what happens to astro when he gets old

[fafner]

Originally posted by Strange Wings+Mar 8 2005, 07:43 PM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Strange Wings @ Mar 8 2005, 07:43 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteBegin--DrFrag@Mar 7 2005, 03:49 PM
The guy didn't even know he was a robot until he was an adult.

Go figure. That ought to be one of the first things one should notice when growing up:

"Others eat, I only get energy cassettes?"
"Others go to the bathroom, I only go to the workshop?"
"Others feel physical pain, I just hear my body going 'CLONK' when I hit the ground?"
"Others get themselves new haircuts, I even haven't got an employment for my hairbrush?"

Tennyson's dad sure had a hard time of making his son to believe to be a human.
[/b][/quote]
Oh please... You break all the poetry of the episode Such pragmatism... <_<

[DrFrag]

The bit that always bothered me as a kid was when he cut his arm open to discover there was no blood.

It wasn't the cutting that bothered me though, it was the fact that he felt it necessary to make such a BIG cut. Why not make a little nick on the back of his hand?
And a bigger question - didn't he ever graze his knee as a kid?

[Shychick]

Um, I never heard of that ep either. Is it included on the 80s DVD? It sounds intense.


Tell me more about that ep.

[DrFrag]

The episode was Outer Spaceport R45. It's on volume 9 of the DVDs. It's also on the Siren and Manga videos.

Some space pirates are attacking other spaceships in the area, and Matthew Tennyson is trying to stop them. He's the captain of the fleet that go after the pirates but they're always too late. This makes things look bad for his dad who runs the spaceport, and the hotel manager there puts pressure on his dad to resign (so he can take over).
Meanwhile, the hotel manager keeps finding bodies in space. They're empty robot shells, each slightly bigger than the last, and look exactly like Matthew.
Astro is sent to help stop the space pirates and they discover that the hotel manager is their boss.
By this time, Matthew has caught his dad disposing of another body and questions him about it. He finds out that he's actually a robot. He cuts himself to see if he bleeds and he doesn't. He's really upset that he isn't human like he always thought. He also gets scared, because a robot isn't supposed to captain the fleet and he could lose his job and his friends and get his dad fired.
When Matthew goes to arrest the hotel manager, the hotel manager threatens to expose him (because he's worked out that Matthew is a robot). The space pirates beat up Matthew and he doesn't fight back, since robots aren't allowed to hurt humans.
Astro breaks in through the wall and tells him that robots have just as much right to fight for justice as humans do. So Matthew beats the crap out of the space pirates and arrests them all. When his friends find out he's a robot, it doesn't bother them because they're his friends and they just know him as Matthew.

[jeffbert]

Originally posted by DrFrag@Mar 8 2005, 07:55 PM
The bit that always bothered me as a kid was when he cut his arm open to discover there was no blood.

It wasn't the cutting that bothered me though, it was the fact that he felt it necessary to make such a BIG cut. Why not make a little nick on the back of his hand?
And a bigger question - didn't he ever graze his knee as a kid?

It makes the script simpler but less believable that way.

[Squig]

I have to say the 'Astro growing old and out of date idea' has always nagged me.
I'm a third of the way through the comics and it's been, um, 18 (I think? or was it 10? :wacko: ) years since he was created yet he's the one everyone still calls on to destroy all those 'bad' robots. Hasen't someone created a much better and more powerful robot by then?

I guess the Japanese inventors hit a peak and just regressed from that point on.

Mind you, some of the robots Astro goes to battle against must surely surpass him in technology advancement.

and since I'm on comics - why does the number of horsepower Astro has keep changing?? Sometimes it's 100,000 other times it's 1,000,000. Translation error? :wacko:

[DrFrag]

Originally posted by Squig@Mar 18 2005, 05:43 PM
I have to say the 'Astro growing old and out of date idea' has always nagged me.
I'm a third of the way through the comics and it's been, um, 18 (I think? or was it 10? :wacko: ) years since he was created yet he's the one everyone still calls on to destroy all those 'bad' robots. Hasen't someone created a much better and more powerful robot by then?

Yeah, they just weren't as cute.

Mind you, some of the robots Astro goes to battle against must surely surpass him in technology advancement.

and since I'm on comics - why does the number of horsepower Astro has keep changing?? Sometimes it's 100,000 other times it's 1,000,000. Translation error? :wacko:

Originally, Astro had 100,000 horsepower. When he fought against Pluto, he needed extra power so he got Dr Tenma (I think) to juice him up. Then he sort of stayed at 1,000,000. The Dark Horse comics aren't printed in the original order. 100,000 seems to be the generally accepted figure and appears that way on the merchandise.
But in the 80s series, Dr Elefun refused to increase Astro's power. Which brings up why more technologically advanced robots couldn't beat Astro. Dr Elefun tells him that if it were a matter of strength, the greatest robots in the world would all be wrestlers. So Astro stays on 100,000 horsepower, but uses his wisdom to beat the 2,000,000 horsepower Bora (who was a bit dim).
But this doesn't really answer the question. I mean, Astro and Atlas always seemed to be a match even though Atlas had the advantage of the Omega Factor.
And the Ministry of Science vault had Astro's mechanical design so I can't see why they couldn't just build a whole bunch of them.
Then it would be like the Matrix. B)

[DrFrag]

Originally posted by DrFrag@Mar 18 2005, 07:17 PM
Astro and Atlas always seemed to be a match even though Atlas had the advantage of the Omega Factor.

I just realised the answer to this. They had different upgringings. In Atlas Forever, Livian explains to Atlas that Astro fights so well because it's out of love not hate.

Maybe I should stop over-analysing cartoons.

[jeffbert]

Originally posted by DrFrag+Mar 18 2005, 04:17 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (DrFrag @ Mar 18 2005, 04:17 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Squig@Mar 18 2005, 05:43 PM
I have to say the 'Astro growing old and out of date idea' has always nagged me.
I'm a third of the way through the comics and it's been, um, 18 (I think? or was it 10?  :wacko: ) years since he was created yet he's the one everyone still calls on to destroy all those 'bad' robots. Hasen't someone created a much better and more powerful robot by then?

Yeah, they just weren't as cute.

Mind you, some of the robots Astro goes to battle against must surely surpass him in technology advancement.

and since I'm on comics - why does the number of horsepower Astro has keep changing?? Sometimes it's 100,000 other times it's 1,000,000. Translation error?  :wacko:

Originally, Astro had 100,000 horsepower. When he fought against Pluto, he needed extra power so he got Dr Tenma (I think) to juice him up. Then he sort of stayed at 1,000,000. The Dark Horse comics aren't printed in the original order. 100,000 seems to be the generally accepted figure and appears that way on the merchandise.
But in the 80s series, Dr Elefun refused to increase Astro's power. Which brings up why more technologically advanced robots couldn't beat Astro. Dr Elefun tells him that if it were a matter of strength, the greatest robots in the world would all be wrestlers. So Astro stays on 100,000 horsepower, but uses his wisdom to beat the 2,000,000 horsepower Bora (who was a bit dim).
But this doesn't really answer the question. I mean, Astro and Atlas always seemed to be a match even though Atlas had the advantage of the Omega Factor.
And the Ministry of Science vault had Astro's mechanical design so I can't see why they couldn't just build a whole bunch of them.
Then it would be like the Matrix. B) [/b][/quote]
When Atom was severely damaged at the end of The Blue Knight (manga volume 19), Dr. Elefant (Ochanomizu) tried many times to repair him. However, neither he, nor all the combined talent at the ministry of science, could fix him. Only his creator, Dr. Tenma could do so (Astro Boy Reborn, volume 19). Thus, merely having his design on hand meant little. Cobalt was based upon Atom's design, but as he was hastily built, he was not as intelligent as Atom. The problem with this repair was not physical, that is having to do with horsepower, rockets, searchlights, machine guns, etc, but with his computer brain. Inconsistenly, though, in Devil’s Balloon (manga volume 16), Atom was repaired by borrowing parts from Uraniam.

In the anime, & in Atlas (volume 23), Atom's design is illegally acquired by Giss and Dr. Rindalf, each of whom uses it as the basis for robots of his own design. Atlas had a tan and several other physical features differing from Atom, while Niki was designed to pass for a human girl. Thus, here, Tenma's help was not required.

However, just because the stories were all in the manga means little. Those published in Shonen seemed to be fairly consisent in their details. However, there were some published in newspapers (volumes 6-8), and others published in elementary school kids' magazines, most notably in volume 23.

[DrFrag]

Originally posted by jeffbert@Mar 19 2005, 03:59 AM
In the anime, & in [b]Atlas (volume 23), Atom's design is illegally acquired by Giss and Dr. Rindalf, each of whom uses it as the basis for robots of his own design. Atlas had a tan and several other physical features differing from Atom, while Niki was designed to pass for a human girl. Thus, here, Tenma's help was not required. [/b]

Niki was built from a prototype design and was technically inferior to Astro.