| Tears of Steel Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier | |
|---|---|
| Season 1, Episode 5 | |
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| Air date | November 11, 2001 (TV Tokyo) July 4, 2003 (Toonami) |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous At the End of the Battle |
Next Search for the Professor |
Tears of Steel is the fifth episode of Cyborg 009: The Cyborg Soldier. It loosely adapts the rest of the introduction to the "Assassins" arc, focusing on the battle against 0011. It also adapts the origin story of Albert Heinrich, from the "Birth" arc in the manga.
Plot Summary[]
After winning the battle with the twin cyborgs 0010 Plus and Minus, the 00 Cyborgs are shortly confronted by another Black Ghost assassin, who once again proves too much for them to handle. Haunted by the loss of someone close to him, Albert Heinrich struggles to find closure as he fights to save his friends.
Recap[]
The episode begins during a rainstorm as Albert Heinrich attempts to cross the Berlin Wall with his fiancee Hilda, under the guise as a zoo animal deliveryman. When a wall guard notices that his ID card has been forged, Albert panics and attempts to drive through the gates, prompting the patrol guard to shoot at the truck he was driving. The truck eventually crashes into a ditch after being hit by rocket missiles and explodes.
A wounded Albert crawls out of the wreckage to find Hilda, who was hiding in the back of the truck, has been mortally wounded in the crash. Hilda asks him if they are free, and when Albert answers "Yes", she dies in his arms. Albert begs Hilda to stay with him and cradles her body as he screams her name.
In the present day, Albert, now "Cyborg 004" wakes up on the couch, having had previously dozed off. He takes a look at Hilda's engagement ring, which he attached to a necklace and kept as a tragic keepsake, and closes his fist around it.
Later, Dr. Kozumi is playing Go (a board game originating from China) by himself when he is visited by Albert. Dr. Kozumi invites him to play, but Albert politely refuses as he has patrol duties. He assures the old doctor that he won't be bothered anymore after he and his friends leave, but Dr. Kozumi tells them that he quite enjoys their company.
It is revealed that after the assault by Cyborg 0010 Plus and Minus, the 00 Cyborgs have established a routine patrol to watch out for future attacks from Black Ghost. Dr. Gilmore, who is overseeing the patrol from inside the Dolphin, is visited by Francoise Arnoul, who is physically exhausted from their past battle with 0010 Plus and Minus. Francoise wants to help her fellow cyborgs, too, but Dr. Gilmore out of concern convinces her to rest.
Suddenly Francoise's enhanced senses pick up the presence of a round object. Sure enough, Dr. Gilmore's radar devices detect an object headed their way through the forest, where Pyunma and Geronimo, Jr. are stationed. However, they are unable to see where it is approaching. Using his sixth sense, Junior discovers that the object is coming from below ground.
Right after this, the ground cracks open and the object, revealed to be Cyborg 0011, emerges. 0011 makes quick work of Pyunma and Junior, encasing them in a hard white goo that cocoons them. Albert rushes to their aid and tries to fight 0011, but he falls, too. It is clear that 0011 has been sent by Black Ghost to kill the 00 Cyborgs in return for a human body of his own.
Fortunately, Albert is rescued by the timely intervention of Joe Shimamura, Jet Link, Chang Changku, and Great Britain. They try to engage 0011 from all sides, but they are unable to penetrate his impervious metal body. During the battle, Joe notices that 0011's turrets open for a brief time, exposing himself. However, the 00 Cyborgs are driven away when 0011 shoots the white goo again, allowing him to fly away.
With the help of Jet, Albert is able to get close and shoot 0011 with a knee missile while the turret windows are still open, causing the larger cyborg to crash-land at the edge of a cliff. Albert then takes the opportunity to hold 0011 at gunpoint and ask why he wanted to become human so badly. As he sobs in despair, 0011 explains that he once had a family, but that was taken away when Black Ghost kidnapped him and turned him into a cyborg. Black Ghost promised him that he would be able to become human once again if he was successful in eliminating the 00 Cyborgs.
Angry with Albert's hesitation, Jet attempts to shoot 0011 himself. Albert tries to stop him, but he makes him shoot the cliff-face by accident, sending 0011 into the sea. In the process, 0011 shoots a small missile that produces a seemingly harmless rainstorm, covering the cyborgs still standing outside.
Later that day, Dr. Gilmore and Dr. Kozumi enlist Chang's help to free Pyunma and Junior from 0011's white goo. Chang is successful in melting the goo with his flame breath, but he slips up with Pyunma and manages to set his rear end on fire. Meanwhile, Jet confronts Albert over his hesitation to eliminate 0011. His accusations anger Albert and causes him to leave, saying that he has to "report" to Dr. Gilmore.
At the ocean floor, 0011 attempts to break free from Black Ghost's control and go back to his family. However, Skull reprograms him to focus on killing the 00 Cyborgs only, causing his blue turret windows to turn red.
That night, Joe and Albert resume patrolling at the site where they encountered Cyborg 0010 Plus and Minus. They reflect on how they previously tried to convert Minus to their side, but failed when Plus showed up. Joe wonders if trying to convert their enemies wasn't worth the effort, but Albert tells him that while it's risky, it won't stop him from caring about his enemies. He wants to be more than just a 00 Cyborg, and show he still has a heart underneath his cybernetic body.
While Francoise rests, the other 00 Cyborgs enjoy dinner when Pyunma, Great Britain, Chang, and Junior suddenly collapse. A diagnosis by Dr. Kozumi reveals that they have been afflicted with a strong poison. Jet realizes that the rainstorm produced by 0011 was poisoned and reveals to Dr. Gilmore that he and Joe are affected as well. Unfortunately, 0011, who was revealed to have survived the fall, emerges from the ocean and heads for Dr. Kozumi's house.
Jet is the first to engage 0011 in battle, but is soon shot down by one of his turrets. Joe arrives and rescues him, but then he collapses from the poisoned rain in his system. Albert comes to their aid, and Jet warns him that because they were both hit by 0011's acid rain, they are poisoned, too.
Meanwhile, the afflicted 00 Cyborgs are taken to the Dolphin's sickbay. While Dr. Kozumi works on an antidote for the poison, he remarks that Dr. Gilmore has grown to care for the 00 Cyborgs than he'd admit. When Dr. Gilmore becomes flustered over this, Dr. Kozumi reminds him that having a "family" is a gift that no one can take away.
Outside, the poison in Albert's body starts to take hold and while he's incapacitated, 0011 manages to injure him. Albert pleads for 0011 to hold on to his humanity and remember his wife and daughter, but he is unaware that Black Ghost has reprogrammed him. As 0011 continues to shoot at him and his body becomes paralyzed, Albert pulls out his blaster in desperation and shoots at one of the open turret windows, using Hilda's engagement ring to pull the trigger.
The blast manages to undo 0011's reprogramming, and the larger cyborg flies high up into the air before going down in a massive explosion. The next morning, Dr. Kozumi plays a game of Go with Albert (who had been cured previously) as promised. Albert apologizes for wrecking his house, but Dr. Kozumi instead tells him to cherish his family, as it is more difficult to rebuild than a house once it's broken. Albert then chooses to reveal that he won the game, much to Dr. Kozumi's surprise. Meanwhile, the rest of the 00 Cyborgs wake up after being cured by Dr. Kozumi's antidote.
It is revealed that Albert threw Hilda's engagement ring into the sea, having had already found closure with his past.
Characters[]
The 00 Cyborgs[]
Allies[]
Black Ghost[]
Other[]
- Hilda (flashback)
Voice Cast[]
English Dub[]
- 009: David Umansky
- 001: Bob Marx
- 002: Sparky Allen
- 003: Midge Mayes
- 004: Jim Taggert
- 005: John Daniels
- 006: Steve Kramer
- 007: Michael Sorich
- 008: Mario
- Professor Gilmore: Sy Prescott
- Professor Kozumi: Ray Michaels
- Scarl: Richard George
- 0011: James Lyon
- Hilda: Lia Sargent
Notes[]
- One notable aspect about this episode in the English dub is Joe Shimamura's voice sounding oddly different. This is because 009's voice actor, Joshua Seth, was the first choice for the role but had originally planned to retire from anime dubbing. Derek Stephen Prince (aka "David Umansky") was then cast, but was abruptly fired from the role after 12 episodes due to Sony producers not approving of his vocal delivery. Michael Sorich, who was ADR director for the series, managed to convince Seth to come back and voice for the series. All episodes that Derek Stephen Prince had voiced in were then redubbed with Seth's vocals, with the exception of this episode and "Satan of the Deep Sea", due to not having enough time to re-record those ones. The abrupt voice changes lead to jokes by Digimon fans about Tai Kamiya (who was voiced by Seth) getting briefly replaced by Ken Ichijouji (Prince's character) for the role. The Sony credits still mistakenly list Seth in the role for both this and the other episode.