Hi! I've been intending to do this for over a decade, so after (finally) watching the Pluto anime* I've got the motivation to at least start. As background for me - I grew up on the 2003 Astro Boy English dub, and am particularly fond of it, but I've seen the majority of the 80's anime, bits of the 60's anime, and have read all of the original manga before. I also loved the 2009/10 movie when it came out because I was like 10/11 years old, so I still kind of fondly look back on it even though it sucked in its own special way. I also love Akira Himekawa's work in general and own the 2003-based manga by them, but in Italian as it was never translated to English. Because I love that bouncy artstyle and think it suits Atom especially well, I picked one of my favorite panels for the icon ^_^
I will reread the original Astro Boy manga (in English, as that's the language I speak, sorry everyone) and analyze it as I go. I'm hoping this will be fun and give me a better connection than I already have to some of the subtler lore and story beats that I've reread so many times over the years. Also as an excuse to talk about it, even if into the void of tumblr.
The order I will be analyzing the manga in is it's order in the Dark Horse Omnibus because that's the physical copy I own. This also means that the "source" for all my comments and information is likely the supplementary text in this omnibus, or my brain, unless otherwise stated (Note: This means it may not be factual. Please correct me if something is actually wrong!). This analysis will be mostly casual but we'll see how it goes. Ideally, I will keep it to one post per chapter - If a story has multiple chapters (like the Once Upon A Time arc), it will have multiple analysis posts and at that point I will decide if it needs a separate final post or if final thoughts should be in the post of the last chapter.
I have a feeling the chronological post option may be useful to you if you plan to read the blog, but it's your life. I will be putting the manga analysis under the very creative "#astro boy manga analysis" tag for this reason.
Looking forward to this! If anyone wants to join me on this journey feel free to follow ^_^ This is a sideblog so if I follow back, it will be under dullard which is my main blog.
*Despite the fact that I already had read the Pluto manga multiple times, I needed to gain emotional stamina to deal with the possibility of change to something I love (my brain is normal). So it took me a while to finally get to watch it.
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Hi again, I just finished student teaching, so I'm sort of back but I wouldn't anticipate more consistent posts just because of that, lol.
This comic has a very strange vibe to it that shifts repeatedly, I think I have to read over the whole thing first and then immediately reread it to give my thoughts (this is not how I normally do it - normally I just read the comic for the ""first"" time (its been a while since I reread all of these) and comment as I go).
It's a really, really strange comic, and it doesn't particularly appeal to me specifically.
I think this is one of those things that you're not supposed to think about too hard. But we here at AstroBoyAnalysis dot tumbler dot edu overthink everything.
This is messed up. I think it's pretty self explanatory. The robots are alive. Where do they go after? Why is it not simply a reskin and rental? I understand the similarities with obon festival customs but the sentience of robots makes this really strange (and also, "replacing" your dead family member for three days, although I can't say if this is something that strikes me as strange for cultural reasons where it might not for someone else. If I think of it more like a metaphor its less weird, but would come with its own set of consequences. This is also like, one of the main emotional cruxes of Astro Boy as a whole, that you can't replace someone who is gone, but what do I know)
THIS IS MORE THAN A FUCKING FAVOR THIS IS HORRIBLE
Also, Ban says "just for a day" but soon after the family establishes it is three days. It just doesn't feel that well thought out, or maybe it's a bit of a translation thing.
Atom is really cute in these panels, but the whiplash of the emotions here is very strange. It goes from sentimental in describing the festival (with, you know, the qualms I described a moment ago) to like horrifically sad and upsetting and then right after this it goes right back to normal adventures it's all very strange. This is kind of the first one that I'm coming at with something closer to criticism and I want to make it clear that I think I just don't get it. I assume some people, especially at the time and in Japan, probably got it in a way I don't, and the fact that I don't get it (it being a kind of difficult to place emotional truth) is an unsolvable issue.
>three days
Also, I don't know, it's really sad that they've lost a child but also it's really, really strange to me that you would want to be reminded of that loss in such a way, although they're clear that they're "imagining" on purpose.
I feel a need to describe what happens. Atom goes upstairs, finds a time machine. A debt collector comes in and says that he's here for the money Jiro borrowed, and that the amount the parents paid him was not the full sum.
he's so violent. What the hell. I do really like the panel where he's just standing there as the man hits him and it does nothing.
"I couldn't help acting like a robot" WHAT.
You just harmed a human, that is explicitly against the laws of robotics - In what way is that "acting like a robot"? Also, all ideas that its self defense go out the window (get it) when he was capable of just standing there instead. Also, destroyed that window.
Yeah (deep, tired sigh) yeah that's basically right
It's a poignant ending panel and I imagine that this aesthetic is the full reason Tezuka wrote the rest of the comic - Both Atom looking at the river in the first panel and this final one - but it feels very strange, doesn't it?
I suppose, at this point, the manga didn't have as much of a strong conviction to the theme of loss and grief, so this comic likely didn't feel as out of place when Tezuka was writing it. As the series developed, I do think it took on more of those themes as central - That life is precious and people are unique - and a person's uniqueness is why they can't be replaced. I think those themes blend well with the themes Tezuka did seem to like, at this point, which were things like making a better world through conservation and technology.
Anyway, not my favorite. Just by process of elimination, probably one of my least favorites so far in this read through, but it isn't bad per se, just not to my liking, I guess?
Okay so either robots can have jobs kind of freely or Atom is getting a special exception here. Atom is also not being held to any sort of uniform code as he's totally naked (normal for robots).
It's kind of cute he gets a job though.
Atom makes the executive decision to break a concrete rule, but this is actually something that may be built-in as "allowed" in the laws of robotics:
Because the image for Article 1 is not actually a robot making people "happy" but rather ensuring their safety, I imagine the rule is, on paper, more about ensuring human safety over other orders or their own safety. I also choose to read it as Article 1 taking precedent at a given time - If a robot has the choice between saving a human life and obeying orders, I think that may be the one time the robot is obligated to disobey. In this way, the robot is actually beholden to two masters - one being the laws of robotics, and the other being their owner.
Anyway, this guy jumps right to the racism when things hit the fan.
Another instance of manga Atom going right to what I would categorize as fairly harsh violence when a close inspection probably could have done the trick. It wasn't moving independently or anything, and he noted that.
SO cutes in the last 2 panels.
and so cutes here too.
Sir you're just going to die like a rat a few hours later instead.
I think this may just be something strange about the translation that was done - I think what he's doing is actually more akin to CPR, whereas reading "artificial respiration" makes me think of forcibly simulating breath, which Atom is likely not capable of, since he doesn't breathe and he has an artificial voice box that produces sound without passing air through it. The motion looks like CPR if you squint.
His ability to give what I assume is an extremely precise shock (if he just blasted this kid, he'd just burn him) is really helpful for future reference. He can function as a walking AED! He also seems to have a decent amount of knowledge of human first aid.
Because Atom specifically was born without knowledge and learned it from Tenma while being raised as a child, I assume this was something he thought would be helpful and learned himself on his own time later, and at the same time must have evaluated what an AED is doing so he could do it himself.
This is actually just heartbreaking I don't even have that much to say about it. He just doesn't really have the processing power and at this point his brain's probably worn down and not functioning at full from the harsh Moon Elements (lol) and he remembers what he was supposed to be doing before...
yea he died. On the bright side we know what Atom's trolley problem solution is.
Hello again. I still don't know how frequent these will be but I have not abandoned this, I just had a big preparation for a performance assessment that took a long time.
Ochanomizu so sillies for this visual gag. Actually, there have been a lot of visual gags I didn't note, like Ochanomizu and Dr. Haido licking each other while greeting. Y'know, normal stuff.
It's interesting that Atom got as far as the room of monsters to have this qualm, although he did seem a little preoccupied before this point
I assume by "suffer" he does not mean directly Feel Pain, rather that they won't be able to live a normal life. We saw that he mentioned something similar in the plant people liveblog. It's very possible it's just me, but this seems like an outdated sentiment that would easily be co-opted into euthanasia, although obviously that was not Tezuka's intent.
He's right, but it's tricky.
When we think of robots in Astro Boy, a lot of the time they're very locked into the thing they were made for. A plumber robot will plumb, a doctor robot will practice medicine, a robot meant to act a role will act that role. The two roles I just mentioned were necessary for society, and generally those robots are shaped in a way that would let them live a normal life outside of their job.
These robots are functionally actors, but they're actors of a single role. It isn't really that they're created for an express purpose that's a problem, it's that that purpose isn't really necessary. A consciousness is being brought into the world for amusement only, and many of them are stuck in those shapes of monsters or trees that are alive or whatever.
But here we run into an issue that is common in Astro Boy, even newer Astro Boy up to 2003 (I am not as familiar with things like Atom: The Beginning), and it's that everything that has new technology in it must be a sentient robot. A major part of me thinks this is kind of silly - What is the point of putting a consciousness into a car? The car is still following your orders. The car could just as well be operated by a robot that can exit the car and live normally outside of the car, or remotely piloted by an AI as more of a tool than its own living (ish) thing. What is the point of putting a consciousness into what is functionally a puppet for children's entertainment, when this could be controlled by a "puppet master" AI somewhere and save a ton on computers and parts.
(TANGENT: Alternatively, what's the point that a robot deserves rights? If I make a robotic bug, and its sentience is very similar to that of a real bug - It seeks out dark places, it may be a little curious about if something is desirable to it or if its a foe, and that's about it- Is that bug a sentient robot? Is the role of a bug not worthwhile for a robot if that robot isn't aware of any further parts of life, and can't be by the limitations of its hardware? What if I extend it up to a robotic cat or dog? It can be clever, it can make decisions independently, it can want and it can probably, to some extent, love. Is that cruel? Why is this admittedly silly fairy-tale ecosystem not composed of a variety of levels of sentience instead of a bunch of robots capable of understanding what they don't have, that are actors playing a role instead of the role itself? Where does sentience start and end? This is a question Astro Boy doesn't evaluate, as far as I remember. But an automated traffic light is taking in information and making "decisions" based on that information. Is it a robot (in Astro Boy's definition, which is more like "AI" or "sentient")? Okay, I'm ending the tangent here.)
So, there's the major part of me that thinks everything being a robot is silly. And then there's a part of me that sees what we're doing with "AI" right now and modern technology in general (I don't think it's actually AI, by my own definition, anyway. It is not thinking, and we don't expect it to. Society's goal with current AI is not anything independent, but rather seems to be to automate jobs that people do not want to pay humans for.) and it looks pretty similar. Why does this app need AI? Why does this refrigerator need wifi to function? The answer is, they really don't. We toss extra "new" things into them so that they're more appealing as purchases, so they seem more Modern.
I suppose, to some extent, we can read this story similarly, although the issue of sentience and consciousness being involved makes it very different.
But basically. It's a silly story, it has that same silly issue a lot of Astro Boy has where everything is a robot (although in this case it's being brought into question - it just doesn't work for me because I know of many instances where it is NOT brought into question), and a much more effective way to accomplish the idea of a theme park like this would be to have individual "puppet" animatronics that are all operated by a "puppet master" AI that is located elsewhere in the park (and the part of me that likes more horror-based takes on Astro Boy likes that idea too, hehe)
Well this just seems like it might make for an unfriendly work environment full of hierarchies, doesn't it? That doesn't bode well for the theme park that's already been framed as amoral, huh?
wow yea this guys fucking wild. "kinda hard" might be an understatement though he immediately put his hands on Atom for, uh. Unclear what he did wrong actually. Saying his name too firmly, maybe?
Atom I need you to focus. That is not the most important question right now.
I can't help but think there are less cruel ways to do this.
It's a product of its time, I think, that the law and ownership are seen as so fundamental that they aren't questioned at all. Personally, I really dislike seeing Ochanomizu presented this way instead of as an idealist who does what's right, not someone so preoccupied with the law that he tells Atom, who is crying at the cruelty on display, to hurry it up and go get that woman who came to him begging for safety, and hand her right back to the robot that was terrorizing her. Also, silly little gag with Ochanomizu's nose getting bigger. Hehe awesome.
This confirms, to me, that property laws are stronger than robotic rights laws in the setting. Atom directly says they were torturing her, that she's alive, and Ochanomizu does not deny any of that, but continues to press that she is property, and Atom "stole" her, even though she independently ran away and came to him.
At the very least, I can appreciate that Atom's dad gives an "I know how you feel, but there's nothing we can do." I suppose part of Ochanomizu's transition into a more paternal character is tied with the transition away from giving Atom a nuclear family (heh. get it.) to begin with - That gentle parenting is the current norm helps too.
The manga doesn't seem to acknowledge this, but isn't this also theft by the same definition? Atom willingly went into Robot Land and they have him and they haven't given him back. This is precisely what happened with Princess Odette in reverse, but Ochanomizu doesn't bring up any argument about that (Atom) being his property.
He did do that. That was like, the main thing he came there to do.
Well, to be fair, your "property" also snuck onto someone else's property and smashed things and we thought nothing of it.
Anyway, more legality here: Ochanomizu seems scared that jail time is a real outcome, although I'm not sure if he's scared for himself or for Atom. If he's scared for himself, that tells us that a robot's actions are the express responsibility of their owner, or of their creator (I imagine the owner first and if the owner pushes the legality up the chain it goes to the creator or the manufacturer or distributor). If he's scared for Atom, it indicates that property can be tried as a human and given jail time, which sounds not very correct. So I think Ochanomizu is the one being threatened here, really. I still believe in 2003's (I can't recall if it comes up in Astro Boy media before the finale episodes of 2003) concept that if a flaw is found with a robot that causes it to commit a crime (in the case of 2003, harming a human, which makes more sense to be treated so harshly) it would be decommissioned and destroyed, and if the flaw is significant enough, all robots of that design would be decommissioned and destroyed.
Yeah this is kind of how my students are.
You simply hate to see it.
That is actually the end of Omnibus 1, so we're finally making some progress! As a reminder, there are 7 Dark Horse Omnibuses. Omnibus 2 has 300 pages of "Once Upon A Time" which is some of my favorite content from the original run of Astro Boy.
Sorry, again, for how long the gap was there. I can't promise it'll never happen again. We come back next time with Ivan the Fool!
I will not apologize for the long pause. That last chapter was hefty I deserved a little break to uh. (checks watch) play an mmo too much
sorry for the quality lol. I am not taking pictures again unless I have to
This is actually an interesting concept. All the humans have to work robotic jobs that day that can't be left unattended...? Or are there essential robotic workers?
As I tend to do, when I think about this I think about how I would interpret it into a more believable take in this day and age - I'd say it's more like tax day. There's a day of the year all working robots must have maintenance checks by, and approaching that date tends to have a LOT of robots out of work (even though their employer/owner Could likely do it earlier). This would also mean that it's more like, "oh, the post office is closed because it's their maintenance day" and that would kind of make it into a whole Season of odd closures. That's a little less fun than all of them having the same day off though.
(Note: I'm assuming that there are technologies that can just check maintenance For robots without it being individual humans, so there is no issue of "there's not enough practitioners available on that day" (although the lines for like, independently owned robots on that day would be Hellish). So if you have, like, a chef robot that you own, at some point before that date you have to have their maintenance forms filled and sent to some governing body. Then again, this is likely a somewhat american approach. Given that i just compared it to tax day immediately. I understand it's meant to be more like a day off for robots here.)
Then again, it being a maintenance thing doesn't resolve the fact that it seems to be more of a labor day than anything else.
Also they have a GUN ROBOT enforcing this. thats insane. Robots cant harm humans WHO.
I have a feeling he's Already famous. But that's nice, Atom's dad. Also I included the first picture because he's cute.
It being a big holiday Every Month seems like a lot infrastructure wise since robots are so vital to the runnings of the city and the world at large. My Personal Interpretation of How to Do This If I Were Doing a Modern Astro Boy Interpretation (MPIHDTIIWDMABI, henceforth) (I will not remember this acronym) would be that it's simply a requirement and the date robots get off varies from robot to robot. More like a standard labor practice than a holiday.
I could be wrong, but I believe this character is used in Astro 2003 for the "Shrink Down And Enter Uran's Body" episode. His name in the dub was something like Dr. Minimini.
Hey, this is sort of what happens with the sun flares in Metropolis!
This seems like the worst day to enact this as it would have the Most effect on a day robots are working already.
Also. Lol, typewriters.
couldn't you just turn him off? he looks like he got hit by a car. There's no way a receiver for Nutso waves and adjacent frequencies would be like, below his shin AND in his elbow AND in his shoulder. Just take out the pieces that do that.
I'm just sharing this one with you because it's possibly one of my favorite Ochanomizus I've seen this read through. I don't know what it is about him.
That's actually really funny. Is it being affected by it's own waves and he didn't insulate it in any way or is he lying. No way to know!
Oh he looks COOL here
Okay, so in some capacity (legal?), Atom is still ""owned"" by Ochanomizu here. Interesting. I wonder if there's precedent for a robot to own themselves. Can robots own property...?
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As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.
Let's get started.
(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah
I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.
Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.
This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah
This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.
I'm glad we've moved past this visual.
I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?
Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.
Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.
Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.
I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?
Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"
Can't argue with that!
I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.
This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:
Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.
Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.
Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.
(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design
He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.
The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.
Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.
Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.
We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.
Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.
We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.
her pajamas are just so cute
CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.
Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.
Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.
Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.
Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).
"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby
His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much
I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.
"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.
Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.
But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.
He's just very flylike to me
Again. horrific.
Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!
I do loooove that he was genuinely and truly going to go Talk This Out. without Atom being there at all. Of course he follows anyway but Ochanomizu is just so bold and with very little to back it up in terms of physicality. Like he really just thought he'd be able to resolve this robot hunting down other robots systematically by having a calm conversation that would not in any way devolve to violence.
Oh how I wish he said what he thinks it's "for"
I just love his paternal moments and when he can wax poetic about the nature of Atom's technology.
adorable in this panel i dont have a comment
It's interesting that he did disobey just now to take Atom away from the battlefield, but doesn't want/feel the need to disobey on the core order to defeat him.
He's so strangely happy to see him. The last time we saw Tenma (in the Omnibus order - I am actually unaware where Tenma had last been in publication order but it doesn't really matter that much) he was selling Atom to the circus for not growing, a problem that he himself created.
Also have to love the swagful introduction of the silent removal of the hat. He seems happy to see Atom after he runs up to him in spite of his coolguy poker face beforehand.
He does look pretty truly desperate here despite this being something he was considering just before Ochanomizu was taken hostage. He really doesn't want to go against what Ochanomizu said - Although it should be pointed out that I don't think Ochanomizu even mentioned his own limits and rather said that he Shouldn't because he Doesn't Need It and was Made to be a robot with 100,000 horsepower. So Tenma pointing out that there's risk to him is actually a rare Tenma W. So anyway Atom like immediately has a heavily conflicted fever dream on thinking about it which is almost funny. He is truly enthralled with the raw power of it all. You hate to see it.
Really do just admire how cool a silhouette Pluto has. He looks a little silly in the face (as many robots do in the original manga. I say this lovingly.) but the silhouette itself is badass.
YE GADS MOMENT
damn. and they did this with their heads as well?
i LOOOOVE the x ray illustrations. I actually have a cool figure that lights up (although I took the batteries out bc i will forget to take them out and they'll leak in there) and is like, transparent plastic so you can see all his internals (if this interests anyone lmk I can get a picture). We can also see here that it's corroborated with what was shown in His Highness Deadcross that his head is only really for the sensing organs and external things you can See his head do - His brain is actually closer to his sternum than his heart, but there is no arrow pointing to that little heart at all. Wonder what it is.
Also, super compact atomic engine here. If the concept of him running on Atomic power is actually kept, his most powerful attack (and final attack if he did it) would probably be to stop his cooling systems and let his core melt down. That's kind of dark though and I'm glad it's not something that Tezuka really went with - Atom was a vision for a better future where the technology that had recently ravaged Japan via the Atomic bombs could be used for good, and Atom is a display of that hope.
ok like. its not funny. but its a little funny. he rushed out straight to pluto then hit his head on a rock and died
genuinely a sweet moment i love her
ok i literally forgot he existed. there were a few days between reading but wow hes just not all that compelling a character to me. and also the racism.
yippeeee he said it peace and love on planet earth <3
kind of wasteful ngl. you built that whole thing in here just for this?
god i wish i understood what the fuck he was talking about. is he a hermit
hes so upset about it whos gonna tell him monster can also just be a phrase meant to indicate someone is extremely strong
It literally speaks for itself I'm obsessed with the dynamic I love them so much
Okay I was going to put in the most important parts of the scene where Pluto helps Atom stop the eruption but it was literally. the whole scene and that was way too many pictures so heres two instead
I just. It's a good story. It's a sort of simple resolution in a way but it's a good story. And nothing else happens and Pluto lives happily ever after.
Nah just kidding he exploded.
Me too...
Really do love that the resolution is so harsh. There was so much death and destruction and really, in the end, for what? To find out who was the greatest because one party wanted to prove it?
Not to make the metaphor explicit but Astro Boy has always been a very anti-war series. It's good to sometimes have resolutions that drive that home instead of it always being wins all around.
Okay, that was a long story. Next one I'll be back with is "Mad Machine," then "Robot Land" to finish out the first Omnibus. Both of those are pretty short, especially compared to Greatest Robot on Earth.
Thanks everyone for all the interaction I really have been enjoying it and it's making this read-through so much more fun and engaging despite having read most of it about a dozen times already
Working on the next part of the Greatest Robot on Earth liveblog I just don't have that much energy after work. We know this it's not new.
Changed the tagging system a little - Only the final core post (so, the reblogs without discussion) will have the actual "Astro Boy Manga Analysis" tag - This is so that viewing that tag chronologically on my blog won't involve scrolling past extra stuff. I doubt this will matter to anyone at all though.
As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.
Let's get started.
(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah
I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.
Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.
This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah
This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.
I'm glad we've moved past this visual.
I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?
Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.
Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.
Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.
I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?
Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"
Can't argue with that!
I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.
This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:
Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.
Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.
Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.
(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design
He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.
The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.
Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.
Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.
We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.
Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.
We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.
her pajamas are just so cute
CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.
Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.
Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.
Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.
Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).
"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby
His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much
I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.
"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.
Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.
But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.
He's just very flylike to me
Again. horrific.
Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!
Me, learning about all this for the first time,: "Huh, the way the guy was drawn reminds me a lot of how the ruler in Aladdin was portrayed as- by Disney.."
Me: *Facepalms the equivalent of a thousand suns*
Another reason to add why I am so glad Tezuka found out that stuff is racist the people who make that stuff are racist and he completely separated himself from them when he realized it cause GOOD GOLLY is all I really have to say
But aside from that I am so glad you got to this arc as it is an absolutely legendary story of Astro Boy that no matter how many times it's retold hurts my soul every time, especially with Pluto now out as an anime and tearing into people's hearts like stakes and drinking their tears for good measure
I think Disney and Tezuka simply took from the same ideas of anti-arab caricature, though, as this finished serialization in early 1965, and Disney's Aladdin was a film from 1992, 27 years later and 3 years after Tezuka's death.
As a warning, this liveblog may take me multiple days (or like, a week, I literally don't know) to get all the reblogs on. The way you will know I am truly done is 1. I will say so on that reblog above the readmore and 2. I will post the next story. Won't do that until I'm done with this one, obviously.
Let's get started.
(I begin the first panel and am immediately affronted with what I must acknowledge is racism) ah
I am not the best person to speak on this. I am also likely not the first (although a quick google search has not revealed essays to me) to see this and recognize its heavy anti-arab racism and caricature. Because I am not the best person to speak on this, aside from pointing out that I do in fact recognize this and asking that you as the reader of this blog also recognize this, there is not much I am planning to discuss on it. I can't imagine there's much that hasn't already been said. It was wrong to portray a person or culture this way then, and it's wrong now. That's all I'll say for now.
Glad he has such a convenient visual for us. Also, I'm so fond of these robot designs. I love Pluto but boy are these silly and fun.
This sounds both normal to want and achievable as a goal, yeah
This is one of those just actually horrific moments, lmao. The gore of it all. The fact that his horns seem made to simply pass current through whatever touches them, or to arc electricity almost, is just wild. If I'm understanding the visual correctly and its meant to bring forward arcs of electricity like a taser, but at such a large scale, I'm fairly certain it would simply melt one of these robots if it didn't blow them up.
I'm glad we've moved past this visual.
I am somewhat curious if it was meant to be received as funny at the time. It must have been, right...?
Atom's characterization in the original manga is so starkly different to how its developed over time (and especially with multiple authors at this point). He's so ready to fight and doesn't stop to think at all - I'm so fond of the (cough, 2003, cough) idealistic and pacifistic Atom who only fights when there is no choice we've come to love now. The parallels between his appearance (childlike) and his views on the world (naive) are clear and the way that clashes with the events in the world around him and pushes him into these really difficult situations is just so much more compelling to me, idk. I really do love the "I don't want to fight you, I want to help you, I want to be your friend" (and actually meaning it) approach.
Some of what I really love about Astro Boy is that Atom's idealism has truth to it, but it puts him in conflict with others. The truth is somewhere in the idea that everyone has a right to exist, that everyone has value, that robots and humans can coexist - But just because it's true doesn't mean it's uncontroversial, and his existence being in opposition to others interests is what pushes him to make hard decisions. He's being shown again and again these conflicts that arise when humans make robots with bad intentions, when humans mistreat robots, when they try to live together, etc. etc., but his childlike and naive approach to the world LETS him keep hope that the better future he believes in will come to pass. His permanent youth is paralleled by his permanent optimism and the fact that he simply won't become jaded - or at least, not for long.
Gosh I can't wait to get to 2003 again.
I could talk about how the antidote to apathy and becoming overwhelmed with the horrors of the world is in what kids bring to the table forever. But it's all there, isn't it?
Anyway "I'll teach you to make a fool of me" while being inches away from certain death is very funny. "You think that's funny? I'm about to be hilarious"
Can't argue with that!
I love when Ochanomizu gets to have a moment like this.
This moment directly parallels something Atom said earlier, actually:
Anyway. "If it was only about strength" is a very important quote here and I'll probably come back to it at the end of the story. He really sums it all up right at the beginning though. What a good father figure. Although he does say ""only"" 100,000 horsepower which seems silly.
Uran what the hell lmao. He's clearly upset why are you egging him on like that.
Ok I do love how angry and ashamed he is here. The Atom we see in this comic specifically seems to base a lot of his value on his ability to win a fight through brute strength, which is kind of interesting. It's also interesting when we see this sort of character be so submissive to authority - It indicates there's a heirarchy beyond strength that they do have to acknowledge (social capital, respect of elders, something in there), yet they value strength so highly maybe because it's the heirarchy they can control, somewhat. And yet here he's been told he's not allowed to get stronger to win.
(Guy that likes bugs) I'm getting some real bugs vibes from North #2's design
He's shaped like a praying mantis to me, sort of. I'm about to say the same thing when we see Gesicht as well, but he looks more like a fly.
The idea of this being impersonal is very strange to me, but also very compelling. I will ignore how much I love Pluto's approach to this manga because I'm not commenting on differences here, and I'm just going to talk about it as its own characterization. Like a normal person.
Why would Pluto have any amount of hatred towards the robots he's meant to destroy? They're more alike him than the one commanding him to kill them. There's a kind of tragedy in this, I suppose - although he's not particularly against hurting them, either. But the fact he feels a need to tell them it's not personal is interesting.
Uran also having the same idea of Atom's value that he himself does, but having very little care for Ochanomizu's wisdom on the matter (while Atom dejectedly accepts it as fact) puts them in conflict here - She expects more of him than he's showing - Why is he bowing down now? But Atom also values his own niceties, his deference to power, and his acceptance of the authority of the one who, in a way, owns him.
We do see that Ochanomizu tells Atom he's free in the first comic, yet Atom continues to treat Professor Ochanomizu as if he created him, and values his authority above all else. As of yet, we haven't seen him directly disagree with Professor Ochanomizu or his authority, and he does act basically the way any owned robot (or a child born to a parent) would (seems to stick around Ochanomizu, listens to what he says and obeys, etc.), just with far more freedoms and independence.
Basically, in this first iteration, their relationship is very difficult for me to parse out. He's certainly paternal, he's certainly a guiding figure, and he certainly has authority over Atom that Atom does not question, but Atom is given a full family unit outside of the Professor, and the Professor is not his creator.
We have not (yet) seen a reason for Atom to understand that Ochanomizu's authority is earned, like, for example, him disobeying and then finding that Ochanomizu was right all along. This iteration of Atom lacks the tendency of children to push boundaries or to think independently, it seems.
her pajamas are just so cute
CONFIRMED they're pants in this iteration and not a permanent part of his body.
Great question, Uran! It'd be awesome if we had any introduction to you or your creation before reading this comic so that this would strike us in any way at all. But alas, that is not the order of the omnibus.
Still, she has a good point as far as we're concerned. Why didn't he do that? Why aren't there a bunch of Atoms flying around all the time? I'm curious if the manga itself will actually answer this.
Pluto himself is so deeply interesting to me. He does smile while he fights the robots he's been ordered to fight, and while he kills them, and yet he seems to value robots in general on a basic level. He made it clear it was not a personal issue and was because he was ordered to, but it's still interesting to me that he doesn't seem to care one way or the other about violence. He doesn't like it enough to enact it when he hasn't been ordered to.
Ochanomizu has the authority to Forbid Atom from fighting. It's clear Atom is choosing not to, at Ochanomizu's request, so taking a hostage to force him into it also indicates to me that it's a choice to obey that can be overriden if Atom wills it (and that, without this motivation, he simply doesn't, or prefers to defer to Ochanomizu out of respect, obligation, or otherwise).
"Baby sister" is so cute considering that she never was a baby
His kindness.... What made him like that. I do love him so much
I do love that Atom's mercy plays a major role here. I think it's interesting that Pluto asks in the first place.
"That's what I was designed to do" is an answer that isn't immediately rebuffed by Atom with anything about freedom to choose your path or anything. He seems to mostly stay quiet on what other robots do in their positions, from what we've seen, and doesn't particularly care to help anyone liberate themselves if they don't already want it in the first place.
Can any Astro Boy scholars let me know what the original text says in Japanese and what the meaning of the word used is? Tomboy just seems so strange here and I'm curious how faithful the translation is to the original text. I'm not even sure how to go about finding a copy of the story in Japanese, frankly, because it's so old.
But why....? His father doesn't even seem to have his own take on this or care that it's dangerous, it's all about the fact that Ochanomizu told him to.
He's just very flylike to me
Again. horrific.
Okay I don't have anything to say but Cobalt's really cute in this panel. Anyway I'll continue this in a reblog because I've run out of images!
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I thought I'd be done for the night but actually, this one's extremely short.
Anyone in this outfit might as well be wearing a propeller cap and holding an oversized lollipop to be honest. Also I was pretty sure this was Rock on first glance but apparently he's a boy name Koichi. Sad!
Well I thought he was your best friend but I guess that hinges on winning th-ARE YOU HITTING YOUR SISTER WHAT THE HELL
I mean you don't love it enough to fix it if it isn't going to continue to be the world champion so it can't be that much.
(wakes up from heart surgery) "wheres my sister" who do you think donated the heart
Yea I dunno after he slapped her for trying to make him feel better and made it clear his love for the car his dead father created hinged on it winning a race this just doesn't really feel like that much of a win.
OH FUCK THIS IS THE ONE THING YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO AS A MAGICIAN!!!!!!!!!! About to get blackballed by the magicians guild
Well no wonder he keeps revealing his secrets hes not supposed to lie. thats like, the main thing magicians do.
Ok I'm gonna be honest I think a human would also be concerned about this
Number 3 on my Top 5 things to say to get kids to REALLY want to investigate the house right here.
Kenichi like breathes and Atom is like screaming because it was so loud
Again just appreciate how straightforwardly evil this is
Tezuka had a lot of fun drawing these panels I can tell. It reads like a wheres waldo page.
Really great way to consolidate all the paintings into several easy to transport vans so they can get stolen easier.
Ok I do gotta hand it to Tawashi this is a great hiding spot
On my "'Tis" and "Indeed" bullshit yet again
First calves vs. boots mistake(s) I've spotted since Plant People, but it's possible I missed one in Deadcross. All panels leading up to this have boots, he loses them for 3 panels, then they come back.
I want to stress again that calves vs. boots does not matter. I just like pointing it out.
Okay embarassment may be a little harsh
I hate him but he is pretty relateable. Me trying to escape problems as well.
This type of thing is common at the police agency (as we'll see) and Atom overhearing it is Also fairly common. I can't say its not relatable to have heard people say things they believed were behind closed doors about like. Your humanity and human rights.
Anyway, Ochanomizu is not likely to react well to you asking for that change but feel free to go for it I guess.
Actually so badass.
Atom's very unprepared for a debate like this, and clearly Tawashi is embarrassed he's been caught in being a bigot who pretends not to be one.
This interaction is bringing forward like, memories of the way Blue Knight's (2003 specifically) logical and straightforward but passionate approach was really clear to me as a kid. It was like, so simple that to go against it would immediately make someone look bad. They would have to admit the core conceit that they did not think robots deserved rights, nor did they deserve to Leave or be properly compensated - and from there, it's a different conversation.
This Atom, in this moment, just doesn't have any idea of what strategies to use, what to say, what to do. It's sad! And it's overwhelming. No wonder he's about to cry and resorts to "You're being mean!"
For anyone, myself included, who has been put in this situation while wholly unprepared to advocate for their own rights, this scene might hit pretty hard. Or maybe I'm just not normal about the comic book.
This would just be really scary and humiliating and upsetting. For anyone. I'm glad he has someone like Ochanomizu who can support him and guide him through it, but in an ideal world he wouldn't have to go through it at all.
Then again, ideal worlds don't make the best stories, do they?
I do love these moments when the roles are reversed from what we've seen before, and Ochanomizu is Protecting Atom from something he can't fight (human bigotry) instead of Atom protecting Ochanomizu from a more direct physical threat.
This whole portion of the story just makes my heart ache a little
Here we see a completely peaceful demonstration by robots to defend an ambiguous existing law that allows robots to act autonomously.
Atom's conceit here is that "If we offend the humans now, it'll only make things worse!" does not work - They will make things worse if the robots do nothing. Should they not at least show that they disagree? That they don't want to go down quietly? The human police are attacking a peaceful protest.
This is all stuff we're plenty familiar with. Atom's idealism is the same as liberalism in many ways. Go out and vote, don't disrupt the way things are. It allows the status quo to go almost entirely unchallenged, and all that needs to happen is a workaround for some votes. A system rarely actually listens to its most vulnerable.
This is the angriest we've seen him yet in the omnibus order. "Maybe I'm not in the mood to listen!" speaks to some righteous anger we rarely see from him - he's sick of always listening, always being patient. This is the way he knows to enact change. Fighting and punching work. When fighting and punching are out of the question, he feels helpless.
FUUUUCK YES DOGGY POLICE CARS FUCK YES ITS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm biased but I do especially love how this was interpreted for Astro 2003. That said I can't find an image online immediately so everyone that's reading this please join me in imagining the 2003 dog cars.
...
It's great, right?
Oh good thing there's only one big place for us to check huh?
Just horrific lmao. Unimaginable violence and cruelty check
Siri play mewtwo's classic quote "The circumstances of one's birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are."
mewtwo is something like a scholar in my eyes
What the hell are you two doing here you haven't been introduced at all yet
Love how much space is dedicated to explaining this extremely small visual gag. And it's also funny so that's a plus.
You just shot the man dead what do you want him to say now
Hm. For whatever reason I don't trust him to represent himself accurately when not in the company of other bigots. Just a gut feeling I get. On account of the He Did That Earlier.
Anyway. Great story, I like the actual like, civil unrest portion quite a lot, I like that we get to see a lot into Atom's (flawed, although the story doesn't think so) point of view about civil unrest, and I like that parts of the storyline include an enemy Atom can't simply beat up to get rid of it. The stories are at their best when resolutions don't come easily and Atom is left at a loss for what to do with political problems much larger than him that have been around much longer than he has.
OH FUCK THIS IS THE ONE THING YOURE NOT SUPPOSED TO DO AS A MAGICIAN!!!!!!!!!! About to get blackballed by the magicians guild
Well no wonder he keeps revealing his secrets hes not supposed to lie. thats like, the main thing magicians do.
Ok I'm gonna be honest I think a human would also be concerned about this
Number 3 on my Top 5 things to say to get kids to REALLY want to investigate the house right here.
Kenichi like breathes and Atom is like screaming because it was so loud
Again just appreciate how straightforwardly evil this is
Tezuka had a lot of fun drawing these panels I can tell. It reads like a wheres waldo page.
Really great way to consolidate all the paintings into several easy to transport vans so they can get stolen easier.
Ok I do gotta hand it to Tawashi this is a great hiding spot
On my "'Tis" and "Indeed" bullshit yet again
First calves vs. boots mistake(s) I've spotted since Plant People, but it's possible I missed one in Deadcross. All panels leading up to this have boots, he loses them for 3 panels, then they come back.
I want to stress again that calves vs. boots does not matter. I just like pointing it out.
Okay embarassment may be a little harsh
I hate him but he is pretty relateable. Me trying to escape problems as well.
This type of thing is common at the police agency (as we'll see) and Atom overhearing it is Also fairly common. I can't say its not relatable to have heard people say things they believed were behind closed doors about like. Your humanity and human rights.
Anyway, Ochanomizu is not likely to react well to you asking for that change but feel free to go for it I guess.
Actually so badass.
Atom's very unprepared for a debate like this, and clearly Tawashi is embarrassed he's been caught in being a bigot who pretends not to be one.
This interaction is bringing forward like, memories of the way Blue Knight's (2003 specifically) logical and straightforward but passionate approach was really clear to me as a kid. It was like, so simple that to go against it would immediately make someone look bad. They would have to admit the core conceit that they did not think robots deserved rights, nor did they deserve to Leave or be properly compensated - and from there, it's a different conversation.
This Atom, in this moment, just doesn't have any idea of what strategies to use, what to say, what to do. It's sad! And it's overwhelming. No wonder he's about to cry and resorts to "You're being mean!"
For anyone, myself included, who has been put in this situation while wholly unprepared to advocate for their own rights, this scene might hit pretty hard. Or maybe I'm just not normal about the comic book.
This would just be really scary and humiliating and upsetting. For anyone. I'm glad he has someone like Ochanomizu who can support him and guide him through it, but in an ideal world he wouldn't have to go through it at all.
Then again, ideal worlds don't make the best stories, do they?
I do love these moments when the roles are reversed from what we've seen before, and Ochanomizu is Protecting Atom from something he can't fight (human bigotry) instead of Atom protecting Ochanomizu from a more direct physical threat.
This whole portion of the story just makes my heart ache a little
Here we see a completely peaceful demonstration by robots to defend an ambiguous existing law that allows robots to act autonomously.
Atom's conceit here is that "If we offend the humans now, it'll only make things worse!" does not work - They will make things worse if the robots do nothing. Should they not at least show that they disagree? That they don't want to go down quietly? The human police are attacking a peaceful protest.
This is all stuff we're plenty familiar with. Atom's idealism is the same as liberalism in many ways. Go out and vote, don't disrupt the way things are. It allows the status quo to go almost entirely unchallenged, and all that needs to happen is a workaround for some votes. A system rarely actually listens to its most vulnerable.
This is the angriest we've seen him yet in the omnibus order. "Maybe I'm not in the mood to listen!" speaks to some righteous anger we rarely see from him - he's sick of always listening, always being patient. This is the way he knows to enact change. Fighting and punching work. When fighting and punching are out of the question, he feels helpless.
FUUUUCK YES DOGGY POLICE CARS FUCK YES ITS EVERYTHING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm biased but I do especially love how this was interpreted for Astro 2003. That said I can't find an image online immediately so everyone that's reading this please join me in imagining the 2003 dog cars.
...
It's great, right?
Oh good thing there's only one big place for us to check huh?
Note for people actually following this: The slight delay in post will probably be common. I work almost every weekday and come home really exhausted so I don't normally have the energy for something like this.
While I generally don't question the order the comics are placed in in this compilation, I will say that if someone were reading Astro Boy for the first time in this order, they would probably be pretty confused right now. "But Atom is in this panel!" "Who are any of these people?"
I'm curious where the comics introducing the creation of a family for Atom will end up in the compilation. This being a serialized manga without a singular coherent storyline, this type of thing happens a lot, where it makes more sense for a story to go early, but some detail in it won't be explained fully because it's a change made in the years between whatever comics you read.
While I'm fond of the more coherent storylines of modern animation and comics, I do sort of miss serialized stories and the return to normalcy at the end of each "episode." I understand it's more common in childrens' TV, especially childrens' TV we might not think of as Artful when compared with the childrens' TV that has those storylines (thinking of like. Uncle Grandpa. That type of show.)
I think the general culture around media has shifted to one of character and story development, which is interesting. Characters and stories can still be evolved over serialized media, but it's a different approach. I remember when Wander Over Yonder was airing thinking "wow, this is a great cartoon and it's episodic instead of arc-based!"
This is a ramble. I just think it's becoming much rarer, so this problem the omnibus has to deal with is not as much of an issue anymore, at least with officially published content.
Genuinely Uran is so funny for this. I know this is the first time we're seeing her in the omnibus but I'm just so fond of her. Her childish but sneaky approach parallels Atom's polite near-deference with figures of authority (unless they are "evil," but at this point we don't think anything of the Pants we are being presented)
Part of me believes in my heart that this is because Atom has had high responsibility for his actions - He is held accountable to a standard human children are not, and the optics of what he says and does are scrutinized somewhat. Uran has not had this, but has the same type of "free will" and lack of given purpose that Atom does.
Oh yeah cobalt is there too. Hi cobalt.
Really funny visual gag where did you get that bigass weight. Don't answer.
I do love that he's ostensibly working out in his free time despite this giving no real strength benefit to a robot with a set strength built in, although I do suppose getting used to how weight handles and how heavy objects throw as opposed to light objects would be extremely useful for him.
Anyway. You could probably guess this but as I grew up on the 2003 Astro Boy dub, I was also a Teen Titans (2003) fan. Cyborg has a great episode surrounding the idea that strength is built in called "Sum of His Parts".
I have my artistic preferences with that episode and personally would not have done everything the way it does, but the evaluation of psychology when your physical limits are perceived as set in stone is very relevant here.
We are like two pages into this one btw. I'm normal.
Another robot specific law: Robots aren't allowed to go overseas by themselves/unaccompanied by humans without a permit. This makes a bit of sense relative to robots widely being property to be protected (read: you do not want them fleeing). This was actually shown in "The Birth of Astro Boy"
See the above panel from the first comic in the omnibus.
It's also funny that they didn't just also get Atom permission on the way and were instead like. Okay Atom we're just going to do a whole trenchcoat deal. I imagine that permission to move between borders is different to acquire in different countries, and likely far more difficult in countries with more restrictive laws around robotic existence. Japan is fairly forward in robotic tech from what we see, but it's likely the bureaucratic process would take a while. Easier to just break the law.
(In some regard, this can be argued as a loophole rather than an outright crime - It depends how "A Robot" is defined. One could argue that a robot is based on their singular brain, so one pass per brain, but there are robots with parts that operate independent of one another, and this would mean they would need multiple passes. This is like, really specific legal wording type issues. What is shown here indicates that this is the case, but I can't say for certain why as we don't know the law in full.)
Also, while they say overseas, it's likely more like humans needing to acquire a visa, and certain countries or borders have agreements on the issue. Japan is surrounded by water, so any other country is "overseas."
Also, pretty sure we'll see Atom go to other countries without permission.
It's funny to me that they both act like younger siblings a lot of the time because Atom is just a lot more mature and has a lot more experience in the world. Anyway Ha ha ha ha lookee! lookee!
Ban really does get some of the best reaction expressions lol
I'm not asking how they made indent footprints in what seems to be concrete or stone. I'm not.
Seems to me that this indicates some amount of standardization in robots, or at the very least, robots meant to look human, by country. This also would make sense to identify what's going on, but uh. Can't they wear shoes...?
Anyway, this kind of standardization would likely be required for those roaming permits to be functional in other countries. I.E. If Canada does not agree to standardization law x394.32, the USA will rescind their robotic passage permits and any permits currently in use will be void.
If I were making an Astro Boy comic, I'd keep some element of this standardization. Just maybe not on the feet.
God I love this series so much. WE CAN'T LET HIM KNOW WE ARE BOARDING FLIGHT 0036!
MORE ON ROBOTS BEING DISALLOWED FROM HURTING HUMANS: "We had no choice" is apparently a retort to this. So it's definitely a choice-based thing and not a built-in limitation of the AI. Anyway Atom looks really nervous about having hurt a human, probably for multiple reasons, one being that his teacher is out cold, another being what the consequences would be for this law being broken - And also the optics of Atom possibly being within blame.
I have no comment on this really it's just something that's likely disallowed in other countries. Sentiments would have to be extremely positive toward robots in a country for one to be allowed to run for president, and for them to win ).
This would be one of those countries with lax robotic laws I mentioned earlier.
.
Actually gruesome as hell
Another progressive robot law Gravia had that allowed this to happen, robots can vote. I sort of doubt this is the case in other places, but I'm not sure within the initial run of the manga.
Rag your minister just kicked a human in Japan like. For not even that much reason he could have just run faster instead.
Puts you in my torture chamber I devised full of polyester balls and pours water into it, half-crushing you (but not to worry, it's a comic strip, after all.)
Our first actual portrayal of a hate group, the Deadcross Society.
SPROING. I love the ZERO pause between "how can I meet him?" and Atom just using the window immediately.
I believe this is Atom Using An Unopened Window As A Door #1 of our read through. I suppose it indicates synthetic robot skin is more difficult to cut than human skin since he's so willing to jump through windows, but he's not really worried about his clothes either. So who knows.
Atom is highly capable in robotics. This is not new it's just the first we're seeing of it in the read through.
Also, Rag is really fruity about this. Strange two panels.
I know I add this kind of thing a lot but I love this detail. Looking forward to seeing it disregarded later <3 (Said with genuine love)
While simplified (because it's a kids manga), this is a pretty realistic and also like. realistically dark (? I don't know how else to describe it. It parallels how messed up they are in real life too with real tactics) portrayal of a hate group. The explicit "The fear this and the attacks put into you is with the intent of making you resign and return to subservience" is good for kids to see, I think.
Future technology. I do agree in the world of Astro Boy it's probably much more possible to have a realistic 3-dimensional display of something, which we haven't actually really acquired yet in the real world. That said, in this case, it can't be touched or interacted closely with (It's like a stage, you just can't step past the screen and into the scene), whereas something like Pluto shows holograms that can allow for closer investigation of detail. Looking forward to analyzing how other Astro Boy media approaches this type of technology.
Having to plan ahead and conserve energy for later things is notable since if two things happen one after the other he just runs out. He conserves energy even during combat if he thinks there will be More Combat After That.
Most days he probably hardly uses any though, assuming he doesn't fly to and from school.
Fucked. Jesus Christ. (no pun intended)
his beutiful eyes
.
Post to be continued in a reblog. Guess who hit 30 images. I'm so silly goofy like that.
"Nice words, but now I'm going to pulverize your electronic brain..." is that literally the best comeback you can do man.
Anyway this is sick as hell this is metal. Definitely this is my favorite story so far of the read through (I knew this would be the case. It's just so cool and has so much to it.)
what do you want me to say its just so fucked. Literally like Bad Ending type shit with his body being repurposed as an even more literal slave for the head of the anti-robot group. This storyline is so actually cool like the stakes are so high. Atom is dead. The president has been lobotomized and turned into a servant.
I don't even have that much to say at this point. It's just a good story! Let the robot read theory and gain an idea of his own freedom hell yeah.
YES HERO SAVE US KING
I'm the fans. He's the STAR.
(Playing in my imaginary mind palace about this) He's still working I think it'd be so cool if Atom wasn't fully repaired yet and had to take on IGAR like while parts of him are still not working. That'd be so cool. If I Were Writing A Reboot Of This Comic Specifically.... (dreamy sigh)
Not giving a shit about the bullets lol
THEYRE FUCKING HUGGING!!!!!!! FATHER SON MOMENT!!!!!!!!!!! THEYRE SO HAPPY TO SEE EACH OTHER im normal im normal im normal gggGGGGRRRRRRRGRGRRRGGRGRRRRGGGGGHAHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGG SNARL GROWL BITE BITE SNARL im normal.
Anyway yea this makes some sense. Also like. put some pants on please Ban?
The robot celebrations are so sweet to see. It's just nice.
Another instance of Atom hurting a human. Not that uncommon.
Okay so we did see that Rag's brain was in his skull (originally), but Atom's head is primarily for sensing (eyes, ears) and human emulation (speech, eating if he wants, emoting). This is something I've always loved it's such a little detail. But he processes from his chest where his heart would be. That's where his brain is.
Anyway yea hes just fucking punching humans and shit. No problem.
Ochanomizu is just so great. He's emblematic of the ideal human ally to robots. He feels pride for their accomplishments and love of them as their own beings. It's just great, I love when he gets to talk for a moment like this.
(to self) do not laugh. do not laugh. it is not funny. its not funny that hes outright saying "and to kill myself" thats not something you should laugh at. You are normal you will not laugh at this.
I read it as having exactly the same intonation as this tiktok
It's literally just a good story.
I'll probably have another week-ish gap between this and the next post but who knows. Thanks for reading!
Note for people actually following this: The slight delay in post will probably be common. I work almost every weekday and come home really exhausted so I don't normally have the energy for something like this.
While I generally don't question the order the comics are placed in in this compilation, I will say that if someone were reading Astro Boy for the first time in this order, they would probably be pretty confused right now. "But Atom is in this panel!" "Who are any of these people?"
I'm curious where the comics introducing the creation of a family for Atom will end up in the compilation. This being a serialized manga without a singular coherent storyline, this type of thing happens a lot, where it makes more sense for a story to go early, but some detail in it won't be explained fully because it's a change made in the years between whatever comics you read.
While I'm fond of the more coherent storylines of modern animation and comics, I do sort of miss serialized stories and the return to normalcy at the end of each "episode." I understand it's more common in childrens' TV, especially childrens' TV we might not think of as Artful when compared with the childrens' TV that has those storylines (thinking of like. Uncle Grandpa. That type of show.)
I think the general culture around media has shifted to one of character and story development, which is interesting. Characters and stories can still be evolved over serialized media, but it's a different approach. I remember when Wander Over Yonder was airing thinking "wow, this is a great cartoon and it's episodic instead of arc-based!"
This is a ramble. I just think it's becoming much rarer, so this problem the omnibus has to deal with is not as much of an issue anymore, at least with officially published content.
EDIT: I realized the reason for this ramble is unclear. It's much more difficult to present a coherent storyline when the changes to the main cast are episodic rather than arc-based, because the pacing would be very strange. Many times these character introductions are apropos of nothing in a larger arc or storyline, which is fine, it's just a different approach and presents a challenge when trying to create a cohesive work later, because there are many possible ways to organize the "episodes"
Genuinely Uran is so funny for this. I know this is the first time we're seeing her in the omnibus but I'm just so fond of her. Her childish but sneaky approach parallels Atom's polite near-deference with figures of authority (unless they are "evil," but at this point we don't think anything of the Pants we are being presented)
Part of me believes in my heart that this is because Atom has had high responsibility for his actions - He is held accountable to a standard human children are not, and the optics of what he says and does are scrutinized somewhat. Uran has not had this, but has the same type of "free will" and lack of given purpose that Atom does.
Oh yeah cobalt is there too. Hi cobalt.
Really funny visual gag where did you get that bigass weight. Don't answer.
I do love that he's ostensibly working out in his free time despite this giving no real strength benefit to a robot with a set strength built in, although I do suppose getting used to how weight handles and how heavy objects throw as opposed to light objects would be extremely useful for him.
Anyway. You could probably guess this but as I grew up on the 2003 Astro Boy dub, I was also a Teen Titans (2003) fan. Cyborg has a great episode surrounding the idea that strength is built in called "Sum of His Parts".
I have my artistic preferences with that episode and personally would not have done everything the way it does, but the evaluation of psychology when your physical limits are perceived as set in stone is very relevant here.
We are like two pages into this one btw. I'm normal.
Another robot specific law: Robots aren't allowed to go overseas by themselves/unaccompanied by humans without a permit. This makes a bit of sense relative to robots widely being property to be protected (read: you do not want them fleeing). This was actually shown in "The Birth of Astro Boy"
See the above panel from the first comic in the omnibus.
It's also funny that they didn't just also get Atom permission on the way and were instead like. Okay Atom we're just going to do a whole trenchcoat deal. I imagine that permission to move between borders is different to acquire in different countries, and likely far more difficult in countries with more restrictive laws around robotic existence. Japan is fairly forward in robotic tech from what we see, but it's likely the bureaucratic process would take a while. Easier to just break the law.
(In some regard, this can be argued as a loophole rather than an outright crime - It depends how "A Robot" is defined. One could argue that a robot is based on their singular brain, so one pass per brain, but there are robots with parts that operate independent of one another, and this would mean they would need multiple passes. This is like, really specific legal wording type issues. What is shown here indicates that this is the case, but I can't say for certain why as we don't know the law in full.)
Also, while they say overseas, it's likely more like humans needing to acquire a visa, and certain countries or borders have agreements on the issue. Japan is surrounded by water, so any other country is "overseas."
Also, pretty sure we'll see Atom go to other countries without permission.
It's funny to me that they both act like younger siblings a lot of the time because Atom is just a lot more mature and has a lot more experience in the world. Anyway Ha ha ha ha lookee! lookee!
Ban really does get some of the best reaction expressions lol
I'm not asking how they made indent footprints in what seems to be concrete or stone. I'm not.
Seems to me that this indicates some amount of standardization in robots, or at the very least, robots meant to look human, by country. This also would make sense to identify what's going on, but uh. Can't they wear shoes...?
Anyway, this kind of standardization would likely be required for those roaming permits to be functional in other countries. I.E. If Canada does not agree to standardization law x394.32, the USA will rescind their robotic passage permits and any permits currently in use will be void.
If I were making an Astro Boy comic, I'd keep some element of this standardization. Just maybe not on the feet.
God I love this series so much. WE CAN'T LET HIM KNOW WE ARE BOARDING FLIGHT 0036!
MORE ON ROBOTS BEING DISALLOWED FROM HURTING HUMANS: "We had no choice" is apparently a retort to this. So it's definitely a choice-based thing and not a built-in limitation of the AI. Anyway Atom looks really nervous about having hurt a human, probably for multiple reasons, one being that his teacher is out cold, another being what the consequences would be for this law being broken - And also the optics of Atom possibly being within blame.
I have no comment on this really it's just something that's likely disallowed in other countries. Sentiments would have to be extremely positive toward robots in a country for one to be allowed to run for president, and for them to win ).
This would be one of those countries with lax robotic laws I mentioned earlier.
.
Actually gruesome as hell
Another progressive robot law Gravia had that allowed this to happen, robots can vote. I sort of doubt this is the case in other places, but I'm not sure within the initial run of the manga.
Rag your minister just kicked a human in Japan like. For not even that much reason he could have just run faster instead.
Puts you in my torture chamber I devised full of polyester balls and pours water into it, half-crushing you (but not to worry, it's a comic strip, after all.)
Our first actual portrayal of a hate group, the Deadcross Society.
SPROING. I love the ZERO pause between "how can I meet him?" and Atom just using the window immediately.
I believe this is Atom Using An Unopened Window As A Door #1 of our read through. I suppose it indicates synthetic robot skin is more difficult to cut than human skin since he's so willing to jump through windows, but he's not really worried about his clothes either. So who knows.
Atom is highly capable in robotics. This is not new it's just the first we're seeing of it in the read through.
Also, Rag is really fruity about this. Strange two panels.
I know I add this kind of thing a lot but I love this detail. Looking forward to seeing it disregarded later <3 (Said with genuine love)
While simplified (because it's a kids manga), this is a pretty realistic and also like. realistically dark (? I don't know how else to describe it. It parallels how messed up they are in real life too with real tactics) portrayal of a hate group. The explicit "The fear this and the attacks put into you is with the intent of making you resign and return to subservience" is good for kids to see, I think.
Future technology. I do agree in the world of Astro Boy it's probably much more possible to have a realistic 3-dimensional display of something, which we haven't actually really acquired yet in the real world. That said, in this case, it can't be touched or interacted closely with (It's like a stage, you just can't step past the screen and into the scene), whereas something like Pluto shows holograms that can allow for closer investigation of detail. Looking forward to analyzing how other Astro Boy media approaches this type of technology.
Having to plan ahead and conserve energy for later things is notable since if two things happen one after the other he just runs out. He conserves energy even during combat if he thinks there will be More Combat After That.
Most days he probably hardly uses any though, assuming he doesn't fly to and from school.
Fucked. Jesus Christ. (no pun intended)
his beutiful eyes
.
Post to be continued in a reblog. Guess who hit 30 images. I'm so silly goofy like that.
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Splort haha. Wait don't do that where the fuck are your grown-ups who gave you that lighter
Aw the first appearance of calves! I do wonder what the first chronological (in order of creation) appearance of the calves is. We saw them tons in the 80s anime though. It's especially interesting because on the last page he had boots to fly
and then on the next page or so here he is flying without the boots, just the calves, followed promptly thereafter with boots
Referencing the last post, here's an instance of Atom recognizing that a spaceship can be controlled remotely, but it may have been so out of the question that it seemed like only alien tech could accomplish it?
This story was also published in 1961, same as hot dog corps. I suppose it wasn't all that out of the question, either, because there were successful radio-controlled model aircraft as early as 1938 [Source]. So maybe Tezuka did just have Atom go in the rocket in hot dog corps for plot reasons. It would make sense.
Hes so dramatic. Also, calves. I actually won't keep pointing out every time it swaps between calves and boots, but I will just say that this specific story is really inconsistent on that detail (not that it really matters) so if you're interested just read it and keep an eye on his legs. It seems more like what happened is the intention was for him to have calves in this comic and Tezuka occasionally forgot and did boots instead. I'll do a count of boots vs calves at the end of the post.
ATOM!
Modern sensibilities tell us that like, who cares if someone else is bothered by the way you look. That's not really your problem. But I wonder if this was a more reasonable thing to say in the 60s...?
To be honest, this story's so short and sweet there's not much for me to do with it. I like it, but it also hasn't ever been one that struck me as all that notable, so it's always been curious to me what Tezuka saw in it, as he says this in the intro comic:
Anyway, here's the final boots vs calves count (I will only count the boots when they appear in an outfit shown at some point with calves. This means the initial outfit in the skiing portion does not count toward the boot count - plus, it's a consistent boot on those.)
Boots: 5 panels
Calves: 23 panels
So I think I was right in that guess that the intention was for that outfit to have his calves look, but in 5 panels he just got mixed up and drew the classic boots. I cannot stress enough that this doesn't matter and is only interesting to me.
Three things people always keep track of when reading the manga:
How many times it cuts to Atom comically beating villains up brutally
How many times Atom jumps through a window instead of using a door
How many times his calves get shown instead of his boots
You might not get this now but you will later in the stories, trust me XD
Atom's comment makes sense seeing how badly people treat robots, Atom most likely wants to warn him that he'll most likely not get treated well for his differences either and honestly, yeah, humanity can suck like that
I appreciate Tezuka's honesty as it's a struggle every artist and story writer faces when looking at our past work. A lot of his old works (although mid quality for Tezuka is something that is still really good, just not great), might be not as good as others, and you'll know which ones those are and why Tezuka left them out when he revised things, but I appreciate that he still let's the world read them despite of that and witness how he grew and developed this amazing story and it's great.
I can also see why he doesn't favor some, as some stories, which Tezuka wasn't aware of, as his style was inspired by Disney mixed with his own style, shown black people drawn in a racist style. When he found out it wasn't a style and was meant to be racist he immediately dropped the style and fixed things up, taking advice from others on how they would prefer to be drawn instead and went off of that. So those old stories of his he might not favor too much either.
All in all, great author and great (and a bit chaotic) short story and I can see why Tezuka likes it more than others. Even the smallest things mean a great deal to those who created it ^^
Splort haha. Wait don't do that where the fuck are your grown-ups who gave you that lighter
Aw the first appearance of calves! I do wonder what the first chronological (in order of creation) appearance of the calves is. We saw them tons in the 80s anime though. It's especially interesting because on the last page he had boots to fly
and then on the next page or so here he is flying without the boots, just the calves, followed promptly thereafter with boots
Referencing the last post, here's an instance of Atom recognizing that a spaceship can be controlled remotely, but it may have been so out of the question that it seemed like only alien tech could accomplish it?
This story was also published in 1961, same as hot dog corps. I suppose it wasn't all that out of the question, either, because there were successful radio-controlled model aircraft as early as 1938 [Source]. So maybe Tezuka did just have Atom go in the rocket in hot dog corps for plot reasons. It would make sense.
Hes so dramatic. Also, calves. I actually won't keep pointing out every time it swaps between calves and boots, but I will just say that this specific story is really inconsistent on that detail (not that it really matters) so if you're interested just read it and keep an eye on his legs. It seems more like what happened is the intention was for him to have calves in this comic and Tezuka occasionally forgot and did boots instead. I'll do a count of boots vs calves at the end of the post.
ATOM!
Modern sensibilities tell us that like, who cares if someone else is bothered by the way you look. That's not really your problem. But I wonder if this was a more reasonable thing to say in the 60s...?
To be honest, this story's so short and sweet there's not much for me to do with it. I like it, but it also hasn't ever been one that struck me as all that notable, so it's always been curious to me what Tezuka saw in it, as he says this in the intro comic:
Anyway, here's the final boots vs calves count (I will only count the boots when they appear in an outfit shown at some point with calves. This means the initial outfit in the skiing portion does not count toward the boot count - plus, it's a consistent boot on those.)
Boots: 5 panels
Calves: 23 panels
So I think I was right in that guess that the intention was for that outfit to have his calves look, but in 5 panels he just got mixed up and drew the classic boots. I cannot stress enough that this doesn't matter and is only interesting to me.
