Cyborg 009 was one of my favorite series that played on Toonami back when it was on Cartoon Network. I actually wish the series was available now. But until it becomes available again, I guess I can settle for the new cross-over OVA called Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman. Wait, who’s Devilman? Guess we will find out in this review. Two iconic stars in the anime universe are about to collide.
The series begins with the Cyborg crew finding out that Tokyo has a demon problem and it seems to be getting worse. They suspect that Black Ghost, a secret terrorist organization, is somehow behind the problem and has set out to find out exactly what is going on. Cyborg 009 (voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch) investigates an area where a demon was sighted. During this investigation, Cyborg 009 comes face to face with a demon called Devilman (voiced by Bryce Papenbrook). After defeating a different demon, Devilman finds Cyborg 009 hiding behind a tree and naturally thinks that he is another enemy and a fight ensues. The fight eventually comes to a draw when they incapacitate each other.
Other members of the cyborg team find out that Black Ghost is indeed behind recent events, but something isn’t right about the other cyborgs they come across. These cyborgs are technologically superior and they seem to be more powerful than they are. Everything ramps up and we discover who is actually is behind all this, why the demons are involved and exactly what happens when these two worlds come together.
So is this OVA worth the watch. Absolutely! Let’s talk about the positives. First, Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman is not lacking in the action department. Every episode has action. It also has blood, a lot of blood. You would think that having blood in this setting would be an issue since the OVA is mainly set in the Cyborg 009 universe but it does not feel out of place. Comedy is thrown in as well, but not so much to cause inconsistences in the tone of series. Lastly, it’s worth noting that this OVA is told over just 3 episodes and can be watched in under 2 hours so if you don’t like it, well it’s not really a waste of time.
However, there are some negatives to this OVA. First, if you have never seen Cyborg 009 or Devilman, it may be hard to get into this series. It’s especially hard to get into the series if you haven’t seen Cyborg 009 since the OVA largely takes place in that universe. One other negative is the pacing over the 3 episodes. The OVA feels rushed and compacted and I feel that they could have taken at least one or two more episodes to give the story some more breathing room.
All in all this OVA is worth the watch and I recommend that you take the time to see it. As for a score, I give Cyborg 009 Vs. Devilman a 7 out of 10.
You can stream Cyborg 009 Vs. Devil right now on Netflix.