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Astro Boy (1960s)
Encyclopedia
is a Japan
ese manga
series first published in 1952 and television program
first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story follows the adventures of a robot
named Astro Boy
and a selection of other characters along the way.
Astro Boy is the first, most popular Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiar worldwide as anime
. It originated as a manga in 1952 by Osamu Tezuka
, revered in Japan as the "God of Manga." After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu
, known as Astroboy in other countries, and again in 2003. In November 2007, he was named Japan's envoy for overseas safety. An American computer-animated 3-D film
based on the original manga series by Tezuka was released on October 23, 2009.
, who wrote the English-language adaptation of the series, said that as Tezuka's art style advanced, Astro Boy "became more modern and 'cute'" to appeal to the audience of boys in elementary school. Schodt added that the page layouts used in Astro Boy episodes "became more creative." When designing supporting characters, Tezuka sometimes placed homages of Walt Disney
, Max Fleischer
, and other American animators. In several of the Astro Boy stories, the first few pages of each one were in color. Tezuka had a "Star System" of characters
where different characters appeared ; several characters in Astro Boy appear in other works written by Tezuka. Schodt explained that Tezuka developed "a type of dialog with his readers" since he developed so many stories during his lifetime. Tezuka often had a habit of introducing nonsensical characters at random moments in order to lighten a scene that he believed was becoming too serious. Tezuka sometimes felt trapped by the need to satisfy the young male audience's desire to see battling robots.
Tezuka used "Astro Boy" to imagine, in a 1950s perspective described by Schodt as "analog," a world where man and advanced technology coexist and the issues stemming from this fact. At the time, Japan did not have a reputation for science and technology that it had gained by 2002.
The collection that was originally issued by Akita Shoten
under its Sunday Comics imprint had 23 volumes of paperbacks
. The stories do not appear in order by the date of creation. Instead, they appear in the order that Tezuka and the collection editors believed was the most appropriate. The collection begins with "The Birth of Astro Boy", an episode which Tezuka wrote in 1975 to make the collection of stories easier to understand. The first "Astro Boy" story ever written, first published in April 1951, is in Volume 15. Osamu Tezuka
often re-drew chapters he had created earlier. Schodt explains that therefore, when comparing two episodes written at the same time, one may appear "more modern" than another because Tezuka revised the art. For many of his older stories, Tezuka often added introductory pages in which he himself was portrayed as the interlocutor. The color pages of the "Astro Boy" stories were re-printed in monochrome for the inexpensive paperback
versions.
collection. The artwork was flipped so the books would read left to right, as how the English language reads. Frederik L. Schodt
wrote the English-language version of "Astro Boy". For most characters, he used the original Japanese names. The story was set in Japan with Japanese characters and Schodt believed that it was necessary to retain the Japanese names whenever possible. Schodt translated the nickname "Higeoyaji" to "Mr. Mustachio," as it is a nickname. Schodt decided to use Astro Boy's English name. He explained that "Astro" is close to the Japanese name, "Atom": an English word. In addition, Schodt believed that using "Atom" in an American edition of the story would be "going against too much history." Occasionally, names of Japanese characters had double meanings that were impossible to convey in the English-language translation. Schodt decided that keeping the sound of the names was important, especially when the names were famous. In those cases, Schodt tried to use the double meaning elsewhere in the translation. When dealing with minor foreign characters with humorous-sounding names, Schodt tried to find equivalent English puns wherever he felt it was possible.
The editors of the English-language "Astro Boy" comic did not remove content that could be perceived to be racially insensitive. Some content in the "Astro Boy" series depicts foreign people, such as people from Africa
and Southeast Asia
. The editors of the English volumes explained that in instances the people may be portrayed differently than how they actually were in the year 2002 in real life (the year of publication of the English version). The editors added that some portrayals may show them from an era from a long time in the past, or may show them to be from very undeveloped lands. The editors said that some readers may feel that the portrayals contribute to racial discrimination, especially against people of African descent. The editors explained that while this was not Tezuka's intent, the editors believed that the issue needed to be explained and addressed as some readers may feel demeaned or insulted by the depictions. The editors expressed the belief that it would be inappropriate to revise the works. The editors explained that because Tezuka was dead, there was no way to reverse what he created, and revising his works would violate his right as a creator. The editors expressed the belief that editing or stopping publication of the work would "do little" to end racial and ethnic discrimination throughout the world.
series set in a futuristic world where robots co-exist with human
s. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular "Astro Boy
" (sometimes called simply "Astro"): a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science, Doctor Tenma
(aka Dr. Astor Boyton II in the 1960 English dub) to replace his son Tobio ('Astor' in the 1960s English dub; 'Toby' in the 1980s English dub and the 2009 film), who died in a car accident (ran away in the 2003 anime; vaporized in the 2009 film). Dr. Tenma built Astro in Tobio's image and treated him as lovingly as if he were the real Tobio, but soon realized that the little robot could not fill the void of his lost son, especially given that Astro could not grow older or express human aesthetics
(in one set of panels in the manga, Astro is shown preferring the mechanical shapes of cubes over the organic shapes of flowers). In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg (the Great Cacciatore in the '60 English dub).
After some time, Professor Ochanomizu
, the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus and convinced Hamegg to turn Astro over to him. He then took Astro as his own and treated him gently and warmly, becoming his legal guardian
. He soon realized that Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.
Astro then is shown fighting crime, evil, and injustice. Most of his enemies were robot-hating humans, robots gone berserk, or alien invaders. Almost every story included a battle involving Astro and other robots. Once, Astro actually took on the US Air Force, stopping it from bombing some peaceful innocent Vietnamese villagers (this was a time-travel episode, in which Astro went back from the 21st century to 1969).
, who considered the book an unauthorized or "pirate" edition and denounced the publication as "horribly drawn".
Astro Boy also appears in the premium giveaway series, "March of Comics" (# 285) also published by Gold Key in 1966.
issued their own version of Astro Boy, with art done by Canadian artist Ken Steacy
, and again done without Osamu Tezuka
giving input. Roundly reviled by AB fans as "trashy writing and sloppy art" from the otherwise talented Steacy, the series was cancelled in mid-1988. Today this version of Astro Boy is largely forgotten.
The manga
was originally published from 1951 to 1968, followed by a newspaper serialization (1967–1969) and two further series in 1972-73 and 1980-81.
The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories were later published in English-language
versions by Dark Horse Comics
in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt
. They follow the television series in calling the character "Astro Boy", the name most familiar to English-speaking audiences, instead of "Tetsuwan Atomu". Names of the other characters, such as Doctor Tenma
and Professor Ochanomizu
, are those of the original Japanese.
Astro Boy (along with some of his supporting characters) appear in a series of "edu-manga" that tell biographies of such subjects as Helen Keller
, Albert Einstein
and Mother Teresa
. Astro Boy and his "sister" appear in prologues and epilogues for each story and learn about the famous person from Dr. Ochanomizu, who acts as narrator for each installment. These manga were published by Kodansha, Ltd. from 2000 to 2002 with English language versions published by Digital Manga Publishing and seeing print from 2003 to 2005.
In a 2004 manga of Tetsuwan Atom written by Akira Himekawa, the plot, as well as the character designs, loosely follow that of the 2003 anime series. The artwork is quite different from Tezuka's original. This version of the manga was published in English by Chuang Yi
, and distributed in Australia by Madman Entertainment
.
series was produced by Mushi Production
s. It premiered on Fuji TV on New Year's Day
1963, but was eventually moved to the NHK
network. It was the first anime to be broadcast outside Japan. It lasted for four seasons, with a total of 193 episodes, the final episode presented on New Year's Eve
1966. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population who had access to a TV. In 1964, there was a feature-length animated movie called Hero of Space released in Japan. It was an anthology of three episodes; The Robot Spaceship, Last Day on Earth and Earth Defense Squadron. The latter two were filmed in color.
For the English version, the producers, NBC Enterprises
settled on "Astro Boy" after discussions between producer Fred Ladd
and representatives from NBC. (The title "Mighty Atom" for an atomic powered robot, as "Astro Boy" was thought of back then, was considered too generic " a title for a children's program for American TV.) Of the 193 episodes created in the series, 104 were adapted into the English version by Fred Ladd
, and initially syndicated from September 1963 through August 1965, with repeats continuing until the series was withdrawn from syndication in the early 1970s.
The manga was not translated into English until Dark Horse Comics
published it in the 2000s. In 1965 and 1966, Gold Key Comics
, under license from NBC Enterprises, published a version of "Astro Boy" in the United States based on the English version of the TV series. [The single issue, "Astro Boy" (1965) and "March of Comics"# 285 (1966)].
The names were adjusted for American audiences. Frederik L. Schodt
, who created the English version of the original comic, said that the names were "cleverly" changed for American tastes.
The English adaptation included an opening theme song [by Tatsuo Takai, lyrics by Don Rockwell] with the words: "There you go, Astro Boy! On your mission today! Here's the countdown and the blastoff! Everything is go, Astro Boy!...." The English show's original producer Fred Ladd, claims that the Japanese producers were so impressed by the adding of lyrics to the (until then) instrumental song that they then added words to the Japanese version, starting the "anime music" trend.
In one Astro Boy manga story Tezuka expressed frustration towards the restrictions passed by American television networks on the adaptation of the first Astro Boy television series. The U.S. version did not air an episode showing a dog being operated on, as the producers believed it was too cruel and grotesque to show. Tezuka criticized this as hypocrisy, as non-Japanese eat and kill animals in manners he described as "grotesque." Tezuka added that many White people
in Africa shot animals for sport, yet people in England spread false rumors about Japanese people eating dogs.
In 2007 and 2008, Cartoon Network
began broadcasting and webcasting NBC's syndicated edition of the original 1960s episodes as a part of its late night Adult Swim
line-up. Only the first 52 episodes were aired.
The Right Stuf International
and Madman Entertainment
have recently released the entire dubbed series on DVD in two box sets. The Right Stuf sets also include episodes 1, 20, 34, 56, and 193 in Japanese with English subtitles, a behind-the-scenes film, and an interview with Fred Ladd.
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In 1962, MBS released a live-action movie, a compilation film made up of episodes from the 1959-60 live-action TV series that came before the 1960s animated television series and which loosely followed the manga. The opening sequence (approximately one minute) is animated, and the rest is live action. The movie runs 75 minutes.
Tezuka met Walt Disney
at the 1964 World's Fair, at which time Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's Astro Boy. A feature film was announced in 1999 by Columbia Pictures
and Jim Henson
production. However, nothing has come of this announcement since then. There were plans for a Japanese-Canadian IMAX coproduction, but it was shelved in 2000 while it was early in production. At one point, Steven Spielberg
also had the remake rights to AB. A Japanese IMAX featurette was made in 2005, based on the 2003–2004 anime, titled "Astro Boy vs IGZA", but has only been shown in Japan.
A computer-animated feature film version
was released in October 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios
. The English dub features the voices of Freddie Highmore
as Astro Boy and Nicolas Cage
as Dr. Tenma. IDW Publishing released a comic book adaptation of the movie to coincide with the film's release in Oct. 2009; both as a four part mini-series and as a graphic novel.
developed and published Mighty Atom aka Tetsuwan Atom (Family Computer game) for the Nintendo Family Computer System in 1988. It is known for its extreme difficulty level attributed to a one-hit death rule.
Banpresto
published the Zamuse developed release of Mighty Atom aka Tetsuwan Atom (Super Famicom game) for the Super Famicom system in 1994. Like its Konami
developed cousin, this title follows events in the Manga
series.
Sega
published a pair of games based on Astro Boy. Astro Boy
for the PS2 was based on the 2003 anime, while Astro Boy: Omega Factor
for the Game Boy Advance
drew from various elements from the series.
Astro Boy: The Video Game
is a video game based on the Astro Boy animated feature film from Imagi Animation Studios
. It was released in October, 2009 from D3Publisher of America, Inc. for Nintendo's Wii and DS, and Sony Computer Entertainment's PS2 and PSP. It features the voices of Kristen Bell
and Freddie Highmore
.
, author of the English-language version of Astro Boy, said it had "extraordinary longevity and appeal across cultures." Schodt said that many of the stories are "sometimes" of "uneven quality." Schodt said that as the time becomes closer to "a true age of robots," Astro Boy assumes more meaning. Jeff Yang of the San Francisco Chronicle
said "while kids came for Astro's atomic action -- just about every installment included Astro harrowing a fellow robot who'd fallen from digital grace with his fission-powered fists -- they stayed for the textured, surprisingly complex stories."
Astro ranked 43rd on Empire
magazine's list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.
The 1960s anime was named the 86th best animated series by IGN
, calling it the first popular anime TV series.
The 1980s anime was extremely popular in Australia
, Canada
, and many parts of Asia
, with two different English dubs. The dub shown in Australia (and to a lesser extent in the USA) was coordinated by Tezuka Productions and NTV and produced in the USA. Another dub was produced in Canada solely for broadcast there.
While the 2003 anime did poorly in North America, having received poor distribution and having been heavily edited, including the removal of its orchestrated soundtrack and much of Astro's childlike innocence, it was better received in the UK
on the BBC
, where it ran in syndication for almost three years as well as other parts of the world such as Dubai
based MBC 3
.
On April 7, 2003, the city of Niiza, Saitama
registered the Astro Boy character as a resident to coincide with his birthdate in the manga.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series first published in 1952 and television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
first broadcast in Japan in 1963. The story follows the adventures of a robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
named Astro Boy
Astro Boy (character)
is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the Astro Boy franchise. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character was introduced in the 1951 Captain Atom manga...
and a selection of other characters along the way.
Astro Boy is the first, most popular Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiar worldwide as anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
. It originated as a manga in 1952 by Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, revered in Japan as the "God of Manga." After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu
Astro Boy (1980s)
is a remake of the 1960s anime series of the same name; both series are adapted from the manga by Osamu Tezuka.This series, which first aired during the 1980s, placed more focus on Astro's robotic skills and a somewhat darker storyline than the previous incarnation of the series. While mostly...
, known as Astroboy in other countries, and again in 2003. In November 2007, he was named Japan's envoy for overseas safety. An American computer-animated 3-D film
Astro Boy (film)
Astro Boy, also called in Japan, is a 2009 computer-animated film loosely based on the long-running Japanese series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, the animation production company of TMNT. The studio announced the project in September 2006...
based on the original manga series by Tezuka was released on October 23, 2009.
Production
The Astro Boy series consists of several storylines, many of which are self-contained. Frederik L. SchodtFrederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
, who wrote the English-language adaptation of the series, said that as Tezuka's art style advanced, Astro Boy "became more modern and 'cute'" to appeal to the audience of boys in elementary school. Schodt added that the page layouts used in Astro Boy episodes "became more creative." When designing supporting characters, Tezuka sometimes placed homages of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
, Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer
Max Fleischer was an American animator. He was a pioneer in the development of the animated cartoon and served as the head of Fleischer Studios...
, and other American animators. In several of the Astro Boy stories, the first few pages of each one were in color. Tezuka had a "Star System" of characters
Osamu Tezuka's Star System
Over the course of his career, Osamu Tezuka reused the same characters in different roles in different stories. The way that Tezuka used the characters in his "star system" can be seen as somewhat analoguous to a film director frequently casting members of a regular "stable" of actors in different...
where different characters appeared ; several characters in Astro Boy appear in other works written by Tezuka. Schodt explained that Tezuka developed "a type of dialog with his readers" since he developed so many stories during his lifetime. Tezuka often had a habit of introducing nonsensical characters at random moments in order to lighten a scene that he believed was becoming too serious. Tezuka sometimes felt trapped by the need to satisfy the young male audience's desire to see battling robots.
Tezuka used "Astro Boy" to imagine, in a 1950s perspective described by Schodt as "analog," a world where man and advanced technology coexist and the issues stemming from this fact. At the time, Japan did not have a reputation for science and technology that it had gained by 2002.
The collection that was originally issued by Akita Shoten
Akita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company established on August 10, 1948 in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its main editorial target has always been teenagers , and it currently publishes mostly manga...
under its Sunday Comics imprint had 23 volumes of paperbacks
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
. The stories do not appear in order by the date of creation. Instead, they appear in the order that Tezuka and the collection editors believed was the most appropriate. The collection begins with "The Birth of Astro Boy", an episode which Tezuka wrote in 1975 to make the collection of stories easier to understand. The first "Astro Boy" story ever written, first published in April 1951, is in Volume 15. Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
often re-drew chapters he had created earlier. Schodt explains that therefore, when comparing two episodes written at the same time, one may appear "more modern" than another because Tezuka revised the art. For many of his older stories, Tezuka often added introductory pages in which he himself was portrayed as the interlocutor. The color pages of the "Astro Boy" stories were re-printed in monochrome for the inexpensive paperback
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
versions.
English-language version
The English-language version of "Astro Boy" is an adaptation of the Akita ShotenAkita Shoten
is a Japanese publishing company established on August 10, 1948 in Chiyoda, Tokyo. Its main editorial target has always been teenagers , and it currently publishes mostly manga...
collection. The artwork was flipped so the books would read left to right, as how the English language reads. Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
wrote the English-language version of "Astro Boy". For most characters, he used the original Japanese names. The story was set in Japan with Japanese characters and Schodt believed that it was necessary to retain the Japanese names whenever possible. Schodt translated the nickname "Higeoyaji" to "Mr. Mustachio," as it is a nickname. Schodt decided to use Astro Boy's English name. He explained that "Astro" is close to the Japanese name, "Atom": an English word. In addition, Schodt believed that using "Atom" in an American edition of the story would be "going against too much history." Occasionally, names of Japanese characters had double meanings that were impossible to convey in the English-language translation. Schodt decided that keeping the sound of the names was important, especially when the names were famous. In those cases, Schodt tried to use the double meaning elsewhere in the translation. When dealing with minor foreign characters with humorous-sounding names, Schodt tried to find equivalent English puns wherever he felt it was possible.
The editors of the English-language "Astro Boy" comic did not remove content that could be perceived to be racially insensitive. Some content in the "Astro Boy" series depicts foreign people, such as people from Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
and Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia, South-East Asia, South East Asia or Southeastern Asia is a subregion of Asia, consisting of the countries that are geographically south of China, east of India, west of New Guinea and north of Australia. The region lies on the intersection of geological plates, with heavy seismic...
. The editors of the English volumes explained that in instances the people may be portrayed differently than how they actually were in the year 2002 in real life (the year of publication of the English version). The editors added that some portrayals may show them from an era from a long time in the past, or may show them to be from very undeveloped lands. The editors said that some readers may feel that the portrayals contribute to racial discrimination, especially against people of African descent. The editors explained that while this was not Tezuka's intent, the editors believed that the issue needed to be explained and addressed as some readers may feel demeaned or insulted by the depictions. The editors expressed the belief that it would be inappropriate to revise the works. The editors explained that because Tezuka was dead, there was no way to reverse what he created, and revising his works would violate his right as a creator. The editors expressed the belief that editing or stopping publication of the work would "do little" to end racial and ethnic discrimination throughout the world.
Plot
Astro Boy is a science fictionScience fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series set in a futuristic world where robots co-exist with human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular "Astro Boy
Astro Boy (character)
is a fictional character, and the main protagonist of the Astro Boy franchise. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character was introduced in the 1951 Captain Atom manga...
" (sometimes called simply "Astro"): a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science, Doctor Tenma
Doctor Tenma
, whose real name is and is also known as Dr. Nagamiya Tenma, Dr. Boynton, and Dr. Balthus, is the father/creator of Astro Boy in the anime and manga series of the same name created and animated by Osamu Tezuka....
(aka Dr. Astor Boyton II in the 1960 English dub) to replace his son Tobio ('Astor' in the 1960s English dub; 'Toby' in the 1980s English dub and the 2009 film), who died in a car accident (ran away in the 2003 anime; vaporized in the 2009 film). Dr. Tenma built Astro in Tobio's image and treated him as lovingly as if he were the real Tobio, but soon realized that the little robot could not fill the void of his lost son, especially given that Astro could not grow older or express human aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
(in one set of panels in the manga, Astro is shown preferring the mechanical shapes of cubes over the organic shapes of flowers). In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg (the Great Cacciatore in the '60 English dub).
After some time, Professor Ochanomizu
Professor Ochanomizu
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Astro Boy, as well as all of its many adaptions, including the 1980s series, 2003 series, and the film. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character has since appeared in many of his other works. He serves as a guardian to Astro, and sometimes also a...
, the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus and convinced Hamegg to turn Astro over to him. He then took Astro as his own and treated him gently and warmly, becoming his legal guardian
Legal guardian
A legal guardian is a person who has the legal authority to care for the personal and property interests of another person, called a ward. Usually, a person has the status of guardian because the ward is incapable of caring for his or her own interests due to infancy, incapacity, or disability...
. He soon realized that Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.
Astro then is shown fighting crime, evil, and injustice. Most of his enemies were robot-hating humans, robots gone berserk, or alien invaders. Almost every story included a battle involving Astro and other robots. Once, Astro actually took on the US Air Force, stopping it from bombing some peaceful innocent Vietnamese villagers (this was a time-travel episode, in which Astro went back from the 21st century to 1969).
Gold Key Comic
In 1965, Gold Key published a one-shot comic book, licensed by NBC Enterprises, based on the US version of the Astro Boy TV show. This was done without any input from Osamu TezukaOsamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
, who considered the book an unauthorized or "pirate" edition and denounced the publication as "horribly drawn".
Astro Boy also appears in the premium giveaway series, "March of Comics" (# 285) also published by Gold Key in 1966.
Now Comics version
In 1987, the Chicago-based comics publisher Now ComicsNOW Comics
NOW Comics was a comic book publisher founded in late 1985 by Tony C. Caputo as a sole-proprietorship. During the four years after its founding, NOW grew from a one-man operation to operating in 12 countries, and published almost 1,000 comics books....
issued their own version of Astro Boy, with art done by Canadian artist Ken Steacy
Ken Steacy
Ken “Value Added” Steacy is a Canadian comics artist and writer best known for his work on the NOW Comics comic book series of Astro Boy and of the Comico comic series of Jonny Quest, as well as his graphic novel collaborations with Harlan Ellison and Dean Motter...
, and again done without Osamu Tezuka
Osamu Tezuka
was a Japanese cartoonist, manga artist, animator, producer, activist and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion and Black Jack...
giving input. Roundly reviled by AB fans as "trashy writing and sloppy art" from the otherwise talented Steacy, the series was cancelled in mid-1988. Today this version of Astro Boy is largely forgotten.
Characters
- Atom / Astro Boy / Astro
- Professor Ochanomizu / Dr. Packidermus J. ElefunProfessor Ochanomizuis a fictional character in the anime and manga series Astro Boy, as well as all of its many adaptions, including the 1980s series, 2003 series, and the film. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character has since appeared in many of his other works. He serves as a guardian to Astro, and sometimes also a...
, head of the Ministry of Science - Astro's parents, created by Prof. Ochanomizu in order to make Astro more human-like
- Uran / Astro GirlUran (manga character)Uran is Astro's cybernetic sister in the manga and anime series Astro Boy, was well as its many adaptions. She is a superhuman robot with a naive, tomboyish personality.-1980 series:...
, Astro's younger sister - Cobalt / Jetto, Astro's younger brother (appears as older brother in the 1960s anime)
- Chi-Tan / Ti-Tan, Astro's baby brother
- Higeoyaji / Mustachio / Shunsaku Ban / Mr. Percival Pompous / Daddy Walrus / Albert Duncan, Astro's schoolteacher and/or neighbor in the original manga and color 1980 TV series; a private detective and surrogate uncle for Astro in the 1960s TV series
- Shibugaki and Tamao / Dinny and Specs, two of Astro's friends
- Chief Nakamura / Chief McLaw
- Inspector Tawashi / Inspector Gumshoe
- Tobio Tenma / Astor Boynton III/ Toby Boynton / Toby Tenma, the little boy Astro was modeled after, who dies in the first episode
- Atlas was one of many villains that Astro encountered in his adventures
Manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
was originally published from 1951 to 1968, followed by a newspaper serialization (1967–1969) and two further series in 1972-73 and 1980-81.
The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories were later published in English-language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
versions by Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
. They follow the television series in calling the character "Astro Boy", the name most familiar to English-speaking audiences, instead of "Tetsuwan Atomu". Names of the other characters, such as Doctor Tenma
Doctor Tenma
, whose real name is and is also known as Dr. Nagamiya Tenma, Dr. Boynton, and Dr. Balthus, is the father/creator of Astro Boy in the anime and manga series of the same name created and animated by Osamu Tezuka....
and Professor Ochanomizu
Professor Ochanomizu
is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Astro Boy, as well as all of its many adaptions, including the 1980s series, 2003 series, and the film. Created by Osamu Tezuka, the character has since appeared in many of his other works. He serves as a guardian to Astro, and sometimes also a...
, are those of the original Japanese.
Astro Boy (along with some of his supporting characters) appear in a series of "edu-manga" that tell biographies of such subjects as Helen Keller
Helen Keller
Helen Adams Keller was an American author, political activist, and lecturer. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree....
, Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein was a German-born theoretical physicist who developed the theory of general relativity, effecting a revolution in physics. For this achievement, Einstein is often regarded as the father of modern physics and one of the most prolific intellects in human history...
and Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
. Astro Boy and his "sister" appear in prologues and epilogues for each story and learn about the famous person from Dr. Ochanomizu, who acts as narrator for each installment. These manga were published by Kodansha, Ltd. from 2000 to 2002 with English language versions published by Digital Manga Publishing and seeing print from 2003 to 2005.
In a 2004 manga of Tetsuwan Atom written by Akira Himekawa, the plot, as well as the character designs, loosely follow that of the 2003 anime series. The artwork is quite different from Tezuka's original. This version of the manga was published in English by Chuang Yi
Chuang Yi
Chuang Yi Publishing Pte Ltd. is a publishing company based in Singapore that specializes in producing domestic and imported comics and comics-related merchandise, in English and simplified Chinese. Chuang Yi distributes all or some of its products in Singapore, Malaysia, India, and the Philippines...
, and distributed in Australia by Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
.
Anime series
The beginning animeAnime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series was produced by Mushi Production
Mushi Production
Mushi Production , or Mushi Pro for short, is a Japanese animation studio headquartered in Nerima, Tokyo, Japan....
s. It premiered on Fuji TV on New Year's Day
New Year's Day
New Year's Day is observed on January 1, the first day of the year on the modern Gregorian calendar as well as the Julian calendar used in ancient Rome...
1963, but was eventually moved to the NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
network. It was the first anime to be broadcast outside Japan. It lasted for four seasons, with a total of 193 episodes, the final episode presented on New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
1966. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population who had access to a TV. In 1964, there was a feature-length animated movie called Hero of Space released in Japan. It was an anthology of three episodes; The Robot Spaceship, Last Day on Earth and Earth Defense Squadron. The latter two were filmed in color.
English-language version
NBC Universal Television Distribution
NBCUniversal Television Distribution is the television distribution arm of the NBCUniversal Television Group in the United States, and is a subsidiary of General Electric...
settled on "Astro Boy" after discussions between producer Fred Ladd
Fred Ladd
Fred Ladd , is an American television and film writer and producer. He is notable as one of the first to introduce Japanese animated cartoons to North America....
and representatives from NBC. (The title "Mighty Atom" for an atomic powered robot, as "Astro Boy" was thought of back then, was considered too generic " a title for a children's program for American TV.) Of the 193 episodes created in the series, 104 were adapted into the English version by Fred Ladd
Fred Ladd
Fred Ladd , is an American television and film writer and producer. He is notable as one of the first to introduce Japanese animated cartoons to North America....
, and initially syndicated from September 1963 through August 1965, with repeats continuing until the series was withdrawn from syndication in the early 1970s.
The manga was not translated into English until Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics
Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent American comic book and manga publisher.Dark Horse Comics was founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson in Milwaukie, Oregon, with the concept of establishing an ideal atmosphere for creative professionals. Richardson started out by opening his first comic book...
published it in the 2000s. In 1965 and 1966, Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics
Gold Key Comics was an imprint of Western Publishing created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated from 1962 to 1984.-History:...
, under license from NBC Enterprises, published a version of "Astro Boy" in the United States based on the English version of the TV series. [The single issue, "Astro Boy" (1965) and "March of Comics"# 285 (1966)].
- Billie Lou WattBillie Lou WattBillie Lou Watt was an actress in theater and television, including several voice acting roles for commercials and animated series...
— Astro Boy/Astro Girl/Mother - Ray Owens — Dr. Elefun/Dr. Boynton/Dinny/McClaw/Narrator
- Gilbert Mack — Mr. Pompous/Father/Specs/Gumshoe/Jetto
The names were adjusted for American audiences. Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
, who created the English version of the original comic, said that the names were "cleverly" changed for American tastes.
The English adaptation included an opening theme song [by Tatsuo Takai, lyrics by Don Rockwell] with the words: "There you go, Astro Boy! On your mission today! Here's the countdown and the blastoff! Everything is go, Astro Boy!...." The English show's original producer Fred Ladd, claims that the Japanese producers were so impressed by the adding of lyrics to the (until then) instrumental song that they then added words to the Japanese version, starting the "anime music" trend.
In one Astro Boy manga story Tezuka expressed frustration towards the restrictions passed by American television networks on the adaptation of the first Astro Boy television series. The U.S. version did not air an episode showing a dog being operated on, as the producers believed it was too cruel and grotesque to show. Tezuka criticized this as hypocrisy, as non-Japanese eat and kill animals in manners he described as "grotesque." Tezuka added that many White people
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...
in Africa shot animals for sport, yet people in England spread false rumors about Japanese people eating dogs.
In 2007 and 2008, Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
began broadcasting and webcasting NBC's syndicated edition of the original 1960s episodes as a part of its late night Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
line-up. Only the first 52 episodes were aired.
The Right Stuf International
The Right Stuf International
The Right Stuf International, Inc. is an American retailer based in Grimes, Iowa that markets and distributes anime and manga-related products throughout the United States and internationally...
and Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment
Madman Entertainment is an Australian company that distributes international films as well as Japanese anime and manga in Australia and New Zealand. The company is owned by Funtastic Limited and is one of the major entertainment companies in Australia. It employs 130 people and has an annual...
have recently released the entire dubbed series on DVD in two box sets. The Right Stuf sets also include episodes 1, 20, 34, 56, and 193 in Japanese with English subtitles, a behind-the-scenes film, and an interview with Fred Ladd.
Films
Tezuka met Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
at the 1964 World's Fair, at which time Disney said he hoped to "make something just like" Tezuka's Astro Boy. A feature film was announced in 1999 by Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures
Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
and Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
production. However, nothing has come of this announcement since then. There were plans for a Japanese-Canadian IMAX coproduction, but it was shelved in 2000 while it was early in production. At one point, Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg
Steven Allan Spielberg KBE is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, video game designer, and studio entrepreneur. In a career of more than four decades, Spielberg's films have covered many themes and genres. Spielberg's early science-fiction and adventure films were seen as an...
also had the remake rights to AB. A Japanese IMAX featurette was made in 2005, based on the 2003–2004 anime, titled "Astro Boy vs IGZA", but has only been shown in Japan.
A computer-animated feature film version
Astro Boy (film)
Astro Boy, also called in Japan, is a 2009 computer-animated film loosely based on the long-running Japanese series of the same name by Osamu Tezuka. It was produced by Imagi Animation Studios, the animation production company of TMNT. The studio announced the project in September 2006...
was released in October 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios is an animation studio that was established in 2000 by Imagi International Holdings Limited , a listed company on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.-Background:...
. The English dub features the voices of Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...
as Astro Boy and Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage
Nicolas Cage is an American actor, producer and director, having appeared in over 60 films including Raising Arizona , The Rock , Face/Off , Gone in 60 Seconds , Adaptation , National Treasure , Ghost Rider , Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans , and...
as Dr. Tenma. IDW Publishing released a comic book adaptation of the movie to coincide with the film's release in Oct. 2009; both as a four part mini-series and as a graphic novel.
Video games
KonamiKonami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
developed and published Mighty Atom aka Tetsuwan Atom (Family Computer game) for the Nintendo Family Computer System in 1988. It is known for its extreme difficulty level attributed to a one-hit death rule.
Banpresto
Banpresto
is a Japanese toy company, best known in America for game development, headquartered in the Shinagawa Seaside West Building in Shinagawa, Tokyo. It was founded April 1977 as Hoei Sangyo, Co. Ltd. The company was renamed Coreland in 1982, and during the 1980s it worked mainly as a subcontractor for...
published the Zamuse developed release of Mighty Atom aka Tetsuwan Atom (Super Famicom game) for the Super Famicom system in 1994. Like its Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
developed cousin, this title follows events in the Manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series.
Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
published a pair of games based on Astro Boy. Astro Boy
Astro Boy (2004 video game)
is a video game based on the 2003 version of the anime television series, produced by Sonic Team.- Soundtrack : is the official soundtrack for the game...
for the PS2 was based on the 2003 anime, while Astro Boy: Omega Factor
Astro Boy: Omega Factor
is a beat 'em up video game developed by Treasure Co. Ltd and Hitmaker, and published by Sega. The game was released for the Game Boy Advance console on December 18, 2003 in Japan; August 18, 2004 in North America; and February 18, 2005 in Europe. The game is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga and anime...
for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
drew from various elements from the series.
Astro Boy: The Video Game
Astro Boy: The Video Game
Astro Boy: The Video Game is an action video game based on the 2009 CG animated film of the same name. The game was released in worldwide on October 20, 2009 to coincide with the theatrical release of the film on October 23, 2009. It features the voices of Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell,...
is a video game based on the Astro Boy animated feature film from Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios
Imagi Animation Studios is an animation studio that was established in 2000 by Imagi International Holdings Limited , a listed company on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.-Background:...
. It was released in October, 2009 from D3Publisher of America, Inc. for Nintendo's Wii and DS, and Sony Computer Entertainment's PS2 and PSP. It features the voices of Kristen Bell
Kristen Bell
Kristen Anne Bell is an American actress. Although her first film role was an uncredited appearance in Polish Wedding, Bell previously acted in stage and musical productions. In 2001, she made her Broadway debut as Becky Thatcher in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer...
and Freddie Highmore
Freddie Highmore
Alfred Thomas "Freddie" Highmore is an English actor. He is best known for his roles in the films Finding Neverland, Five Children and It, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Arthur and the Invisibles, August Rush, The Golden Compass, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and Toast.-Early life:Highmore was...
.
Reception
Astro Boy became Tezuka's most famous work. Frederik L. SchodtFrederik L. Schodt
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter and writer.Schodt's father was in the US foreign service, and he grew up in Norway, Australia, and Japan. The family first went to Japan in 1965 when Schodt was fifteen. They left in 1967 but Schodt remained to graduate from Tokyo's American...
, author of the English-language version of Astro Boy, said it had "extraordinary longevity and appeal across cultures." Schodt said that many of the stories are "sometimes" of "uneven quality." Schodt said that as the time becomes closer to "a true age of robots," Astro Boy assumes more meaning. Jeff Yang of the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
said "while kids came for Astro's atomic action -- just about every installment included Astro harrowing a fellow robot who'd fallen from digital grace with his fission-powered fists -- they stayed for the textured, surprisingly complex stories."
Astro ranked 43rd on Empire
Empire (magazine)
Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008...
magazine's list of The 50 Greatest Comic Book Characters.
The 1960s anime was named the 86th best animated series by IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
, calling it the first popular anime TV series.
The 1980s anime was extremely popular in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, and many parts of Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
, with two different English dubs. The dub shown in Australia (and to a lesser extent in the USA) was coordinated by Tezuka Productions and NTV and produced in the USA. Another dub was produced in Canada solely for broadcast there.
While the 2003 anime did poorly in North America, having received poor distribution and having been heavily edited, including the removal of its orchestrated soundtrack and much of Astro's childlike innocence, it was better received in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, where it ran in syndication for almost three years as well as other parts of the world such as Dubai
Dubai
Dubai is a city and emirate in the United Arab Emirates . The emirate is located south of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula and has the largest population with the second-largest land territory by area of all the emirates, after Abu Dhabi...
based MBC 3
MBC 3
MBC 3 is a free-to-air children channel that hosts by Dania al-Shafii and Hassan al-Mula and belongs to the Middle East Broadcasting Center . It was launched on 8 December 2004...
.
On April 7, 2003, the city of Niiza, Saitama
Niiza, Saitama
is a city located in Saitama Prefecture, Japan, and is essentially a suburb of the Tokyo conurbation. Niiza is located at the southernmost part of Saitama. As of 2010, the city has an estimated population of 159,741 and a population density of 7,010 persons per km²...
registered the Astro Boy character as a resident to coincide with his birthdate in the manga.
Appearances in other Media
- Astroboy occasionally makes cameos in Tezuka's Black JackBlack JackBlack Jack or Blackjack may refer to:- Games and cards :* Blackjack, the gambling game* Black Jack , also known as Switch, a name given to some variations of Crazy Eights in United Kingdom* The black Jack playing card- Products :...
manga, though as a different character.
- An Astro Boy toy is featured in one of the episodes of the original MacrossMacrossis a series of science fiction mecha anime, directed by Shōji Kawamori of Studio Nue in 1982. The franchise features a fictional history of Earth/Humanity after the year 1999. It consists of three TV series, four movies, six OVAs, one light novel and five manga series, all sponsored by Big West...
.
See also
- List of Osamu Tezuka manga
- List of Osamu Tezuka anime
- Osamu Tezuka's Star SystemOsamu Tezuka's Star SystemOver the course of his career, Osamu Tezuka reused the same characters in different roles in different stories. The way that Tezuka used the characters in his "star system" can be seen as somewhat analoguous to a film director frequently casting members of a regular "stable" of actors in different...