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astorinx-writes · 1 year

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Why "Lost In Outland" Is Astro Boy's Most Beloved Episode

The 2003 series is considered by fans to be one of the best renditions of Astro boy ever. Known for its risk taking and emotionally charged story-lines, most if not all the episodes hit. But one in particular, “Lost In Outland,” stands out among the rest. Why that is, has been of particular interest to me, who personally enjoys it as well. My findings have led me to come up with three reasons as to why. For starters, the change in pace & scenario compared to other episodes. Secondly, the unforgettable and unique characters. And, thirdly, Astro’s place in it all. While this is not an exhaustive list of reasons, it is clear from these three alone that, out of all the 2003 series episodes, “Lost In Outland” proves time and time again to be the best and most loved.

Now, of course, before we begin, I have to disclaim a couple of things. One, this is not meant to convince you to like the episode if you dislike it already, I am simply explaining what I have found & researched and presenting it to you as such. Two, I am well aware that the research methods I have used to come to these conclusions with drawbacks and downsides that harm its legitimacy. While I tried my best to circumvent this, things can and do fall through the cracks, and there is nothing I can do about that in said regard.

To start, I want to explain a little bit about how I got to this point, and what made me wish to write this post. I knew personally that Lost In Outland was my favorite episode of the 03 series, but when speaking about it with other people, I was shocked to find out I was not the only one who felt that way. I also, at the time, had developed some theories as a result of this feedback that hinged on my own personal thoughts, not just about the episode, but also about my personal life. Thus, I decided to put together a Google Form in an attempt to not only gauge what other’s thought about this episode, but also if my theories held any water.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, there are some caveats to doing a poll. Besides the obvious— that people can lie or use bots to manipulate the results— there’s also the inherent bias that I am (presumably) polling people who already like and enjoy the 2003 series. So, the odds of them liking Lost In Outland goes up tenfold. There’s also the fact that I was only (at the time of writing this) able to pull in 8 responses. But as I said, I cannot control how people respond, and who responds, exactly. Even if I made it extra obvious that the results would be anonymous, that still may not have been enough to convince people to be brutally honest. This fandom is also quite tiny, so while 8 people in a poll for any fandom would seem so little, in this case it’s actually quite a lot. Finally, there was a second section in the form that contained some more heavy questions (mostly pertaining to my theories) that people had to opt in to answer. Some may have chosen not to participate and thus only answered the questions from the first section.

Out of the 8 people who submitted responses, 75% of them consider Lost In Outland their favorite, or all-time favorite episode. 25% did not consider Lost In Outland to be their fave or all-time fave. Participants were given a question to elaborate on why they did or disliked the episode, and we will be discussing their thoughts later. For now, to continue, 75% prefer the subbed version of the episode, while 25% prefer the dubbed.

For the second half of the survey, in which 87.5% of people agreed to participate, 57.1% of them consider themselves to be LGBTQ+/queer. 42.9% of them (presumably) consider themselves to be cishet. Precisely 71.4% of them have said they’ve experienced some form of trauma at any point in their life, while 14.3% did not, and 14.3% said “maybe.” The final question, directly attempting to answer a theory I had made, was a bit inconclusive. Only 57.1% of people said that they have or had (at any point) thoughts of escaping/running away, starting over somewhere new, or anything similar.

Now that we have broken down the multiple choice responses, we can get back to talking about the written response question I saved for later. This brings us to the three reasons outlined in the intro as to why the episode is so enjoyed. For starters, we can talk about one of the most frequently brought up reasons: the characters. Many praised the unique nature of the commune characters, with one even mentioning how lovable and interesting they are. Personally, I also agree that the characters are what make the episode. They serve as the backbone for the episode’s plot, and as one participant said, even make for the perfect set-up for a spin-off show. Boon in particular was brought up twice and seems to be the breakout star altogether. However, I can also see the opposite for why some wouldn’t like this, as introducing so many new characters (that, spoiler alert, we never see again) can be overwhelming, or seen as a waste. But, I think the episode did a fantastic job at making them all diverse and unique that we can’t really forget them. And, as for the “wastefulness” argument, that’s somewhat valid, but it’s not entirely our fault that the show couldn’t find a way to bring them back in some capacity.

Next, we have something a little similar, and that’s the change of pace/scenery. Now this personally has got to be one of, if not the sole reasons I love this episode, and I’m glad everyone else agrees! To begin, many pointed out how we don’t normally get to see live as lived outside of Metro City, or even outside of those that are rich. This episode, based around a commune that is said to live in Outland as a “[Way for] people to forget about their problems.” gives us a perspective we haven’t seen yet. Of course, though, I can't talk about this point and not say the obvious, that this isn’t the first time (nor would it be the last) that Astro’s lost their memory. However, in this specific context, I think it takes that idea and freshens it up a little. It’s also really nice to see O’shay step up to the plate and take initiative in looking for them. Not to say that he’s never stepped up before, but as one participant wrote: “It was the first episode, Ochanomizu claimed parenthood over, Atom.”

Finally, our third reason is a bit hard to pin down. Originally written in my outline for this blog post as simply “Astro’s altruism”, which is based on a single response written that spoke of Astro wanting to help others, despite everything. It seems far more that the majority (including myself), similar to liking how different of a situation Astro was in, also liked what it represented for them. Now, I am no psychologist, nor would I claim that anyone who participated is, either. Even still, the fact that it's as clear as the night sky that what Astro goes through is enough to make us all collectively sigh in gratitude that it’s not of importance or worry this time around, is astounding. Yes, there is still something to be said about the episode's entire premise beginning with Astro going out of their way to fix the satellite, despite not being instructed to do so at all. As well as the fact that they were able to clear Boon’s name after successfully using the Boon Unit. But for once, we’re seeing Astro live a life where they aren’t pestered or arsed to have a “purpose,” to be a mediator, to feel like being an activist is more important than being a kid. They were allowed to just be, and that, is precious.

For the 25% who disliked the episode, only 1 submitted a written response that said though it is not their favorite, they still enjoyed the episode. The other declined to comment.

To summarize, there are many reasons why Lost In Outland is considered the best of the best, even by 2003 series standards. But, based on my research, the 3 most predominate ones are: the stellar characters, the unorthodox setting, and Astro’s place in it all. And considering I agree with them all, should it really have been a surprise to me that I wasn’t the only one? Perhaps not- but I’m glad to now have concrete evidence as to why, and perhaps you do too as well. Because, out of all the 2003 series episodes, “Lost In Outland” proves time and time again to be the best and most loved. And the proof is in the pudding.

#Astro Boy #Astro Boy 2003 #lost in outland #ab lost in outland #tetsuwan atom #blog post #episode analysis #episode opinion #episode review

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astorinx-writes · 1 year

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Describing and Reflecting On My (Almost) 11 Years As An AB Fan

Like most times in my life, I find myself lost in thought about the many things that make me who I am. All the special interests I’ve picked up over the years, many of which have come and gone. But at least one of them has stayed: my ever present love for Astro Boy. So, I thought, as I turn a year older, I would talk a bit about what’s brought me here today as an AB fan, and get a little introspective.

It’s funny when I mention my beginnings as a fan because I wasn’t initially much of a fan at all. I remember coming off the heels of what was arguably the most confusing time of my life: my parent's divorce, and being relegated to only seeing my dad a couple of times a week. In October, one of those days was spent heading to the local movie theater to watch the 2009 movie. Before this, I had no exposure to AB. But if my memory serves me right, I think our whole reason for going had more to do with my dad’s nostalgia for (presumably) the 80s series than anything else.

Again, there wasn’t anything that stood out to me in particular about the film. But I should say for the record, if you read my first-ever blog post here wherein I reviewed the 09 movie, you’ll know it’s grown on me quite a bit. Not to the point where I would ever consider it a favorite of mines, but certainly enough to respect it for what it was, and what it served in my journey as an AB fan. No matter what I think about the film now, or what I thought about it back then, it was truly at the time my only exposure to the franchise.

So, I leave the film and think it’s okay, I move on with my life and sink my teeth in other things. But my brother, on the other hand, seems to like this far more than I probably thought I ever would. I mean the amount of AB merch that had come out at the time! You had the toys at McDonald’s, I believe some toys at Toys-R-Us… I mean the movie bombed, don’t get me wrong, but for a split second, I was seeing AB everywhere in my house, and it was a nonstop talking point between us and my dad. I have to give him credit, though, if it weren’t for his persistence in finding out more about the franchise, I might’ve just shrugged at the movie and called it a day. But sadly, when I say “he found out more about the franchise” I really mean is “he saw YTPs of the 80s series on YouTube.”

Speaking of the 80s series, this is actually where his door closes, and mines opens up just ever so slightly to test the waters. I can’t say exactly how it all panned out because my memory is far too spotty for that. But, to make a long story short, I found myself curious about the AB world again and, after having seen the 80s series, I wanted to give it another try. Now, at the time, there wasn’t really any “way” in and of itself to watch the 80s series, unless you owned physical media. It was a weird time because streaming was in this sort of infancy stage where nobody pirated anything because Netflix was king. But if you wanted anime… well… you’d have to watch every episode in 3 parts on YouTube like everyone else, bud.

Funny enough, during that endeavor, I managed to watch just about every 80s episode, and I have not seen the 80s series since. I’m not sure when I’m going to break the streak and rewatch it, but I see it as more of an internal joke that I perpetually keep up for the lolz. At the time, though, my reasoning for not going back was actually because the channel I was watching from got taken down, and nobody else seemed to have an archive. Certainly though in the year of our lord 2022, where even the 60s series can be watched on streaming services, I think I’m just purposely skipping out.

That was back in 2012, a year later, I had an exposure to something a little different. You see at the time, I was in 6th grade, and I had a homeroom teacher who was a stickler for us reading during homeroom time. Now, when I was younger, I did read a lot, but by 6th grade I had mostly stopped (probably due to IRL stuff, but who knows?). So, I was basically relegated to reading almost anything from way back when that I could get my hands on at home. In comes my local library to the rescue! When I went over there for the first time, I was curious as to what the odds would be that any Manga volume was there. And luck be damned, I found a couple at the last minute. Now, I didn’t want to completely suck them dry of their manga supply, so I only checked out 2. But I soon realized that was a bad idea, since it turned out that I read graphic novels at lightning speed. I finished both of them rather quickly and had to read them over and over again for both homeroom and during P.E. attendance for a few weeks.

Briefly, I’ll talk about how I got into the 03 series. Initially, the 03 series was available on Netflix, and despite my initial thoughts on its art style, I decided to give it a try. Again, I wasn’t thinking too much of it at the time, but after the 2nd re-watch, I was sold. And when I mean sold, I mean I dropped every other rendition for that one. I also mean when I refer to or speak of anything AB related, I am 10 times out of 10 talking about the 03 English dub, and nothing else (except any of my fan fics or AUs). Nowadays, though, when I want to watch the 03 series, I have the dubbed version on DVDs that I’ve backed up digitally onto an external drive, so I just plug the drive in and go from there. This is also where I get all my screenshots for edits, and for my screenshot archive.

You’ll notice that for the most part, I’ve been talking about more IRL events rather than online stuff. And that’s mostly because me becoming the AB fan I am today didn’t really kick into gear until around 2015/2016-ish when I joined Tumblr. But before that, I did something a little similar… I wrote fan fiction. Or rather, my now partner and I did. But before she jumped on board, it was just me. Again, with no one to look after me or express any concern, I found myself on FFN reading… well… let’s just say… things someone at the age of 12… probably shouldn’t have. I read plenty of problematic works by problematic writers, and it inspired me to want to give it a try myself. After all, I did like writing— though like reading, I did give it up. I think at that point; however, I was so enamored and inspired, I let it all go and just jumped right into it.

The first fic I wrote, “Zoran vs. Uran,” served (technically) as the starting point to what would become my fan fic series Vivid Insomnia. But at the time was an arguably silly fic that never got finished because even past Sage knew it was horrible. The basic premise was based on the fact that in the 03 dub, Uran’s name was changed to Zoran, but I thought it would be interesting to write a fic in which Uran and Zoran are 2 separate characters. So, the plot basically surrounds Tenma creating Zoran and sending her off to live with O’shay. It was called “Zoran vs. Uran” (simply) because the “major bombshell” to be revealed was that Zoran and Astro are related (a shocker, I know /s). So, apparently Astro was supposed to finally gave a shit about her, which pisses Uran off and makes her incredibly jealous (something we can all relate to, I’m sure /s). Therefore, as a result, Uran and Zoran were gonna duke it out WWE style.

I legitimately have no words.

I’ll spare you all the tiny details, and move on to the short stories I did. After attempting to write a couple of fics and letting my anxiety consume me, I took a break from writing for a while, but found a way back in through writing short stories. Again, if V.I. was clay, then these short stories were helping it be molded into the shape it was set to become. Some of this information does overlap with my last post, so if you would like to learn more about the fan fictions I’ve written, you can check that out. The only thing you need to know is that after those short stories, I wrote my first long fiction in a while, called “Astro, Oh Astro, Where Did You Go?” It was by far my most em tonally gruesome fic at the time. It really paved the way for where I wanted to take V.I. and I think ultimately made me realize that I like writing about the emotional and mental perils of life, and what it takes to dig oneself out.

The entire premise was that after sleeping over at a friend's house, Astro decides to run away, leaving everyone to wonder where they went. By modern standards, this fic is a hot steaming plate of garbage, but at the time it was (again) the deepest thing I had ever written. Mostly with Astro’s portrayal-—I know many associate them with being childish and happy-go-lucky, and I do still agree with that sentiment. But during that fic, and certainly now, I find myself seeing them as a much sadder character. I won’t get into why exactly right now, so we’ll leave it at that. But in this fic, it should be noted that Astro’s entire persona surrounded how utterly depressed they were.

Moving on from fan fictions, I’m a freshman in high school who just left Google + because Tumblr lets you customize your desktop blog, and G+ doesn’t. This is also around the time that I had given up on my dream of being an animator because I would’ve honestly rather shot myself in the foot than do any sort of sketchbook doodle ever. You’ll notice I haven’t spoken about any fan art I’ve done, and that’s mostly because I feel it would be pointless, since it didn’t lead to anything but heartache and irrational anger on my part. Instead, I decided to be a graphic designer because at the time, I liked downloading fonts from dafont.com and making fan works for Vivid Insomnia in a way that didn't involve drawing. Funny how everything that makes me a modern-day AB fan comes back more to V.I. than anything else… haha.

So with my Shadows Into The Light II, and Bebas Neue, I slapped the worlds #edgiest quotes (or song lyrics!) onto 03 series screenshots in Photoshop. And that’s basically how my design hobby (as it pertains to AB) started. I dabbled in other mediums, like videos and GIFs, but I would wager that today, design is my strongest suit, and it’s what I do the most of.

Years went by, I wrote more, designed more, started uploading videos a tiny bit more. And since I want to keep this post lighthearted and less focused on psychoanalyzing myself, we're going to skip over the many times I said something stupid and let my jealousy and low emotional intelligence get the best of me. Let’s just say… I learned a bit more about my place as a fan in this fandom, and also how not to interact with people, basically.

By the time I graduated from high school, I was ready to move on from this fandom, actually. Impostor syndrome ever so fragrant, I thought “AB isn’t serious?! I need to be serious now! I’m a real designer!” So, I gave it up for exactly a couple of months before I went back to my shipping retro bullshit, and before I knew it, I was essentially back where I started: An Astro Boy Fan on Tungle Dot Org. It was at this point though that I realized, if I wasn’t going to quit being in the AB fandom, the least I can do is polish myself up a bit. I haven’t mentioned any of my past usernames, but when this was all happening, I was Astro.png- a name I made as an inside joke because I export all of my static designs as PNGs. When I decided to “get serious”, I changed my name to Astorinx (yes, ASTORinx, not ASTROrinx, common mistake, I understand). This coincided with the change of my main design brand to Thylio Design, and also a personal change of name too (don’t you just love when your personal branding finally catches up to your gender changes too?)

Here, to close this out, I can finally touch on my “Astro is a sad character” point I was making earlier. Originally, when I switched to being Astorinx, I hadn’t intended for the blog to take a mental health/psychology skew topic wise. You’ll notice a lot of my works throughout the years have mostly been observational. I am simply making works based on how I interpret Astro’s character. But even then, as I look back, I realize that even then, my works weren’t taking place within canon. Rather, they were post canon. Because I’ve always found myself to think and believe that while Astro canonically was quite happy-go-lucky, their circumstances and life events told an entirely different story. No matter what you assume, at some point, you’re bound to realize that those events and whatnot, are going to catch up to them. I think in my personal quest to learn more about myself through the world of psychology, it has led me to look into the minds of some of these characters to ask an ample number of questions: What does it look like when this character is at their best? What does it take to get there? Or what about their worst— where are their faults, and why?

As time went on, I started to embrace a story line that was beginning to come about in my works, most exemplified by my “I Need To Forgive My Inner Child And Tell Them It’s Okay” piece. The story is this: Astro is an older and wiser adult whom, after going through and making great strides in therapy, looks back at the actions/thoughts/feelings of their younger self. Contrary to feeling regret, anger, or embarrassment for whom they once were, they look at their younger self with an immense sense of compassion. Like a warm blanket on a frigid night, they give their younger self a hug and say, “It’s okay. I totally get you, and I wish you well.”

Though not all of my works fit this narrative, especially when I make designs for characters besides Astro, for the most part, you can assume in some way, shape, or form, it’s relevant. What I’ve also realized, too, is that there’s a lot of people who find solace in my designs messaging. I recently even got asked to do a design supporting neurodivergency! While I will never claim to be a psych or mental health expert in any way unless or until I get an actual degree, it does make me happy that people are taking to my works in such a way. Over the years, I’ve become such a proponent for seeing people be the best version of themselves as possible. And while I wasn’t initially intending for my posts to be for the masses (thematically speaking), I’m glad Astro’s introspection's about who they were canonically have helped others do some reflecting of their own.

So, that’s now, but what’s next? Well, as I mentioned in my fan fiction post, I still have a lot more to write. And of course, I will always have plenty to design, even if there are considerable breaks in between due to burnout. In terms of videos, I have a few AMV ideas cooking currently, it’s just a matter of when I’m going to shake off the nerves and get started on them. I also still plan to run the AstroBoyFanWorks blog and its Discord server companion for as long as possible. I think when I look back at just how long it’s been- I mean 11 years is so wild! It’s almost unbelievable! But, I find myself in a place where I’m just happy to be here. I could go on and lament about so many things, but the truth of the matter is that after this many years, you either shit or get off the pot, as they say. You don’t second guess, you don’t make assumptions, you decide: Am I going to stick around for at least another year? And personally, I think yes.

#astro boy #tezuka #anime #blog post #fandom

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astorinx-writes · 2 years

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I’ve Written A Lot of Fan Fiction… And I’m Here To Talk About Them

Something I’ve found out about myself over the years, is that I’m quite the jack of all trades. From design, to video making— I feel like I’ve done it all! But one thing is for sure: no matter what, writing is something I can always fall back on. For as long as I can remember, regardless of what I was primarily interested in, I always had writing in the background as a sort of unbeknownst craft, lurking and waiting for its opportunity to shine. So, is it really a surprise then that I’ve been writing fan fiction for pretty much as long as I’ve been an Astro Boy fan? Personally, I’d say no. But regardless— I thought today we would take a look into my fan fiction writing history. See what I wrote in the past, what’s available to read now, what you may be able to read in the future, and what might never see the light of day.

As usual, I gotta hit you with a disclaimer. For those that don’t know, I do have a bit of a spotty memory, so this may not be as all encompassing as it could be. Also, a lot of the works I wrote were when I was a minor. Though, this doesn’t absolve me from having written anything unsavory. I take full responsibility, and I do try my best as an adult now to put my best foot forward. I have a duty to do right by the community and not be a weirdo posting offensive and/or inappropriate stuff.

It’s All In The Past Now

To start, let’s discuss the fan fictions that I have written, but are no longer accessible (for the most part). I’d like to consider these fics gone with the wind, so to speak, and I have no intention of rebooting them in any fashion. These fics are basically dead, and expected to stay that way.

Vivid Insomnia

Probably my biggest undertaking, and what might’ve been my crowned jewel if I was still delusional and thought it was great. Vivid Insomnia was actually not (for the most part) done by me alone. Sure, it did originally start around 2012-2013 with me writing the (technically) first story, “Zoran vs. Uran”, but Vivid Insomnia would’ve not been what it was if it weren’t for the collaborative efforts of both me and my (now) partner. I think what made VI so special to me was how it really felt like an alternative universe, despite not being one at all. Also, the plethora of original characters! There was so much to chew over and get lost in, even though looking back, there were so many plot holes, it was astounding! The quality of said fics also left a lot to be desired. Certainly when I was younger, I was practically parading this series around like it was an MLM sales pitch, but nowadays, my motto is usually “Don’t read it. You don’t hate yourself that much, I promise.”

But what was Vivid Insomnia? Well, to be honest… neither of us really knew.

I mean, in technical terms, it was a fan fic series (something akin to a novel series). But in terms of actual overarching plot, it was quite unclear. When we made the (now deleted) Tumblr blog for the series, we billed it as a series revolving “Astro’s road to recovery” and when I began the rewriting process with “Zoran”, I did make it a point to focus a bit on Astro’s mental struggles. However, where it gets lost, is in its obvious attempt at being slice of life. It’s hard to say what exactly a series is when you have a million things going on at once.

First you got O’shay being a total ass, then you have Astro being mentally ill, and then he gets a girlfriend, and then his girlfriend starts going through shit because she has an abusive mom. Then Astro gets cloned, then the robot Tenma made and shipped off to O’shay out of jealousy decides to [REDACTED] herself, so now Astro hates his clone because it was supposed to be him not her that got dismantled once the experiment was over.

Honestly, trying to explain the plot of VI to literally anyone would be so difficult and convoluted, you’d have no choice but to think it was totally batshit wild. Not to mention the OC plot lines; you have Quinn who already has quite the story line going back as far as when Tenma worked at The Ministry, then there’s Stephen and his… interesting mom. We already talked about Astro’s GF Brianna, but she’s quite the basket-case. Oh, and the self inserts! The self inserts!!!

So, why did it go away? Well, it wasn’t just because it was bad. In fact, I even had plans to rewrite the whole thing and improve it! But the issue lies in the fact that I don’t think there was much I could’ve done, knowing what I know now, to improve upon it in a relevant time frame. You see, not only was the series plagued by so much convolution, but it was also… a bit problematic.

For starters, the amount of toilet and adult humor had no business existing there in the first place. Maybe I did find it funny back then, but I think now as an adult all I can do is cringe and seriously wonder why no one thought to pull me aside and tell me to knock it off. Of course, I can’t go back and change what I did, time travel isn’t a thing. But what I can do, is own up to what I did and make a commitment to be vastly cleaner with my jokes.

I think through looking back at VI, I’ve become a lot more stringent with what I write and consume. And sure, some may say I’ve become a bit prudish as a result, but I think I owe it to myself, and the audience I have to, as I mentioned earlier, not be a weirdo.

Secondly, I think the psychology knowledge and better understanding of mental health that I have now makes what I had written before leave a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. You see, when I wrote VI, I had practically no knowledge of mental health— I wasn’t even fully sure of what I had going on personally. So, I suppose it’s congruent for me to have written something a bit on the fearmongering/distasteful side. But again, I’m not absolved of the repercussions of my actions, nor of the responsibility to apologize for it. To the mental health community, therapy is not a sin or something to fear, and I’m profoundly sorry that I portrayed it as such. Especially given the audience I had while VI was in the works, it was erroneous and borderline malicious, and for that, again, I am sorry. As I’ve learned so much more, I know now that my works shouldn’t demonize the tools we have at our disposal.

That wasn’t the only reason it went away, however. Apart from the harsh truth that it probably wouldn’t have been till I was 30 that the series would’ve been finished, I realized midway through working on my secret project, that if I wanted to write about the “general” premise of what VI “supposedly” was about, I’d have to start completely from the ground up. Now, I don’t want to get too deep into this point because I want to save it for when I mention my “secret project,” so all you need to know is that I found something better, and I’m willing to make peace with VI as a result.

The Love Trilogy

Picture this: it’s 2016, you just left Google+ for Tumblr because you thought being able to customize the way your desktop blog looked was cool, and you find out there’s an actual community dedicated to this show you like! In true Sage fashion, my initial thought was, “I gotta let these people know I write fan fiction!” But I wasn’t just going to make an AD post about Vivid Insomnia, I had to make something original! So, I did, in the form of Painting With.

Painting With (yes, named after the Animal Collective album of the same name), for those who don’t know, was a (very) short one-shot about Astro and Reno. Basically (if I remember correctly), Reno gets asked by The Ministry to either paint a mural, or put up a billboard, something like that, and brings Astro along for the ride. Now before Painting With, I was of course a big Astro x (my OC) Brianna shipper, naturally because of VI. But during this time, despite me not remembering much, I do know this is when I started to shift and practically became an Astro x Reno (AKA “Retro”) shipper overnight. Painting With was basically my first foray into writing Retro fan fics, and if you know me in any capacity now, you know it would not be my last.

So Painting With gets good feedback! And so, I decided to come back with another fic, Escape The Dinner Party. Not intended to be a sequel, but after I wrote the next fic, Dream Sequence, it was pretty apparent at that point that I was onto something.

In comes The Love Trilogy, a name I gave the series of fan fics I had written so far, and would continue to write for quite some time. Basically, the entire plot surrounded Astro and Reno deciding to leave, fearing oppression. Now, what it actually ended up being was more like “Reno takes a 2-week vacation from work and Astro tags along,” despite it originally being billed as a runaway fic. TLT I’d say was a (small) step-up from VI quality wise, but it was definitely plagued by being dialogue heavy, to the point where there was certainly more being said, then there was being done. In my defense, I hadn’t read a single book in forever, so knowing how to structure a paragraph was not my forte, but at least it didn’t have original characters up the wazoo or jokes better suited for something like “Rick and Morty”.

Where it did fall short, however, is in its portrayal of O’shay. I’ll admit it: I hadn’t seen the 2003 series in quite some time, and I think it did play a role in how I thought O’shay was character wise. So, no, making him essentially a baddie in both VI and TLT was not “accidental” technically speaking, but obviously now I know he’s not a raging queerphobe and total ass with no regard towards his kid's mental health because he thinks it’ll make him look bad.

There’s also something to be said about writing something queer and making it trauma based. I think now when I look back, I can see where my past self was coming from, but I could��ve honestly done without the trauma plot and maybe have made it a bit… cuter, I suppose? I mean, they’re going on vacation! There was so much I could’ve done with that, and the whole “dream sequence” thing that happened too could’ve been the dash of spice I needed to add angst to the series! But I digress…

After writing arc 1 (it’s hard to explain, but basically, I wrote 10 fics and lumped them together like TV episodes in a season) I went on to write arc 2. That one was arguably much slower in terms of release, but it at least didn’t deal so much with O’shay. Instead, Astro gets some unexplained bug that Reno has to fix. It reminds me a bit of “Astro Reborn” from the 03 series, except (spoiler alert) Reno doesn’t take Astro to Tenma, and manages to fix it on his own. I did plan to work on arc 3, a prequel arc meant to explain how Astro and Reno started dating in the first place, but at that point I was bored with the series, and I needed a change of pace. So with that, and another reason I’ll get into later, the series got the ax.

No matter what, though, TLT will always hold a special place in my heart. Not so much because of the material itself, but the way it broke down barriers for me. You see, at the time, I wasn’t working on anything else but VI with my partner, and it was starting to get to the point where I was afraid of working on anything solo. What if I wouldn’t finish it? What if it didn’t come out as great? So many questions, it really got in the way of me being able to write. Now, I unfortunately am not a “words” person (let it be known I’d be in a much better place if all it took was for me to hear the right words or work through my issues logically), it takes experience for things to actually click and internalize.

So TLT was just that! It was an experience that significantly boosted my confidence in being able to write solo. But most importantly, it made me give less of a shit! Nowadays, I just see writing stuff like fan fictions as just… something. If I go weeks without a fan fic update, or never finish a certain fic, who cares! It’s this sort of “fuck it” attitude that’s been honestly quite freeing. In fact, I kind of now find my old mentality/opinion to be a little silly, but I do understand where past Sage was coming from.

A Gift Wrapped Present… For The Present!

Now, we’ve gone over what once was, but what about the now? What’s fully out there and available for you to sink your teeth into? Whether these fics are finished or not doesn’t determine its status being a part of this section. If you can read it on fanfiction (dot) net or ao3, then it’ll be here.

Tales From The Laboratory

After working on The Love Trilogy for so long, I was starting to get a little bored with it. For starters, I was coming to realize my portrayal of O’shay was flawed in more ways than one. And I also just wanted a fresh start, no more worrying about fanon rules set up in the series that I had to follow, also no more fics where the plot boiled down to Retro in their lab together just shooting the shit and getting sappy. It was okay once, but it gets boring rather quickly. So, because of this (and the other reasons I mentioned earlier) I gave TLT the ax, and went on a sort of hiatus as far as writing Retro fics goes. Eventually, though, I wanted to get back into it, but again not in the TLT universe, or even for TLT. So, I decided to start something new!

Tales From The Laboratory, as the name implies, is essentially a collection of one-shots (fandom speak for “short story”). Every story is about Retro, and even for the most part, has Astro and Reno as the sole characters in the fic. For the most part, they don’t intersect or belong to a linear plot line (except for Going Further Away, which we will talk about soon), and some may or may not be AUs.

Technically, this series is ongoing, but I can stop it at any time since again there’s no main plot to be had, so there’s nothing really to be resolved. What has been cancelled, however, is Going Further Away. This was sort of a “series within a series” if you will, with installments that were meant to be peppered into the “normal” one-shots being posted. Sort of like a “oh, let’s check back in on what they’re doing!” scenario. Why it’s being pulled is pretty much similar to why TLT is done. I just don’t think the series is necessary, and to be quite honest, it reads more like a fic I’d write just for myself and have for keeps. The plot is basically similar to TLT, so there’s the “queer trauma” element as well, and it just overall doesn’t pique my interest as something I’d be publicly posting about.

Other than that, though, TFTL is still growing strong, and I actually just posted a new fic, Is It True (yes, named after the Tame Impala song). My next one, Dancing With You (named after the Jane Inc song) is slated to come soon, and will hopefully be the start of a sort of miniseries where I write fics based off songs in Retro’s Spotify playlist.

Buzzcut Season

I guess this is technically named after the song by Lorde, but I wouldn’t say it was intentional (unlike the ones in the past that were intentional). My idea was simple: each “fic” (or rather one-shot if I’m being honest) would surround a character with something they need to overcome. Originally, I intended to write more after just the 3 chapters that are up, but after stewing on it and losing interest, I decided to cut it to just those three.

There’s not really much else to say, except a funny IRL anecdote that I hope at least (1) person finds funny. I am quite the lazy person, and I also don’t like writing stuff that isn’t at least remotely AB related. So, when I was assigned to write a short story for my junior year English class, I basically ripped myself off and slightly modified one of the chapters to use for the assignment. I (obviously) got caught, but I never contested it because I wasn’t about to admit to my English teacher I write fan fiction. So, I took the L and lived with the shame. Take it from me, buds: don’t plagiarize, not even yourself!

Little Effort, Big Adventure

One of my favorite episodes from the 2003 series has got to be “Lost In Outland”. So naturally, I would make a fan fiction (vaguely) inspired by it. And by vaguely, I mean not at all related, but I do remember wanting to make this after having seen LIO, so perhaps there is a connection… somehow. My idea was simple: a light on plot, silly little story where Astro travels by train (for some reason) to various towns and cities to see how the locals live. I based it on this idea that Astro doesn’t really leave Metro City much, but has always wondered about other places nearby, so they work out a plan with O’shay to make it all happen.

The funny thing about this fic is probably the fact that I was so consistent with it. I had a bi-weekly schedule (AKA 1 new chapter every other week) that I did follow through with for a while. Why did I stop? Well, at the time, I wanted to rewrite Vivid Insomnia, and I had technically already begun that process with writing Zoran, but it was far from finished, and NaNoWriMo was coming up, so I thought that would be a perfect opportunity to finish it up. Now of course looking back, I (and probably you too) could see why that was a stupid decision, since VI got cancelled in the end. But I guess it’s just something I have to make peace with. And I was happy with what I made for Zoran anyway, so I suppose I shouldn’t be too bitter.

As it stands right now, the fic is pretty much in development hell because I have so many other things (even outside of fan fictions) to work on. Perhaps maybe one day I’ll get the spark to keep working on it and finish what I started, but for now, it’s basically in limbo.

One Shots (And Boy Are There Many)

This one is basically an amalgamation of all one-shots I have at the moment. Obviously, these are all finished, and you can find them on fanfiction (dot )net and ao3!

First, let’s start with Parental, this has got to be my most popular one shot out of all of them for sure. Fun fact: I actually got my partner to help me write this one! Back when we wrote Vivid Insomnia, she used to write the lines for Tenma. So, when it came time to write him, I knew just whom to call. And I gotta say, while this fic is a little rough around the edges, and certainly has some stuff I would change if I could write it all over again, I totally get why this is as popular as it is. Without spoiling the story, basically Astro decides to pay Tenma a visit during the winter time to see if he’s okay, and that’s all I can say.

Second, we have My Dad Eats Collard Greens For Breakfast. Sort of an “unofficial” sequel to Parental, I originally came up with the fic title way before knowing what the plot was going to be. I was basically shopping it around and seeing what fic ideas the title would best suit. Eventually, I decided on a fic where Astro visits Tenma again. But this time it cuts right to the chase, wherein Astro’s already there. Now again, no spoilers, so I can’t say what happens while they’re there— you’ll have to read it to find out.

Finally, there’s Pronouns. You ever get so pissed off at dumb people sliding into your asks and saying the stupidest things, you decide to write a fan fiction as retaliation? No? Just me? Well, regardless, the entire premise of Pronouns comes from an ask I got on Astorinx basically questioning why I use “they/them” pronouns for Astro in my fan fictions. Now, this wasn’t the first time I got asked that. In fact, on Parental, I got asked about the queer elements written into the fic. And to be fair, it was probably petty of me to write an entire fic after getting such comments, but in my defense, I felt a little annoyed at the constant questioning. Especially as a “they/them” pronouns user myself, it just irritated me a bit. Why should I have to explain to you why I use “they/them” for Astro? Personally, I feel I should be left in peace in that regard. But nevertheless, this fic took me no less than 10 minutes to write, and basically says what’s on the tin, detailing why Astro uses “they/them” pronouns. The idea here was basically that I’d have something to link to whenever I get asked this, but thankfully I haven’t. I should also clarify that I’m not against criticism or receiving asks, comments, ETC. My only issue is getting asked things like “why did you do this?” regarding anything queer related in my works. Mostly because the answer is quite obvious: I’m queer, and I write fan fiction.

Contrary To Popular Belief

I guess you could say this is sort of a flip-side, or 3rd cousin twice removed relative to Tales From The Laboratory, but regardless, Contrary To Popular Belief, is probably the most “out there” (quite literally speaking, to be honest) fan fiction I have. Similar to TFTL, Contrary To Popular Belief is a one-shot compilation, but with a twist! What twist, you may ask? Well, every one-shot is a different AU! Pretty much, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to write about stuff I normally don’t, or to get some ideas I’ve had that wouldn’t work with the way the 03 series canon is set up out of my brain. There’s not much else to it, but if you are interested in reading it, the 2 first stories, Left Of The Spacecraft and 2-Star Yelp Review are out. And yes, the fic title is a joke.

You Might See These… In A Few Years

No, I am not joking, it really may be years until some of these fics make their big debut. But I still want to talk about them anyway, in case you’re interested. I also want this to serve as a way to make room in my brain for other ideas to hyper-fixate on for weeks at a time.

Paternal Amnesty

I suppose now’s a better time than ever to be frank: I lied to you all. You see… I did say that Vivid Insomnia was over with, and it is. But… I did manage to (sort of) bring it back, but with a big, giant catch.

One of the things I loved the most about VI was the dynamic between Astro and Tenma. It was heartfelt, but it was also stupidly hilarious. I mean, the number of times Astro would take a jab at Tenma only to get immediately read for filth was definitely something for the books. So, is it really a surprise I’d want to try and bring it back somehow? Well, I suppose not!

Don’t get it twisted, though, this is (unfortunately) not just straight up “yoinking their dynamic from VI and putting it in a new fic”. For that, you’ll have to (spoiler alert) check out Contrary To Popular Belief when ____ Of The Year comes out. What this is, though, is a sort of derivative of the VI fic Two Halves Of The Same Heart.

Now because of spoilers, I’m not going to say what happens in that fic, but seasoned VI fans will hopefully now have a better idea of what Paternal Amnesty has to offer.

Basically, this fic centers around an Astro who is very much aware that their mental health is not great. But unfortunately, O’shay is completely unwilling to provide the support necessary, so they can get the help they need.

To be clear: there are no OCs in this fic, and no, you will not be needed to have read VI to read this. I will say though that if O’shay being portrayed as an asshole is not your vibe, then this fic might not be for you. If you do, however, like Astro and Tenma’s dynamic, or perhaps wished they were on speaking terms, then this might be for you.

My Secret Project

No, that is not its actual title. Back then, I thought maybe if I spoke the least amount possible about what I was working on, I was more likely to follow through with it. Well, suffice to say, it’s been 3 years since I originally came up with the idea, and I haven’t even gotten a single chapter done.

So, why am I being so secretive about it still? Well, to be honest, I’m not sure. I guess now’s a better time than ever to let you all know….

Drum roll….

Ignorant Mischief

Sort of a flip side of Paternal Amnesty, Ignorant Mischief will probably be the biggest undertaking since Vivid Insomnia I will ever do. And this is actually the fic that made me decide to cancel VI.

Why exactly, you may ask? Well, it would help for me to explain (generally) what the plot of IM is (again, without spoilers!).

Basically, this fic is an AU that I’ve dubbed my “adult AU” (more on that later) where Astro is a twenty-something (21 at the start of the fic, to be exact!) who is… for all intents and purposes… a bit of a serial romantic. Where the actual plot is, lies in Astro entering yet another relationship, but this time around it’s with someone they genuinely have cared about for quite some time just as a friend (gee, I wonder who that could be.). Naturally, they don’t want it to go to shit like all of their past relationships have, so they decide to start therapy in hopes of learning how to keep it together. And the rest is, as they say, history! Or at least will not be mentioned here because again, spoilers spoilers spoilers.

So, when I finally figured out what I wanted IM to be about, I realized I was basically writing what VI had intended to be about: Astro’s road to recovery. But it was improved upon in ways I couldn’t have with VI without completely starting over. It felt a little redundant to have both VI, and it's much better in every single way relative up and active at the same time, so why bother?

Now, the difference between this fic and Paternal Amnesty is pretty much night and day. PA is mostly about Astro and Tenma, with less of an emphasis on the therapy they’re receiving. IM, on the other hand, is pretty much solely about Astro’s time in therapy. I mean, sure, there are moments of Astro in therapy in PA, just as much as there are moments of Astro’s life outside of therapy in IM, but neither is the focal point of their respective stories. Another big difference is that Astro in PA is about 13, whereas IM Astro is an adult. Also, O’shay isn’t an ass in IM, but the trade-off is that Tenma is pretty much out of the picture (and is intended to stay that way).

Why this fic has taken so long to come out, actually circles back to why I ended VI and the apology I made earlier. As I stated, this fic is about Astro’s time in therapy, so I, of course, need to know quite a bit about what going to therapy entails, but also have the psychology knowledge necessary to be able to write something accurate. The points and messages I want to have and make, hinge so much on being done well and by someone who is knowledgeable about the subject.

Now, I am aware that it might be a bit excessive to think I’d need to become a psych expert overnight to make this fic happen, but I’d argue against that. Again, it matters a lot to me now that what I write is accurate, and done in good taste. I couldn’t possibly bring myself to write something, fully knowing that I’m ill-informed, with good conscience. Also, as a newfound stickler for psychobabble, It’d also be a bit hypocritical for me to write something akin to a pop psychology piece. What I write has to be accurate, and again, respectful. So tl;dr, I need to do more psychology research, and that’s going to take a while.

Finally, I do want to talk a little about the universe itself. Even though this fic hasn’t come out yet, it has technically been made public in a sort of related way. You see, the foundation of which this fic is built upon is my adult AU. Which for the purposes of this post I won’t get into, but many of my newer works do take place in a version of said universe.

This doesn’t mean every fic I’ve written is connected to IM, though. They just all use the same base, kind of like different plants that use the same pot and soil. Where this is most prevalent is in Tales From The Laboratory, where I’ve pretty much moved on to writing about Retro exclusively as adults, so of course I use this universe as its foundation.

To explain why, I think when I became an adult, I immediately became distasteful of anything to do with minors. In fact, all of my OCs are adults now for this reason. It just doesn’t sit right with me and puts a sour taste in my mouth to write about kids. Of course, I’ll make exceptions, but only when I feel it’s absolutely necessary, or it would break the plot otherwise.

El Campo

Spanish for “the countryside” El Campo is an unofficial prequel to Ignorant Mischief. The intention here is to get a little peek into who Astro would become as an adult. But make no mistake, it’s not the focal point at all. What is the focal point, however, is it’s “actual” plot.

Basically, Yuko sends O’shay off on another vacation after it became apparent that he was up to here in work related stress, and needed to get away for the weekend. So, he decides to take his kids (+ Reno!) to a cabin-like place in the countryside.

There’s really not much else to it. Obviously, since this is much easier to write because it’s just a one-shot and doesn’t require profound psych knowledge, this’ll probably be out a lot sooner.

You’ll Never See Me Again… Except You Never Saw Me At All To Begin With

Even though September won’t cry for you, I will still extend my condolences to you for these fics that were meant to exist, but never did, and (maybe) never will. But hey, there’s a catch! You see, for just the fics in this category, I’m giving the ideas away for free! If I’m not going to make them, it’d be pretty gatekeep-y of me to hoard them. Especially if perhaps somebody else could take them and make them a reality. It just wouldn’t be very punk rock of me to do anything else.

Thespian Alloquy

Technically, my first-ever AU, Thespian Alloquy was supposed to be a fan fiction consisting of an ensemble cast that were all actors. Tezuka Star System jokes aside, what this basically was about is simple: Astro is a preteen (+ human because this was also a human AU for some reason???) that’s looking for something to do over the summer. They have a huge passion for acting, and so after asking many a friends and teachers for ideas, their drama teacher suggests they join Metro City’s local theatre, and they immediately agree.

Now, they also do bring Reno along for the ride, but you don’t have to include him. I just think Reno is definitely the Bonnie to Astro’s Clyde, so any chance I get to have them together and be BFFs, I’m going to take.

Key elements included Astro living with their (presumably divorced) mom. Changing their name to Astro after coming out as agender (besides acting, they’re a huge space/astronomy fan). And of course, being human (again for some unknown reason, I suppose you could make them a robot again if you can figure it out plot wise). Another major plot point takes us to where I get to discuss who went where, character speaking.

Sadly, most of my knowledge has been lost to time since again it is quite spotty. All you need to know though is that basically every main AB character is a part of this theatre. O’shay, for example, conducts the orchestra and has two daughters: Zoran and Uran. Tenma, is the head director of the theatre and basically runs and puts together most of the plays. This is where the big twist comes in because gasp! Tenma is Astro’s father??? Unbeknownst to them, it’s a lot to process and take in. And talk about the irony! Of all places and scenarios for Astro to find out who their long-lost dad was— it was during summer break at a local theatre.

Why this never came to fruition is actually one of the reasons I didn’t touch upon earlier when it came to fics from the future: writing chapters in bulk.

It’s kind of funny and ironic; in the novel world, you, of course, need to have the entire story done before it can be released. But in the fan fiction world, it’s pretty much par the course to write chapters one at a time and post each of them as soon as they’re finished. I however, wanted to at least have a couple ready at hand, so there was enough for people to sink into and not so long of a wait for new material.

This put a lot of pressure on me because I got so in my head and also clearly was not fit for writing in bulk. So, it stayed dormant for so long, and by the time I was finally ready to give it a shot, the hype for the story was basically all dried up, furthering my desire to just give it the boot and call it a day.

That One Time I Decided To Forgo Being A Robot

Based on the 80s episode I cannot remember currently (+ a manga plot if I remember correctly), this was a one shot that was supposed to be about Astro “getting rid” of their robot powers in order to “be human”.

The main reason I pulled the plug on this, was because it was meant to be a more humorous retelling/rewriting of the plot. Because In my opinion you can’t be a robot your whole life, get an operation to “become human”, and not proceed to do silly and idiotic shit thereafter.

Personally, I don’t consider myself to be that funny (at least in the context of writing fiction). And I think in order for this fic to be remotely good, it has to be eye crying, and stomach hurting hilarious.

So instead, I’m hoping maybe someone with a huge funny bone will take this on and give this idea the justice it needs, and make us all fall to the floor dying of laughter as a result.

Crossing The Ts, Dotting The Is, and Fixing The Typos

In closing, I will say this was a very interesting journey to look back on. Sure, I may not remember everything, but for what it’s worth, I’m proud of what I’ve made (minus the problematic elements in some of them, of course). What the future holds for me exactly regarding my fan fictions, is, and always will be, uncertain. But perhaps maybe like me, you’ve at least got to learn a bit more about what I’ve done then and now, what’s hopefully to be done, and finally… what I’ll never (personally) make done.

#astro boy #astro boy 2003 #tezuka #fan fiction #anime #blog post #anime blog post

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astorinx-writes · 2 years

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How The 03 Series Tackled Robot Rights

In today’s world, it’s not all that surprising to think advancements regarding robotics is almost around the corner. There are plenty of examples online of various projects in the making; some, we like, others… we tend to find a little uncanny. But what if these robots were fully realized? What if they became sentient? Would we, the people, learn to live beside them, or make them our subordinates? Thankfully, we have plenty of time to figure it out ourselves, but today I thought we would talk about one piece of media that’s explored this concept already: The 2003 Astro Boy Rendition.

Prerequisite / Disclaimer

For the purposes of this blog post, it would help if we narrowed down our scope of what exactly we are talking about today. So, as far as this post is concerned, we’re going to be focusing on robots with AI, also known in the show as “robots with kokoro” and “feeling” robots. I will be calling them simply “robots,” to make things easier.

Additionally, I will be trying my best to keep this as objective as possible, since this is just an explanatory post on how robot rights were shown. Though it should be noticed, the person writing this post (me), is someone on the far left. I don’t think it’ll matter much at all, but it is something to keep in mind, and it does in a way influence how I see the show, as I am more of a revolutionist as opposed to a reformist.

Finally, I should mention that when I talk about the 2003 series, I am talking about its dubbed version; I have nothing against the subbed version, but I simply do not have the attention span to watch subbed content. It’s also easier for me to get my hands on dubbed content, since I already have all the episodes on my computer.

The Birth of A Hero

To begin, we have to start with, well, where it all started! We open the show to O’shay in his lab at The Ministry of Science, where he is attempting to bring Astro (who’s pronouns are “he/him” canonically) back to life. For the unaware, O’shay is the head of The Ministry, and took said position after its former head, Dr. Tenma, committed arson and fled. His importance in this series (and in this post) is key. By the end of the episode, after Astro saves the day, O’shay proclaims that a bridge between humans and robots was created. This is also where Astro learns not only what a purpose is, but what their purpose is as well.

“Rocketball”, the second episode, is where we start to see rumblings of concern from humans about robots start to crop up. After Astro disrupts a Rocketball game, reporters of all kinds grill O’shay on Astro’s bad behavior. They seem not to understand who Astro is, but some even question if O’shay even knows, either. One of those is Tawashi, a police chief who, in the first episode, made it clear he was against robots, especially Astro. He even misgenders them, calling them “it” instead of “him”. His main thing seems to be that he knows Astro’s backstory– that they were made to replace Dr. Tenma’s (runaway) son, Tobio. He assumes, based on what happened to Tenma, that Astro is, by extension, just as deadly. O’shay contests this, not only because he cares about Astro, but because he’s an advocate for robots, and a robotics engineer, so he does know a thing or two about them. This episode is also where we see the beginning of Tenma’s arc- a grandiose prophecy he has about who Astro is to become.

Afterwards, we’re introduced to 2 new characters: Denkou and Skunk. Denkou (who’s pronouns are “she/her” canonically in the dub), is a robot who has opti-shields, meaning they can essentially become invisible. Skunk, by contrast, is a reoccurring baddie in the show. In this episode “Into Thin Air,” specifically, we learn exactly who he is, and what his motives typically are. This is where we learn the concept of using robots as a means to an end, as Skunk is notorious for using “unsuspecting” robots for his crimes. In this case, he uses Denkou to help him steal precious jewels, but the kicker is that they have no idea that what they’re doing is bad. This is also where Astro goes to school for the first time, as O’shay argues they need to go, so they can learn how to interact with humans. They’re at first met with opposition from some classmates, but one in particular, Abercrombie, seems to come around and respect them mid-episode. Tawashi also starts to see the value in Astro, as he asks O’shay if they’d be willing to join his case in investigating the robberies committed by Denkou.

Bad Robots, And Even Badder Humans

At this point, it becomes increasingly clear that fear among humans towards robots is rising. We start with the 2-part episode “Atlas” and “Astro vs. Atlas” where the story of Atlas is told. Similar to Tobio, Atlas is the son of a rich, workaholic man, Tokugawa. In the dub, it’s claimed that Atlas was a robot from the start, so for the purposes of this post, we will continue to assume so. Atlas gets dismantled by Tokugawa after trying to get on a space shuttle to the moon, and takes him to Dr. Tenma in hopes he can “make him right again”. The biggest takeaway about Atlas, is that he is mostly anti-human. Understandably so, considering his poor treatment and neglect at the hands of Tokugawa. But he takes his anger out by destroying property and striking alarm in humans. Our introduction to another big baddie, Drake (a news anchor), happens here too. We learn he is staunchly anti-robot, and seems to employ every logical fallacy in the book to make his case. Specifically in this episode, he commits a false equivalency, by stating on the news that because of Atlas’ bad behavior, Astro is not to be trusted. This unrest leads to school cancellations, as well as bullying from Astro’s human peers.

On the flip side, we have Tenma, who, again, is on a mission to fulfill Astro’s prophecy. What prophecy, you may ask? Well, according to him, he is of the utmost certainty that robots will rebel and want to take over the world. In his mind, then, he feels Astro is the perfect candidate to lead them towards such “victory”. It should be noted, however, that this is all on Tenma, so to speak. Astro (and pretty much everyone else, for the matter), doesn’t see that as likely, nor do they want such a thing to happen. Regardless, in order for this to be true, Tenma feels he must put Astro to the test to see if they are ready enough to be leader. “Rocketball” was his first foray into such tests, and according to Tenma, Atlas is Astro’s second.

His third, leads us to the second 2-part episodes, “The Rise of Pluto” and “The Fall of Acheron”. Here, we meet 2 robots: Pluto and Shadow. Shadow, is a robot scientist made by Tenma, who theorized that if “robots evolve faster than humans” then a robot scientist would make far more advancements than [Tenma] ever could. Pluto, is a robot made by Shadow, who is programmed to go up against many “powerful” robots, one of which, is Astro. Ironically, we see here that humans aren’t afraid of robots this time, but rather, they see them as entertainment. For example, at the beginning of “The Rise of Pluto,” when Pluto proclaims he wishes to fight Astro, many civilians chat among themselves that they would “pay big money” to see the fight happen. Brunard, another character introduced in these episodes, even has an entire empire akin to the WWE where he makes huge money off of robots fighting. It feels like a stark contrast, but when you remember that many humans (like Skunk) see robots are just a means to an end, it starts to make sense. Sure, they’re not using these robots for crimes like Skunk is, but in a way, they’re still commodifying robots by seeing them as just something to gawk at, as opposed to treating them as an equal.

The biggest takeaway from this portion of the series is that though there are robots who do bad things. Humans are just as, if not more likely, to be badder. Take “Robot Circus,” our final episode of this section, for example. Reno and his family are a traveling robot circus, who are (presumably for the time being), performing in a town called Bella Note. What makes this family interesting, however, is the fact that Reno, their son, is a human! It’s a big deal, though, according to Reno. He tells Astro that “some folks might not like the idea of robots raising a human”. And this does have some weight to it, as “the richest man in town” Gustav, “pretty much runs this city,” according to a robot bell hopper who speaks to Astro and O’shay. As you may have guessed, he too is anti-robot and sees them as tools, and nothing more. He gets upset when the mayor allows Reno’s family to advertise their circus around the city, and tries to dig up dirt on his family to (seemingly) put an end to their circus. After falsely claiming Reno was kidnapped by his family (as opposed to Reno having been abandoned and taken in by his robot parents, which is the truth) and threatening to send Reno to an orphanage, O’shay steps in and claims he has gotten permission to send Reno back to Metro City with him to study robotics, something he showed O’shay he was quite proficient at. Begrudgingly, Gustav has to let up, but that doesn’t stop Reno’s family from getting chased by police. Astro comes to save the day, and the mayor stands up to Gustav, making Reno’s family the official Bella Note circus.

We also can’t forget to quickly touch on “The Venus Robots”. Anguish about robots becoming too powerful is revealed to have been an issue way before Astro’s time. This is also where O’shay (in my opinion, infamously) confesses to Tenma, that human self-centeredness may have played a role in The Venus Robots’ creation, and later disposal. “Reviving Jumbo” also informs us of a robot of yesteryear called “Jumbo,” who is made for a ceremony to commemorate the advancements in robotics happening at the time. Though he was decommissioned, after Skunk’s henchmen use him to bust Skunk out of prison, Jumbo is revitalized as an attraction to plenty of juvenile fan fare.

Pacifism vs. Direct Action

One aspect I’ve been neglecting to touch upon, is Astro’s nonaggression. Specifically, their unyielding desire to not be violent. We started to see this in “Atlas” where Astro professes their opinion that robots and humans will someday get along. Atlas disagrees, but Astro never lets it get in their way throughout the show (for the most part). But, it really doesn’t start to become a running theme until we meet The Blue Knight. In his self-titled episode, Astro gets framed for being associated with an astroturfing terrorist group. After getting (brutally) arrested, The Blue Knight (who I will be calling “TBK” for short) comes to their rescue and busts them out. Not much is known about him, as far as this episode is concerned, but we do find out that unlike Astro, TBK is willing to pull out all the stops needed to achieve his goals. At the very young age of 9, and with the level of fame they have, it’s easy to understand why Astro wouldn’t follow in TBKs footsteps- it’s not a simple concept to understand, nor is it one that can be done without serious recourse. But, even so, it becomes clear to us that what TBK wants for robots, isn’t exactly what Astro wants.

With episodes like “The Secret of The Blue Knight” and “Robot Hunters” Astro has many a moral quarrels with their robot peers. Their need to be helpful, while still keeping things peaceful, puts them in precarious positions where they end up upsetting fellow robots, who are (for all intents and purposes) far more radical than they are. This, to me, illustrates a point I’ve only just recently realized: minorities aren’t a monolith. What Astro wants/thinks, or what TBK wants/thinks, or Delta, Atlas, Denkou, Pluto, ETC, is not indicative of what all robots want or think. This is an important concept for us to grasp because it removes our ability to slip into dichotic thinking. We stop assuming things like “Astro good, TBK bad.” or even thinking the flipside, “Astro is politically dumb, TBK is a political genius”. We understand that there are qualities of Astro’s arguments that are worthwhile, just like TBK, but we aren’t dismissive of where/when they fall short, nor do we fault their shortcomings as meaning all robots are “ill-informed” as a result. This doesn’t stop anyone (including TBK) though, from continuing to quiz Astro about whether they’re team human or team robot. TBK, in particular, even renounces his partnership with them multiple times out of frustration.

Speaking of “The Secrets of The Blue Knight”, at this point in the series, we’re continuing our theme of humans being just as “evil” as some bots. We finally learn about TBKs past, finding out that he was once working under Brunard, fixing bots after their fights. Brunard is seen as being completely unscrupulous, telling TBK to get the robots he fixes to barely alive if need be, just so said bot can make an appearance at a match. He also buys robots off the black market on Mars, further cementing his role as a villain. This is where we start to understand a bit about where TBK is coming from, and perhaps why he is so anti-human. Also, he picks up some new members for his crew, and we find out that he’s working under the guise of Shadow. Shadow, like Tenma, sees TBK as a role model whom Astro should look up to and follow.

As an outlier, but still important to touch upon episode, “Escape From Volcano Island” sees humans showing a more lighthearted, decent side to themselves. In “The Blue Knight”, we see humans completely apprehensive to receiving help from robots, one robot flight attendant even gets pushed down by a civilian out of fear. This time around, however, humans are excited about robots! Reporters go all around everywhere talking to robots that have been nominated for the “Robot of The Year” award. Even Astro’s classmates cheer them on when they find out they’ve been nominated. This is also where we learn more about Drake’s past, where he at one point overcame his opinion that robots were “just tools” through getting stranded on an island with a robot he named “Buddy”. However, once he is rescued, he resumes his old opinion. In fact, he pushes for it harder than ever, despite hallucinating from time to time about Buddy, where in he is asked “why did you abandon me?”

Someone who does fully change their mind, however, is Azra Kane in “Only A Machine”. Here, Astro helps his daughter CJ after her conscience is snatched up by eraserbot, a bot made together with Skunk and Kane’s team. Eraserbot was made to wipe robots of their AI, which is something Kane advocates for at a protest with Drake and fellow “The Organics” members outside The Ministry. When CJ comes to, Kane seemingly changes his stance from thinking robots are tools, to seeing they are truly worthwhile.

My Feelings Overflow / I Had Fun Before

As we get closer to the end of the show, it only makes sense that things would start to ramp up. We begin with “Battle of Steel Island” where TBK is wrongfully accused of “abducting” robots, when in reality, he saves them from being sent to work on a space mine. Humans upon seeing this in the news go into a frenzy, and scurry away when they spot robots nearby. Those robots, however, know what the truth is, and see TBK as a hero because of it. The robots he saves get sent to a place called Steel Island, which many might believe to be the precursor to Robotonia (more on that later). This is also the first episode where Astro goes somewhere by Tenma’s direction. It’s clear he’s still trying to test them, but in the eyes of Astro, they’re still a robot, and thus need to at least try to defend the helpless bots that are set to be caught in a battle against Drake, who is set to appear there. This is also where even Zoran (Astro’s sister) interrogates Astro about which side they’re on. Because from an outsiders' perspective, their peacefulness can be seen as a bit of indecisiveness, and understandably so. This leaves many to wonder, even to the point of aggravation.

Furthermore, in this, and plenty of the episodes after, we start to see the more “emotional” side of Astro come out. Or rather the “pro-robot but in a radical way” side. In “Battle of Steel Island” specifically, we see them finally get angry at humans and desire to engage in violent acts of harm. But, it is to be noted that they do regret those tendencies, and they even get applauded by O’shay for remaining pacifistic at the end of the episode. Others though, like “Undercover” have Astro going up against people affiliated with the police after they’re essentially the reason Klaus (a robotic undercover policeman meant to resemble a human) jumps into a waterfall to avoid his fate of getting upgraded. This is a big deal because Klaus was a huge fan of all things art and entertainment, and this exact thing was said to be wiped once he got the upgrade. At first, Klaus didn’t mind getting the upgrade, but changed his mind, which prompted his runaway, and later on search. One of the policemen, after Astro tells them “there’s no law against listening to music!” replies “Robots were built to make the lives of humans easier, instead you’re taking everything that’s sacred to us.” Which might explain why they felt Klaus needed to be revised.

The final episodes though are, as you’d suspect, where Astro starts to turn a considerable amount. I hadn’t seen these episodes in ages, and even I was shocked at the things this kid was doing and saying. For starters, it helps to set the scene for these episodes, since they’re all technically in succession, and play out quite like a feature-length film.

Hannah is the daughter of General Red. General Red has a robot servant named Jake, whom he does not like because he keeps interacting with Hannah. In “The Night Before The Revolution,” he tells Jake to pack up his belongings because he is being relocated to a job working in sewage. At night, he attempts to leave, but gets stopped by Hannah, who quickly picks up on what’s going on, and is clearly distraught. Though Jake will do what he’s told, Hannah is quite attached to him, and doesn’t want him to go. However, in her attempt to do so, she brutally falls down the stairs. General Red looking into what the commotion is all about, and quickly blames Jake of possibly pushing her down the stairs, as retaliation for being sent away.

As a result, lots of unrest emerges rather quickly. Drake skips no beat going onto the news and claiming all GP4s (like Jake) are evil and need to be dismantled. And in fact, all GP4s do end up getting sent away, though they aren’t the only ones targeted. Eventually, all AI robots are collected out of obligation by Tawashi and his Anti-Robot-Robot-Squad (a squad we met in “Robot Hunters” that was specifically formed to fight robot related crimes). Among those are Astro and Zoran, but per O’shay’s orders, Astro leaves to Robotonia. But, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. It’s a lot to take in, I know, so let’s circle back.

When we talk about Astro’s anger, we again have to remember that for most of the show, they’ve been caught in the middle. Never has Astro proclaimed to be a part of either side, however in these crop of episodes, we see them skew ever so slightly to being on the robot's side. Tawashi gets an earful from them after he tells them he’s going to do whatever it takes to keep the people of Metro City safe. “But what about the feelings of robots?!” is essentially what they cry to him. Additionally, when the GP4s are taken away by truck to a dismantling plant, Astro channels their inner Batman and attempts to sabotage the plan. But of course, in true Astro fashion, they don’t really do anything that disruptive, and it isn’t until TBK shows up that the plans are truly foiled. Again, TBK renounces Astro when they get in the way of him [killing] the humans that are transporting the robots. Sufficed to say, even though Astro gets “a little angry” it isn’t anything too impactful, instead it just shows that the stakes are so high and so tense, that even someone as “innocent” as Astro is starting to lose their cool.

Going back to the plot, just before the GP4s are sent away, humans are seen protesting under the guise that GP4s are going out to protest as well. Drake intervenes, by setting off some detonators that scare the human protesters into thinking the GP4s are out to get them. This is also where Reno gets hurt after he and Astro try to convince the humans to knock it off. The hospital he gets sent to is funnily enough, the same one has Hannah’s, who at this point, is in a coma. Again, we already know what happens to the GP4s afterwards, but once TBK ends the plan, he and presumably his crew, takes the GP4s to what he declares to be Robotonia. One of the robots he takes, is Jake, who, by order of the council, was supposed to be dismantled after undergoing a (arguably corrupt) trial in which he received no representation. His judge, Chairman Lyon, also stated the verdict he wanted for Jake before the trial even began, further cementing this trial as being super corrupt.

But back to Robotonia. In case you didn’t know or forgot, Robotonia is an autonomous society made by robots, for robots, and was created for robots (say that 3 times) to be shielded from the wrath of humanity. As far as robot rights go, when TBK announces Robotonia, and of robot's independence, Red and his team assume the robots have announced a war, and thus they go to battle TBK and others at Robotonia.

Now, you may be wondering where Tenma is in all of this. And I’m here to say, he’s still… doing Tenma things. At this point, the man is having a bona-fide wet dream. When Astro gets hurt, he fixes them back up, but tells them that now is the time for them to play their part like he always knew they would. He even makes them a new body to help carry out such plan (which of course makes me and probably many others wonder what the point of testing them was if he was just going to put them into a more powerful body anyway). But alas, they decline, and this isn’t the only blow Tenma has. Shadow, beats Tenma to his own game when they reveal to him that they’ve already turned themselves into a replica of Tenma, despite him wanting to be made into a robot first.

Finally, when Reno and Hannah get to General Red, and Hannah tells her dad the truth, Astro goes to talk to TBK and crew into a cease fire. This is because Red claims he won’t stop the attack on Robotonia unless the robots back down. TBK is against this, which makes sense, given that he and his comrades did talk to them about why the direct action they’re doing was necessary at a time like this. But Astro doesn’t let up. A photo of a soldiers' family makes them choke up, and go into what can only be described as a Steven Universe style speech, that gets aired on all TVs thanks to Shadow. After said speech, some robots take their leave, saying they’d rather return home than go up against humans. The ones that stay behind, however, leave with TBK and his comrades as Robotonia floats away, and they all look for a new place to stay somewhere in space. Humans of all kinds erupt in celebration, presumably invigorated to have robots come back into their life for good, and to see the war essentially over.

A Change In Gears

Now in the home stretch, we take a look at the final episode, “The Final Battle.” Admittedly, not much regarding robot rights happens until the very end, but the big thing we learn is about the story of Astro. We already heard in “Astro vs. Atlas” about the story of Tobio, the human boy Astro replaced. But this time, we’re learning specifically about Astro’s time with Tenma, and we catch a glimpse into why he had the plan that he did. He also asks Astro for one final time if they’d rule the world with him, and again, he gets declined. When all is said and done, Tenma gets carried away by police after threatening to (presumably) commit arson once more and having destroyed part of The Ministry anyway (specifically lab 7). And it’s announced that after many trials and tribulations between humans and robots, that robot civil rights were being added to the constitution.

To conclude, it’s clear that the road for robot rights was not easy, or paved smoothly. Of course, this is a fictional piece of media, and we won’t know what’s exactly to come for us in the real world until it happens. But hopefully this post informs you on what at least was speculated to happen to us at some point. This topic is actually quite interesting, and I think it is something we should be thinking about as tech becomes more robust. Will we be willing to treat robots as comrades, or are they just tools for our benefit?

As a quick, sort of aside, I know this post was quite lengthy, so I thought I would put together a visual road map of all the episodes I saw that helped me put this post together. You’re free to share it around with everyone. All I ask is that you don’t paywall or try to make a quick buck off it because I don’t want to have to deal with the law, and I know you don’t want to have to deal with the law either. I just do this stuff in my spare time, not trying to get a cease + desist in the mail.

Link is below (copy + paste into your browser!)

filen.io/d/b509cf62-e0dc-4dfd-990f-0e7d8fb349a1#!xq4CB7kj2dtm87mt25uItF9UHIP3DmUO

#astro boy #astro boy 2003 #tezuka #robot rights #anime #anime analysis #blog post #anime blog post

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astorinx-writes · 2 years

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I Think Astro Likes Synth-Pop: And Other Music Headcanons I Have

Music is everywhere. Some of us enjoy it as background noise to listen to while working on what we need to get done, others may have a dedicated interest in it. No matter where you fall, you would still say there’s at least one (or two) songs, artists, or genres that you prefer, right? Well, today, I thought I would talk a bit about my opinions (or “headcanons” as they’re called) regarding what I think (some) of the 2003 series cast would enjoy!

I should note as a disclaimer, that for the purposes of this post, I will be (for the most part) pulling from my pre-existing Rolodex of songs I know. I did try my best to do some research into new songs, but ultimately most of what’s mentioned here are songs I’ve already known and enjoyed for quite some time. And as an obvious aside, these choices are just my opinion, and you’re free to disagree with my picks or general direction. However, I do ask that you exercise some level of respect– if you’re thinking of replying with something rude or unnecessary, consider putting that energy into making your own blog post! But if you do have some kind suggestions or thoughts, feel free to reply to this post or shoot me an ask.

2003 Series

For starters, let’s talk about the show as a whole. Obviously, I can’t in this context talk about listening habits, but I will talk about songs and artists I generally gravitate towards.

I find for the most part, what constitutes an AB related song is 90% lyrical content and 10% instrumental/musical content. Some songs may not totally fit in the lyrical department, but the instrumental is good enough that I still consider it a decent fit. Other times, I find that only 1-2 lines in a song fit AB, in those cases, I tend to save those songs for use in my design posters over at @astorinx. When a song is a perfect fit, though, you best believe I’m thinking of ways I could turn it into an AMV, even if I never get around to actually making it.

Artists I tend to associate with AB are (typically) Washed Out and Tame Impala, but there are some other single songs that I do think fit. I did already make a video listing songs I think fit AB (which you can watch here) but here are some other picks:

Lorde – Bravado

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Possibly, one of the oldest picks that’s stood the test of time. I knew the minute I heard this for the first time, it was a perfect fit for AB. Perhaps some may argue this isn’t a 100% snug fit, and I do see where you’re coming from, but I couldn’t possibly pass up a song that literally has the lyrics “I was raised up / To be admired, to be noticed” and “I want the applause, the approval / The things that make me go…”

A song with somewhat similar theme would definitely have to be “Patience” by Tame Impala.

Daft Punk – Robot Rock

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This is one of those songs I’m shocked I didn’t include originally. I mean, it has “robot” in the name, it’d be sacrilegious for me not to mention it! There isn’t much substance to this song from a lyrical standpoint, but I think that makes for a great fit because there’s less to get caught up in and more opportunity to daydream about whatever AB related thing you want. 10/10 would recommend for anyone just wanting a general vibe, or perhaps some good background music to accompany their fanfic writing.

Another song that isn’t plot-specific and relates to AB on a more general scale, I think, is “Dusk to Dawn On Lygon Street” by King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard.

Crumb – Part III

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For this pick, I decided to have it be a reference to my secret project (that I hope I’ll be starting on sometime next year, time, and psych knowledge be willing). Of course, I’m not going to spoil the entire plot, but all you need to know for this pick to make sense is that the fic basically surrounds/documents Astro’s time as a twenty-something in therapy.

What I like about this song so much is the lyrical content, especially with the lyrics “It’s just a feeling” repeated towards the latter half of the song. And of course, the painfully obvious “I could spend the day and think of all the ways…”. I guess you could argue that this song fits in with canon, but it’s those little details that really sold me on this being a great song for my project. It’s also a neo-psych song, so of course I couldn’t pass it up.

“Amor Fati” by Washed Out is also another song I think represents the project quite well!

Astro

Funny enough, I think Astro’s taste in my eyes has definitely changed over the years. Starting with Vivid Insomnia, my partner and I had written them off to be the most stereotypical pop punk emo fan there was. Then we had The Love Trilogy, where Astro infamously enjoyed quite a bit of artists like Frank Sinatra and Billie Holiday. But the most ironic thing about it now, is that I don’t actually think Astro listens to music all that much! At least not compared to say other characters in the series, or even myself. This isn’t to say I don’t think they like it or anything, but for them, I think it comes down to what’s the best to have on while cleaning or getting work done. Essentially, I think they’re the perfect candidate for being the president of the “music as background noise” club.

Another thing to consider, is a phenomenon that while I can’t say without foolproof evidence exists/happens to everyone, I’m certainly employing it here. And that is the concept of inheriting your parent(s) taste. In my opinion, I think the things our parents listened to while we grew up can be instrumental in what shapes our music taste and opinion. Of course, as I mentioned, this isn’t a given, and I’m sure plenty of people out there would argue their taste is nothing like their parents. But, for the purposes of this blog post, I think a lot of what Astro enjoys does at times hinge a little on what I think Tenma and O’shay enjoy.

So, what examples do I have? Well, let’s see!

Duran Duran – The Reflex

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It’s hard to condense an entire decade into 1 genre, or even 1 genre into a single song or artist, but there’s something about “The Reflex” that fits so well that when I first heard it, it made me think, “oh yeah, Astro would surely fuck with this.” To me, this just screams music to clean your apartment to, and is surely one that they’re bopping along to while doing the dishes.

Two other songs I think are well worth consideration are “1999” by Prince and The Human League’s “(Keep Feeling) Fascination,” both of which were actually my top 2 picks about a year ago before I discovered “The Reflex”!

Crystal Waters – 100% Pure Love

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One of the things I set out to not do while making this list, is to fall into clichés. So, for this pick, I decided instead of going with the obvious Daft Punk or Justice track, I’d pick something else, like “100% Pure Love.” What makes me think this would be a great pick for them is the fact that it’s (again) so gosh darn catchy, and falls well within the bounds of EDM that this second slot is meant to represent. Even though it is a bit… expected… lacking a better term, for Astro– a robot, to like EDM, I still can’t find a reason to suspect it wouldn’t be part of their Rolodex of genres they like.

“Do You Miss Me” by Jocelyn Enriquez and “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust are my 2 honorable mentions in this category.

Coldplay – The Scientist

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Finally, for Astro, we go a little left field into the world of pop rock. Though there are many haters of this genre, I still find myself thinking this is the perfect fit for Astro. Sure, maybe artists like Nickelback and Imagine Dragons aren’t all that well regarded, but for this example I specifically chose Coldplay because for many they’re at least tolerable. As it pertains to Astro, however, any pop rock artist is fair game. I’d imagine if they couldn’t/didn’t fly and had to travel by car like the rest of us, this would be the soundtrack to the many a traffic jams they’d have to annoyingly sit through, thanking the stars that their morality prevents them from starting shit, fueled exclusively by road rage.

Of course, this isn’t the only pop rock song they enjoy, OneRepublic’s “Stop and Stare” and The Fray’s “Look After You” are part of the deal too.

Reno

I gotta be honest, y’all. I have no idea how this happened. But I think Reno and I have the exact same music taste. Though, I would go out on a limb and say that unlike me, Reno can certainly expand upon what he listens to, whereas I tend to just stick to what I already like, too picky to introduce anything new to the mix. Regardless, Reno’s quite the music lover. And he loves talking about his love for music even more. He may not be the guy to go to for a rather straightforward and concise song recommendation, but he’ll at least clue you in on what’s popping left of the radio dial. When he gets his own lab, he’s sure to have it filled to the brim with music posters of all kinds. It’d be hard to walk in and catch him doing anything else than at least hearing something good on vinyl.

Speaking of vinyl, here’s (some) songs off (some) albums you may find him spinning:

Tame Impala – Apocalypse Dreams

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Similar to how I can’t make a list about 03 related songs and can’t leave out music with “robot” in the title, I can’t make a list about songs I think Reno likes and leave out the biggest artist of them all: Tame Impala. Just like yours truly, Reno is for sure Tame’s #1 fan, even though I think he’d probably be very opinionated about which Tame songs are best. Originally, I had intended to make “Endors Toi” my pick, but after considering my honorable mentions, I thought “Apocalypse Dreams” was the better choice because of how anthemic it is. I should also state the obvious that though Tame is Reno’s favorite, he is not the only neo-psych artist he listens to. Some other examples would be Animal Collective, GUM and, King Gizzard (though it should be noted that KGATLW has made music in many genres, but they are most known for their neo-psych songs).

The honorable mentions that inspired me to pick “Apocalypse Dreams” are “Desert Horse” by Melody’s Echo Chamber and “Billabong Valley” by King Gizzard.

Sleater-Kinney – What’s Mine Is Yours

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For the longest time, I had reserved this spot for pop punk, and while I can’t say I don’t entirely disagree with it still being a genre Reno likes, I’m more inclined to think that just straight-up punk rock is the vibe. In this case, I’m dipping into the archives of what’s known as “Riot Grrl” a genre many see as “female punk” or even “feminist punk.” It should be noted that this genre had its heyday back in the 90s and while it still exists today, it certainly is not at the same popularity level that it once was. Especially when you consider most of the acts that pioneered the genre have either moved on to other adjacent genres, or have quit their acts altogether. As it pertains to Reno, however, what drives me to think this fits him is just based off the general idea that Reno just likes rock. Music with killer vocals and driving drums like “What’s Mine Is Yours” I think appeal to him to such a degree that it was hard to not want to make it the second pick, even if it meant overthrowing perhaps an MCR or Fall Out Boy song.

Some other songs within this genre that I think he’d like are “Bruise Violet” by Babes In Toyland, and “TKO” by Le Tigre.

Franz Ferdinand – The Dark Of The Matinée

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Finishing off with our “Reno listens to rock” theming, we end with our final pick, indie rock. Something something indie rock is really catchy blah blah blah. At this point, I think it’s not hard to decipher why he likes it. I should stipulate, however, that when I talk about indie rock, I’m mostly thinking about it through the lens of the 2000s through acts like The Killers, Arctic Monkey’s, and The Strokes. Not to say that modern indie rock is trash, but I think for this blog post, it's safe to assume he’s more likely to be playing El Camino as opposed to Half Drunk Under A Full Moon.

Even though I just mentioned The Fratellis’ latest record, their debut, Costello Music, is far superior and has my first honorable mention “Doginabag.” My second one would be “Whoo! Alright, Yeah…Uh Huh” By The Rapture.

Retro

Of course, I couldn’t make a list of AB music headcanons and not talk about the only ship I have: Retro.

I would say over the years, the songs I’ve found that relate to Retro transcend genre and popularity, there’s just as many obscure hits as there are top 40 hits that describe their relationship best. For the 3 songs I've chosen for this post, they each satisfy a different viewpoint/angle to their dynamic, hopefully encapsulating them as best I can.

Jane Inc – Human Being

youtube

You can’t possibly have the beginning lyrics to your song be “Move it across my cheek / So I can pretend to be / A human being / Like I used to be” and have me not immediately think this is the perfect song to represent Retro. I mean, there isn’t a lyric or infliction that doesn’t represent them both to an almost alarming degree. Detractors I’m sure though would point out the line “Lips red and glittered / I make my hair bigger / Feel the fabric tight against my skin” and say it doesn’t apply, but no no no, that’s not a bug, that’s a feature. If you know me in any capacity, you know I headcanon Astro as nonbinary, and with that, I’ve opened myself up to seeing them in a lot more possibilities, two of which are them wearing makeup, and them (at least trying to be) a fashionista. If anything, that just makes this even more niche and feel like Ms Carlyn Bezic (AKA Jane Inc) read one of my fanfics and made a song about it (I’m being sarcastic, of course.)

One song I would’ve loved to have picked would’ve been “Dancing With You” also by Jane Inc, but at 7 minutes long, I knew I had to pick something shorter, and I’d say “Human Being” fits even more than “Dancing With You” anyway. So instead, it is my honorable mention along with the song I probably would’ve picked had I never listened to Jane Inc before, “Sunday Morning” by Maroon 5, and the timeless track that will always make me emo, “Paralyzed” by Washed Out.

Sleater-Kinney – Rollercoaster

youtube.com/watch?v=f2sJiDc1gzM (tumblr has a 10 video limit so you’ll have to click the link to listen to it instead, sorry!)

Another Sleater-Kinney pick, yes, but this one is dedicated (again) to my secret project. Again, I can’t say too much without spoiling the plot, but I will leave you with the lines “I’ll go at full boil / ‘Till you st-st-stop me later” and let you think about what it all could mean.

“Let’s Call It Love” similarly to “Dancing With You” was cut for being too long, but let it be known that the entire “Wasted all my fucking time” part of the song, “I’ve got a long time for love” and, “Show me your darkest side / And you better be my bloody match” are why this is an honorable mention. And guess what? “I Follow You” by Melody’s Echo Chamber is an honorable mention, too!

Tame Impala – Breathe Deeper

youtube.com/watch?v=gs-MtItyOFc

A theme that’s as old as I’ve been shipping Retro has got to be Astro’s insecurity. Now, this isn’t a post about psycho-analyzing Astro, so I’ll keep my thoughts short and brief, sadly without context or evidence. But Astro needs comfort. Ultimately, when push comes to shove, there are times when they certainly feel inadequate or just need a refresher on how great they are. But what they wish to receive, they simultaneously are willing to give back to others. Why I picked “Breathe Deeper” is specifically for its chorus:

(And she said) Seems you're coming on

Breathe a little deeper

Should you need to come undone

And let those colors run

Now you're having fun

So do this and get through this

And come find me when you're done

So we can be as one

Furthermore, during the beat switch up, the lines “We're both adults while we behave like children / Long as we got enough to keep on living” remind me of my project, even though I think this song works both within the project’s context, and out.

A song with a similar theme that I’ve picked is “Yam Yam” by No Vacation

Uran

Even though I don’t know nearly enough about Uran compared to Astro and Reno, I still, however, felt it only made sense to include her on this list. In my opinion, I see her listening habits as being somewhat in the middle between Astro’s extremity of it being wallpaper, and Reno’s extremity of it being inseparable from his being and one of his (many) hyper-fixations. She does like what she likes, but it’s more than just “get ready with me” songs, it’s the soundtrack to her drive around the city, what consoles her after having a rough time, and presumably what she takes with her on vacation.

You already know how this goes, here are my song picks!

Mako Ishino – 光の中で振り向くわたし

youtube.com/watch?v=a1vjcq-mZe8

I knew somewhat about city pop before making this post, but after getting recommended by the Discord server I’m in to make it a pick for Uran, I came to learn a bit more about it. Who knew it was so catchy! In my opinion, this reminds me a lot of the synth-pop that Astro enjoys, which I suppose makes this pick funny. Now, since I didn’t technically come up with this all on my own, I can’t say exactly why I think this fits, but if I had to guess, I’d say its popularity in Japan and just how good many of the songs are, is to blame. Overall, though, Uran… you have great taste.

2 other city pop songs I thought sounded great are “私達を信じていて” by Cindy and, Miki Matsubara’s “真夜中のドア/Stay With Me”

Rina Sawayama – STFU!

youtube.com/watch?v=XncZmUQqo1U

Listen… who is doing it like Ms. Sawayama? I think everything off her debut Sawayama is precisely what Uran is looking for. Pop, but make it edgy, a little experimental, and hella, hella catchy. In fact, she’s doing it so well, I struggled to find songs that were similar that I thought Uran would like (actually that’s low-key a lie, but I’m not putting inappropriate songs on this blog post). Regardless, Uran and I both know Rina slaps, and this song is the perfect FU to people who commit microaggressions against marginalized people.

Even though it was hard, I did manage to find some honorable mentions, which are “Hole Heart” by Pyra and “PUNCHLINE” by Jaguar Jonze

Fiona Apple – I Want You To Love Me

youtube.com/watch?v=N541HLPeG6Y

Hard to say what category this falls under. Some argue this is peak “tumblrina” (someone who’s a chronic Tumblr user) and others may say this is singer-songwriter at its best. Regardless, Fetch The Bolt Cutters, like Sawayama, is surely an album for [Uran’s] books. I think the driving pianos and lyrical content would strike a chord with her. But this genre as a whole can at times be a bit chill. I’m reminded of artists like Ingrid Michaelson and Sara Bareilles and can’t help but feel like they’re the perfect artists to play at work because the songs are generally inoffensive, and also relaxing enough to induce productivity. I say this to sort of explain, why I think this fits her because while I’ve talked a bit about more intense, rock-oriented songs, I’m not saying that’s all she enjoys, she can get into more “easy on the ears” stuff!

For a somewhat similar vibe and for the tumblrinas, I picked “Goodbye, My Danish Sweetheart” by Mitski and Sky Ferreira’s “Everything Is Embarrassing”

To Conclude

Like I mentioned earlier, these are all just my opinions, and they aren’t stagnant either. The more I listen and expose myself to, the more my thoughts may change. Perhaps I might come back to this in a year from now and think, “damn, what was I thinking?” But that’s the beauty of having headcanons! The fact that you can modify or improve upon them at any time means they’re ever-changing and always leaving with something new and exciting to chew over. So with that being said, I hope these picks got you thinking about your music HCs, or even listening habits. Perhaps, maybe you even left with a new song to bop to, or just something to pass along. Regardless, this was really fun (though just as nerve-wracking) to make, and maybe I’ll follow up with a part 2 if I think of music HCs for more characters!

If you want any of these songs on Spotify or YouTube, you’re in luck! I’ll be leaving links down below to playlists for each character/ship/topic we discussed today, including even more songs and genres than what we covered today. Click below and give it a spin!

03 Series

Spotify | YouTube

Astro

Spotify | YouTube

Reno

Spotify | YouTube

Retro

Spotify | YouTube

Uran

Spotify | YouTube

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I Rewatched The 2009 Movie... And It Was Okay!

If you were to ask any Gen Z fan of Astro Boy how they got into the fandom, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who says anything besides its 2009 CGI film rendition. But ironically, for the past 2 times that I’ve surveyed the fandom, 3 out of 5 fans consider it to be their least favorite rendition. Why is that? Well, many argue it comes down to the poor writing and acting in the movie, as well as how different it is compared to renditions of the past. Despite this, I was inspired by newly cropped up blogs dedicated to talking about the 09 movie– even going as far as defending it. So, I decided to give the movie a rewatch and talk about my overall thoughts.

Now, as a disclaimer, I will say that I too did discover Astro Boy through the 09 movie. That said, it is not the sole reason why I joined the fandom. This does, however, mean that I am susceptible to bias. So I’ll be trying my best to hide it whilst writing this review. This is also not meant to sway you one way or another, I am simply discussing my thoughts on this movie. Because though the 2009 movie is still arguably the worst Astro Boy rendition so far– there is some good and charm within it that makes it worth a watch.

The Bad… and Arguably Confusing

One of the biggest complaints about the movie (and rightfully so) are what I’m calling “watered-down characters.” What sets them apart from previous versions is how their personas aren’t how they usually are. The biggest example of this has got to be the portrayal of Tenma. The 2003 series posies him to be the big baddie and overall fucked up dad that seems to be only looking out for himself and his motives, and no one else’s. He forces Astro to combat villains so that they can “evolve” and become “The King of All Robots.” Yet, in the 09 movie, he comes across as more of a science dad (who definitely listens to Nickelback in his spare time) who doesn’t really seem to know what he wants and seriously lacks depth. This isn't to imply that being a baddie is remarkable, or that being just casual is bad. But the plot hinges on Tenma’s character, and thus he must be at least interesting.

Speaking of villains, many of them in this movie are also just shells of their archetypes and nothing more. President Stone, is obviously meant to be the corrupt, rich politician that wants nothing more than power and money. But the way he’s showcased makes him look like a little bitch boy with no spine. There’s supposed to be stakes at play regarding his “big scheme” to inflict war on the surface, but not even anyone outside his circle seems to take him seriously. He mentions this when talking to his right-hand man regarding how low he was doing in the polls, saying “… I’ve cut taxes for a lot of very influential friends. What more do the people want?” So, what’s the point of making him the villain if you aren’t going to commit to making the things he’s done actually mean something. Or, at the very least, they could’ve given us something to psychoanalyze and pick apart, à la 03 Tenma.

Astro’s characterization in the movie is also incongruent with how they are in past series. Typically, Astro is seen as a lovable kid who only wants to see the best in others, and exercise the least amount of physical force to combat the baddies that get in their way. In this movie, nonetheless, they seem to take more of a “sarcastic” approach (for lack of a better term). This isn’t to say they’re mean, but I’ve found it much harder for fans to look at them as the adorable “baby” (their words, not mine) to fawn over and make memes about.

The most interesting thing about Astro’s character in this movie is that they seem to have a chip over their shoulder the entire time for no real reason (at least not one that gets brought up). And they accept their fate of being deactivated rather quickly. I’m reminded a lot of an old head canon I’ve dubbed “Sasstro Tenma” who, like 09 Astro, has a bit of an attitude (hence the “Sass” part of “Sasstro”). Of course, this could be contributed to them being 13 instead of 9. But no matter how you slice it, they just aren’t as pleasant to watch, or be willing to root for.

Elefun is also British in this movie… for some reason. According to a Discord server I’m in– the voice actor for Elefun, Bill Nighy, is quite renowned for his voice. Now, while I’m assuming no one was talking about this movie when they made such a statement. I guess if he did want the role, then there was probably not a chance in hell that he was going to do anything but that voice for Elefun. What confuses me about this, howbeit, is that regardless– Elefun is Japanese.

Yet, this doesn't imply that the movie is a total pan in this area. It does seem by the looks of it that they tried as best they could, and they did have a clear vision on what was intended. Unfortunately, it still falls short nonetheless. What they wanted the movie to come out like and be shown, is very much not how it ended up. I mean, the movie went through numerous directors before finally ended up in the hands of David Bowers. Saying that his intention with joining the film was simply to try his best to see it to the end and finish it. Obviously, with a mentality like that, you can’t expect for it to do an impressive job at achieving its goals, especially in the characterization department.

Stone turning down the blue core at the beginning of the movie, only to desperately want it midway through, is also just one of the ways this movie can’t seem to get it right. In addition, there are minor details, like how the first question Toby gets in his pop quiz is as follows:

These broader theories may be formulated using principles such as parsimony (e.g., “Occam’s Razor”). They are then repeatedly tested by analyzing how the collected evidence (facts) compares to the theory?

When a theory survives a sufficiently large number of empirical observations, it then becomes a scientific generalization that can be taken as fully verified?

They should’ve honestly just used Lorem Ipsum.

We could take this even further, and question why he even did a physics quiz after a history lesson in the first place! Is Mustachio Astro’s teacher for all subjects???? We don’t know for sure the location for where Metro City is to figure out how perhaps their school system works. It’s only stated as being a “floating [city] in the sky” and that it used to be Mount Sofia. Other (minor) fun facts include: “The Surface” being the nickname given to Earth. And Metro City also getting nicknamed, “The Jewel In The Crown” (what crown in particular, remains unsolved).

There are other ways anyhow that this movie is bad. Quite possibly the biggest reason among fans (myself included) is the painfully bad writing. Yet, there are some gems here and there, it mostly comes down to it seeming a bit… off.

Take the RRF for example, a rag-tag team of robots who “supposedly” are fighting for robot liberation, but don’t seem to follow through? I understand that this is a kid’s movie, yes. But if you’re going to go through the effort of having them call everyone around them a comrade. Put up Trotsky AND Lenin posters in their hideout (whether this means the RRF are tankies is a discussion for another time). Then, at the very least, don’t write them off as law-abiding robots. That’s just leftism 101, dude. No genuine leftist gives a shit about whether they’ve “gotten permission” beforehand or kept keenly aware of the legality aspect in regard to acting against something.

We also can’t forget about the role Stone plays in the film. His main motivation seems to be wanting to wage war against the surface, which is fine enough, I suppose. But the issue here is that because he is so uninteresting and honestly a giant laughingstock, it’s hard to take the shit he’s doing seriously. Although, I think we must find what he’s doing to be legit because there’s a teachable moment at play here.

Many have theorized that this movie has undertones of anti-government and anti-capitalist sentiments– but as a leftist, I can’t really say I agree. Because this movie could very well make true leftist-aligning arguments if it wanted to. Particularly, that the State, and all the businesses that rule the world and corrupt the State, are (for the most part) wholly responsible for the disenfranchisement of its people. I mean, they went as far as to say at the beginning of the movie that the people of Metro City are, in fact, wealthy, and basically look down at the poor (potentially working class) people on the surface. But why could they never commit? Why are all that I and others left with is just that Stone is a bumbling fool?

Then, of course, we have the ending. An alien invasion that quite honestly didn’t need to happen. Especially when you consider that this movie never got a sequel. I guess you could potentially argue they wanted something impactful to leave with, but they already had all the characters go through a heart-to-heart moment with each other. If the power of love isn’t impactful enough to end a movie on, then consider me a loveless prick.

“But Sage!!” You might argue. “This is just a kids film, it doesn’t need to be serious! Why are you taking it so seriously???” And you’re right, it doesn’t. But non-seriousness isn’t a “get-out-of-jail-free” card, so your movie can get a good rating, it still has to be good. Because seriousness ≠ good writing. You can have movies that are written phenomenally and are a total blast to watch, but maybe are devoid of any thought-provoking meaning. Or, you could have a movie with writing so bad it’s good. This movie, withal, is just stuck in the middle. It wants to be better, It tries to be better at many points. But ultimately, it succumbs to what I believe to be its biggest flaw, and what summarizes pretty much everything mentioned: a lack of care.

Where It Redeems Itself

Originally, if you had asked me when I was around 12-13 if this next point I’m about to make was good or not, I’d assume my answer would’ve been that it’s not good. But honestly, this (in my opinion) is how the 09 movie has surprisingly aged well in my eyes. I’m talking about the romance (or lack thereof) in this film. Personally, I don’t like seeing romance in any Astro Boy series or movies ever. It just makes me a bit uncomfortable when you remember that in no rendition is Astro ever at least 16. This is not a suggestion that kids don’t go through crushes, or that perhaps I’m being a prude. But I just feel like it’s not something I want to see canonically. You can save the romance for your fanfics (hopefully, assuming they’re post canon) or theorize who they might end up with if Astro Boy got the All Grown Up treatment (If you don’t know what that show is… I am way too old).

Like I mentioned, this isn’t a stance I held at the time when I originally saw (and rewatched a couple of times) the movie when I was younger. It is, anyhow, a considerable breath of fresh air. It’s pretty progressive on this movie’s part to not have Astro and Cora get together at some point. Yes, they do hang out together, and some may argue that that alone means the movie was at least trying to hint at them being romantically involved. But, might I remind you that this is a children’s CGI animated “indie” film from 2009? Budding romance between A male protagonist and anyone vaguely female with a pulse was pretty much the standard, and they would never shy away from it, either. Not necessarily in the same time frame, but I’m reminded of my watch-through of Mr. Peabody & Sherman, where it built up the big kiss at the end from the start– and I anticipated it! And felt vindicated when it happened! In the 09 movie, per contra, no such scene occurs, with only Astro and Cora having a friendly talk with one another. I honestly find that to be much more entertaining than any romance they could’ve possibly forced.

Another (completely self-centered) reason I enjoy this movie, has got to be one of the “strangest” things ever, and that’s its use of blobitecture. Blobitecture, for the unaware, is a style of architecture that emphasizes roundness and organic forms. There’s no sharp or straight edges to be found there. And Metro City (as shown in the film) is just oozing with blobitecture everywhere. I think what I like about it so much, is how it gives the city a clearly futuristic and sci-fi appeal. Which would explain why blobitecture being a staple of the Y2K aesthetic is a no-brainer. Speaking of Y2K, can we talk about the color palette??? So many blues and lilacs, I could die (not literally, thank god). And its use of holograms, particularly when Tenma calls Elefun, is so, so Y2K. It’s probably one of the funnest things about this movie.

The character designs, however… well… they suck. Big time.

It’s such a let-down, honestly. Like if you have the means to make say, Tenma’s house, look cool as fuck with it’s mid-century inspired furniture, but can’t be bothered to actually make TENMA look good– what’s the point???? Like, why does Tenma have a wonderful couch that I so desperately want, but his eyes look like he does Coke in his spare time to cope with the bullshit President Stone puts him through?

This doesn’t take away nevertheless from the fact that I still like the backgrounds and the overall aesthetic, especially during the introduction video we see in the beginning that very much gave me 70s meets The Jetsons. It just means that their decision to make the characters look as shitty as they did, that much more confusing, and downright disappointing.

It’s Obviously Not The Crème De La Crème of Astro Boy Renditions… And That’s Okay

I’m sure just by reading that headline, some of you are already thinking to yourselves, “But just how so?“ Or “why?” And I’m here to explain.

For starters, there’s a plethora of additions and tweaks this movie has done regarding the “typical” Astro Boy plot-line. This bills the movie as more of a standalone project than something meant to be included in the “Astro Boy Canon” (or the “ABCU” (Astro Boy Cinematic Universe), if you will). Examples of this include an OC count that certainly rivals the amount of OCs I had in my fan fiction series, Vivid Insomnia. And, the (obviously) different plot.

But I hear you: “If it bears the Astro Boy name, then it must be considered a part of the universe!” The issue with this take, is that it implies there’s only (1) way to re-tell a story, allowing no depictions to take the story in a (completely, or only minor) different direction. Now, whether the changes they make are good or not, is a separate discussion I already went through earlier. Even if I (and many others) think the changes made were bad, that doesn’t mean they weren’t allowed to make them. So if they’re allowed to make changes, we as fans can, similarly, interpret those changes as meaning what we’re watching is something of a freestanding creation. No person who worked on the film has ever come forward and admitted that the movie is canon, so it’s fair game to assume it’s not.

Another reason that sets it apart, are the little things it includes that I, personally, find to scratch itches I’ve been begging to have scratched for ages. Particularly, Tenma taking Astro back and owning up to his faults. Both as a father and regarding his initial rejection of Astro, under the basis that they were simply a “replacement” of Toby, instead of their own entity that he was entitled to support and care for. So many renderings portray Tenma as a deadbeat, or as a villain, but this one takes the cake for having the best (morally speaking) Tenma you can find. Sure, maybe he shouldn’t have rejected Astro in the first place, or maybe he should’ve quit his boot licking ways and made a bigger effort to be part of Toby’s life. But, so long as he tries now to right his wrongs and do better, then all is good in my book.

Secondly, Elefun telling Astro that none of their circumstances are their fault or of their volition. When I tell you I immediately jumped for joy upon him telling Astro this, I’m not joking. Rendition after rendition, we see Astro go through the most heinous of things, and no one seems to ever think to console them. I want Astro to know that what’s happened is out of their control. That there was nothing they could do to make Tenma be a better father, to make Stone get off their ass for good, to have perhaps saved Toby’s life. Radical acceptance.

Of course, still, detractors of all kinds will probably say that such things make the movie boring! Tenma being the complex villain that consistently treats Astro like shit with no recourse (like in the 03 series). And, Elefun taking Astro under his wing and subjecting them to a life-long mission of being the neoliberal middle man to the high stakes clashing between humans and robots is what we’re after– nothing less! And I hear you, but even if it may be “boring,” that doesn’t mean it’s not well-needed. No matter what you think, Astro deserves to be treated well and told the truth about their circumstances. This, again, goes back to what I said earlier about this movie being a separate thing. If we are to believe and accept that it is, in fact, a standalone project, then there’s nothing standing in their way of attempting to right the wrongs that are consistent throughout all prior versions. They have all the right to make Tenma and Elefun out to be better at handling the tough emotional situations they go through. Also, Astro is 13.

Conclusion

Again, this was not me trying to sway you one way or another. The 2009 movie is still obviously polarizing, and I don’t think it’ll ever stop being that way any time soon. If I did another round of surveying, I wouldn’t expect any other statistic than one that says that 3 out of 5 Astro Boy fans hate the 2009 movie. And rightfully so! It’s got characters that are basically a shell of either who they are in past adaptations, or of the stereotypes they’re meant to emulate, and poor writing galore. But I think the way in which it subverted the “forced hetero romance” stereotype that plagues many movies of this caliber is well appreciated. And we cannot forget the background and set design, oozing with blobitecture inspiration; as well as what gave us Tenma’s amazing couch. If I had to rate this movie, Anthony Fantano style, I would say it’s a light to decent 6 out of 10. The things that make this movie different (justifying the score) are arguably why most (myself included) choose to see this as a standalone thing. It may not be the behemoth that is the 2003 series, but it doesn’t have to be. It has all the charm and good it needs to, at the very least, convince people to watch it just once.

#astro boy #tetsuwan atomu #astro boy 2009 #tezuka #movie review #movie opinion

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