Finding Lost EPs of the Cyborg Kuro-Chan Animax ENG Dub
Dec 7, 2022 23:59:09 GMT
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Post by mikochikamatsu on Dec 7, 2022 23:59:09 GMT
Hello everyone!
I need some help in regards to this series called Cyborg Kuro-Chan. To give you a bit of a quick rundown of what this series is about, it’s basically about the cat of the same name who was turned into a cyborg by a mad scientist who goes by the name of Dr. Go. Though intended to be a part of his line of cybernetic cats, Kuro ended up escaping due to an oversight. As a result, he tries to balance his life between being a guard cat for his elderly owners and a vigilante dealing with all sorts of crazy situations. He isn’t the only one dealing with them since he also encounters a bunch of colorful characters with some of them connecting to himself in one way or another.
Originally published in Comic Bom Bom, the manga received an anime adaptation that long story, had a very troubled production leading to it in a legal limbo in regards to a full physical release. Despite this, it managed to gain a lot of dubs outside even though it isn’t released in the US for reasons unknown including English. While all of the anime episodes in the original Japanese audio can be found online in raw easily through places like the IA, the English dub is a different story.
The English dub is notable for being available only in SEA territories through Animax and only episodes 3-12 have been found in full. A part of episode 1 is found via the Vietnamese dub and that’s only through this scene:
Archive Link for Clips of EP1
The reason for this is because Speedy Video released 14 episodes through unofficial VCDs which allowed us to get a glimpse of what the dub is like. However, the guy who uploaded them, arthurjameshasoline, only had episodes 3-12 available in hand. Why he didn’t have ep 1, 2, 13, and 14 isn’t known at this time of writing.
As for how much the dub covered the anime, 65 episodes have been known to be dubbed thanks to Animax SEA TV schedules being archived online. The reason for this is that the anime went up to 66 episodes but the final episode isn’t dubbed due to the legal issues surrounding the production company Public & Basic. As a result, only EP 66 is the only to not be dubbed internationally.
The dub is also known for its rather… interesting casting choices. The original Japanese version has its fair share of unexpected cast members (such getting both the voice actor for both Kirby and Sepiroth on board for example) but the English version just takes it to a different direction. The latter is notable for the infamous voice direction for both Kuro and Mi in that the former sounds quite hoarse while the latter has a southern accent that’s nonsensical to fans of the series. Oh and Dr. Go sounding like Dr. Evil in this dub.
archive.org/details/cyborgkuro-chananimaxasiapromo/Episode+04
For a long time, the cast and studio responsible for this dub was unknown due to the credits showing the Japanese cast instead of the English cast. However, on September 19th, Yui-SenpaiTV found the literal lead of Kuro through his brother and announced it on a Discord server called the Cyborg Kuro-Chan Search Team. Here’s the screenshot:
And a few weeks later, did an interview for two of the voice actors in this dub:
YouTube Link to Interview
For those who want a quick little rundown, here’s a list of the known VAs and their characters in this dub:
And some interesting notes in regards to this dub:
As for why I’m asking for help, it’s because this series has been very overlooked by English-speakers and is ignored for a very long time. The CyKuro series is beloved in its homeland and the countries it was exported but due to the legal issues surrounding the anime, it became more and more obscure as time went on. It’s so obscure that places such as Reddit and 4Chan don’t even discuss it that much. Those who grew up with it loved it and are loyal to this day despite those setbacks. The creator himself even has interest in releasing it in English but the publisher, Kodansha doesn’t for some reason.
TL w/ Deepl: I'm sorry. I want a lot of people to read it myself, but the publishing situation is beyond me...
Link to Tweet
Because of how tiny the fanbase is these days, it makes searches like this harder than it should be. As far as I know in regards to how this dub can be found, there’s two ways. One, contacting the producers of this dub and two, asking anyone if they have recordings of this dub in their possession. The former is more tricky since there’s a high chance that it’s discarded and according to Shawn himself on Discord, Animax doesn’t have a good track record of backing up their shows. That and legal stuff to get the whole dub released.
The latter has a higher chance since it isn’t tied to those issues and are easier to share online. The only thing holding back is knowing which person knows who has a recording. However, if people share this post online, that would greatly increase chances of this dub being found! If you know someone who has recordings of the lost episodes in English or have them yourself, please let me know! If you have at the very least have memories of this dub and wish to share them, that’s fine too! As for those who want to help out, there’s also a Discord server dedicated to finding the English dub and other things of the series:
The Cyborg Kuro-Chan Search Team Invite
As for those who want to check out the series, currently the anime is being subbed by Jet Force whereas the original manga has only 4 chapters translated in English. If you wish to help out with either area and/or have some questions, please let me know!
Thank you for reading this post and have a nice day!
- Miko Chikamatsu
I need some help in regards to this series called Cyborg Kuro-Chan. To give you a bit of a quick rundown of what this series is about, it’s basically about the cat of the same name who was turned into a cyborg by a mad scientist who goes by the name of Dr. Go. Though intended to be a part of his line of cybernetic cats, Kuro ended up escaping due to an oversight. As a result, he tries to balance his life between being a guard cat for his elderly owners and a vigilante dealing with all sorts of crazy situations. He isn’t the only one dealing with them since he also encounters a bunch of colorful characters with some of them connecting to himself in one way or another.
Originally published in Comic Bom Bom, the manga received an anime adaptation that long story, had a very troubled production leading to it in a legal limbo in regards to a full physical release. Despite this, it managed to gain a lot of dubs outside even though it isn’t released in the US for reasons unknown including English. While all of the anime episodes in the original Japanese audio can be found online in raw easily through places like the IA, the English dub is a different story.
The English dub is notable for being available only in SEA territories through Animax and only episodes 3-12 have been found in full. A part of episode 1 is found via the Vietnamese dub and that’s only through this scene:
Archive Link for Clips of EP1
The reason for this is because Speedy Video released 14 episodes through unofficial VCDs which allowed us to get a glimpse of what the dub is like. However, the guy who uploaded them, arthurjameshasoline, only had episodes 3-12 available in hand. Why he didn’t have ep 1, 2, 13, and 14 isn’t known at this time of writing.
As for how much the dub covered the anime, 65 episodes have been known to be dubbed thanks to Animax SEA TV schedules being archived online. The reason for this is that the anime went up to 66 episodes but the final episode isn’t dubbed due to the legal issues surrounding the production company Public & Basic. As a result, only EP 66 is the only to not be dubbed internationally.
The dub is also known for its rather… interesting casting choices. The original Japanese version has its fair share of unexpected cast members (such getting both the voice actor for both Kirby and Sepiroth on board for example) but the English version just takes it to a different direction. The latter is notable for the infamous voice direction for both Kuro and Mi in that the former sounds quite hoarse while the latter has a southern accent that’s nonsensical to fans of the series. Oh and Dr. Go sounding like Dr. Evil in this dub.
archive.org/details/cyborgkuro-chananimaxasiapromo/Episode+04
For a long time, the cast and studio responsible for this dub was unknown due to the credits showing the Japanese cast instead of the English cast. However, on September 19th, Yui-SenpaiTV found the literal lead of Kuro through his brother and announced it on a Discord server called the Cyborg Kuro-Chan Search Team. Here’s the screenshot:
And a few weeks later, did an interview for two of the voice actors in this dub:
YouTube Link to Interview
For those who want a quick little rundown, here’s a list of the known VAs and their characters in this dub:
- Kuro = Shawn Pleavin
- Dr. Go = Colin Shevloff
- Ji-san/Grandpa = Rik Thomas
- Ba-san/Grandma, Nana, Kotaro = Andrea Kwan
- Ichiro Suzuki = Henry Coombs (Yes that’s a real last name)
- Matatabi and Romeo = Scott Evans
And some interesting notes in regards to this dub:
- The dub is done by Omni Productions, making it a HK dub.
- Kuro’s voice in this dub was Shawn reusing that voice from an anime called The Legend of Snow White. Here, he plays the role of the bat but unfortunately, the one found online on places like MondoTV uses a different voice cast thus making this version lost.
- The Announcer’s voice is Micheal’s speaking voice and they chose him to voice Mi as a work around.
- Matatabi’s voice in the English dub is a genuine Australian accent due to his VA growing up there.
- Dr. Go’s voice is indeed inspired by Dr. Evil.
- Even though this dub only aired in SEA territories, it is made with Western audiences in mind.
- The VCDs aren’t involved with the Animax staff at all.
- The dub’s script is improvised because the original script was translated from the Cantonese dub and it’s translated poorly in English.
As for why I’m asking for help, it’s because this series has been very overlooked by English-speakers and is ignored for a very long time. The CyKuro series is beloved in its homeland and the countries it was exported but due to the legal issues surrounding the anime, it became more and more obscure as time went on. It’s so obscure that places such as Reddit and 4Chan don’t even discuss it that much. Those who grew up with it loved it and are loyal to this day despite those setbacks. The creator himself even has interest in releasing it in English but the publisher, Kodansha doesn’t for some reason.
TL w/ Deepl: I'm sorry. I want a lot of people to read it myself, but the publishing situation is beyond me...
Link to Tweet
Because of how tiny the fanbase is these days, it makes searches like this harder than it should be. As far as I know in regards to how this dub can be found, there’s two ways. One, contacting the producers of this dub and two, asking anyone if they have recordings of this dub in their possession. The former is more tricky since there’s a high chance that it’s discarded and according to Shawn himself on Discord, Animax doesn’t have a good track record of backing up their shows. That and legal stuff to get the whole dub released.
The latter has a higher chance since it isn’t tied to those issues and are easier to share online. The only thing holding back is knowing which person knows who has a recording. However, if people share this post online, that would greatly increase chances of this dub being found! If you know someone who has recordings of the lost episodes in English or have them yourself, please let me know! If you have at the very least have memories of this dub and wish to share them, that’s fine too! As for those who want to help out, there’s also a Discord server dedicated to finding the English dub and other things of the series:
The Cyborg Kuro-Chan Search Team Invite
As for those who want to check out the series, currently the anime is being subbed by Jet Force whereas the original manga has only 4 chapters translated in English. If you wish to help out with either area and/or have some questions, please let me know!
Thank you for reading this post and have a nice day!
- Miko Chikamatsu
