TV show
Jetter Mars (ジェッターマルス Jettā Marusu) is an anime series made in 1977, directed by Rintaro, and written by Osamu Tezuka. Originally planned by Tezuka as a full-color remake of the original anime adaptation of his popular manga series Astro Boy, unfavorable circumstances during the pre-production phase of the project led him to abandon it temporarily and create Jetter Mars instead. Although it remains as one of Tezuka's lesser known works, it gained a large following and is fondly remembered.
Some may consider Jetter Mars a rip-off of Astro Boy, but the story is rather different. Though, some episodes do have the same plot as some Astro Boy episodes. Such as Episode 05 "Why is Mars crying?" which takes many elements from the two-parter episodes called "The Greatest Robot in the World" and episode 12 "Jam Bond, Secret Agent" which takes many elements from "The Artificial Sun".
Manga
Jetter Mars during and after the lifetime of the show has received several manga adaptations published in magazines published by companies such as Televiland, Adventure King, and Middle-Age Magazine.
Recurring characters
Jetter Mars
Conception and design
Jetter Mars was a series originally meant to be a color remake of Astro Boy. It's Thought that for this reason, Mars seems to be a redesign of the main character of that show: Astro Boy.
Personality
Jetter Mars' personality is that of a spoiled child, similar to that of Uran. He's also said to be very dumb, and will often-times do and say very dumb things, and is ignorant of the world around him. He does, however, mature quite a bit throughout the series, especially when his little brother Melchi is introduced.
Miri
Conception and design
Miri's design is reminiscent of Uran, and is likely to be a replacement for Uran in the Jetter Mars series, as the show was originally meant to be a color remake of Astro Boy. Though she is much more mature than Uran, Uran's immature and rowdy behavior still exists in the form of Jetter Mars, and Uran ends up having to be the mature one, much like the character Astro Boy.
Melchi
Trivia
- Jetter Mars made a cameo appearance in the Game Boy Advance game "Astro Boy: Omega Factor" as a minor character that can be found hidden in the Moon Plant Base
- The main character of the show, Jetter Mars, and Astro Boy share the same voice actress, Mari Shimizu.
- Jetter Mars is referenced in the manual of Rightstuf's DVD release of the 1963 show, though is called "Jet Mars" instead of the proper title. This is likely because in other dubs of Jetter Mars the title is "Jet Marte" which translates to Jet Mars.
- The main Character Jetter Mars is commonly miscolored in depictions, promotional art, and merchandise. Usually giving him black boots, or coloring him red and green like Astro Boy, sometimes even coloring the spikes on his head white.
- Jetter Mars appears in "Osamu Tezuka's Strangest Case in the 20th Century" also known as "The Last Mystery of the 20th Century" with a redesigned look, though this is just a cameo appearance and he has no major impact on the plot of the film.
- Jetter Mars is referenced in "Atom: The Beginning" through the character "Mars".
- An artist named "Shigeto Ikehara", who worked on comics for the video game character named Mega Man, worked on illustrations for the Televiland Manga.