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Mamoru Oshii, Production I.G Make 3D Cyborg 009 Anime (Updated)

The electronics maker Panasonic is sponsoring a stereoscopic 3D animation project of Shōtarō Ishinomori's classic science-fiction manga Cyborg 009 with director Mamoru Oshii and the studio Production I.G. The Cyborg 009 official fan club on the Yahoo! website began presenting details about the project to fan club members on Tuesday. The high-definition anime short, which is four minutes and 45 seconds long, will be unveiled at the Panasonic booth at the CEATEC Japan 2010 trade show. The show will run at the Makuhari Messe event center in Chiba, Japan from October 5 to October 8. Oshii's frequent collaborator Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell, Death Note films) is composing the music for the 5.1ch surround soundtrack.

In the original manga, the secret Black Ghost organization transforms nine unsuspecting humans into cyborgs. However, the nine cyborgs turn on their masters and protect the rest of humanity from Black Ghost's plans for world war.

There have already been three Cyborg 009 television anime series which premiered in 1968, 1979, and 2001. There have also been three theatrical anime films in 1966, 1967, and 1980.

Aeon Flux creator Peter Chung revealed in an 2008 Animation World Magazine interview that he wrote a story and redesigned the characters for an animated feature adaptation of Cyborg 009. There has been no confirmed connection between the new anime project and Peter Chung's pre-production work.

[Via Tadashi Sudo (animeanime.jp), Kyo-Kan.net]

Update: More background and story information added.

Update 2: Panasonic provided additional images:

Images © Ishimori Productions