Despite being a secondary star held to supporting roles, Nylon is a performer with great range. if you look closely at his performances, you'll see that much like his namesake, he's a flexibly - some might say pliable - performer, who can play both a villain and a hero. Not one for half measures, when given the opportunity, he will really throw himself into the role and give it his all.
Murai is another one Osamu Tezuka's go-to Stars for playing the long arm of the law. Unlike his more buttoned-down colleagues, such as the stoic Inspector Geta and the hot-headed Inspector Tawashi, Murai is more of a loose cannon. In many ways he's a poster-child for the stereotypical grim and gritty cops of the 1970s - in the hard-drinking-wife-left-him-down-on-his-luck mold.
Uran is Astro Boy's tomboy-ish younger sister. She was created for by Dr. Ochanomizu, along with Astro's Father, his mother Mitchy, and his older brother Cobalt, in order to give Astro a more realistic childhood. However, because she was made by Dr. Ochanomizu and not Dr. Tenma, she is not nearly as sophisticated as her older brother and lacks his special powers. However, her jealousy of Astro and desire to prove herself sometimes leads to her disguising herself as her brother in order to have adventures of her own... usually with unfortunate results.
One look at Tonanshipei and you just know he's an oily and sneaky villain. Though he might be dubious and suspicious, he falls more in the category of villains, who are crooked capitalists and are mostly just in it for their own benefit rather than some dastardly evil plot.
Ongoing Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is connected from chapter to chapter and must be read in chronological order for it to be understood properly.
Chapter Serial: a series of episodes, published over a span of weeks/months/years where the story plot is self-contained to a single chapter. There may be an overarching plot, but the stories can generally be read in any order and be understood
Book: an all-in-one self contained story published as a one-off.
Supplement: an an all-in-one self contained story published as a stand-alone supplement to a regular weekly/monthly periodical.
Short Story: an all-in-one, self contained story that was published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical
Anthology: a collection of all-in-one, self contained stories that were published in a regular weekly/monthly periodical but are generally grouped together.
