8 Man After [End Run VHS]

8 Man (8マン) or Eightman (エイトマン, Eitoman) or 8th Man (8人目, 8 Hitome, in the US) is a manga and superhero anime created in 1963 by science fiction writer Kazumasa Hirai and manga artist Jiro Kuwata.^[2] 8 Man is considered Japan's earliest cyborg superhero, pre-dating Kamen Rider. ^[3]

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 his 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.^[4]

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