Cyborg Kuro-chan (lost production material of cancelled/unaired episodes of anime series; 2001)

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Kuro-chan.png

The main character, Kuro.

Status: Lost

Cyborg Kuro-chan was an anime that aired from 1999-2001 with a planned 78 episodes. The anime adaptation of the manga was more toned down when compared to the manga. In January 2001 the show was cancelled after episode 66 due to the show's production company, PIBI filed for bankruptcy. With 66 of the 78 episodes aired, it is believed that PIBI began production on episodes 67-71 before their bankruptcy. The titles of these episodes do exist which gives fans of the series some idea of what they were about.

Plot

The plot of Cyborg Kuro-chan revolves around a cat named Kuro who cannot defend himself. One day while out on a date with his girlfriend, Kuro is kidnapped by an evil scientist named Dr. Go who turns Kuro into a robot and tries to make him apart of the Nyan-Nyan Army. After removing a chip that was embedded in him, Kuro sets off to defeat Dr. Go. Kuro ends up disguising himself with the skin of a stuffed animal but continues to live as a pet.[1]

Each episode would put Kuro's owners in danger and Kuro would have to rescue them from Dr. Go.

Cancellation

Episode 66 of the series aired on 6th January 2001 which ended up being the final one to air. The series was originally planned to run until 31st March for 78 episodes. This never happened due to two company bankruptcies that resulting in the end of production. Public & Basic or PIBI who handed the series production and planning, and Studio Bogey who handled the animation production.


Episodes 67-70 were featured as promos in a Japanese TV magazine and on 25th December 2014 a Twitter user posted two images showing the magazines that promoted episodes 69 and 70. On these pages, we can see the images of the characters Kintaro and Kaguya who were to debut in these unaired episodes, plus in the promo for episode 69, an image of the abominable snowman from episode 67 can be seen.

The promo for episode 69
The promo for episode 70

Starting with episode 54, all of the remaining episodes were animated with computers and it is likely that everything including the audio and frames was stored on them. It has been over a decade since the anime ended meaning that most if not all the computers used to make to animate the remaining episodes were possibly sold off. PIBI may have given out some of the storyboards when they went bankrupt since they previously did this with some animation cells that were used to make the earlier episodes.

Cancelled/Unaired Episodes

  • Episode 67 "謎の雪男現わる!" "nazo no yukiotoko arawaru!" "Mystery of the Abominable Snowman!"
  • Episode 68 "ライバルはコタロー?" "RAIBARU wa KOTAROU?" "Rival of Kotaro?"
    The cover of the script for episode 68 posted to Twitter by Makiko Ohmoto
  • Episode 69 "キンタローのリベンジ" "KINTAROU no RIBENJI" "Revenge of Kintaro"
  • Episode 70 コスプレ少女カグヤ KOSUPURE shoujo KAGUYA Cosplay Girl Kaguya!
  • Episode 71 "悪魔になった? 剛くん" "akuma ni natta? Go-kun" "Becoming a Devil? Go-kun"

References