Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom)

[Sean]

Well for some reason SSMB is experiencing an influx of random ass anime topics, so I figured I may as well post about my current, yet long-running obsession.

Astro Boy, known as Tetsuwan Atom (Mighty Atom) in Japan, is a famous manga and anime series by Osamu Tezuka that is generally considered to be the first anime with a major, ongoing plot. It tells the story of a robot boy named Atom (Astro in English), created by Dr. Tenma (Boyton) after the tragic and sudden loss of his son Tobio, after whom Atom's appearance is modeled. However, it becomes clear to Tenma that this robot could never replace his son, and Atom, depending on the version, is sold off to the circus, kidnapped due to Tenma's neglect, or shut down. Atom eventually finds his way to Dr. Ochanomizu (Elefun), the head of Japan's Ministry of Science who is quick to understand Atom's potential. What makes this robot unique, aside from his inexplicable superpowers, is his ability to think and feel just like a human being.

Atom's soul is what soon comes to slowly bridge the gap between humans and robots, but it is not without resistence. Many of the enemies he faces off against are anti-robot activists, robots controlled or otherwise manipulated by humans, or greedy crooks who simply want to use machines as a means for profit. Not everyone is fond of the idea of humans and robots getting along, and Atom's unique AI proves to be extremely controversial. Nevertheless, he and Dr. Ochanomizu do what they can to keep the peace and improve human-robot relations, no matter the obstacles and losses they encounter along the way.

 

Astro Boy (1952 manga)

This is where Astro Boy began. The entire run is contained within 23 volumes, although it consists of many short stories that don't seem to fit within the continuity. I currently don't have much to say about this version at the moment because I have only just started reading it, but there are quite a few stark differences. For one, with the exception of the 2003 anime and the 2009 American film, this is the only version of Astro Boy in which Dr. Tenma makes sporadic appearances after Atom's initial backstory has been told. To those who are familiar with his character in the 80s or 2003 anime, it may come off as surprising that he is in fact supportive of Atom's efforts and even upgrades his cumulative power in the famous story arc, The Greatest Robot on Earth (in the 80s version, Dr. Ochanomizu declines to upgrade him, instead insisting that Atom use his wits rather than his raw strength to defeat Pluto). Despite clearly regretting abandoning Atom, the two seem to be on somewhat good terms, and Dr. Tenma helps Atom out whenever he can.

 

Astro Boy (1963 anime)

Known by many as the first anime ever made, although it doesn't quite hold that distinction - Otogi Manga Calendar is in fact the first televised anime in Japan. However, Astro Boy is distinct in being the first to see overseas localization. As you can probably guess, this version of Astro Boy is awkward by modern standards and extremely aged, but it's highly interesting to watch with a historical viewpoint in mind, and it sports a high level of energy and bounciness that later versions lack, so it is still worth checking out. Of the 193 episodes that aired in Japan, only 104 made it to the US. Allegedly, the Japanese masters were destroyed; as a result, it is impossible to ever view the series in its entirety.

 

Astro Boy (1980 anime)

The 80s anime sported much better production values and attention to plot than the 60s version, and so even though it shows its age, it is understandably more watchable and has an overall more emotional tone. In fact, what makes this version still enjoyable are the heavy themes that it tackles throughout its duration. Newcomers to Astro Boy may be shocked to find just how much darker this is compared to other anime incarnations: the majority of episodes end on a depressing note, and many side characters die, sometimes pointless deaths that illustrate the inherently flawed side of humanity that takes robots and other forms of life for granted.

The localization of this anime was somewhat odd. It did edit out some scenes, but the dub was otherwise pretty faithful to the original, except for the fact that it merges episodes 1 and 2 together for no reason. Aside from some important scenes such as Tobio laying on his deathbed with Dr. Tenma consoling him, it cuts out rival Atlas's backstory in its entirety, meaning that later episodes that reference Atom's first encounter with Atlas make absolutely no god damn sense.

 

Astro Boy (2003 anime)

Depending on who you ask, the 2003 update was either too far removed from Tezuka's version and dumbed down some of the original's story elements, or it was a sufficent modernization of a story that was in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint for a brand new audience. Regardless of the issues one may have with some of its changes (for one, Dr. Tenma has been revamped into the main freaking villain of the story!?), this remake remains as true as ever to many of Astro Boy's recurring themes, including human-robot relations and anti-robot sentiments that Atom and his friends have to deal with. Moreover, Atom makes a greater effort in this version to solve the majority of his problems peacefully without resorting to violence, which I find admirable and far more interesting than simply seeing him beat the shit out of the latest monster of the week antagonist.

If you want to get into Astro Boy without having to don nostalgia-tinted goggles in order to appreciate it, then the 2003 version is perfect... providing you watch the Japanese version. Unfortunately, the English dub is another one of those that edits out some scenes, throws out the original music, and reshuffles the episode order for no apparent reason. Rest assured it's not an abysmal dub, so if you don't want to deal with torrents or subtitles you could certainly do with worse, but I just can't get into dubs that change too much crap, so I personally stick with the Japanese version.

 

Astro Boy: Omega Factor

Astro Boy got a video game on the Game Boy Advance, and it was pretty fucking good ! It was developed by Treasure, creator of such gems as Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy, Mischief Makers, and Ronald McDonald's Treasureland Adventure™. It is a sidescrolling beat 'em up with, as per Treasure tradition, a heavy focus on bosses. It serves as a tie-in to the 2003 anime, but it's really more of a melting pot of Tezuka's various works and characters; Atom explores various locales and meets familiar faces much like Sora does with the Disney cast in the Kingdom Hearts games. Of course, to anyone not well-versed in the intricate Tezuka's Star System, this is trivial compared to the intense gameplay this game has to offer.

Oh, there was also a PS2 game that Sonic Team developed but nobody gives a shit.

 

Pluto (2003 manga)

Pluto is a murder mystery written by Naoki Urasawa, the indisputed master mangaka of suspense. It is based on the famous Astro Boy storyline, The Greatest Robot on Earth, and it focuses on German robot detective Gesicht trying to solve the mystery behind a series of grisly robot murders. Many characters from the Astro Boy mythos appear here, including Atom himself, who is not quite the superhero the original anime and manga portray him as but is rather a Japanese ambassador of peace. If you've read Monster, 20th Century Boys, or Billy Bat, then you damn well know what to expect from this darker, mature take on the series: gripping writing, a superb cast of characters, and levels of suspense unparalleled in the entirety of the medium.

 

Astro Boy (2009 film)

Astro Boy is an American(!) film helmed by the now-defunct Hong Kong studio Imagi Animation. It focuses primarily on Astro's origins and his strained relationship with Dr. Nicholas Cage, who isn't quite as abusive as other versions show him to be. Dr. Elefun's role is minimalized, and there is a greater deal of generic comic relief to pad out the length. As you can imagining looking at its Rottentomatoes meter, it wasn't particularly great. However, it does have its moments; I feel like the writers definitely understood that Astro Boy wasn't about the fights, and they decided to make their version a coming of age story of a robot kid trying to find his place in the world. It has mixed results, but it's definitely worth checking out for any Astro Boy fan. However, I would not recommend it for someone getting into Astro Boy for the first time.

 

So where can I check out this series? Where do I even start!??

If you have never been exposed to Astro Boy before then depending on your tastes it may be better to start with either the 80s series or the 2003 remake, but the manga and 1963 anime also have their own charm that can draw in viewers willing to give them a shot. Do you dig retro style, or do you prefer that modern flair? All versions have their merits, and as long as you possess an appreciation for vintage anime, you really can't go wrong with either. Nearly every incarnation of Astro Boy is accessible in some fashion online, so here are some links to get you started:

- Original manga: All 23 volumes of the manga have been translated by Dark Horse Comics, although they are out of print and some fetch a high price online. However, you can read the entirety of the manga online at archive.org. Keep in mind that the English translated version reads from left to right, which apparently is the traditional method of localizing Tezuka manga in the west.

- 1963 anime: The DVD sets can be found on Amazon.com and RightStuf. You can find all 104 English-dubbed episodes on Manga Entertainment's official YouTube channel. For reasons stated above, they do not offer Japanese language episodes. Several of the undubbed episodes may be missing, too.

- 1980 anime: DVDs are out of print, but used copies on Amazon.com don't seem to be quite as expensive. Kissanime.com has both dubbed and subbed versions of the entire series. Keep in mind that you'll have to disable Adblocker in order to view episodes. Alternatively, you can also view the entire Japanese language series on YouTube, and it includes the first two episodes, completely uncut.

- 2003 anime: The DVD box set (English language only) is still available on Amazon.com, but you can view every dubbed episode on YouTube - and in their proper episode order! - here. I've searched far and wide, and there seems to be no means of streaming the Japanese version subtitled. However, there is a torrent out there featuring the entire series, subbed and in its uncut, widescreen glory out there - I won't link it here, so go check it out if you don't want to settle for edited anime.

- Pluto manga: Pluto is licensed in North America by Viz. It goes without saying that you can probably find scanlations on the usual manga sites.

- 2009 film: It's on Blu-ray for like... less than 10 dollars, and the DVD version is half that price.

 

Theme song overview

Of course, part of what makes Astro Boy iconic is that incessantly catchy theme song. I've collected various themes from each incarnation of the anime; it's not an exhaustive list, but here you can listen to each version of the famous theme as well as other music found in the later televised remakes.

1963 theme (Japanese)

1963 theme (English)

1980 opening theme (Japanese)

1980 ending theme (Japanese) (full version)

1980 opening theme (English)

1980 ending theme (English)

2003 opening 1

2003 opening 2 (yes, that's fucking m-flo you're listening to)

2003 ending

2003 main theme ska version

2003 main theme ballad version

 

Fight, Astro Boy! For everlasting peace!

...Waaait, wrong series.

[Fletch]

I loved Astro Boy quite a bit. Not really sure how I originally got into it (maybe through the GBA game and a little bit of 2003 anime on TV), but I was hooked. I might be the weird one here... But I like the 1963's Astro Boy anime the most. I do like the 1980's version and 2003 version, but I love the charm that the 1963's version has! When Adult Swim started to air episodes of it at 5:30AM, I would set up my VCR with a blank tape and record the episodes to enjoy once I wake up before school, or enjoy after school. Ah... Good times... As you go, go, go Astro Boy!  The 1963's anime isn't out of print yet! Rightstuf has licensed the anime and any fan (at least in North America) can buy the two giant box sets to obtain all 104 episodes in English dub!

 

That movie was actually pretty nice. I still remember going to the movie theater and watching it with my older cousin. Could of been a bit better, but for what it was worth at the end of the day, it's still something I would recommend watching for some enjoyment. 

 

Thank you so much for finding a place to read the manga, Sean! I only own the first two volumes of the manga, and it been years since my friend borrowed the manga from the library for me to read. 

 

Also, to anyone reading, Astro Boy: Omega Factor (the GBA game) is seriously one of the greatest GBA games of all time! The game is just so great! As a kid playing it, it was nice to see all these random characters show up in the story (who I later started to slowly learn who they were as I got older), the overall story is great and I still cry sometimes in a few parts (though, I am quite an emotional person at times  ), but it's also the action in the game that makes it one of the best games ever. Upgrading Astro Boy attacks is quite great! ...I know I'm not really doing the game any justice right now by typing this all up, but it's just one of those games you really need to play to experience how great it is.  ...I think I'll play my copy of the game soon again! 

 

The music was quite fantastic as well...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BsFGfoRaFo

 

 

So, yeah! Thanks for making this thread, Sean! Now we need tons of more people here to talk about the greatness of Astro Boy and whatnot! 

[Xtremer Sadiqachu]

I'll be honest. My introduction to this serious was the 2009 movie. After that I watched /SOME/ of the Astro Boy anime, but not a lot. I'll have to do so.

[Sean]

The 1963's anime isn't out of print yet! Rightstuf has licensed the anime and any fan (at least in North America) can buy the two giant box sets to obtain all 104 episodes in English dub!

Ah my mistake !! I took one look at the prices on Amazon and assumed they were out of print simply due to how high they were; I didn't expect that that was close to their actual retail price.

It's interesting that you like the 60s anime the most, it does have its unique charm to it that other versions lack. I have only seen a few episodes so I'd like to check out more just to see what it's like as a whole, preferrably after I finish reading the manga since a selling point of the 80s anime was that it was supposedly the more faithful adaptation, and I'd like to see what changes they made.

[Fletch]

Ah my mistake !! I took one look at the prices on Amazon and assumed they were out of print simply due to how high they were; I didn't expect that that was close to their actual retail price.

It's interesting that you like the 60s anime the most, it does have its unique charm to it that other versions lack. I have only seen a few episodes so I'd like to check out more just to see what it's like as a whole, preferrably after I finish reading the manga since a selling point of the 80s anime was that it was supposedly the more faithful adaptation, and I'd like to see what changes they made.

Reason why I haven't bought them both yet is mostly because of the price they currently are at. 

 

That's pretty understandable! I still need to finish the manga, 80s version, and the modern version. After I finish the manga, I'll probably also end up watching the entirety of the 80s version to see how faithful it is and whatnot (though, I seen some episodes of the 80s version and enjoyed what I seen). 

 

...I just found out that Toonami used to show Astro Boy 60s version at one point... 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_oiZoJ0_xY

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9CBuxwlR84

 

And while this one comes from Adult Swim, it's a classic one that I love to watch multiple times. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdZS_aHPOwM

 

And this one... This one is just a bit harsh since I use to watch this...  Though, I'm glad they gave Astro Boy a marathon.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5XSChNNwoI

[Red]

I LOVE Astro Boy. One of my favourite anime ever. <3

I was introduced to Astro with the 1980 version of the anime, but the 2003 remake is my favourite since it doesn't scrap the entire Humans vs Robots plot like the previous two.

The GBA game Omega Factor is fantastic, I poured many hours into that. But to this day I still haven't beaten it fully, because that last part is confusing. D: I love all the secrets you can find though, exploring the levels to find certain cameos was great fun.

The CGI film was...okay at best. I liked that it was basically a mash up of the 1980 and 2003 anime, while also trying to be it's own thing. However I didn't really like how Americanized it was and all the new characters they introduced.

Also does anyone remember the manga adaption of the 2003 anime? Atleast I think it was an adaption, the artstyle was similar. It was around in the early 2000's and had about 3-4 volumes, possibly more.

[Fletch]

Also does anyone remember the manga adaption of the 2003 anime? Atleast I think it was an adaption, the artstyle was similar. It was around in the early 2000's and had about 3-4 volumes, possibly more.

While on my search for the original Astro Boy manga some time ago, I did come across that 2003 manga. 

 

I never read this before, but I have looked at a few pages. 

 

The art at least looks nice from what I seen in the manga.

[nintega137]

Curious question for the 2003 series. Where did you find the show in Japanese with subtitles? I can't find it anywhere, 

[Fletch]

Hey Sean, did you know Astro was getting a new show? 

 

 

Name: Robot Atom
Episodes: 8 green-lit so far

Airing: March 2014 in Nigeria

The 30-minute episodes are aimed at preschool children, and they follow the robot boy Atom as he embarks on adventures with his human and robot friends in a future town. Instead of defeating bad guys as an "ally of justice," the story will be more about an innocent child who makes mistakes from time to time.

 

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

[Sean]

Curious question for the 2003 series. Where did you find the show in Japanese with subtitles? I can't find it anywhere, 

 

There's a torrent floating around with softsubs, just search for that and it's pretty easy to spot.

[Sean]

 

Teaser for a new Astro Boy series being developed by a French animation studio.

[Agie]

Okay, I'm barely familiar with Astro Boy, but I don't care what they say, that trailer looks amazing! Like, I want this show...NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

As for my own exposure, though, I did enjoy the 2009 film, and I saw a few episodes of the 1960s and 2003 series. That's...about it, really. I do look forward to a way to finally get into it.

[Mauro Fonseca]

Hey Sean, did you know Astro was getting a new show? 

 

Name: Robot Atom

Episodes: 8 green-lit so far

Airing: March 2014 in Nigeria

The 30-minute episodes are aimed at preschool children, and they follow the robot boy Atom as he embarks on adventures with his human and robot friends in a future town. Instead of defeating bad guys as an "ally of justice," the story will be more about an innocent child who makes mistakes from time to time.

Source: AnimeNewsNetwork

I think I've seen this artwork before- this might be a sequel to a previous "Tezuka for children" show.

Also the french Astro cartoon is looking much better than the previous teaser images indicated- for one, his head isn't square

Also also, there's plans for a live action movie inspired by Iron Man.

[Sean]

No idea what to make of the live-action Astro Boy being a thing*. I'm expecting an aged-up Atom, as that's inevitable as far as foreign adaptations are concerned (the 2009 anime and this French cartoon), but I'm hoping whoever they cast to play him is positively adorable.

 

*Speaking of which, one major version of Tetsuwan Atom I neglected to mention in my OP is the live action 1959 TV series. It's one of the more obscure versions of the property out there, and it's notable for predating even the 1963 anime, but I don't know much about it and never have seen it for myself.

[Neo_Fire_Sonic]

hmm new cartoon.. the only thing i've seen of astroboy was the 2003 anime, some gba game(which looked cool but the difficulty was a turnoff), and that 2009 movie.

 

If its gonna be a new series will it be on something like CN?

[Mogtaki]

While on my search for the original Astro Boy manga some time ago, I did come across that 2003 manga. 

 

I never read this before, but I have looked at a few pages. 

 

The art at least looks nice from what I seen in the manga.

Oh man, Akira Himekawa are the woman who did the Zelda manga series. Their art is pretty top notch and they're lovely people to chat with (it's not often you get manga artists who give permission to allow fan translations of their manga when a translation didn't exist at the time).

Astro Boy could really use some love and I'm all for this series by the French. I've heard the French have always been huge Tezuka fans and would do his work justice.

[Graystripe2000]

I like Astro Boy a lot. The movie got me into it. I saw episodes of all 3 versions of the cartoon and I own a volume of the manga. And since Sean didn't talk about the PS2 Astro Boy game, I might as well do it. 

Ps2 game  

Astro Boy released in 2004 worldwide to mixed reviews from the critics and the general player rating being just "okay". Like the 2003 anime, the western versions replaced some music tracks but a majority of them were left intact. 

 JPN soundtrack: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL9C3ACC1D8E796402 

Western Soundtrack: https://m.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLjNtrGnm_DhjlD9nKFwqAnA2PD-fQ0km5 

Edited August 1, 2015 by Operationgamer17