The Anime Injustice Gang

When I first debuted my artwork of the Justice League of Anime, which features a team comprised of classic characters of Japanese animation such as Astro Boy filling in for the original DC comic book super heroes, there was not only a huge positive response, but also a large demand for me to do the same with the Injustice Gang, a team of villains that would oppose the League.

After one full year of soliciting suggestions and researching on my own, I finally assembled a team of bad guys to oppose my Anime Justice League and finished the artwork last month. Of course, I knew I wanted to use an Osamu Tezuka villain, and while there were a few choices to work with, I could think of no better evil mastermind to take over the Lex Luthor spot than the dastardly fellow you see front and center in the image below.


ANIME INJUSTICE GANG ATTACKS by ~ninjatron on deviantART

That's right, Rock Holmes leads this chaotic cavalcade of villainy, comprised of Vicious, Doronjo, Hakaider, Toguro, Cell, and Ruby Moon. Take a look at it on deviantART for a full detailed description with more information on each of these characters.

WHO WILL WIN?

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400 Posts

This is the 400th post here on Astro Boy World!
It's hard to believe there has been that many. Thanks to everyone who has visited. Please continue to enjoy the site and post your feedback!

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Robot Vs World

Well, something like this doesn't show up every day. Or maybe it does in Australia, I'm not sure.

Robot Vs World is a play that ran during the Melbourne Fringe Festival last fall. The official plot synopsis is as follows:

Someone is killing off all the famous TV and film robots and the original Optimus Prime, the classic Astroboy and an 80s Dalek must form an unlikely alliance to try and solve the mystery, live on stage.

Keep on rockin', you crazy Aussies! Thanks to Infinite Hollywood for posting about this originally.

Some video can be found by clicking the continue reading link below, where you can get a look at some of the costumes. I must warn everyone by saying there is some NSFW language.

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Astro Movie Finally hits the UK

That's right, the Astro Boy movie has finally arrived on movie screens in the United Kingdom. I have no idea what took so long, but at least now all you poor, deprived Brits can enjoy this fine film. Show your support for this anime icon as well as Greater Manchester's favorite son, director David Bowers.

Just a reminder to both newcomers and to folks who have already seen the film to share your movie reviews!

So stop reading and go see the movie already! Then come back here and tell everyone what you thought!

In addition to the UK release, Astro Boy has also found its way to other countries, including Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Mexico. Surprisingly, there are still more countries that will be getting the film into the next month, and others that have yet to get a set release date at all at this time. So there is still some money to be made internationally before it's all said and done.

So come on now, rest of the world! It is up to you, now! You've all seen Avatar already, so go give the Astro Boy movie some of the love it deserves!

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Imagi Closes LA Office

Some unfortunate news coming out of Imagi, the Hong Kong based animation studio responsible for the Astro Boy movie. HotStocked.com has the full story. Here's a quote.

"Imagi International Holdings Ltd (OTCBB: IINHY, IINHY message board) has announced large scale review of operations which has mostly negative effect towards the staff.

The company has cut off their US subsidiaries from any funding, the working contracts for 30 employees were terminated and the Los Angeles based office closed. The company was left with only a few important staff members being utilized as consultants and has transferred the functions of the closed office to other contractors."

Very sad to hear that the US office is closed, and my best wishes go out to those who are effected. That said, Imagi has had some tough times and is still resolved to staying active and completing their Gatchaman movie, so perhaps this will wind up being the best solution for now. By the looks of things they will still retain some sort of presence in LA.

Imagi has updated their website recently, with a new logo and a very sharp new design. Let's all hope for an equally revitalized company this new year!

More information can be found thanks to Anime News Network.

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Crazy Astro Vehicle Toys

I thought it would be fun to post a few images of some interesting and/or weird Astro Boy toys from the past. I have a whole bunch of pictures of this kind of stuff, most of which was discovered on on eBay by myself or members the AstroBoy Online forums.

I like collecting toys but the kinds of things I'm posting here are way before my time and I don't really know much about them. I just find them amusing for one reason or another, mostly because they depict Astro riding in a vehicle that he would probably have no practical use for. If you have any insight into the history of these kinds of trinkets, please post a comment!

Nice wheels, huh? At least the generic car base has sort of a retro-future charm to it that's appropriate for Astro. But would he really ride around in a car that had pictures painted on it of not only himself, but Dr. Elefun too? That be like if Spider-man had a spider-car with a portrait of Uncle Ben on the side.

An Astro plane, again with Dr. Elefun and his giant nose on the tail fin.

I don't really see the point to this one. It's just a firetruck with a picture of Astro on the side for some reason. Maybe this is a specialized truck meant for a crew tasked to put out any fires started by Astro's rocket feet? Yeah, that's the story I'll go with.

I think this Astro Boat is hilarious because of the missiles. It just flies in the face of Astro being a messenger of peace. But I guess the missiles are just painted on so they are no real threat.

I make fun of this stuff, but really, toys like this are sort of cool in their own way. It's a part of merchandising history that is a window into the culture of the time and adds to the mystique of these famous characters. Let me know if you find anything yourself that might be worth posting here.

Don't forget to click on the tags to read prior entries about weird Astro stuff I've posted, and check out the AstroBoyWorld Store to buy some modern merchandise that we can make fun of 20 years from now.

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Astro Boy Movie Special Features

The special features for the North American Blu-Ray release of the Astro Boy movie have been announced. Included on the disk will be:

* Two all-new animated sequences
* Deleted scenes
* Featurettes
* Image gallery

I am assuming this will be true for the DVD release as well. If someone can double check that for me and post in the comments section, that would be great.

The new sequences and deleted scenes are very exciting. I wonder what will be on them. Not sure what the Featurettes and image gallery will entail. They could potentially be really insightful, or they could be self-promotional nonsense. I am quite disappointed over the lack of a commentary track though. Really wanted to hear David Bowers' thoughts on the entire film as it ran.

Source: Blu-ray.com

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