8 Man (8マン, 8 Man?) or Eightman (エイトマン, Eitoman?) is a fictional manga and anime superhero created in 1963 by writer Kazumasa Hirai and artist Jiro Kuwata. He is considered Japan's earliest cyborg superhero, predating even Kamen Rider (the same year, Shotaro Ishinomori created Cyborg 009), and was supposedly the inspiration for RoboCop.
The manga was published in Weekly Shōnen Magazine and ran from 1963 to 1966. The anime series, produced by Eiken with the TCJ Animation Center, was broadcast on Tokyo Broadcasting System, and ran from November 17, 1963 to December 31, 1964, with a total of 56 episodes (plus the "farewell" special episode, "Goodbye, Eightman").
The story Murdered by criminals, Detective Yokota's body is retrieved by Professor Tani and taken to his laboratory. There, Tani performs an experiment that has failed seven times in the past; Yokoda is the latest subject to have his life force transferred into an android body. For the first time, the experiment is successful. Yokoda is reborn as the armor-skinned android 8 Man, able to dash at impossible speeds, as well as shape-shift into other people. He shifts himself into Yokoda, this time christening himself as "Hachiro Azuma". He keeps this identity a secret, known only to Tani, and his police boss Chief Otsuka. Even his girlfriend Sachiko and friend Ichiro don't know he's an android. As 8-Man, Hachiro fights assorted crime (even bringing his murderers to justice) to uphold justice and save the innocent.
The US version In 1965, 8 Man was brought to the U.S. as 8th Man.
The characters were renamed as follows:
Yokota/Azuma/8 Man - Special Agent Brady/Tobor ("robot" spelled backwards)/8th Man Tani - Professor Genius Tanaka - Chief FumbleThumbs Sachiko - Jenny Ichiro - Skip
The lyrics for the US series theme song:
There's a prehistoric monster that came from outer space. Created by the Martians to destroy the human race. The FBI is helpless, it's twenty stories tall! What can we do, who can we call? Call Tobor the 8th Man, Call Tobor the 8th Man. Faster than a rocket, quicker than a jet. He's the mighty robot, he's the one to get. Call Tobor the 8th Man. Quick call Tobor, the mightiest robot of them all!
