Cybersix: Why was this for kids again?
Friday, January 28, 2011 at 1:04PM The only reason I remember watching Cybersix was because of its amazing protagonist and the fact that it was recommended to children over eight, and I felt pretty proud of myself to be cheating to system and watching it a year before the recommendation. But I look back and wonder why I didn’t remember more, since it really was a great show.
The way I remember Cybersix is notably different than my impression of it now, re-watching the series. I remembered that the show was about a ridiculously human-like cyborg named Cybersix, who was made as an experiment in a laboratory before escaping, and her by-day alter-ego, Adrian, who was a school teacher. She had a pet panther (who was actually her brother, only in a panther’s body due to a brain switch), and a love interest (a fellow teacher at the school), named Lucas, and there was a kid villain, Jose, who was after Cybersix because he needed to capture her—and a homeless kid named Julian, who helped out Cybersix when the plot demanded it. The villains of the show, Jose and his father were always out to kill Cybersix, for reasons that were never really explained, which I found to be disconcerting, looking back.
There were only 13 episodes made, and they were based off of a comic that came out of Argentina before a Canadian company bought the right and sent the series to Japan for animation. There usually was a different monster every segment for Cybersix and co. to fight off, with the ever-present threat of the child-villain, Jose and his shadowy father trying to do her in.
Looking back, a lot of the darkness of the series went right over my head – even now, re-watching it I find myself going “Wait, how was this show aimed at kids? There are allusions to Nazis, death and fighting onscreen, and cross-dressing,” – and I seemed to remember the few lighter, funnier moments (Adrian’s fan girl student, Lori, sticks out the most, along with the more classic ‘cartoony’ sound effects that went along with random actions – Cybersix’s jumping from roof to roof, or Data 7’s biting) rather than the more heavy material. I suppose that’s just how a kid’s memory works, remembering the good over the bad.
Overall, I liked this show when I was a kid because of the humour and the characters, and I like it even more now that I’m older and can appreciate some or the more mature aspects of it. If you’re interested in taking a look at the series, the episodes can be found on Youtube here.
Cybersix and her brother Data 7. It's a long story.
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Reader Comments (1)
I fell in love with this show as a kid. I pretended to be Cybersix all the time. I'd be jumping around my backyard with my imaginary black panther.Then, I forgot all about it and one day my little sister was watching Teletoon and my jaw dropped when the intro of her jumping from roof to roof came on. I couldn't believe it! My sister got into it just like I did. How could she not? Considering all the cartoons she watches, Cybersix has to be the coolest chick out there.
I'm happy to see that someone wrote about this.