This is How Movies Should Be Made

It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Not sure how, but this is easily one of the best movies all summer. Multiple levels of funny, never takes itself seriously, super colorful, and creative.

.Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Astro Boy Mighty Atom is such an underrated series I have a bit of a soft spot for. I say "a bit" since I watched the English dub of the series in my childhood, and I do not like the English dub that much anymore. The domestic bias is so annoying to the point that the only way to watch the original Japanese version is to either watch it online on KissAnime or order the DVDs from Japan. I am from Australia, so that is why I said it. The animation is not the stereotypical style used in Japanese animation, which is a good thing. The voice acting by Makoto Tsumura as Atom, Hisashi Katsuta as Professor Ochanomizu, Shinya Owada as Doctor Tenma and Shadow, Miki Maruyama as Uran, Banjo Ginga as Officer Tawashi, Koji Ishii as Acetylene Lamp, Kosei Tomita as Higeoyaji, Akiko Kawase as Yuko Kisaragi, Kazuki Yao as Skunk, Hideyuki Tanaka as The Blue Knight, the list goes on, is fantastic. The music by Takashi Yoshimatsu is great and gives that orchestral composition that the English dub lacks, which is generic electronic music. The writing is great, which is a delicate balance of being epic and episodic, which is thanks to Chiaki Konaka, Ai Ohta, Keiichi Hasegawa, Sadayuki Murai, Kenji Konuta, Pamela Hickey, Dennys McCoy, Marc Handler, Hirotoshi Kobayashi, and Larry Biscof cooperating into the production of this series. The American writers must be fluent in Japanese, so much so they wrote the episodes in said language in a studio in Japan.

Out of all three of the versions, I'd have to say this one is by far the best version of the Astroboy cartoons. It's structured, its well animated, its got a great storyline with some well developed characters and it's generally a fun watch for adults and children alike. Again there are some gripes and some changes between the Japanese and American dubs, mainly being the lack of an episode here and there as well as the removal of many scenes which link back to Astro's past as Tobio, the son of Tenma. Because American Children's TV is more censored than Japanese Children's TV, a large number of scenes involving the death of the real Tobio and the creation of Astro are removed so as not to seem disturbing, these scenes however do appear in the Japanese Original Version, so if it's story you're looking for, you'll find it there. It also attempts to try and appeal to the more modern audience with catchphrases such as 'Let's Rocket' and other things that make it more like a Pokemon Cartoon, dampening down the more serious story. Thankfully, these unnecessary pieces of silliness are reduced to only two or three episodes which have little to no impact on the overall story. This series also has probably the best version of Dr Tenma. In the 1963 version he was a loud mouth and obnoxiously silly character which wasn't fun to watch, he just seemed really insane. As for the 1980 version he wasn't as mad, but he was still quite a stroppy and unenjoyable character. This version, he is subtle, calculative, manipulative and generally just down right evil. The character behind Tenma is much more developed, as is seen in the final few episodes of the series where Astro's past is revealed. Instead of getting rid of Astro because he was clumsy or couldn't grow or something stupid like that, instead he removes Astro because Astro starts to develop the same defiance as the original Tobio did, sort of a Totalitarian type father who doesn't take questioning of his authority well. Although quite clee- shee with the dark gloomy castle and the organ playing, he truly is a fantastic villain. There are also some more light hearted tones with Astro's silly sister Zoran and his friends who keep getting into mischief. Overall, a really fun series and definitely worth a watch.

i personally rate this series 9/10. I have never seen the first ones but i think the sound and graphics are pioneering, like those of star wars in the 70s and 80s. The backgrounds could beat poke'mons in two seconds, and i love the way that the animation rolls nicely. The characters i am undecided on. For two reasons, one, some i hate utterly, and two, some i really like. The robot astroboy himself certainly is a great character, but his voice reminds me of a squeaky ballerina. I expected more of a gruff voice. Tenma certainly is well played, and while some of the plots deserve to be stuck onto he first doctors plots in the sixties, others are unbelievable but fit well. Skunk, the criminal, certainly contains good villain style. Id recommend this cartoon to any body who likes good anime shows, or robots and technology.

Having good memories of the Astroboy series that aired in the 80's, I was excited to hear about a remake. Overall I'd say the new crew has done a fine job. There are some changes in the story line (Astro working at a circus, getting his trademark red boots, etc) but these may be revealed later. It doesn't seem to have as clear allegories for racism and segregation either, but again, there is still time for this to show up. The show retains a similar look to the original Astroboy with great visuals. The music captures the style of the show very well.I'm not too keen on some of the voices, though. I have only seen the English-language dub so I don't have the original Japanese for comparison, but I find Astro's voice to be somewhat out of place. Another character, Dr. Tenma, is a slender Asian man and has a voice that sounds like James Earl Jones! Those two aside, the other voices are pretty good. I also especially like that Astro's rockets still have the same sound as the 80's show!As for editing, a real problem with anime aired in the United States, I can't give definite comment, having never seen the original Japanese series. I did notice that Astro was told he was based on a real boy without mentioning what happened to that boy (he was killed in a car accident before the series takes place). A couple characters' names have been changed as well, Dr. Ocha-no-mizu (whom I knew as Prof. Peabody, others, Dr. Elefun in the last series) is now called Dr. O'Shay. I'm not sure why. If they wanted to shorten it, they could've just called him "Dr. Ocha" ("tea" in Japanese). Astro's sister, Uran (Sarah, Astrogirl), is now called Zoran. Once again, I'm not sure why. Also note, it's now called "Astro Boy" (2 words) instead of Astroboy (1 word). Maybe to distinguish between the old and new series?Another thing I've noticed is that at least some of the episodes are being aired out of order. E.g. Astro's first day of school after we'd already seen him there, his sister appearing with no explanation as to where she came from, only to vanish again until her proper introduction several weeks later. I've learned that this is the distributor's doing and not that of the network that airs the show. I wonder why companies do this. Do they think the viewers won't notice?Overall, "Astro Boy" seems to be a decent update of the classic show. I look forward to the new movie (slated for 2005).