Astroboy 80s/2003 equivalent 60s episodes comparison?

[Omega Factor]

Thank you so much..

Once I have watched all the 60s US and Japanese, I vow to return here are confirm if you like,

[ASTROBUDDY]

[MangaBottle]

Astrobuddy, I made a slightly modified version of your list, using the Japanese episode order and names:

1.) The Birth of Astroboy/3.) The Robot Circus -- 1.) The Birth of Astro Boy
2,5,9,18,29,33,43.) Atom vs. Atlas I-IX -- 26.) Atlas/179 & 180.) The Blue Knight
6.) Robot Land -- 17.) Robot Land
7.) Frankenstein -- 2.) Frankenstein
8.) The Red Cat -- 39.) Red Cat
10.) The Robot President -- 43.) His Highness Dead Cross
11.) The White Planet -- 16.) The Vehicle, White Planet
13.) The Light Ray Robot -- 6.) Lightning Man
14.) Uran, the Tomboy/30.) Uran's Twin -- 37.) Uran
15.) Robio and Robiette -- 148.) Robio & Robiette
16.) Astroboy fights Aliens -- 3.) Adventure on Mars
17.) Save the Carolina 3 -- 66.) The Space Vikings
19.) The Death Balloon -- 104.) The Devil's Balloon
20.)The Transformation Robot -- 12.) Cruciform Island
21.) The Wreck of the Titan -- 10.) The Fool Ivan
23.) The Girl from Alsoar -- 15.) Plant People
24 & 25.) Greatest Robot in the World -- 116 & 117.) Greatest Robot on Earth
26.) The Robot Vikings -- 18.) Gadem
27.) The Time Machine -- 11.) The Time Machine/120.) Time Hunter
28.) The Robot Stuntman -- 189.) Confusion at the Shooting Studio
31.) Speeding through the Storm -- 141.) The Locomotive March
32.) The Return of Queen Cleopatra -- 44.) The Egyptian Conspirators & 45.) Cleopatra's Necklace
34.) The Baby Elephant, Pook -- 51.) The Little Elephant Pura
35.) The Secret of Bee City -- 60.) The Demon Bees
36.) The Monster of Clarken -- 84.) The Dolphin Civilization
37.) Lilly on Peligro Island -- 22.) Sea Serpent Island
39.) The Man-Made Solar Sphere -- 14.) The Artificial Sun
40.) Blackie Young -- 9.) Black Looks/77.) Cape Town Lullaby
41.) The Genie from Outer Space -- 19.) Astro Boy vs. Garon & 91.) Garon's Counterattack
42.) The Robots Nobody Wanted -- 92.) Three Robot Knights
44.) The Snow Leopard -- 52.) The Snow Lion
46.) Outer Spaceport R-45 -- 21.) Satellite R-45
50.) The World of Odin -- 102.) Queen of the Devils' Place
51.) The Secret of the Mayas -- 5.) Sphinx
52.) Astroboy's First Love -- 71.) The Last Day of Earth

Just be warned I haven't actually watched the 60's version, it was just guesswork based on episode descriptions: http://web.archive.org/web/200801211249 ... ts002.html

[ASTROBUDDY]

Thank you, Manga Bottle! I did not know about the parallel between "The Robot Stuntman" and "Confusion at the Shooting Studio" or as F. Schodt puts it, "Ruckus at the Film Studio" or the parallel between "The Monster of Clarken" and "Dolphins in Distress" (aka "The Dolphin Civlization")! Any one else out there have any more info for us?

[Jeffbert]

[MangaBottle]

[Jeffbert]

[Manetoys]

[Kevin]

[Jeffbert]

[Kevin]

[Jeffbert]

By 'dark,' I mean the overall plot. It was about human-robot relations turning sour. Tezuka disliked making Atom darker, as he stares in the intro to the Blue Knight. Yet, the series was about the BK! Even from the beginning, the tension between humans and robots was building. Even before the Robot Farm or Rainbow Valley, there was tension in Atom goes to outer space. So what if Greatest Robot was a bit less intense than previously?

The BK emerges about 1/2 way into the series, & makes appearances in a few episodes. Then, 43-49 are all about the BK! In the teens, we have the candidate guy hiring Skunk to discredit robots. The City Boss wants to destroy the circus robots, etc. I could cite more examples, but I do not feel like it right now. Yes, there were a few feel good stories, but the overall series was about a subject that should alienate the audience, human oppression of robots. I doubt too many thought of it as an allegory for racism.

In my area, CN ran the show on Saturday mornings; so I do not know about Fox's afternoon schedule. I believe it premiered on Kids WB, though. I do not know much about the Sat morn cartoons, but when I was a kid, I wanted to be an adult. I think Astroboy was doomed in the USA, at least in the form that ran on TV.

[Kevin]

I'm sorry but I still don't think that qualifies as Dark.

I'm comparing AstroBoy 2003 with other anime cartoons targeting the same audience.

Yeah, Robot Human Tensions are high, but I can count at least 5 stories in my four astroboy books which have high Anti Robot themes. That just doesn't work for me. Also, are you forgetting that in almost every single one of those episodes Astro Saves both human AND robot? He even changes the minds of the Police to fighting FOR robot rights. I mean that was a totally awesome episode.

you're talking about an entire generation of kids whose Saturday morning cartoons consisted of:

Static Shock (I mean anti robot stories have NOTHING on Mutant Hatred and heavy Racism stories).
Batman Beyond (we've got the Jokers gang killing people. McGinnis's father is murdered in the first episode).
Men in Black (aliens were routinely shot down in that cartoon with guts spewing everywhere).

1 year afterwards you have Avatar The Last AirBender. They KILL kids in that cartoon. Jet dies, and when he dies, it's like being shot in the chest (even if you hate him like I do). you want to talk about dark - we're talking about a Nicktoons Network cartoon, targeting kids ages 6-14.

* Zuko's father burns his son's face - then kicks him out of his country
* Iroh's son died in a war, and they show an entire segment about him singing a song to his dead son (god you want to talk about tear jerker)
* Jet dies - but he doesn't just die he's MURDERED! And when he's murdered, you have him saying "Don't worry I'll be fine" and then Toph is crying when she walks away saying "he's lying. I can tell".
* Aang's entire family is murdered by the Fire Nation, and when he goes back to visit them he sees a skeleton of his sensei - the man who adopted and raised him

Now if you want to talk about dark, let's talk about those cartoons!


I'm sorry, Jeffbert, but Astroboy was tame for the period in which it premiered. And even for Tezuka, I just don't buy it, I seriously don't buy it. The Pluto storyline in 2003 (which I really consider to be the darkest storyline in the entire series), AstroBoy saves most of the robots, far more than in he did in the manga. To top it off you actually see them repairing the robots Pluto damaged, and bringing them back to life.

I'm not trying to be argumentative with you about this subject, I just vehemently disagree about the assessment that 2003 astro was that much darker than the other Astros (maybe a little, but it was mainstream in allowances), I also firmly believe that Tezuka would've liked it because it tackled every single social issue he put forth in any number of the astroboy mangas.


I think it had a longer attention span than the other Astros. Now there's a solid argument to make about that. Unlike say astro 1980s or 1960s where you can conveniently miss an episode and watch them out of order, Astro 2003 cannot be watched out of order.

Now I've a firm belief that causes a number of major issues with cartoons in general. In fact, the only cartoon I know about which survived death's door while having a massive plotline is Avatar.

I think Tezuka would've looked at what cartoons convey for this day and age and he would've been accepting of Astro 2003. It's "darker" than something out of the 1960s, sure, but so is every single cartoon (including Mario Brothers) that has come since the 1960s. Tezuka was always pushing the envelope. Always. I mean, compare astro 1960s with say Flintstones, The Jetsons, Bugs Bunny or Yogi Bear. It was considerably darker than any of those.

Tezuka pushed the envelope, slipping in storylines about the Environment, Racism, social upheval, military superiority, greed. He was always trying to push to see how much he can get out there. I've got introductions with his character explaining this in a number of my astroboy copies. I think he would've been ok with 2003.

Obviously some things would've been done differently, but, that's true with any number of post-artist creations. However, I honestly don't believe he would've hated it.

Anyway I don't want to turn this into a major argument, I'll just stop talking about it right there. I hope you understand my position on why I believe the guy is wrong.


So we can disagree on this point. I just wanted you to know why I disagree ^_^

[Kevin]

[Jeffbert]