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. 8 Man is considered Japan‘s earliest cyborg superhero, pre-dating Kamen Rider. 

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.

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” – 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.

Original Japanese manga story titles

Novella stories

• 怪人ゲーレン (Kaijin Geren) – Galen, the Mystery Man
• サタンの兄弟 (Satan no Kyodai) – Satan’s Brothers
• 怪力ロボット007 (Kairiki Robotto 007) – Strange Powered Robot 007
• 光線兵器レーザー (Kosen Heiki Reza) – The Laser Beam Gun
• 超人サイバー (Chojin Saiba) – Cyber, the Superhuman
• 人間ミサイル (Ningen Misairu) – The Human Missile
• 殺人ロボット005 (Satsujin Robotto 005) – Murderous Robot 005
• 魔女エスパー (Majo Esupa) – Esper, the Witch
• 超人類ミュータント (Chojinrui Myutanto) – Superhuman Mutant
• 魔人コズマ (Majin Kozuma) – The Demon Kozuma

The strip’s artist Jiro Kuwata was imprisoned for possession of a handgun before the final 16-page serial of “The Demon Kozuma” was completed. The final serial was drawn by Takaharu Kusunoki for the magazine version. Jiro Kuwata later redrew the final pages of the story himself by request of Kazumasa Hirai and Rim Publishing, so that they could publish a complete version of the final story.^{[citation needed]} The publishers were not able to use Kusunoki’s artwork, so the story was omitted or left incomplete in previous official releases^{[citation needed]}

Short episode stories

• 死刑囚タランチュラ – The Condemned Criminal Tarantula
• 決闘 – The Duel
• シャドウ・ボクサー – Shadow Boxer
• 復讐鬼ゴースト – Vengeful Demon Ghost
• 超振動砲 – The Super Vibration Gun
• マッド・マシン – Mad Machine
• サイボーグPV1号 – Cyborg Number PV1
• 殺し屋イライジャ – The Assassin Elijah
• 燃える水 – Burning Water
• 幽霊ハイウェイ – Phantom Highway
• 太陽衛星サンダー (単行本未収録) – Solar Satellite “Thunder” (unreleased story)

This was intended as a lead-in to a series of 23 manga stories adapted from the TV series.

Original Japanese TV series episode titles

1. エイトマン登場 – Introducing Eightman
2. 殺し屋ゲーレン – Galen, the Hitman
3. サタンの兄弟 – Satan’s Brother
4. 死刑台B3 – The B3 Gallows
5. 暗黒カプセル – The Darkness Capsule
6. 黄金ギャング – The Gold Gang
7. 消音ジェット機 – The Stealth Jetplane
8. 超小型ミサイル – The Ultra Micro Missile
9. 光線銃レーザー – The Lazer Ray Gun
10. ロボット007 – Robot 007
11. まぼろしの暗殺者 – The Phantom Assassin
12. 海底のウラン – The Undersea Uranium
13. 人間パンチカード – The Human Punch Card
14. スーパーパイロット – The Super Pilot
15. 黒い幽霊 – The Black Ghost
16. 怪盗黄金虫 – Goldbeetle, the Mysterious Thief
17. 超音波ドクター – The Ultrasonic Wave Doctor
18. 台風男爵 – The Typhoon Baron
19. ゲーレンの逆襲 – Galen Strikes Again
20. スパイ指令100号 – Spy Directive No. 100
21. ロボットタイガー – The Robot Tiger
22. ゼロへの挑戦 – Challenge to Zero
23. ナポレオン13世 – Napoleon the 13th
24. サラマンダー作戦 – Operation: Salamander
25. 超人サイバー – Cyber, the Superhuman
26. 地球ゼロアワー – Zero Hour: Earth
27. 大怪物イーラ – Eeler, the Giant Monster
28. バクテリア作戦 – Operation: Bacteria
29. 人間ミサイル – The Human Missile
30. サイボーグ人間C1号 – Cyborg No. C1
31. 幽霊ハイウェイ – The Phantom Highway
32. 太陽衛星サンダー – Thunder, the Solar Satellite
33. 人工生命ヴァルカン – Vulcan, the Artificial Lifeform
34. 決闘 – The Duel
35. 冷凍光線 – The Freeze Ray
36. バイラス13号 – Virus No. 13
37. 悪夢の7日間 – The 7 Day Nightmare
38. 怪人ゴースト – The Mysterious Ghost
39. まぼろしを作る少年 – The Boy Who Made a Phantom
40. 透明ロボット・ジュピター – Jupiter, the Invisible Robot
41. エイトマン暗殺指令 – Order: Assassinate Eightman
42. 女王蜂モンスター – The Queen Bee Monster
43. 魔女エスパー – Esper, the Witch
44. 世界電撃プラン – The World Blitz Plan
45. 死刑囚タランチュラ – Tarantula, the Condemned Criminal
46. 空飛ぶ魔人 – The Flying Devil
47. バブル・ボール作戦 – Operation: Bubble Ball
48. 火星人SAW – SAW, the Martian
49. 30億人の人質 – 3 Billion Hostages
50. 怪像ジャイアント – Giant, the Mysterious Statue
51. 狙われた地球 – Target Earth
52. 人喰魚ピラニア – The Man-Eating Piranha
53. ムタールの反乱 – Moutard’s Rebellion
54. シャークの掟 – Law of the Shark
55. 超人類ミュータント(前編) – Superhuman Mutant (Part One)
56. 超人類ミュータント(後編) – Superhuman Mutant (Part Two)

• “Good-Bye Eight-Man” – a special look back at the TV series.

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:

• Yokota/Azuma/8 Man – Special Agent Brady/Tobor (“robot” spelled backward)/8th Man
• Tani – Professor Genius
• Tanaka – Chief Fumble Thumbs
• Sachiko – Jenny Hartsweet
• Ichiro – Skip

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 (8マン・すべての寂しい夜のために, 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.

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.

8 Man Infinity

A manga comic strip called 8 Man Infinity (8マンインフィニティ Eitoman Infiniti) is being authored by Kyoichi Nanatsuki under Kodansha, which is being serialized under Kodansha’s Magazine Z.

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.

8 Man
Image from the 1960s television series
エイトマン (Eitoman)
Manga
Written by	Kazumasa Hirai
Illustrated by	Jiro Kuwata
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1963 – 1966
Volumes	5
Anime television series
Directed by	Haruyuki Kawajima
Music by	Tetsuaki Hagiwara
Studio	TCJ
Original network	TBS
English network	AU Nine Network
Original run	7 November 1963 – 31 December 1964
Episodes	56
Live-action television film
8 Man Has Returned
Directed by	Akinori Kikuchi
Written by	Masakazu Shirai
Original network	Fuji TV
Released	31 August 1987
Live-action film
8 Man Before: Subete no Sabishii Yoru no Tame ni
Directed by	Yasuhiro Horiuchi
Produced by	Isao Urushidani
Written by	Mitsuyuki Miyazaki Junko Suzuki
Music by	Carole King
Released	1992
Original video animation
8 Man After
Directed by	Yoriyasu Kogawa
Produced by	Koji Honda Norihisa Abe Shinji Komori
Studio	J.C.Staff
Licensed by	NA Discotek Media
Released	August 21, 1993 – November 22, 1993
Runtime	25–30 minutes (each)[1]
Episodes	4
Manga
8 Man After
Written by	Masahiro Suematsu
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Magazine
Demographic	Shōnen
Original run	1994 – 1995
Volumes	1
Manga
8 Man Infinity
Written by	Kyoichi Nanatsuki
Illustrated by	Takayuki Takashi
Published by	Kodansha
Magazine	Magazine Z
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	2005 – 2007
Volumes	6