Joe Shimamura aka Cyborg 009 is the main character of Shotaro Ishinomori's Cyborg 009 franchise and one of the main characters of the Cyborg 009 vs. Devilman OVA film. He was portrayed by Jun Fukuyama in the original Japanese version and by veteran voice actor Johnny Yong Bosch in the English dub.
Backstory[]
Joe Shimamura was a Japanese boy who at some point was abducted by the terrorist organization Black Ghost and converted into a cybernetic weapon. Before his captors could reprogram him to be a deadly killing machine, he and his fellow cyborgs broke free and then decided to wage war against the machinations of their former captors to stop their reign of terror.
The plot of the OVA starts at the climax of an adaptation of the Mythos Arc from the Cyborg 009 manga, as Joe is seen battling Achilles and then Apollo.
Appearance[]
Joe has light brown hair and through the OVA, has at least two uniforms. Both have a long flowing yellow scarf, and oversized gold buttons.
His initial 00 cyborg uniform is much like its classic appearance in the manga and previous animated incarnations, being more simple in design and only bearing one belt.
After the conflict with the Mythos Cyborgs and in the main events of the OVA, he wears a much more detailed red double breasted military uniform with a high collar, two belts, elbow pads, boots with knee pads, and a gun holster on one of his belts which carries his Super Gun.
When not in uniform, he is shown wearing a long-sleeved black shirt and a pair of jeans.
Abilities[]
Joe Shimamura was to be the prototype of a production model cyborg soldier concept for Black Ghost's army. As such, he has some of the powers of his other teammates, but in some cases to a lesser degree.
- Enhanced Senses: Based off of 003's sensory enhancements, Joe has the ability to see in the dark, super hearing, can smell things from far away and sense electromagnetic waves.
- Cybernetic Superhuman Strength: Joe has super strength thanks to muscle and bone enhancements based off of Cyborg 005's cybernetic enhancements. He is able to make large dents in objects or powerful shockwaves of air upon impact with a punch, which creator Shotaro Ishinomori once described as having the "kinetic force of a machine gun bullet".
- Internal Respirator: Joe can breathe underwater thanks to an internal respirator based off of Cyborg 008's cybernetics and filter out poison gases from his lungs for up to an hour.
- Accelerator: Joe's signature ability. By activating a switch in his back molar, Joe can move at supersonic speeds up to Mach 5, though in some cases he has demonstrated the ability to go faster such as near the speed of light. In this incarnation, the black lines on Joe's costume around the shoulders glow blue or yellow when he activates his acceleration. This ability comes with a price, as the air friction of his speed makes him unable to touch or carry other humans without hurting or killing them. Another limitation exclusive to the OVA is that 009 can only use Acceleration for so long on a time limit before his cybernetics begin to overheat, thus a safety limiter disables the Accelerator until it is safe to use again. When used with his strength and durability, 009 is able to spring up into the atmosphere and even come down onto a target with the force of a meteor.
At the end of the first episode, it is also shown that in the event of a cybernetic limb being damaged, Joe can activate a switch in a joint to pop the limb off.
Personality[]
Joe is a cool and sensitive person with a kind heart and a strong sense of justice. After his experiences with Black Ghost, 009 wants to prevent any catastrophe from befalling humanity. His faith in humanity makes Joe believe in his own power, no matter how strong or powerful an opponent is; looking down on those who see humanity as a weakness.
History[]
With the battle with the Mythos Cyborgs over, Joe is spending relaxing time with the rest of his team until Ivan wakes up and reports attacks by demons. Heading out to Tokyo, Joe stays with Francoise until picking out a place with the sight a Devil-like man. When Francoise senses panic and ghastly beings, Joe goes rushing out in his uniform. Upon arriving in the area, 009 encounters the devil from the footage. Thinking each other to be enemies, they begin their fight with even 009's speed not being enough to overpower Devilman. Eventually, they clash their fists with both fighters critically injuring their arms with Joe having to disconnect his arm to prevent a circuit explosion.
With Joe injured, Francoise takes him back to the Dolphin to recover. Dr. Gilmore repairs 009's arm with Joe explaining that his encounter with Devilman made him feel unsure if he was an enemy. Learning about the High-Teen Numbers Cyborgs and Dr. Adams Teufel, Joe and the other go towards their base but are caught in an illusion that affected the men. 009 sees his late mother but is brought out of the illusion seeing that the perpetrator was the demon Lilith. Lilith has her minions attack the Dolphin with 009 helping 002 when he was being attacked by the masses. The Dolphin is forced to crash land and anchor upon land to prevent any more damage but the Cyborgs survive.
The cyborgs upon exiting the Dolphin fight against Lilith and her hordes of monsters. 009 personally goes against Lilith herself while being a little overwhelmed by her pollen and vines. Eventually, he gets in one good hit with his Super Gun, causing Lilith to disintegrate. Upon finding the base, the cyborgs are greeted by the trio of High-Teen Numbers, 0014, 16, and 17. 009 is overwhelmed by 0014's accelerator and stamina and later sees Devilman flying over to the base.
The other cyborgs decide to fight the trio while 009 decides to assist Devilman fight against the Cyborg Daemon in the form of Atun. During the fight, 009 finds common ground with Devilman on his humanity while a pulse takes out the self-repairing functions of the High-Teen cyborgs and causes Atun to become the gestalt form of him and 0018, Azazel. This state overwhelms both 009 and Devilman until 0018 is spiritually separated from the body with Atun retaking form but without the enhancements. 009 manages to keep some of Atun's attacks from finishing off Devilman and weaken him with a meteoric body slam before Devilman finishes Atun off. 009 bears farewell to Devilman's human form, Akira as 009 and the others go back to Dr. Gilmore's residents until 001 alerts everyone about Black Ghost's next move.
Trivia[]
- Johnny Yong Bosch is more famously known for playing as Adam Park from the long-running tv series known as Power Rangers.
- This makes a very interesting relationship between Joe and his voice actor. Power Rangers was adapted from the Japanese tokusatsu series Super Sentai, another creation of Shotaro Ishinomori (creator of Cyborg 009).
- Furthermore, in the 2001 anime based on Cyborg 009, Joe was voiced by Joshua Seth who is known for voicing in works produced by Saban Entertainment (the creators of Power Rangers).
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- For more on Joe see the Cyborg 009 Wiki