Following the International Success of the 1963 version, an updated version of the show Astroboy was well in the works and in 1980, the show make it's television debut. This was the first show to have Astroboy in colour and also included many improvements, mainly in terms of the animation. Rather than it's predecessor, this show is much smoother in it's animation, with all the glitchy missed out frames now added in like they should have been in the first place. This show however loses out in terms of it's tone. The 1980s version has a much more darker tone to it, where a majority of Astroboy's missions end with bittersweet results.The story is pretty much the same as the original, but it has had some tweaks, but that depends mainly on which version you watch. In the Japanese dub the story starts much like before. Tobio Tenma is killed in a traffic accident and Dr Tenma vows to fill the place in his heart with an overpowered and heavily armed boy robot to take his place. However, the differences begin here when during construction, a set of the blueprints for Astro are stolen by a thug named Skunk who takes them to his evil paymaster. In the months following his completion, Astro grows up as a normal little boy, enjoying the comforts of the life he had before (with the addition of being a robot and being able to fly and shoot lasers from his fingers). However, one day Astro becomes entranced by a strange urge to wander through the streets, this urge brought on by his brother, Atlas, who was built by the Evil Scientist bent on using him for his own evil deeds. When trying to rescue Astro, the tank in which they use to find him suddenly becomes blood-hungry and goes on a rampage. Astro puts his powers to the test and destroys the evil machine. After recovering, Astro and his father go on a cruise. However, Skunk and his evil master have other plans as they hope to sink the cruise ship by crashing it into an iceberg so they can claim all the gold held in the hold. Meanwhile Astro has problems as his father disowns him for being clumsy. Upset, Astro is befriended by a Circus Leader who urges him to sign a contract and join his circus. A few moments later, Atlas arrives and the ship is suddenly surrounded by an Icefield that he created. Astro goes out to clear the field of dangerous blocks and he successfully saves the ship. Moments later, he faces his brother for the first time and the pair battle it out in the ice field. Astro's innocent nature makes him unaware of the danger and he is quickly subdued by his more powerful brother. With Astro's batteries quickly drained (I'll tell you this happens a lot throughout this series), Atlas almost destroys him but instead flies away in order to save Livian, a Maid Robot he became emotionally attached to in an earlier scene. With Astro now out of power, the Circus leader puts him in a suitcase and takes him away, leaving Dr Tenma without a son for the second time. Meanwhile Atlas finds that Livian has been destroyed by the evil master for some trivial mistake and so he vows revenge attempting to kill the evil master. After being heavily damaged by missiles, he knocks the evil master from a cliff in his car in what apparently destroys him (it is later revealed he survived). Losing power, Atlas taps into a device that will rebuild and upgrade him into the super robot. Following this, the story is similar from before in that Astro is forced to perform in the circus although there are minor tweaks here and there, but it generally stays the same.As for the American Dub, all the parts involving Atlas are removed, which I think is silly because when Atlas appears in later episodes, no one knows who he is or where he came from, in the Japanese version, you are able to find out what his mysterious past is and thereby put a name to a face, rather than just having this strange character appear before us.How does this show stand? Actually not bad. I mean it has some really dark undertones, such as racism and prejudice as well as there being a lot of bittersweet endings to Astro's endeavours, but overall it's quite an enjoyable show. The animation is remarkably good compared to the earlier show and some of the stories are quite unique. Overall, I'd recommend this film to older children because a lot of people do get killed and the violent undertones don't exactly suit. But other than that, It's still pretty good...

This is one of my favorites. While my childhood our national TV blessed us with so many classics. And when it comes to the Japanese school of animation, then all of its work are classics. Majingâ Zetto (1972) "known by the name of Mazenger in the Arabic version". Takarajima (1978) or Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island. Hello! Sandy Bell (1981). Meitantei Holmes (1984) or the comic Sherlock Holmes. Cubitus (1989). They are all unforgettable shows. Shin Tetsuwan Atom (1980), or Coocky El-Ajeeb for me, is no exception. I was waiting, so craving, to watch every episode. And really it didn't disappoint me at all. Not even once. The character was 100% human while being robot. I think the real secret of him is being that all-time-child-superman which's an original idea indeed. The direction was very interesting. There were many artistic touches (After 20 years I still recall some moving endings). The drawings were perfect with yummy colors and attractive personality. The imagination was thrilling and droll. Let alone some messages this show managed to deliver with the fun as well. And I'll never forget the character of the younger brother who says only (rabble.. rabble)! This is a review and maybe a tribute to some of my childhood's best memories. A wonder boy, a wonder series as well.

I grew up watching this show religiously. I'd get up before school at 6.00am and be awestruck at the animation and mature themes. There was an overriding feeling of darkness and despair whilst sitting there with the morning sunrise coming through the curtains of my home. The show had its lighter moments for sure, but scenes of robots with seemingly human like appearance getting destroyed (violently) was something of an awakening to me, especially since I was more familiar with the more kiddie friendly "Thomas The Tank Engine". "Astro Boy" was also very intelligent and philosophical for a show basically aimed at the young and this is why the show has held up very well.A great series which has now been transferred to DVD in an excellent box set! Long live Astro!

When it comes to discussing which is the greatest cartoon in the world, it can be a hot topic to debate. However be sure to hear one name that will come up time and time again, ‘Astroboy'. He is a legend of the cartoon genre. I like him, because we can all learn a valuable lesson from what he stands for and how he goes about trying to fit into the world. Although I am a little old to like such a program, I am proud to admit that Astroboy still gives me great pleasure anytime I see him. In the year 2000, after the loss of his beloved son Toby in a car accident, Dr. Boynton built an android in his image. Soon, Dr. Boynton figured out that this android would not grow up to the son that he had lost. However he loses the robot to a greedy circus ringleader who made him part of the robot circus. However at the circus, the robot meets Kathy, a kind person who gave him the name Astroboy and let him go with Dr Elfun from the ministry of Science to be used for the good of all. Astro was designed with super powers, the ability to fly, powerful light beam emitters from his eyes which serve as a searchlight, heightened hearing, a machine gun on his hips, ultra-strength of 100,000 horsepower, and a powerful laser from his finger. This cartoon is brilliant Japanese animation. People from that part of the world are extremely talented, are should be proud of what they can do. The creator of Astroboy is Osuma Tezuka. I like what he did for children's' TV. His role in making Astroboy the success it was is phenomenal. He took on the roles of creating the original story, Framework, main Character design and Screenplay. The director of this version of Astro is Noboru Ishiguro, and I really like the cartoon that he gave us. Tezuka has done many works, but I am certain that Astroboy would have to be up there as one of his finest achievements. I also like the simple but effective message Tezuka had in bringing us Astroboy:"What I try to appeal through my works is simple. The opinion is just a simple message that follows: 'Love all the creatures! Love everything that has life'! I have been trying to express this message in every one of my works. Though it has taken the different forms like 'the presentation of nature' 'the blessing of life' 'the suspicion on too much science oriented civilisation' anti war and so on."There was only a few people doing the voiceovers to the characters of Astroboy (in English), but they were extremely well done. I enjoyed all the characters that appeared in the stories of Astroboy. Astro was an exciting robot, who at an instant would go into battle to save anyone from anything remotely evil. Add in Dr Elfun, Daddy walrus, Astro's parents and sister ‘Uran' and his friends from the local school he attended, life was pretty good for Astro. However, he did have his enemies. The human criminals included Skunk, a greedy man whose only use for robots was to make him rich. Yet Astro's greatest war was with a mighty robot, his brother Atlas. Atlas was like a human criminal, only with super powers. Astro and Atlas had many a fight, with no standout winner. Atlas wanted power and used the earth as his playground. Astro had to save the day many times from Atlas, with the consequences being great for each robot many times. The fitting tribute for this cartoon is seeing a 17 tape video collection produced by local Australian video group, Siren Entertainment. If you have access to seeing them, by all means do so. Also having all the great merchandise with Astro is another avenue that helps keep his ‘legend' alive. Such items as key rings, t-shirts and coffee mugs still available today, shows me that Astro is as popular as he ever was. When I think of my childhood, cartoons are a big part of it. Early morning viewings with cartoons such as Inspector Gadget, Voltron and He-Man. However Astroboy has and always will have a special place in my heart. With the passing of Osuma Tezuka (1928-89), we have all lost a great man of the animated Television profession. Astroboy was a Japanese creation many years before people in Western society began viewing it. I am thankful that I had the chance to see it, because Astro has only taught me good things. I love the musical theme(s) that accompany this cartoon. Furthermore when people still say the name ‘Astro' today, it at least proves to me that this cartoon will live on for many decades to come.