Astro Boy is the english title for the Japanese animated series Tetsuwan Atom (which roughly translates to "Mighty Atom" and literally to "Iron-arm Atom") first broadcast on Japanese television from 1963 to 1966.
Astro Boy is the first Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became known as anime. It originated as a manga comic series started in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka, who is known as the "god of manga". After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu (Astroboy in the US and other Western countries) and again in 2003. For a time Astro Boy enjoyed a level of popularity in Japan equivalent to Disney's Mickey Mouse. Astro Boy bears some similarities with the Italian boy-puppet Pinocchio .
The animated Astro Boy series was produced by Mushi Productions, a studio established and headed by Tezuka.
The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories are now available in English, published by Dark Horse Comics in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt. They follow the television series in using "Astro Boy", the name most familiar to English-speaking audiences, instead of "Tetsuwan Atomu." Names of the other characters, such as Dr. Tenma and Professor Ochanomizu, are those of the original Japanese.
Chuang Yi published a more recent English language manga version of Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom in Singapore (also available in Australia).
The 2003 Japanese television series acknowledges the "Astro Boy" name. Although the character is still named "Atomu" ("Atom" in English), the series' onscreen title is Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atomu, with the latter part written in Japanese characters; the scene in which the newly-activated robot is named has been written to support either character name. In the English-language version the character, and the show, is of course once more called Astro Boy.
In the original story, Astro Boy was created in Takadanobaba on April 7, 2003. On the same day in the real world, a city in Japan (Niiza of Saitama prefecture) granted Astro Boy a special citizenship. This is in contrast to the hardship Astro Boy went through in the fiction to be a part of human society, including obtaining a citizenship.
In 2004, the character Astro Boy was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. The series of graphic albums was nominated for the Harvey Award for Best Presentation of Foreign Material in 2003.
Astro Boy is the first Japanese television series that embodied the aesthetic that later became known as anime. It originated as a manga comic series started in 1951 by Osamu Tezuka, who is known as the "god of manga". After enjoying success abroad, Astro Boy was remade in the 1980s as Shin Tetsuwan Atomu (Astroboy in the US and other Western countries) and again in 2003. For a time Astro Boy enjoyed a level of popularity in Japan equivalent to Disney's Mickey Mouse. Astro Boy bears some similarities with the Italian boy-puppet Pinocchio .
The animated Astro Boy series was produced by Mushi Productions, a studio established and headed by Tezuka.
The original Tetsuwan Atomu manga stories are now available in English, published by Dark Horse Comics in a translation by Frederik L. Schodt. They follow the television series in using "Astro Boy", the name most familiar to English-speaking audiences, instead of "Tetsuwan Atomu." Names of the other characters, such as Dr. Tenma and Professor Ochanomizu, are those of the original Japanese.
Chuang Yi published a more recent English language manga version of Astro Boy/Tetsuwan Atom in Singapore (also available in Australia).
The 2003 Japanese television series acknowledges the "Astro Boy" name. Although the character is still named "Atomu" ("Atom" in English), the series' onscreen title is Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atomu, with the latter part written in Japanese characters; the scene in which the newly-activated robot is named has been written to support either character name. In the English-language version the character, and the show, is of course once more called Astro Boy.
In the original story, Astro Boy was created in Takadanobaba on April 7, 2003. On the same day in the real world, a city in Japan (Niiza of Saitama prefecture) granted Astro Boy a special citizenship. This is in contrast to the hardship Astro Boy went through in the fiction to be a part of human society, including obtaining a citizenship.
In 2004, the character Astro Boy was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. The series of graphic albums was nominated for the Harvey Award for Best Presentation of Foreign Material in 2003.
