009, Shotaro Ishinomori as an assistant for about 2 years before his own professional debut. As such, Nagai had high respect for the legendary artist. This collaboration is born out of genuine love for both series.

On the surface, this might seem to be just a simple crossover between Cyborg 009 vs Devilman, but it's more than that. It actually involves a plot involving high teens cyborgs (Cyborgs that were made after 0013) that ... are unleashed upon our heroes by Dr. Adams. Add Devilman and co to the mix, and you have a completely original story with completely original characters, and yet the OVA still manages to insert itself into both manga's canon, without hurting each other.

The art and animation is crisp and clear as day. It has a few QUALITY moments, but overall, the production value was good.

Sound was good too. The opening by JAM Project is particularly a joy to watch and listen to, , but the marvel-like ending was amazingly done. It was essentially a montage of scenes taken directly from the source material (The manga of both Cyborg 009 and Devilman).

This was one of my highly anticipated anime of the year, and I wasn't disappointed.

However the only negative thing I could think of is that this series was made for the fans of the original comics, and its appeal might be lost on newcomers to both franchises. That said, if you've never read Cyborg 009 or Devilman, I still suggest you do give it a try if you can find a subbed copy. (Unfortunately, the anime still is not subbed as of 2015)

As a fan of the Cyborg 009: The Cyborg soldier -series, I found this quite hard to watch and enjoy. Overall the movie itself looks good, however, it does look a little bit funny when the two art styles collide - they don't quite go together.

The characters unfortunately lack character and are just there to make you feel nostalgia - "oh my god! it's the whole crew!". It just didn't feel right; they all just pull off a move or two and then their role is pretty much done. So, character development is non-existing. It was also disappointing, that the whole voice crew (at least ... the 009 side) was totally a re-cast and some of the voices didn't match the faces.

The plot itself seems forced and lacks surprises. The ending was quite underwhelming as well. And to those who liked the last fight I say: that was some silly shit. I MUST SPOIL THIS! The last move Joe/009 pulls off should have killed him, since it pretty much is the same thing that gets him dead in the cyborg soldier -series. I would let it slide if this was taking place in another universe, but it isn't; The movie clearly takes place between the Mythos arc and the last arc of Cyborg Soldier (with the human clones, Zattan/Zartan etc.), which brings me to another weird point.

For some reason this movie takes the original characters from the Mythos arc and Artemis is not present at all and is replaced with the original Helena; However they used the same model which is used as the design of the 5 cloned sisters in the CS series so it got me confused a little bit, since during the arc that takes place after the movie should include all the cloned sisters, that look exactly the same as Helena (though she shouldn't be confused with Helen in CS). Thus this movie can and can't be placed in between those arcs. They should've used another design for her since most of the other characters (including her brother Apollo) got their appearance re-touched - it could have saved some people from the confusion, if they haven't seen or read the versions before CS. In short, it was disappointing not to see Artemis, since on my opinion she is a lot more interesting character than her original counter part Helena.

Overall it was fun to look at but it doesn't give me the impression to encourage other fans of the series to watch this. A good try, but nope.

Wellllll, this kinda sucked lol. Let me ask a question! Who here has actually seen the Cyborg 009 anime? *a few people raise their hands* OK, who here has actually seen the Devilman anime? *Even less people raise their hands* Exactly! Why the HELL did Netflix think it'd be a good idea to have a crossover between these two VERY different series?! I could see Cyborg 009 vs. Android Kikaider (y'know, 2 works by the same author?) but Cyborg 009 vs Devilman?! It's strange enough that this crossover that NOBODY asked for exists at all, but it's even stranger that Netflix would pick this up ... and think casual anime fans would be interested. This series requires intimate knowledge of BOTH Cyborg 009 and Devilman, neither of which are exactly popular with today's anime fans. Great job, Netflix!

This OVA starts out with the best part, a cliff's notes version of the "mythos cyborg arc" from the 009 show, and it's only downhill from there. While it was a cool "what if" thing to see the cyborgs continue on past 0013 from the original with new enemies 0014, 0015, etc. I kept wishing we could leave out the Devilman segments. Akira's world of demons and Joe's world of cyborgs just never gelled together; it's like mixing oil and water! This isn't just me hating on Devilman, I really think the Devilman segments screwed up the tone of the series! We go from a more traditional superhero show for a younger audience with the cyborgs to suddenly women's breasts have mouths and Devilman is ripping off a monster's penis?! Ugh, I hated the inconsistent tone. This is also a show that assumes you already know everything about both Cyborg 009 and Devilman, as they waste no time with character or storyline intros. The OVA even brings in a bunch of new characters to keep track of for both Devilman and Cyborg 009, but even these new ones have very rushed development.

I honestly had no clue what was going on by the end. What was the villain's plan? Create a cyborg demon (yes it's as stupid as it sounds) and rule the world I guess? It's just too much of a clusterfuck of characters and stories to keep track of. You can get some much needed backstory for Akira and his friends by watching the 10-episode Devilman Crybaby (also on Netflix), but here's the catch: A) Crybaby sucks and B) That's still only half the background info you need to understand this OVA. You still have to watch the 009 anime too! Even if you watch both you'll STILL be confused!! I must also warn you this anime makes the INEXCUSABLE mistake of spoiling the Crybaby twist that Ryo is actually Lucifer! Seriously, watch the OP closely where they smash cut from Lucifer to Ryo, even though Lucifer form Ryo never even appears in this OVA. (BTW if Ryo has angelic powers why does he keep having to use guns?)

Now, there were a few things I liked. I thought Miki's personality here was 100% better than her Crybaby incarnation, where she was a perfect borderline Mary Sue. Miki is tough and sassy as hell and I loved her (assuming this is closer to her personality in the manga). The animation was fantastic and the artwork was detailed (though the 2 styles really clashed when Devilman characters interacted with 009 characters). I liked all of the action scenes, such as when 009 dodged Ryo's shotgun shells and knocked him over by running past him super fast and whipping up wind. I liked the redesigns of the cyborg costumes, such as that glowing that appears whenever they use their powers. I thought Johnny Yong Bosch did fine in the role of 009, though I really miss Joshua Seth from the original and wonder why they couldn't get him back.

What was the point of this crossover? Should you watch this? Well, are you willing to watch both the 10-episode Devilman Crybaby AND 51-episode Cyborg 009 just to get all the necessary backstory in order to watch this cheesy, dumb 3-part OVA? I don't think it's worth it! 4/10