Osamu Tezuka Star System

The Osamu Tezuka Star System refers to the tendency of Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka to reuse many of the same characters over the course of his career in different roles across different stories.

For example, in the Black Jack story, "You're Guilty!", Astro Boy appears, not as his usual character, but rather as an unnamed client looking to get revenge for the death of his brother.

Tezuka maintained a mock list of how much each character was paid for their roles, basing it on famous western actors in his time.