Astro Boy: Tetsuwan Atom

Astro Boy: Tetsuwan Atom - A forgotten manga.

The introduction to this series does a really good job of explaining the importance of Astro Boy, originally called "Mighty Atom" in Japan, and providing some histories without dragging on too long, during 3 volumes. Astro Boy is also called the "Mickey Mouse" of Japan, for those who don't know.

So the original synopsis of this manga tells the history of the director of the Ministry of Science's son that is killed in a car accident, so he creates a robot to replace him but then sells him after being disillusioned by the fact that Astro Boy isn't his real son. After seeing him perform in a circus act, Prof. Ochanomizu takes him from the circus and raises him like a son. He also apparently teaches him how to use his robot powers, superhero style. The director has a real mad scientist look to him, and completely freaks out when Astro Boy won't grow. Either way, he comes across as a completely irrational villain. In contrast, Prof. Ochanomizu is a kind hearted rotund scientist who apparently adopts Astro Boy no questions asked. Given the fact that they are both scientists, Astro Boy's two parental figures seem to represent the fact that science can be used for both good and evil.
I haven't seen such a complex character in a log time and Astro Boy (as a manga) just shows that appearances deceive when it comes to old manga properly of a series that have been having several adaptations throughout the years. Astro Boy holds a strange sense of dark peril, behind the wacky action and cutesy look of everything. Even violent, things happen to the characters who do nothing but good, and just when you think things couldn't get any worse, they do.

Personally, I think that Astro Boy it's a splendid character when it comes to characterization, he's heroic, honest, and willing to throw himself in any sort of danger, even if it means perishing in the process. All of these things are a common trait in the hero factor, but what makes this infinitely more interesting is the fact that Astro is a child. The readers can not forget that this is a manga created originally in 1951 and even now is a talked character, with a prequel animation called Atom: The Beginning. Astro takes on insane responsibilities, not just because he's the only one who can do it, but because he likes helping those who can't help themselves. As you know, Dr. Tenma made Astro for one reason, to replicate his son. Although it isn't stressed hardly at all in the manga when Astro isn't out saving the world he's doing normal things a kid would: playing with friends and having fun.

Astro Boy it's not the Tezuka's top notch manga but surely is in the top three manga of him, making it highly enjoyable and worth reading more than once.

Story: 8 | Art: 8 | Character: 7 | Enjoyment: 7
Score: 8

Personal Note: This manga was edited in Portuguese around 2011, making it quite rare to find it and it was only sold this version of the manga.

This is perhaps not the ideal way to experience Astro Boy.

A disclaimer: I have not read the original manga by Osamu Tezuka, nor watched anything of the anime, save for the first episode of the 1963 series. Therefore, I cannot really compare this remake by Akira Himekawa to other versions. What I can judge, however, is how this version stands on its own.

This feels like a very condensed version of the Astro Boy story. The pacing suffers from this, as everything happens so fast that the emotional punches don't really carry much weight. While the art is nice to look at, the paneling is often confusing to the point I can't understand what is happening, and a lot of the time the manga just feels like a montage of the original story.

As for the story, it's good. There are lots of philosophical questions asked about the future of AI and the rights of intelligent robots, and in many ways you can draw parallels between the robots as the working class and humans as the middle/upper class. If you look at it from another perspective, the relationship between the robots and the humans could be seen as a comment on immigration and racism. All this packed in a child friendly way, that hopefully gets children thinking about some more difficult questions. Too bad the story loses its punch with the condensed pacing.

All in all, I don't think this is the best way to experience Astro Boy. Still it is a short version of the story that won't take up much of your time, so if you just want to get the gist of the story without having to plough through 20+ volumes of the original, this one might do the trick.

My library, while attempting to get the published volumes of the original manga, bought this. And although I had already watched the 2003 adaptation, I read this.

NOTE: The English translation I read had terrible print quality, please seek out a fan translation or the original print if you plan on reading this.

It's honestly not so bad. Some story lines are a little rushed through, but clearly it had some thought put into it. I wouldn't recommend it before the original manga, as perhaps the original tried to say what it had to say clearer. But I don't think this manga should get a bad rap.

Story - 6
Some plot-lines get rushed in order to focus more heavily on the altered main story. While I think this was a good idea for this manga it means some characters suffer. The altered main story is a little less dense than the original, probably to appeal to a modern younger audience. Not necessarily bad but it does kind of make the story loose some of its weight, the reasons behind characters actions are just less powerful.

Art - 8
Actually very good! The print quality isn't amazing but I was reading the official English translation, I can't say what the original Japanese print is like. The backgrounds are quite good for a re-adaptation and some panels are genuinely really great to just look at. It's been a while since I read it, and at the time I had read significantly less manga, but I still feel as though the art I can remember was well done. I would maybe seek out the artist's other work even, and it was a real shame the print quality made the lines kind of fuzzy and ink faded.

Character - 4-5
Unfortunately the characters are scuffed a bit by the book's attempts to slim down. Some supporting characters are much stronger, but most main characters suffer hits to their motivation and some characters changes of heart just hold less power. I wish each chapter just had a few more pages just so that each of them had the time to expand the character’s personalities.

Enjoyment - 7-8
Was pretty great. I had fun. If you've already read the original manga or watched the 1980s adaptation or 2003 adaptation (The one with the same plot as this manga and which I can't discern was made before, alongside, or after this manga) I would recommend. I think the anime of this adaptation does a better job, especially in the character department (it's better balanced/paced) but the manga shouldn't be ignored. Panel arrangement from what I remember is excellent. If it's in your local library and you've got time to kill check it out

Overall - 6-7
Better than average and I would recommend over a lot of manga that gets published just to get pages out. Engaging but not a slow long read. I recommend for its art and the supporting characters. It was based off Tezuka's masterpiece after all, it can't be all bad.