
Shotaro Ishinomori’s ‘Cyborg 009’ was groundbreaking for its diverse team of heroes. Each member of the team, identified by a number, had different abilities and appearances, reflecting their backgrounds from around the world. The series featured a variety of body types – some characters were powerfully built, like Geronimo Junior, while others were more slender. This showed that anyone, regardless of their physical appearance, could be a hero, and it’s still a significant example of representation in early Japanese animation.