Astro Boy

Astro Boy

The cover for Astro Boy volume 1 and 2 compilation by Dark Horse Comics.
鉄腕アトム
(Astro Boy: Tetsuwan Atomu)
Genre Action, Adventure, Science fiction
Manga
Author Osamu Tezuka
Publisher Flag of Japan Kobunsha / Kodansha
Demographic Shōnen
Magazine Flag of Japan Weekly Shōnen Sunday'
Original run April 1952 – March 1968
Volumes 23
TV anime
Director Osamu Tezuka
Studio Mushi Productions
Licensor Flag of the United States Flag of Canada Nozomi Entertainment
Flag of Australia Flag of New Zealand Madman Entertainment
Network Flag of Japan Fuji TV
Flag of the United States NBC, Syndication, Adult Swim
Flag of Australia ABC
Flag of the People's Republic of China CCTV
Flag of the Philippines GMA7 (2009) QTV11 (2009) Hero (2009)
Original run 1 January 1963 – 31 December 1966
Episodes 193
Related works
  • Astro Boy (1980 TV series)
  • Astro Boy (2003 TV series)
Anime and Manga Portal

Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム Tetsuwan Atomu?, lit. "Mighty Atom") is a Japanese manga series and television program first broadcast in Japan from 1963 to 1966. The story follows the adventures of a robot boy and a selection of other characters along the way.

Astro Boy is the first Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became familiarized as anime.[1] It originated as a manga in 1952 by Osamu Tezuka, who is often reputed as the "god of manga".[2] After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu, known as Astroboy in the United States and other Western countries, and again in 2003. In November 2007, he was named Japan's envoy for overseas safety. [3]

Contents

Plot

Astro Boy is a science fiction series set in a futuristic world wherein androids co-exist with humans. 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, to replace his son Tobio, who died in a car accident. 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 android 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, 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.

After some time, Professor Ochanomizu, the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus and convinced Hamegg 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.

Characters

Main article: List of Astro Boy characters

Media

Manga

Main article: List of Astro Boy manga

The manga was originally serialized from 1951 to 1968, followed by two further series in 1975 and 1980-81. [4]

The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories are now available in English-language, published by Dark Horse Comics in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt. They follow the television series in using "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.

In 2004 a new manga version of Tetsuwan Atom (Astro Boy) was written by manga-ka, Akira Himekawa. The plot, as well as the character designs, loosely follows that of the 2003 anime series. The artwork is quite different from Tezuka's original and in some instances more violent. This version of the manga has been published in english by Chuang Yi.

Anime series

See also: List of Astro Boy episodes

The beginning anime series was produced by Mushi Productions. 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. At its height it was watched by 40% of the Japanese population that 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 a special treat for Japanese fans since the theatrical versions were filmed in color.

English-language broadcast

For the English version, the producers, NBC Enterprises, settled on "Astro Boy" after discussions with producer Fred Ladd and representatives from NBC led them to the name. (The title "Mighty Atom" for an atomic powered robot, as "Astro Boy" was thought of back then, was considered too generic and not "catchy enough" 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. The manga was not translated into English until Dark Horse Comics published it in the 2000s, although Gold Key Comics published a version in the United States based on the TV episodes.[5]

Astro Boy today

The English adaptation included an opening theme song 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.[6]

In 2007, Cartoon Network began broadcasting and webcasting episodes of NBC's 1960s broadcast as a part of its Adult Swim line-up. Only the first 52 episodes are scheduled to air at present, though not necessarily in the proper sequence.

Film

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 which loosely followed the manga. The opening sequence (around 1 minute) is an anime type animation, and the rest is a Black and White movie. The whole movie lasts for 1h15m. It can be clearly seen that it was made at the beginning of Japanese movie making history, as we can see that pistols have their barrels covered with white paper before they are shot, as it can be seen in some of the scenes being cut up to match some dynamic movement and or stunt moves. Special effects and Scenography can be compared to, that time, American B-Class movies.

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.[7] 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. A Japanese IMAX featurette was made in 2005, based on the 2003–2004 anime, titled Astro Boy/TetsuWan Atomu--Visits the Person, IGZA--100,000 Light Years Away!, but has only been shown in Japan.

A feature film version is slated for 2009 from Imagi Animation Studios.[8][9][10][11]

See also

References

  1. ↑ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Astroboy/4850
  2. ↑ ""Profile: Tezuka Osamu"". Anime Academy. Retrieved on 2007-09-30.
  3. ↑ McCurry, Justin (2008-03-20). "Japan enlists cartoon cat as ambassador". The Guardian. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
  4. ↑ "Astro Boy Corpus from Tezuka in English. Accessed 16 August 2008.
  5. ↑ Comic Book Resources - Comic Book News, Reviews and Commentary - Updated Daily!
  6. ↑ Fred Ladd speech, Anime North 2001
  7. ↑ Kelts, Roland (2006). Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the U.S.. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 44. ISBN 1-4039-7475-6. 
  8. ↑ Imagi International Holdings "Our Films", "Astro Boy"
  9. ↑ AstroBoy News/Headlines
  10. ↑ AstroBoy (2009) Movie
  11. ↑ Imagi Gives New Life to Astro Boy

External links

Astro Boy
Series
Astro Boy (Episodes)  • Astro Boy (1980 TV series)  • Astro Boy (2003 TV series)
Film
Astro Boy
Characters
Astro Boy • Doctor Tenma  • Professor Ochanomizu  • Lord Deadcross • Pluto • Shunsaku Ban  • Uran
Video Games
Astro Boy (Konami)  • Astro Boy (Banpresto)  • Astro Boy: Omega Factor  • Astro Boy (2004 video game)
Other
List of Astro Boy chapters  • Astro Boy (NOW Comics)