Movies / Animé and Toons

Astro Boy Volume 1

By Hervé St-Louis
April 12, 2010 - 21:09

This is a retake on the classic Astro Boy animated series created by Osamu Tezuka and released in 2003. Astro Boy is revived after having been enabled once by rogue scientist Doctor Nagamiya Tenma. Astro Boy’s new mentor Doctor O'Shay has hope in him to become an ambassador of the friendship that humans and robots can share. But Tenma has other plans for Astro Boy. He wants him to lead the vanguard of robots against humans. Will he succeed?

This series was not as well received as the two former ones, the original from the 1960s and the one from 1980s because of changes made to the North American dub. However, it’s as entertaining as I remember the other Astro Boy series to be. In volume 1 we are introduced to Astro Boy and his baby steps as a super hero. But by the end of episode 10, he’s really matured and competent. The series moves fast and the stories while at this point still suitable for younger kids introduce a whole universe of conflicts and issues based on the concept of robot rights. Astro Boy did in that series what the X-Men did as well. They used a metaphor for class and ethnic segregation and conflict through robots rights. Of course, robots have zero rights today and the thought would be ridiculous to most, but it was the same for other types of rights just a few decades ago.

There are a few problems with the North American release, as some episodes seem to be in the wrong order. For example, Astro’s school friends are introduced much later but show up in an earlier episode. The animation is much better than any of the past Astro Boy series however. It makes for a few continuity glitches. Most stories however, do follow a pattern where a new character, a catalyst is introduced and where there’s a resolution at the end of the episode. I imagine this would differ as the series advances and more recurring characters appear. There are no DVD extras so it's a bit of a downer.

Rating: 9.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12