A Phantom Dog (まぼろしの犬 Maboroshi no Inu) is the twentieth episode of the first season of Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier. It loosely adapts the "Phantom Dog" side-story that ran in the "Cyborg Soldier" serialization in Separate Shonen King.
Plot Summary[]
When a series of mysterious and deadly fires occur at random throughout Tokyo, Japan, suspicions rise among the 00 Cyborgs that Joe Shimamura's new pet dog, Kubikuro, is to blame for it.
Recap[]
On a snowy day in Tokyo, a man is killed when he is suddenly and horrifically burned in the middle of a public area.
At Chang Changku's restaurant the next morning, Chang is busy preparing for the day while Great Britain is reading the daily newspaper, when the latter discovers the news of last night's burning and tells Chang about it. However, angry that his co-worker is slacking off, Chang threatens him to get to work or else. At Dr. Gilmore's house, Dr. Gilmore is reading the same thing when he and Francoise Arnoul hear Joe's dog, Kubikuro, barking outside. Joe lets him in but is tackled by his eager pet; upon learning that he wants another walk, Joe is surprised but agrees.
After the two have their fun racing and playing fetch at the beach, Joe recalls meeting Kubikuro as a young pup during the spring season, when he came across his master displaying the intelligence of Kubikuro's parents by using number cards. However, when he met the dog later, Joe discovers that Kubikuro's family was killed by a twice-hit-and-run car accident. Before he took the young dog in, he notices surgical scars on the heads of Kubikuro's parents, causing the cyborg to wonder if their master experimented on them.
That night, Joe goes out to give Kubikuro's dinner only to discover him gone. In one of Tokyo's subways, a shady-looking man sits at a bench when he, like the last mysterious fire victim, suddenly bursts into fire, causing him to jump in front of an incoming subway train. The next morning, Joe finds Kubikuro barking outside and lets him in. Dr. Gillmore is looking for his newspaper and finds that Kubikuro has taken it for him. Joe is about to cook breakfast for his pet when Dr. Gilmore discovers the news of another mysterious fire. Ivan Whisky speculates that the fires were not purely accidental, causing Joe to look at Kubikuro in wonder.
At Chang's restaurant, Great Britain yells for another order, while Chang has a hard time keeping up with the pace. Great Britain makes fun of the situation by transforming himself into a six-armed cat, annoying Chang greatly, all while Joe and Kubikuro watch. While Joe and Kubikuro walk at the countryside, the dog mysteriously starts growling at a car abandoned at a roadside ditch. Prompted by this, Joe calls the police, but then he notices his dog's eyes glowing an eerie red.
After watching the news at Chang's restaurant, Great Britain expresses his thoughts that the two fire victims were somehow directly connected to the murder of Kubikuro's parents and master. Chang joins in by suggesting that the reasons behind the mysterious fire was that Kubikuro's master was seeking revenge in the afterlife for killing him and his two dogs, scaring Great Britain. Joe looks at his dog, now with suspicion.
That night, after seeing Kubikuro leave the house, Joe follows him in secret until he comes across an abandoned factory building, where two men are hiding out - they are revealed to be the two other people involved in the hit-and-run accident, except one of them purposefully ran them over again to make sure their victims were dead. Suddenly they are confronted by Kubikuro, who mentally sets the driver on fire while the other, feeling repentant and fearful for his life, flees and begs Joe to rescue him from the dog. Joe, notified of his pet's presence, starts calling Kubikuro's name, only to have the dog run off in regret of being discovered by his master.
While watching the news of last night's events with Dr. Gilmore, Francoise assures Joe that Kubikuro would come back at a later time, since he didn't come home the night before; however Joe isn't so sure. As the police are transporting the last hit-and-run culprit to their headquarters, Joe follows Kubikuro in a race with intentions to save the last would-be victim. On the highway, Kubikuro stalls the police car in order to draw the culprit out so he can kill him.
He is stalled temporarily when Joe calls the dog's name and tries to dissuade him from achieving his revenge, but when Kubikuro's target sees him and panics, he uses his powers to set him on fire. Joe, however, gets in the way to protect the target, but instead of dying from the fire, the fire burns off his civilian clothes and reveals his 00 Cyborg uniform. Joe tries to persuade Kubikuro one more time, but instead the dog causes the police car to explode, isolating his target so he can set him on fire. A police officer's hands are also set on fire when he tries to shoot the dog. Joe shoots Kubikuro as a last resort, but by the time he realizes it his friend is already dead.
In the aftermath of the event, Joe is mourning at Kubikuro's grave while Great Britain, Ivan, Francoise, Chang, and Dr. Gilmore sadly look on. Chang wonders if Kubikuro's master was killed because of his connections to Black Ghost. Dr. Gilmore explains that unless there is enough evidence to prove it, it is merely speculation. Great Britain wonders if the powers Kubikuro got came from the result of his parents' surgical alterations, and Ivan explains that it could be true, and that his powers were activated from the strong hatred the dog felt towards his parents' murderers. Francoise comments on how sad and ironic for Kubikuro's hatred to originate from the strong love he had for his dead parents and master.
Joe says one last goodbye to Kubikuro's grave, and leaves the area with his friends.
Characters[]
The 00 Cyborgs[]
Allies[]
Villains[]
Notes[]
- Great Britain's transformation into a cat while inside Chang Changku's restaurant is a reference to a derogatory stereotype about how Asian people ate and used cat meat in their dishes.
- This is the second adaptation of "A Phantom Dog" to an animated format, this one being closer to the source material than the 1968 anime version.