This is me being a nice guy today!
MrTEZUKAFOREVER has been pretty persistent in asking me to share the Anime Music Videos that were edited together and are shared online. Clearly a lot of work and a lot of love for the character goes into something like this. I thought this one, focusing on the 2003 series, was really great. Enjoy!
You can see more of MrTEZUKAFOREVER's AMVs on YouTube.
I'm not going to plug everyone's stuff just because I'm asked to. Again, this is me being a nice guy today.
Showing posts with label 2003. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2003. Show all posts
Monday, November 2, 2009
Astro Boy AMV by MrTEZUKAFOREVER
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
A Brief History of Astro Boy
The Sci-Fi Block is now presenting a great article that will serve as a primer or re-introduction to the rich history of Astro Boy. This retrospective on the character touches upon pretty much every iteration of the story, starting with the manga and moving onwards to each of the 3 TV series, noting the story themes and what makes each of them unique. On board to help set the scene is the amazing Ada Palmer from Tezuka in English.
Even if you've been a fan for a long time, this article is certainly worth checking out. And if you're new to all this, it's a great place to start. Read "A Brief History of Astro Boy" on The Sci-Block.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Astro Boy 2003 DVD Singles Delayed
Gasp! Oh no! Whatever shall we do? The effortless repackaging of Sony's 2003 Astro Boy anime on single DVDs has been delayed from its originally scheduled August 18 release date.
While a new date has not been officially announced, a distributor is currently listing September 15 as the day these disks will go on sale.
Anyway, don't expect the delay to be because of any legitimate reason, like adding the original Japanese audio or resorting the full picture to widescreen. It's more likely they are just delaying these disks to gain better market positioning for the upcoming animated movie by Imagi.
Thanks to TV Shows on DVD, we have a look at the front and back cover art for these disks. I've mirrored the images right here in the link below. As you can see, the specs indicated that there is no Japanese audio, no widescreen, and thus there shall be no buys from this ninja. Oh well.
Click for larger views.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
2003 Single Disk Press Release
Following up on the news that Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing the 2003 Astro Boy anime again, this time as 5 single disks, here is the press release, straight from the source.
You'll notice how they go out of their way to make it sound all cool and new, when it's really just the same content as the 5 disks that comprised the previously released box set, which they didn't do a very good job on in the first place. The press release even says "Debut on DVD". What...? Are you kidding?
Anyway, click the link below to read the whole thing. It has the episode listings and UPC numbers, so maybe that'll be helpful to someone who's looking to pick these up.BLAST OFF WITH ASTRO BOY: THE ANIME SERIES, VOLUMES 1 - 5 FROM SONY HOME PICTURES ENTERTAIMENT
Source: ActiveAnime.com
Popular Anime Series Based on the Original Comic By The Father Of Manga, Osamu Tezuka. All Five Volumes of the Anime Series, Each with 10 Action-Packed Episodes, Debut on DVD August 18
CULVER CITY, CALIF. (June 15, 2009) – Blast off with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment when Astro Boy™: The Anime Series, Volumes 1-5 come to DVD on August 18. The anime series based on the legendary Japanese comic series by Osamu Tezuka, known as the Japanese Walt Disney, is now available in five separate collectible volumes and priced to own just in time for the new feature film. Astro Boy™: The Anime Series, Volumes 1-5 follows an atomic-powered robot who is a reluctant superhero possessing super strength, jet-rocket feet and the ability to fly. Inspired by the anime series that originally aired in Japan in 1960, Astro Boy™: The Anime Series, Volumes 1-5 was updated and modernized in 2003 with state-of-the-art animation and visuals that kept the same classic style as the original “Astro Boy” manga and anime. The series debuted on the Kids WB Network in 2004. Each volume, sold separately, contains ten episodes priced at $14.94 SLP.
SYNOPSIS
Astro Boy is a clever and resourceful atomic-powered robot. A reluctant flying superhero with super strength and jet-rocket feet, he possesses a human-like personality and fights for justice and peace for humans and robots alike.
Episodes Included in Astro Boy™: Volume 1:
Power Up!
Rocket Ball
Atlas
Astro vs. Atlas
Destination Deimos
Into Thin Air
Rainbow Canyon
Neon Express
Franken
The Venus Robots
Episodes Included in Astro Boy™: Volume 2
Reviving Jumbo
Robot Hunters
The Rise of Pluto
The Fall of Acheron
Dragon Lake
Lost in Outland
Deep City
The Blue Knight
Hydra-Jacked
Geo Raider
Episodes Included in Astro Boy™: Volume 3:
Secret of the Blue Knight
Robot Circus
Little Sister, Big Trouble
Micro Adventure
Only a Machine
Robot Boy
Dawn of the Techno-Revolution
The Legend of Tohron
March of the Micro Bears
Old Dog, New Tricks
Episodes Included in Astro Boy™: Volume 4
The Case of the Phantom Fowl
Gideon
Fairy Tale
Shape Shifter
Firebird
Space Academy
Atlas Strikes Back
Battle-Bot
Time Hunters
Escape from Volcano Island
Episodes Included in Astro Boy™: Volume 5
Avalanche!
Battle of Steel Island
Undercover
Into the Dragon’s Lair
Night Before the Revolution
Robotonia
Showdown in Robotonia
Journey to Tomorrow
Astro Reborn
The Final Battle
Featurette: “Remaking of Astro Boy”
Astro Boy™: The Anime Series, Volumes 1-5 each have a run time of approximately 240 minutes and are not rated.Visit Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on the Web at www.SonyPictures.com.
DVD Special Features on Each Volume:
- Full Screen Presentations
- Audio: English, Spanish, Portuguese (Stereo)
- Closed Captioned
Astro Boy : Volume 1
DVD Catalog: # 32237
UPC Code: 0-43396-32337-0
Order Date: 7/16/09
SLP: $14.94
Astro Boy : Volume 2
DVD Catalog: # 32238
UPC Code: 0-43396-32338-7
Order Date: 7/16/09
SLP: $14.94
Astro Boy : Volume 3
DVD Catalog: # 32239
UPC Code: 0-43396-32339-4
Order Date: 7/16/09
SLP: $14.94
Astro Boy : Volume 4
DVD Catalog: # 32240
UPC Code: 0-43396-32240-0
Order Date: 7/16/09
SLP: $14.94
Astro Boy : Volume 5
DVD Catalog: # 32240
UPC Code: 0-43396-32241-7
Order Date: 7/16/09
SLP: $14.94
ABOUT SONY PICTURES HOME ENTERTAINMENT
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company. SPE is a division of Sony Corporation of America, a subsidiary of Tokyo-based Sony Corporation. SPE's global operations encompass motion picture production and distribution; television production and distribution; digital content creation and distribution; worldwide channel investments; home entertainment acquisition and distribution; operation of studio facilities; development of new entertainment products, services and technologies; and distribution of filmed entertainment in more than 100 countries. Sony Pictures Entertainment can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.sonypictures.com. For more info on Blu-ray Disc™, visit hollywoodinhighdef.com.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
2003 Anime Single Disk Re-Release
The 2003 Astro Boy anime is being released again on DVD in North America to capitalize on the interest in the character being generated by the upcoming animated movie by Imagi. The initial 2005 release contained the complete series in one box set. This time, each of the 5 disks comprising the box set will be available individually for a SRP of $14.94 US a piece. It seems that the complete box set may also be offered to retailers again as well.
TV Shows on DVD has the scoop. The image to the left is intended for retailers, not actual customers.
These 5 individual volumes are likely not going to be any different from the 5 disks that comprised the box set. No Japanese language option and no widescreen equals fail in my book. But if any kids see the movie and really like the character, these could be a great gift. Expect to find them on store shelves August 18th of this year.
EDIT: I just noticed that the ad mentions the Astro Boy movie is "from the people who brought Twilight to theaters. UGH! While technically true, it seems like a completely random point to bring up! That's just... why?
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Astro hits YouTube in a Big Way
Haven't seen any Astro Boy anime yet? Well, now you might not have an excuse!
Every single episode of the English version of both the 1980's and 2003 Astro Boy anime series is now officially avaiable on Youtube, for free and 100% legal. These aren't bootlegged episodes uploaded by fans and split into 3 parts. These are the real deal, in good quality, strait from the legitimate source. You'll just have to suffer through the mild discomfort of watching some ads to enjoy them.
You can watch watch the 80's series here thanks to Manga Entertainment and the 2003 series here thanks to Crackle. Both of these series seem to be based directly on their respective R1 DVD releases.
As is the often the case with streaming video, there may be region lock-out issues preventing you from watching. I am in Canada and I can watch the 80's series perfectly, but can not watch the 2003 series at all (same as with Hulu). But, for those of you who can watch, you're in for a treat.
Thanks to Dragonrider1227 from the Astroboy Online Forums for the tip!
Now, who will complete the trifecta and bring us an official way to watch the 60's Astro Boy anime too?
Monday, September 22, 2008
So Long, Toonami.
When the English version of the 2003 Astro Boy anime aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block in the US, this was the special intro sequence.
This past weekend was the very final broadcast of Toonami. Although I live in Canada, where Cartoon Network has never been made available, I think it's a very unfortunate thing for Toonami to end, just as I think it was a mistake to scale the Toonami sub-brand down from every weekday afternoon to Saturday nights only. Toonami introduced a new generation of fans to classic animation and anime, and aired great shows like Sailor Moon, Dragonball Z, Voltron, Ronin Warriors, Thundercats, Robotech, and more. Visiting the US and being able to watch Toonami, even if only for a brief moment, was a very special thing. It created it's own culture based around awesome animation wrapped with a slick presentation.
But now it seems like networks would rather focus on trying to sell their own sanitized cartoons as the hippest and greatest thing instead of taking chances with edgy, action-based shows. That's a rant for another day.
For more looking back at some of the cool video content that was produced for Toonami, check out Toonami Digital Arsenal.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Nancy Cartwright Chats with Candi Milo
I recently stumbled upon this interesting interview on Animation World Magazine that was conducted by Nancy Cartwright, best known as the voice of Bart Simpson, with fellow voice actress Candi Milo, who played Astro in the English dub of the 2003 Astro Boy anime. It's a fascinating look at the voice over industry.
On the second page of the interview, when asked about what her most challenging job was, Candi responds by saying:
"I think the most challenging job I have done was voicing Astro Boy on the revival of the iconic series. Astro Boy is the Mickey Mouse of Japan and it was an unbelievable honor to be chosen to voice this. The tough part was, because Sony did it in cooperation with Japan, the Japanese actress and I laid voices to picture simultaneously -- 65 episodes of ADR. Yikes! It was very hard to create character, place emotion and character arc within the confines of anime expressions; arched eyebrows, thin line mouth, oval line mouth. Another tough aspect of this particular job was not being allowed to audition for the role I created for the Sony feature film. It actually hurt."Obviously she has a lot of respect for the character and worked really hard on her role, although there were only 50 episodes, not 65.
I'm not sure if she is mistakenly referring to the currently in development Astro Boy movie by Imagi or the previous attempt at bring Astro to the big screen, which did not get off the ground. Sony did have the rights to Astro Boy, and a lot of work was done to make that movie happen, but I'm unsure if they had ever gotten to the point where they'd hold auditions. Obviously that movie never happened and Sony has nothing to do with the animated film that's coming out next year.
Anyway, while Candi's performance as Astro was well done, despite problems with the English adaptation, it's unfortunately not at all uncommon for film producers to not want much of anything to do with anyone associated with a cartoon version a property they're making a movie out of. Continue reading "Nancy Cartwright Chats with Candi Milo"...
Saturday, April 12, 2008
2003 Anime Japanese 1st Intro
Of all the things to come out of the 2003 Astro Boy birthday celebration, this new series absolutely had to be the biggest and the most important. Here is the first opening sequence from the original Japanese version.
Although it's said that this 2003 version of Astro Boy was only a modest success in Japan, it lead to a renewed interest in the character, with many new licensed products. Astro even appeared in commercials! This show gave modern anime fans a taste of what Astro Boy is really about, and it made the character relevant to yet another generation.
Here are few interesting facts about this particular incarnation.
- The first episode aired in Japan on April 6, 2003. It ran on the Animax and Fuji Television networks. 50 episodes were produced. More specific details can be found here and here.
- This series boasts a budget that is 3 times as much as a typical anime series on TV. The production cost was said to be 30,000,000 yen per episode. The result is near-theatrical quality widescreen animation.
- The storyline for this show included classic elements from previous versions of Astro Boy/Mighty Atom, with several stand-alone episodes. As it went on, though, a larger story arc about the brewing conflict between humans and robots revealed itself.
- Of course, this series aired in several other countries with translations into different languages, including an English version that I'll be talking about later.
- Even in the Japanese version, the name international name "Astro Boy" is acknowledged. It's no secret to Japanese fans that, even though they call him Mighty Atom, he's known as Astro Boy around the world, and so "Astro Boy" was incorporated into the Japanese Tetsuwan Atomu title and logo. Towards the end of the first episode, a young girl sees Atom flying and says he's an "Astro Boy", using the English words.
- This theme song is called "True Blue" and was performed by ZONE. The tune of this song figures heavily into the symphonic musical score of the Japanese version. Separate versions of this song were also made in other languages, one for Taiwan and one for Hong Kong.
- Zac Bertschy from Anime News Network managed to see the first episode before it was officially released outside of Japan and wrote a review stating that it was "perfect". I saw it too, way before the English version came out, and I loved it!
There's going to be plenty more information and discussion on the 2003 version of AstroBoy, so keep coming back!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Robodex 2003
One of the biggest events of the 2003 Mighty Atom Birthday celebration was Robodex, an exhibition of robots held in Yokohama on April 6 of that year. The event focused on sharing the future of robotics in Japan with emphasis on showcasing more human-like robots, such as the Honda Asimo, instead of the boring industrial kind.
The event included an Astro Boy display by way of the "Atom Dream Factory", where a life-size motorized Astro was lying on an operating table, being attended by robotic appendages. Every 30 minutes, Astro would sit up and raise an arm. 
More pictures from Robodex 2003 can be found here. It really looks like something straight out of an episode of Astro Boy.
Although Robodex 2003 was a grand, exciting display of the incredible advances that Japanese developers have accomplished, this particular Astro Boy robot was strictly ornamental and incredibly basic by comparison to the other robots at the event. It was mostly there as a tribute to what the character has done to inspire robotics in Japan and as symbol for the hopes and dreams of what is yet to come. No doubt caught up in the hype surrounding the Mighty Atom's birthday, crowds ate it up.
Here is Osamu Tezuka's son, Macoto, posing for a photo op with his father's famous creation.
The article that this picture was attached to has some great info on the history of Astro, Osamu Tezuka, the 2003 anime, and the movie that Columbia pictures had planned which has since been scrapped. You can read it on Web Japan or by clicking the link below to continue reading here.HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASTRO BOY!
Celebrating the Birth of the "Robot with a Heart" (April 21, 2003)
Many Japanese adults grew up with the cartoon character Astro Boy (known in Japanese as Tetsuwan Atomu, meaning Mighty Atom). Astro Boy first appeared in Shonen magazine in 1952. Later, starting in 1963, he starred in an animated TV series, of which 193 episodes were made. This cartoon was extremely popular, maintaining an average viewership rating of 30%. In the fall of 1963, the Tetsuwan Atomu series crossed the Pacific to the United States, where 104 episodes were aired on NBC under the name Astro Boy. Like their Japanese counterparts, many American adults no doubt feel nostalgic for their childhoods when they see the Astro Boy character.
Real Time Catches Up with Astro Boy's Birthdate
Astro Boy's creator, the late manga (cartoon) artist Osamu Tezuka (1928-1989), set the Tetsuwan Atomu series in Japan 50 years in the future. On April 7, 2003, real time caught up with the fictional birthdate Tezuka chose for his character. When Astro Boy first appeared, Japan was just beginning to pick itself up from the rubble of World War II. Tezuka gave his creativity free rein, and his futuristic portrayal of the transportation networks and cityscapes of twenty-first century society anticipated today's computerized world with what was, in some respects, a startling degree of accuracy.
So has the modern age caught up with Astro Boy's world? Certainly, the high-rise buildings that dominate the Tokyo skyline and the superhighways that crisscross the country could have been lifted straight from the near-future world depicted by Tezuka. But what about the main character Atomu himself? Does he have an equivalent in today's real world?
A Robot with a Heart
With the aid of jet-propelled footwear, Astro Boy flew through the skies at supersonic speed. He had strength equivalent to 100,000 horsepower and could speak 60 languages. But his most important feature was that he had a heart and experienced emotions.
For better or worse, modern civilization has yet to create a robot with a heart. Though research into artificial intelligence is moving forward, nothing has yet been created that comes close to replicating human emotions. On this point, Tezuka's vision was too far ahead of its time.
In commemoration of Astro Boy's birthday, the character is returning to TV screens in his first new series for 22 years, Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atomu - to be aired by the stations of the Fuji Television Network. This comeback series, produced by artists who were heavily influenced by Tezuka, consists of 50 episodes that will air over the coming 12 months. The theme of this series is "the robot with a heart," and the focus is on Astro Boy's preoccupation with his own consciousness. According to the director of the series, Kazuya Konaka of Tezuka Productions, "The theme is the relationship between humans and robots. As Atomu wrestles with his status as a robot, humans have trouble deciding how to treat a robot with a heart."
Astro Boy on the Silver Screen?
The new Astro Boy series will be broadcast in the United States, too. And word has it that in 2004 a major Hollywood studio, Columbia Pictures Industries Inc., will invest $100 million in making a film based on the series. Meanwhile, Astro Boy's Birthday Party, a festival of animated-film screenings and exhibitions, began on April 6 in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles and will run for two months.
Naturally, a variety of birthday events are scheduled in Japan. Robodex 2003, one of the world's largest robot shows, took place in Yokohama from April 4 to 6. Robodex 2002 made headlines for the Asimo, an upright-walking robot created by Honda that can walk up and down stairs, and the SDR-4X, a Sony robot that can dance and sing. This year's event witnessed the introduction of a silver-colored Asimo that can walk twice as fast as the previous model and many other robots designed to do real work in human society, such as nursing care and security. At the center of the venue there was a display called Atom Dream Factory, which featured real industrial robots gathered around Astro Boy acting out the moment of his birth.
For anyone visiting Japan during this time, one spot that is well worth a visit is the Tezuka Osamu Memorial Hall in the city of Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, where Tezuka spent his youth. Visitors to the country are also likely to encounter whimsical tributes to Astro Boy's birthday in some unexpected places. For example, in Tezuka's original manga, Atomu was born in the Tokyo district of Takadanobaba. Now, each time a train leaves JR Takadanobaba station, its departure is announced by the playing of a few bars from the Tetsuwan Atomu theme song over the station's public address system. So anyone standing on the platform is able to hear the famous melody that once captured children's hearts.
The number and variety of tributes to Astro Boy reflect the great affection felt by so many people in Japan and elsewhere toward this lovable robot.
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