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

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. 66 of the planned 78 episodes aired, however production on episodes 67-71 had begun before the company suddenly shut down.

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.

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 January 6th, 2001 which ended up being the final one to air. The series was originally planned to run until March 31st 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. According to a blog post on animation director Ichizou Kobayashi, the bankruptcy of Public & Basic resulted from debt and unpaid fees.

Episode 66 was likely the last episode to have been completed before the bankruptcy. It was rumoured that the original version of the episode with a promo for episode 67 was aired by mistake in some regions of Japan. Only a clip from a TV Tokyo airing has surfaced, which cuts the ending narration and includes a promo for episodes that were rebroadcast in place of episodes 67-78.

Titles for episodes 67-71 and descriptions for 67-69 were published in the February 2001 Animage. This information was likely sent out to the editors of the magazine before the episodes suddenly ended production.

List of Cancelled/Unaired Episodes

#	Episode Title	English Title	Planned Air Date	Status	Comment
67	NAZO NO YUKIOTOKO GEN WARU! 謎の雪男現わる!	Mystery of the Abominable Snowman!	Jan 13th, 2001	Lost	The plot for the episode was described in Animage as follows "Sakura City has become a winter wonderland. Suzuki's class decides to have a snowball fight, but then a suspicious figure appears. It was a yeti over 2 meters tall, covered in snow!" More details on this episode can be found in model sheets that were sold online. These include details on the new yeti characters, ants that would've been living within the yeti's fur as well as the formation of the teams during the snowball fight. The February 2001 issue of Kodansha TV Magazine also confirms the yeti would've attacked by firing energy beams from their eyes.
68	RAIBARU wa KOTAROU? ライバルはコタロー?	Rival of Kotaro?	Jan 20th, 2001	Lost	The Animage description for this episode reads "Kotaro is set to present at the Boy Robot Exhibition. Everyone assumes the genius Kotaro will take the grand prize, but a rival emerges. It's Kintaro, an irritatingly wealthy individual." The episode was promoted in the February 2001 issue of Kodansha TV Magazine. The artwork showcases Kuro fighting Kintaro's robot in the city, showcasing its normal and giant forms, as well as Kotaro's robot and Kintaro himself. The script for this episode is known to exist and is currently in the ownership of series director Nobuhiro Takamoto. In a January 2016 blog post by voice actress Makiko Ohmoto, she confirms the existence of the script as well as the fact that none of the cast had seen it before, confirming the episode was cancelled before the voices were recorded.
69	KINTAROU no RIBENJI キンタローのリベンジ	Revenge of Kintaro	Jan 27th 2001	Lost	This was the final episode to have its plot summary published in Animage. "Go-kun & his friends are troubled by the pranks of the crows. They defeated the crows once, but they came back with a vengeance, even more ferocious. Moreover, these crows have been upgraded with the latest mechanical parts, becoming mecha-crows!"
70	KOSUPURE SHOUJOU KAGUYA! コスプレ少女カグヤ!	Cosplay Girl Kaguya!	Feb 3rd 2001	Lost	While no plot description was ever revealed, the episode was promoted in the March 2001 issue of Kodansha TV Magazine. Details in this publication reveal some plot information. The episode would've focused on Kintaro's sister Kaguya roleplaying a video game alongside Kuro and Friends, who would've dressed up as the villains from the game. We see the outfits Kuro and Mi would've worn, Kaguya's flying machine as well as Kaguya herself.
71	AKUMA NI NATTA? GOKUN 悪魔になった? 剛くん	Did You Become A Devil? Go-kun	Feb 10th 2001	Lost	Nothing is known about this episode, except for the confirmation that the storyboards were finished before it was shelved.

Gallery

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  A document about the snowball fight subplot.

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  The model sheet for the yeti.

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  The model sheet for the ants.

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  The model sheet for Suzuki in a new outfit.

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  The cover of the script for episode 68 posted to Twitter by Makiko Ohmoto.

See Also

• Cyborg Kuro-chan "Episodes 61-64" (found original Japanese audio of anime series episodes; 2000)
• Cyborg Kuro-chan "Episode 66" (found episode of anime series; early 2000s)
• Cyborg Kuro-chan (partially found Malaysian English dub of anime series; early 2000s)