Astro Boy (character)

This article is for the character for other uses see Astro Boy (disambiguation)

Astro Boy (アトム Atomu) known in Japan as ' Mighty Atom' or 'Iron Arm Atom'  or just Astro is the main protagonist of every series in the Astro Boy franchise. A robotic boy with human emotions created by Umataro Tenma. Tenma created Astro in the image of his deceased son Tobio Tenma. After learning that Astro is robotic and therefore cannot function like a biological human boy, Tenma sells Astro to a robotic circus out of a fit of rage. Astro forced into fighting other robots against his will in the robot circus is eventually rescued by Hiroshi Ochanomizu. Astro fits the embodiment of a hero, he has a strong sense of justice and is always willing to defend those who can't defend themselves. A natural pacifist, he always attempts to solve situations intelligently with diplomacy. He has an extreme care for the preciousness of life.

Design
Tezuka was a lifelong fan of Disney and he styled many of his early characters based on famous Disney characters. Astro would continue this trend of characters designed after Disney characters, using a simplistic cartoon style. Astro bears a strong resemblance to Mickey Mouse Disney's most popular character. The most prominent feature of Astro's design that borrows from Disney is in the head. His head uses a large circular shape, also being used by many popular American animated characters at that time. Psychologically this suggests Astro's innocence, the spikes on his head also suggest an edge to his personality.

Astro Boy's most defining feature are his eyes, especially in the anime series due to the use of limited animation Astro's eyes were designed to be fully reactive to light and feel dynamic this would become a very common design aspect in anime and manga characters that would follow. The use of the eyes in this manner allowed the facial expressions to use less animation yet seem more real.

Classic Appearance
Although a robot Astro was intended to look indistinguishable from a human being as he was designed to resemble Tobio Tenma. He was given many of the similar distinguishing attributes, his large innocent eyes, jet-black spiky hair and light skin tone. Achieving his realistic skin tone by being layered in a type of silk made up of the components of human skin. His hair has two spikes one on the the left of his head pointing directly upwards and the other on the right side just above his ear pointing out to the side. He has one bang in the exact center of his hairline. Since Astro is a robot and does not function like a biological being the height of his body, his weight and the length of his hair never change.

Astro was created with what appears to be underwear and a green belt, other than these Astro has no clothing, except for when he is dressed in his school uniform. Astro also wears what seems to be a pair of boots, in reality, the boots function as chambers for his jet-powered flight. for the most part his design and clothing remain consistent throughout adaptations with some exceptions. In the NOW COMICS! series The Original Astro Boy. Astro appears to be pudgier and looks more like a human than a robot. in the 2009 CGI film Astroboy. Astro's hair has been changed slightly with the spike on the right side of his head being much shorter. Astro is also now wearing full clothing.

Personality
Astro was created in the image of Tobio Tenma therefore he inherited his basic personality traits. Due to Tobio being a child when he died, Astro has inherited his same childlike innocence including his childlike naivety, Astro by nature has a strong sense of justice and for deciding what is right and wrong. Mostly a pacifist, Astro will not stray from using force if he has no choice, although he always tries to solve situations diplomatically. Astro is incredibly protective of family and friends and will often risk his own life to protect them from harm.

Voice Actors
Mari Shizimu is the voice actress for Astro Boy in Japan for the 1963 series and the 1980 series, in the 1963 series his voice actress was Billy Lou Watt, in the 1980 version he is voiced by Patricia Kugler Whitely in America, and Steven Bednarski in Canada, in the 2003 series he was voiced by Makoto Tsumura in Japan and Candi Milo in America, in the 2009 film he was voiced by Freddie Highmore in America, and Aya Ueto in Japan.

Abilities and Powers

 * Horsepower: Astro was designed with a 100,000 horsepower engine, making him among the most powerful robots. In some adaptations he is upgraded to 1,000,000 horsepower.
 * Jet-powered Flight: Astro's most commonly used power is his flight ability. He achieves this by retracting his feet into his legs and blowing exhaust out.


 * Digit beams: In later manga and the 1980 and 2003 series he has lasers in his fingers.


 *  Intellect: He also has useful tools such as a brain that can speak more than 100 languages and solve tough math problems in seconds.


 * Laser cannon arm: In the 2003 anime he gains a powerful new weapon, a cannon in his arm which he uses in escape from volcano island to create a huge tornado of laser to save a ship from a exploding volcano. This was likely added to give Astro a big appeal to viewers of a new generation.


 * Posterior mounted machine guns: The new Astro Boy movie coming added machine guns in Astro's bottom. In the 1980's series, Astro had his machine guns in his hips, but the way it was animated made it look like it was coming out of his rectum.
 * Hyper Adaptive: Body increases in power to match and then exceed the capabilities of stronger combatants.
 * Hyper Sensitive Hearing: Astro's hearing can be amplified by 1000 times.

Reception and Legacy
Astro's character proved such a success that it launched into an international franchise of anime, manga, films and video games. Tezuka, originally designed after traditional Disney characters of the time, Astro's style reflects that of Mickey Mouse. A simple cartoon style of character, although Tezuka would implement some of his own styles into the drawings that would become commonplace for most anime and manga that came after. Astro would also inspire the creation of the character Mega Man.

Astro was listed on Empire magazine's 50 Greatest Comic Characters list ranking forty third, making Astro the only manga character on the list. Astro was placed tenth Mania Entertainment's 10 Most Iconic Anime Heroes written by Thomas Zoth who commented that "he was Japan's first great modern cartoon hero, on the printed page and the TV screen". In 2014, IGN ranked him as the fourth greatest anime character of all time. Astro appeared in Screwattack's Death Battle!, where he faced another fictional robot, Mega Man in battle and won.

Even decades after his initial appearances Astro remains a cultural impact in Japan and is among the most celebrated figures in popular culture. On April 7, 2003 Japan celebrated the official date of birth for Astro, people from all over Japan participated. In 2004 Astro was accepted as an honorary citizen of the city of Niiza in Japan and was inducted into the Robot Hall of Fame. Multiple statues of the character have been erected in Japan, most prominently is a statue immediately outside of the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum in Takarazuka. Mostly due to his numerous appearances on syndication Astro has become well known in Europe and Australia and with the mainstream success of the 1963 series and the 2009 feature film Astroboy has built a presence in the United States.

Astro Boy was one of the first manga characters to embrace mass merchandising including action figures, collectible figurines, food products, clothing, stamps and trading cards. The franchise has earned 3 billion dollars.

Trivia

 * Akin to Mickey Mouse, no matter which direction Astro Boy faces, the spikes atop his head are always in the same place.
 * Astro Boy's Color remake that came out in the 1980's was originally meant to come out during 1977, but changes in plans resulted in it changing into a show called Jetter Mars
 * Astro appears as a Star System character in many manga Tezuka series.