Around 1995, Japanese animation (anime) began pouring into North America, Europe and across the globe in video form. Most of these titles were unknown outside of Japan and never covered by animation journals. Whether a title is highly popular or very obscure, a high-quality theatrical feature or a cheap and unimaginative direct-to-video release, they all look the same on a store shelf. Therefore, Animation World Magazine will regularly review several new releases (including re-releases not previously covered) that have merit and about which our readers should know.

Astro Boy. © 1980 Tezuka Productions. © 2001 Manga Entertainment, Inc.

Astro Boy. V.1 — V.9.
TV series (52 episodes), 1980-1981. Director: Noboru Ishiguro. V.1 - V.3, 5 episodes/125 minutes; V.4 - V.9, 6 episodes/150 minutes. Price & format: video dubbed $19.95. Distributor: Manga Entertainment.

Two Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom; Mighty Atom) animated TV series were produced in Japan. The first, 193 episodes in black-&-white from 1963 to 1966 by Osamu Tezuka's Mushi Production Co., was Japan's first TV animation. This is the series that introduced Astro Boy to America. The second, in color by Tezuka's newer Tezuka Production Co., was only 52 episodes from October 1, 1980 to December 23, 1981. This has never been seen in the U.S., although it was released in Australia several years ago. The new series repeated some of the more popular episodes from the first series, mixed with some brand-new stories. Tezuka went on record in 1980 as being very pleased to have the opportunity to update his most popular character to modern, full-color animation standards, and to replace his early simplistic character with a more thoughtful and richer personality.

The black-&-white version was and still is immensely popular in Japan. The color version got a polite reception and was soon forgotten. The little-boy robot has been called Japan's equivalent of Mickey Mouse, and the comparison seems apt here. The original Disney cartoons of the late 1920s and 1930s were black-&-white and crudely produced, but the lively Mickey was loved by the public and became a major star. The final cartoons produced during the 1960s were in color with much higher-quality animation, but Mickey had become a bland corporate image and lost most of his appeal. The new Astro Boy is too much of a politically correct goody-goody character, sniveling, "Why do we have to fight? Why can't we be friends?" in the midst of battling villains.

Anime collectors should know that Manga's video version is edited to be "child friendly." The first two episodes have been edited into a single half-hour episode (resulting in the series being labeled as only 51 episodes), to remove the tear-jerking hospital deathbed scene of Astro Boy's inventor's son; a helicopter crashing into a building with obvious fatalities, and similar "dark" elements. Plans for a DVD version for anime collectors, which would be uncut, have been put on hold for contractual reasons until after the release of Columbia/Sony's CGI Astro Boy theatrical feature, which is not scheduled until sometime in 2004.