Cyborg Kuro-chan (partially found Malaysian English dub of anime series; early 2000s)

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Cyborgkurochan.jpg

Promotional art of the anime.

Status: Partially Found

Cyborg Kuro-chan (サイボーグクロちゃん) is a Japanese multimedia franchise created by Naoki Yokouchi. The series is about the titular cat named Kuro, who is kidnapped and turned into a cyborg by the evil Dr. Go, intending to use him for world domination. It began as a children's manga series published in Comic Bom Bom, but soon received an anime adaptation in 1999. It was animated by Studio Bogey, produced by Public & Basic, and aired from October 2nd, 1999, to January 6th, 2001 on TV Tokyo in Japan.

In 2004, an English dub of the series began to air in parts of Southeast Asia on the channel Animax Asia, making it one of the first shows to debut on the network. Unfortunately, most Animax Asia dubs are incredibly rare, as it's uncommon for the channel to release their dubs onto streaming services or home video due to licensing issues with both American and Japanese licensors.[1] However, VCDs (Video CDs) of the Cyborg Kuro-chan English dub have surfaced online as early as April of 2003, predating the Animax Asia dub by nearly a year. 14 out of the 65 episodes were released on VCD. Out of those 14 episodes, 10 have fully surfaced, making the Cyborg Kuro-chan English dub partially found.

History

The exact premiere date of the dub is unknown. Animax Asia began to advertise the English dub on January 25th, 2004,[2] just weeks after their channel launched in Southeast Asia.[3] Though it’s unknown if Cyborg Kuro-Chan was one of their debut shows, 65 episodes were dubbed into English through an archive of Animax South Asia’s schedule on March 2nd, 2006.[4] However, the dub was recorded around 2001 according to Shawn Pleavin, the English voice actor of Kuro.

The English dub had the cast and recording studio left uncredited for a long time since episodes 3-10, 11, and 12 retain the Japanese cast credits for reasons unknown. This changed when on September 19th, 2022, a user on Lost Media Wiki named YuiHaruhara announced on Twitter that they found Shawn Pleavin and have more information coming soon at the time.[5] Prior to releasing it, they also had Twitter users ask questions to Shawn Pleavin in regards to the dubs and his experience on it. Later on, before YuiHaruhara released the interview with Shawn Pleavin, they also revealed the cast list and characters from said interview through a Tweet on September 24, 2002.[6]

This is the list of the cast members and the characters they voiced according to Shawn Pleavin:

  • Kuro = Shawn Pleavin
  • Grandpa/Ji-San = Rik Thomas
  • Grandma/Ba-San, Nana, and Kotaro = Andrea Kwan
  • Announcer and Mi (a.k.a Mi-Kun) = Michael Quinn
  • Dr. Go = Colin Shevloff
  • Ichiro Suzuki = Henry Coombs
  • Matatabi and Romeo = Scott Evans

YuiHaruhara also revealed on the same day that the director of the dub is Ina Chow and that the dub was recorded at Omni Productions.[6]  

On September 26, 2022, YuiHaruhara revealed through a Tweet that Colin Shevloff, scriptwriter, voice director, and the English voice actor of Dr. Go, came to interview them and asked Twitter users to send questions to him.[7] Then on October, 15th, 2022, YuiHaruhara released the interview for both Shawn Pleavin and Colin Shevloff on YouTube with information in regards to the production of the English Dub, their experience with it, and the VCD releases.

Production

The English dub is notable for taking liberties from the original Japanese version in terms of translation and voice direction along with its small cast. For the translation, the script was made with standard English-speaking tastes in mind despite the dub being released only in SouthEast Asian territories. The reason for those liberties is because according to Colin Shevloff, the company responsible for initially translating the script did a lackluster job on it. Though he couldn’t recall the exact name of said company, Colin remembered meeting up with a woman who worked for TVB at their old parking lot and was given the script from her car. However, when he reviewed the script, Colin ended up throwing it away for its nonsensical translation from Chinese to English and opted to rewrite from scratch. Colin enjoyed Cyborg Kuro-Chan though so he watched and tried to figure out what he thought was going on and wrote the story and characters around it.

As for the cast, Colin Shevloff relieved that the cast consists of people he worked with and knew at the time, which resulted in some voice actors voicing multiple characters in the same show. While this is a common practice around the world, in Hong Kong, English dubs made there are done cheaply and quickly, resulting in the quality being all over the place. Despite those setbacks, they had a lot of fun in the studio because in his own words, “it marked a point where we’d done some things differently and we had really enjoyed doing them”. Colin Shevloff also expressed interest in future Cyborg Kuro-Chan animated projects if given the opportunity to do so.

In regards to the voice direction, the dub is notable for having unusual voices for some of the characters such as Kuro, Mi (a.k.a Mi-Kun in the dub), and Dr. Go along with having two characters with confirmed voice actors but no present vocal samples. According to Shawn Pleavin, Kuro’s voice actor, his voice came from the time he dubbed one of the characters from the anime called The Legend of Snow White. The character in question is a bat that served as the henchman for the antagonist and would in his own words “fly out and spy on them”. The bat initially made high-pitched noises but when they reached to the point where the bat speaks, Shawn wanted to distance himself from using his natural voice since the other characters he voiced utilized it so he ended up with an unusual one instead. When it came to dubbing Cyborg Kuro-Chan, the same staff requested him to reuse the bat’s voice with some adjustments such as having a more scratchier tone. This resulted in the voice being harsh for him to do such as yelling to the point he took some medicine in between recordings. However, when he was asked to replicate it years after the dub ended, Shawn couldn't do it anymore due to consuming alcohol and smoking during those times. Despite this, Shawn had fond memories working on the show and had some souvenirs from his time there such as a Kuro plush.

For Mi’s voice, Shawn Pleavin revealed that the Announcer’s voice is close to Michael Quinn’s speaking voice so to get around it, they have Michael voice Mi with a Texan accent. Meanwhile, Dr. Go’s voice takes inspiration from Dr. Evil, the main antagonist of the Austin Powers film series according to Colin Shevloff. Colin recalls pulling a strange face while voicing Dr. Go in order to make it work but he doesn’t remember exactly what to do while recording. As for the two characters with confirmed voice actors, Nana and Matatabi are the two characters who don’t have their vocal samples available to the public. However, the latter’s voice is described to have an Australian accent due to him welding a boomerang and his voice actor, Scott Evans, growing up in Australia as reported by Shawn Pleavin.

Finally, when asked about the VCD releases, Colin Shevloff answered that no one had direct involvement in the release, making them unofficial.

Episodes

The table below contains information about the 14 English dubbed Cyborg Kuro-chan episodes released onto the VCDs. All episodes from 15-65 are considered completely lost. The descriptions from the VCDs also have 2 naming errors in that Mi and Dr. Go’s name is spelled Mi-Kun and Dr. Go respectively in the English script in an interview from Shawn Pleavin.

# English Title Description Availability
1 "Powerful Cyborg Cat is Born" "Kuro the cat is fed by an old couple (Grand-ba & Grand-ma), Kuro takes care of his home very well and the housebreaking never happens. Dr. Goal wants to transform Kuro into a powerful robot cat, which he is fully under his control. When Kuro finds himself transformed into a cyborg cat and is able to speak, he refused to follow Dr. Goal's instructions and rushes back to get married to his lover Puhrry. At the same time, Micoon is created by Dr. Goal to catch Kuro."[8] Found
2 "Robot Cats" "Micoon promised to catch Kuro and wanted to show proof that he is the strongest cyborg cat in the world. Micoon has set a trap to kidnap Kuro's Grand-ba & Grand-ma. Kuro has no choice but to take part in the competition. Of course, robot cats are not a threat to Kuro but Micoon, the final antagonist."[8] Found
3 "Inferno Highway" "Micoon possesses a powerful weapon after his transformation, he can transmute himself into everything he wants. They immediately kidnap the old couple again. A terrible race and battle started between Micoon and Kuro on the Highway. Finally, Micoon was flunked. In fact, Kuro does win in ruin."[9] Found
4 "Robot Giant Sam & Little Sam" "In order to beat Kuro, Dr. Goal invented Giant Sam and Little Sam. However, Dr. Goal has locked himself into the Giant Sam and the boom was activated accidentally. Micoon managed to delay the explosion of the activated boom for 24 hours, but he failed to save Dr. Goal from danger. Finally, under the cooperation between Micoon and Kuro, the robot crisis has been resolved.[9]

"

Found
5 "Micoon's Puppy Love" "Micoon is found to be in a gloomy state recently. Micoon told Kuro that he was saved by a female dog named Lily and has fallen in love with Lily. Since Lily is considered as Micoon's first love, Kuro decides to help Micoon. Everything goes smoothly under Kuro's plans until Dr. Goal has invented a Machine Dog for Micoon, who causes problems for them at last."[10] Found
6 "Abduction" "A high stranger appeared in Kuro's house one day and informed Kuro that Micoon had been kidnapped at Atlanta. Coincidentally, Gran-ba and Grand-ma are going to Atlanta for their honeymoon. Kuro shelters himself in luggage to protect Gran-ba and Grand-ma. They met the high stranger, who was under the control of an alien. Kuro managed to save Micoon and destroy the alien."[10] Found
7 "The Biggest Ghost - Buster Graming History" "Romeo felt bored and decided to use Dr. Goal, Grand-ba and Grandma's life as a threat to force Kuro and Micoon to play a game with him. In order to complete the game, Kuro and Micoon must press the button within 2 hours."[11] Found
8 "Icon Competition Between Kuro and Micoon" "Kuro decided to join the tracking tour with Suzuki and schoolboys. Kuro has never known that he will meet Micoon. In the bus, Micoon seems to be an icon and popular to all schoolboys. Kuro felt jealous about this."[11] Found
9 "Legend of the Hill Behind the School" "Kuro, Micoon, Dr. Goal, Romeo and kids decided to visit Mr. Suzuki. In the house of Suzuki, they found a map inherited by Suzuki's family and believed it was a rich place full of jewelry. All of the guys believe in the legend."[12] Found
10 "Traps" "They have well-equipped and begin their journey for treasure hunting. The first problem arose when they are faced with a dangerous and broken hanging bridge. They finally found the place with traps and snares. Could they overcome it?"[12] Found
11 "The Genius" "Kuro found another creature whose look-alike appeared on the TV and hijacked a battleship. It was unbelievable to Kuro as a genius kid planned this. In order to correct him, Kuro has done the best to stop him, even though he incurred a serious injury. The kid finally feels touched by Kuro's sincerity."[13] Found
12 "Monster Micoon" "Monster has the power to occupy a human's body. Micoon has offered himself to be the victim to exchange Dr. Goal's body, who was hurt by a monster. Monster Micoon then has a battle with Kuro, with the assistance of Dr. Goal and Kuro, Monster has been beaten and kept in a capsule ware."[13] Found
13 "Battle in Prison" "A genius kid has discovered a lonely lion in the zoo and decided to free the lion to the forest. However, with the assistance of Kuro and Micoon, the lonely lion had finally been killed. Dr. Goal had transformed the lion into a robot lion and forces the lion to stay forever with the genius kid."[14] Found
14 "The Genius's Experiment" "Dr. Goal agrees to be the master of the genius kid. The problem arose when the rat has been escaped from the experiment and rats are everywhere in the city, which caused terrors."[14] Found

Availability

14 episodes of the English dub were unofficially released on VCD by Speedy Video. Listings for these episodes can be found as far back as April of 2003.[15] Episodes 2, 13, and 14 currently remain lost. A few clips of Episode 1 have surfaced online via the Vietnamese dub’s voice-over, and can be found below on the Internet Archive. A clip of Episode 2 was online through YouTube at one point, but it’s blocked worldwide by Kodansha Copyright Administrator. However, the Youtube metadata exists through a website called Filmot.[16] As episodes 15-65 never received any sort of home video format, they'll be much harder to track down.

Lost Media Wiki forum user "arthurjameshasoline" (formerly Multi3463 on YouTube) has uploaded the raw VCD DAT files & scans of the discs containing episodes 3-10. Scans for the disc containing episodes 11 & 12 are present, as well.[17] On October 4th, 2019, "arthurjameshasoline" would update the thread with links for episodes 11-12, with help provided by Luke Davidson.

On January 3, 2024, episodes 1, 2, 13 and 14 were found thanks to a Discord user by the name of "Collectollider" owning the VCDs containing them. [18]

Currently, all available episodes, including promos, can be found on the Internet Archive by the user "Davo Domain".

Gallery

Video

A collection of different Cyborg Kuro-Chan English dubbed episodes and promos, uploaded by Internet Archive user "The Davo Domain" or formerly, "Davo Domain".

An interview of both Shawn Pleavin and Colin Shevloff, English voice actors on "Cyborg Kuro-Chan" by LMW User "YuiHaruhara."

Images

See Also

External Links

References

  1. An article on Anime News Network on Animax Asia's English Dubs and how they work by Justin Sevakis Retrieved 22 May '23
  2. An archived webpage, showing Cyborg Kuro-chan among many other Animax Asia shows. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  3. An archived webpage, teasing the launch of Animax Asia in Southeast Asia. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  4. An archive of Animax SouthAsia's Schedule from Mar. 2nd, 2006 Retrieved 22 May '23
  5. A Tweet about the identity of Kuro's English Voice Actor through Lost Media Wiki User YuiHaruhara Retrieved 22 May '23
  6. 6.0 6.1 The Cast List via YuiHaruhara's Tweet Retrieved 22 May '23
  7. A Tweet on Colin Shevloff, voice actor, scriptwriter, and director on the English dub of "Cyborg Kuro-Chan" Retrieved 22 May '23
  8. 8.0 8.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 1. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  9. 9.0 9.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 2. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  10. 10.0 10.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 3. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  11. 11.0 11.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 4. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  12. 12.0 12.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 5. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  13. 13.0 13.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 6. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  14. 14.0 14.1 An archived listing containing information about Cyborg Kuro-chan Vol. 7. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  15. An archived site that has VCDs of the Cyborg Kuro-chan English dub available for sale. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  16. An archive of Episode 2's metadata on Filmot.com Retrieved 22 May '23
  17. LMW forum post containing the raw VCD files for episodes 3-10. Retrieved 15 Dec '21
  18. https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1qvBWCVmR44S9iCt0dFOnuX2P18Xnbxx6