Interview with Kenji Kamiyama, Director of the Movie “009 Re:Cyborg” [4/4]

009 Re:Cyborg, where the nine scattered cyborg warriors try to reunite once again, ended up as movie with a story that strongly impresses just before the final scene. This movie also delivers a unique sequel, that is, an accessory project based on Kenji Kamiyama's original work.

Kamiyama: In 009 Re:Cyborg, there is a gadget called the “Angel’s Fossil” which is excavated by Pyunma, by the way. This motif, the Angel’s Fossil, is something that indicates the existence of an obscure “god” without - and this might be a typically Japanese way of thinking - focusing on Christianity or any other already existing religion.

Surely, if the gods in heaven used to send messengers to Earth, it wouldn’t be strange if there were fossils of them remaining. However, there are images of angels on most religious paintings, isn’t that enough? Why specifically bring up the fossil?

Kamiyama: Religions usually work in a way that there is a person who represents a god, and through that person, the god’s thoughts are shared. I came up with the Angel’s Fossil, proof of a “godlike being” that is easily understandable as a visual and makes sense as a theory, to answer the foolish question of whether god exists. An angel, a divine messenger, is a being that didn’t show its form originally, a being that only existed in conceptions, yet it remains as a fossil, a kind of physical evidence... But, why did it become fossilized? If you think that way, it has more significance than a fresco. An image on a fresco that was left as an interpretation of humans is not evidence of god’s existence. Compared to that, a fossil indicates that it was indeed a physical being.

So in other words, after having defeated the Black Ghost Organization, the cyborg warriors had no choice but to recognize the “godlike being” as an enemy of mankind, and we can feel its presence even after the movie ends.

Kamiyama: I liked the idea of the Angel’s Fossil very much irrespective of the movie 009 Re:Cyborg. I think the Angel’s Fossil works well not as a spinoff, but as a new icon that cannot be linked to one specific religion, a motif that makes us aware of the existence of a supreme being. For example, if you made an accessory of it and carried it with you...I thought it would be interesting as an item that purely draws out the topic from the story I depicted in 009 Re:Cyborg, an item a lot of people would share. Fortunately, Ito from Dr Monroe, a company that makes accessories I like, agreed with me. He was fully on board, saying, “Well then, let’s make it into an accessory.”

Thus concludes our interview with the talented Kenji Kamiyama. Stay tuned for more information on this collaborative accessory right here on Tokyo Otaku Mode!

Dr MONROE x KENJI KAMIYAMA
http://t-otaku-m.com/drmonroe-kenjikamiyama

© 2012 009 Re:Cyborg Production Committee

This is a Tokyo Otaku Mode original article.