Movies / Animé and Toons

Astro Boy Volume 4

By Hervé St-Louis
April 15, 2010 - 21:40

The Astro Boy series mixes in the world of Osamu Tezuka in this series of episode. Osamu Tezuka, the Japanese god of both manga and animé created Astro Boy, but several other characters such Phoenix. These characters are the core of Tezuka’s famed “star system” with recurring characters returning in several series from the cartoonist. Will Astro be upstaged by his creator’s star system?

The question above should be taken in jest as it shows that even after Tezuka’s death, other creators are able to draw the best from his work and mesh it in new series based on his properties. The good thing here is that it’s not that obvious that there is a star system being played out in many of the series. In fact the star system has been here from the beginning but only seemed to take off in this collected series of episodes. The most glaring example is of course the appearance of the Phoenix in a two-part story featuring another regular Tezuka star system character, Rock Holmes. Until I researched more about Tezuka’s work, I wasn’t aware of the usage of the star system in this series, so I must commend the creative team for making it all natural and only an added bonus to viewers with more familiarity with the material.

A favourite episode in this collection is the one where Astro falls in love with a human girl. It reminded me of the old Transformers’ episode, The Girl Who Loved Powerglide, where the flying Autobot fell in love with a human girl. We know the relationship is hopeless, but at the same time, I like how there was a friendly competition with a human boy over the girl and how Astro expressed his feelings in the most vivid way. Such stories are just fun.

Animation-wise, the series is as strong as ever. I’ve looked back at some of the older series, and this one a genuine and great update of characters’ designs. IM, really hooked to this series, in case that wasn’t obvious. It’s as much fun as when I first watched the entire Justice League series in about a few weeks’ time.

Rating: 9.5 /10

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12