Astro Boy Volume 1 - 5 DVD Review
Sony Pictures Television's 2003 Version of Osamu Tezuka Manga
Oct 9, 2009
Sony Pictures Television – hoping to capitalize on Imagi Studios' upcoming silver screen reboot of Astro Boy (look for Animation Boy™'s review coming on October 23rd) – have pulled their 2003 anime adaptation of Osamu Tezuka's classic manga out of the vaults and brought it to home video.
Originally picked up by the Kids WB and bounced around between KWB and the Cartoon Network for its year-long run, Astro Boy never got the chance to develop an audience. It didn't help that the producers decided to rename key characters, and replace Takashi Yoshimatsu's original score for the English dub.
It's a shame because this version of Astro Boy was a solidly plotted anime with decent visuals. With all 50 episodes spread out over 5 DVD's, these boxes are a decent (if bare-bones) introduction to a TV series that never received its due.
Kazuya Konaka Directs 2003 Astro Boy Anime for Sony Pictures Television, Tezuka Productions
Astro is a kind-hearted little robot boy who desperately wants to become human. Watched over by the kindly Dr. O'Shay, the not-so-kindly Dr. Tenma and the suspicious police detective Tawashi, Astro not only fights crime and rogue robots but also tries to get humans and robots to get along. Astro must also learn more about his mysterious past, and Dr. Tenma's importance therein.
Overall, this is a well-crafted kids series with solid action sequences and compelling visuals. Some of the supporting cast – especially the good guys – are a little stock but many of the villains have compelling motivations and back-stories. Longtime fans disliked the name changes Sony imposed – Dr. Elefun from the original manga is renamed Dr. O'Shay, and Astro Girl becomes Zoran – but that's not enough reason to dismiss this series out of hand.
(At least it's not as bad as Gatchaman's Ken Washio being renamed 'Ace Goodheart' for US audiences. Ack!)
Quibbles? A couple. The show sometimes goes to ludicrous lengths to protect its villains (especially the robot-exploiting gangster Mr. Skunk) in order to bring them back for future episodes. To be fair, Astro Boy isn't the only show to do this, but it gets annoying after a while.
The animation is nicely done, but there are times when the cel animation rubs up against some glossy CGI, with wonky results. Again, it's a common problem with TV animation, but there are some gaffes, such as the occasional background that doesn't look like it was completely filled in.
DVD Extras
Special features included in the Astro Boy DVDs include . . . Hey, is that a monkey dancing the watusi?
The Final Analysis
Sony's version of Astro Boy is a smartly-crafted little anime that deserved more respect than it received on American television. While Tezuka fans will balk at some of the changes to Astro Boy canon, it's a decent adventure series. It gets a 7/10.
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