What's up with the hate on Buddha?

Have had some exciting new developments with real work recently, and on top of that keeping me busy, I've got some serious problems with the computer that I keep all my cool stuff on. Bummer. So things have been slow here, but I'll carry on as best as I can.



A while back I put a copy of the first trailer to the upcoming Buddha movie, based on the Osamu Tezuka manga, on my YouTube account. Over the past couple of weeks, I've gotten a few comments from very angry people saying that this movie is a disgrace to Tezuka and that the art looks nothing like his style. They seem convinced that the movie is terrible and that these changes were made to intentionally make it more generic and appealing to "shallow American fans".

To this I say... WHAT?

Yeah, I don't see it. We've hardly seen much of the movie yet and I see several shots in this trailer that definitely have Tezuka's touches.

Come on, look at that. The bright shiny eyes. The elegant swoop of the nose. This totally looks like a Tezuka shot!

And even if it didn't, so what? Osamu Dezaki did not attempt to replicate Tezuka's style with the Black Jack OVA series he directed. Was that a problem for anyone? Of course not. Besides that, I am pretty sure, for very painfully obvious reasons, that any decisions on the art direction of this project are not made with the so-called "shallow American fans" in mind. Since, you know, this is a movie about Buddha.

The works of Osamu Tezuka are legendary and deserve respect, but what people need to realize is that if we were to hold it up on a pedestal, never to change, reinterpret, or revisit it in any way, than these works are simply going to fade into obscurity. Tezuka did not want for his work to become solely the realm of academic study, he wanted real people and average fans from the mass audience to continue to enjoy it for years. He was constantly reinterpreting and revising his own work, and so I seriously doubt he'd have a problem with this. To say that he'd be "spinning in his grave" over a trailer like this is, quite frankly, incredibly ignorant. If you respect Osamu Tezuka, then you should at least know something about who he was!

Some people complained about the Astro Boy movie, saying that it was changed from the original story, that the character didn't look like the original style, that it was too "Americanized", and other such nonsense. Not only do none of those arguments hold up, but they entirely miss an important point. It's because of that movie that many more people know about Astro Boy. Isn't that a good thing? And now the same irrational complaining is happening again here with Buddha, despite the fact that Buddha, unlike the Astro movie, is actually being produced by Japanese companies.

Go figure, huh? Some people are never going to be satisfied. And to think, we haven't even seen the whole movie yet.

So what do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments section!

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Goodbye, Carl Macek

Shocking news rattled the world of anime this weekend. American anime producer Carl Macek suddenly passed away due to heart attack. Carl was probably best known as the man behind Robotech, the epic science-fiction TV series that was constructed from 3 unconnected anime. Robotech was a gateway for many fans into the larger world of Japanese animation, and it's completely fair to say that if not for that show, the scope of the anime business and fandom outside of Japan would just not be what it is today. He was also a part of Streamline Pictures which released several important anime films in English including Akira and Fist of the North Star. Although he did not, as far as I can tell, work on any Tezuka projects, his work was so important in marketing anime to a mainstream audience in the generation that came after after shows like Astro Boy and Speed Racer. He was a controversial character, and was perhaps unfairly vilified in some ways, but was certainly a knowledgeable figure in this business who enjoyed speaking with fans. Both his insight and his friendly attitude will be sorely missed.

I did not grow up watching Robotech and came about knowing of anime through other ways. When I did watch Robotech it was only after its DVD release, as an adult. The show struck all the right chords with me and I loved it. The fact that it was made by combining 3 other shows didn't bother me at all, because what I saw was a multi-generational epic, bigger than any one show could offer. I could certainly see what made it so important at it's time, but I also appreciated it in a modern context. I consider it to be a must see for any anime fan, and there are a number of easy ways that one can see it, including legal online streaming.

I also highly recommend everyone give a listen to this recent Anime News Network Podcast that features a long interview with Carl. It's an amazing history lesson into the state of anime in the early 80's and a huge reality check regarding why certain decisions were made. With the state of the anime business being what it is today, there is certainly a lot we can learn from this.

While I am sure there are still purists out there who don't understand the reasoning behind some of the edits and changes that happened under Carl Macek's watch, he really was an interesting guy who just did his job and wanted people to watch anime. You can read some great tributes to Carl on Robotech.com.

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Who is the Anti-Astro?

Ok, here's an interesting question for everyone.

In the entire scope of anime, excluding Tezuka's own properties, who is the one evil character that you would like to see fight Astro Boy? What character would match up well against Astro and act as a counter-point or rival to him? Who is the Anti-Astro?

It could be an evil robot, an evil kid, an evil kid robot, a monster, or pretty much anything else, as long as it's from the world of anime and might make a good opponent for Astro. Classic anime is preferred but not necessary (no Pokemon, Digimon, or video game characters please). True villains only, no anti-heroes.

If you've been following what I've been up to, then you know why I'm asking this question. I'm in a bit of a bind and could use some help. Make your suggestions in the comments below!

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The Only Reviews That Matter - Yours!

As I've said before, I have not cared much about posting reviews of the Astro Boy movie from mainstream media outlets. But if you've been paying attention out there, it's pretty clear to see that many of these reviews just didn't quite get it. While the response from the general public who gave the film a chance has been mostly positive, the critics have, in some ways, spoiled the fun.

Well, I'm not going to let that happen!

It's been several weeks since the film's release in North America and other places around the world, so now that everyone has hopefully had a chance to see it and formulate their opinions, let's do our best to preserve this time. You've read my review, now it's your turn! This post if for you, the AstroBoy World readers, to post your reviews of the film. Let's make this into a time capsule that will be the true voice of how the fans feel about the Astro Boy movie.

Please use the comment feature to leave either a short paragraph review of the film or a link to some sort of permanent website or blog post with your review. Feel free to discuss anything regarding how you feel about it. Let's do our best to make sure that we, the fans, will have a part in deciding how history will judge the Astro Boy movie, so that those boring critics who didn't like it aren't the only opinions that are out there.

So, get posting! Spoilers are allowed, so say whatever you want!

(Readers in the UK and other international locations, hang tight. This will still be active by the time the movie is released in your country.)

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Red and Blue: The Politics of Astro Boy

One of the biggest talking points brought up in reviews of the Astro Boy movie is that it has an American political message.

While I personally don't see it that way, a lot of people do, and seem to be deeply offended by it, saying that this sort of thing has no place in a children's movie.

Rather than try to get to the bottom of what must be a personal issue for every individual viewer, I'll simply write some of my own thoughts on the topic and leave the comments section open for discussion.

Be warned, spoilers are afoot!


Do keep in mind that I came into this movie from the mindset of an anime fan who already knew the story of Astro Boy. I've also been following the film for two years via this blog. As such, my viewing experience going into the film was more about those kinds of story elements, not political ones. Someone who come into the film at a different angle may be more susceptible to seeing a political side of the film than I am. I'm also Canadian, so while I understand some of the political situation in the United States, I am very much detached from it.

It's interesting looking back to the months leading up to the film now that it seems to have sparked a political debate. At a certain point it became clear that Astro would be powered by the Blue Core energy, rather than more factual scientific atomic power in Osamu Tezuka's original story. Naturally, the use of atomic power in Tezuka's manga stems from the atomic bombs dropped on Japan in World War II and the bomb tests that followed afterward. The word "Atom" carried a lot of weight at the time and had public recognition, hence its inclusion in that story. Tezuka hoped that atomic energy could someday be harnessed in positive ways, but always warned against the over-reliance on science and technology.

So, at first, it seemed to me that using the Blue Core energy as plot point for the film was a way of stripping a complicated and potentially controversial topic from the movie and simplifying the story for a more general audience. And perhaps there is some truth to that, as atomic energy isn't in the public eye today as it was in the 50's and 60's. For its own reasons, the Spider-man movie did the same thing, swapping out the traditional radioactive spider that bites Peter Parker for a genetically engineered one.

I felt that the atomic power was an important part of the Astro Boy story, and felt that it was a bad move taking it out. Astro Boy was Japan's way of taking something bad, turning it into something good, and embracing it. To remove that, I thought, would leave out something that makes the character so intriguing. However, s time went on and more of the movie's plot became public, I began to see things a little differently.

The blue and red cores are more symbols than anything else, representing the positive and negative uses of science and technology. Using these symbols, rather than explaining the science behind everything, makes the issue more easily understood by younger audiences and more universal for international audiences. But understand that the issues raised by Tezuka have not been removed entirely. Instead of outwardly talking about them, they are covertly included in the film. I found this aspect to be rather clever once I saw it that way. The outright use of atomic power may be missing, but a similar interesting concept seems to have developed in its place.

As an artist, I understand that colors have meanings and generate feelings, whether the average person realizes them or not. Blue can represent water, calmness, and tranquility. Red can represent fire, blood, and rage. I suppose the cores could have been any colors, but blue and red seem to be the most obvious choices. The use of red = evil and blue = good isn't exactly a new one. It seems odd to me that people are stuck on this issue being a politically motivated one, as if blue is supposed to represent Democrats and red is supposed to represent Republicans. It is as if a part of the original manga story that was changed for the film to avoid a political issue may have unwittingly started one anyway!

When it comes to President Stone and the Metro City election, I'll grant you that there is a political theme to that part of the plot, obviously. The "It's not Time for Change" banner is a clear reference to the Obama election campaign, though I see it as a visual gag more than anything else. But to say that this has anything to do with the current state of politics would mean that President Stone would have to be analogous to a real political personality. That I can't logically stand behind. President Stone is an unabashedly evil character, who declared war on a whim and bragged about how many ex-wives he had. He is not standing in for George W. Bush or anyone else. He is, quite simply, the villain of the movie. He's just too impossibly evil to be anything else. We may have disagreements over who's doing what in Washington, but is there anybody who is as honestly as rotten to the core as President Stone? I don't think so. His level of villainy is so great that it'd be totally ridiculous if it weren't so entertaining.

The original Astro Boy stories do contain of issues that, I suppose, one could label as political. However, the way I see it, these are not "red vs blue" issues. They are more clearly basic morality issues of right vs. wrong. And these issues are definitely woven into the film. Discrimination is wrong. Pollution is wrong. War is wrong. Is it really so bad to put this in a movie for kids? At the heart of the matter, there's nothing political about it.

While I am surprised at the attention this issue is getting, it really should come as a surprise to no one who is familiar with Tezuka's works that there would be some kind of issue like this in the movie. I know some people say that when they go to watch movies, they go to leave the "real world" behind, and they don't think that kids should be exposed to such complex themes. Well, Tezuka never thought that way when he made his comics. He added all sorts of important issues into his manga. It's only fitting that this movie would do the same. It's too bad that a handful of folks are missing the point entirely and looking in the wrong direction.

But hey, if you see things differently, please leave a comment below and have at it!

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