AstroBoy Online Forums

Hey all,

I thought I'd post a thread for Black Jack and his girlfriend and nurse Pinoko.
After seeing them in the 80's Astro episode The Time Machine. I thought I'd try out some of Black Jack's own dvds, so I bought one. :wahah: Wow, what an awesome show. Like Astro, Kimba the White Lion and Princess Knight, this show has lots of heart/kokoro.

Tezuka sure likes the immortal child. He had Astro, Uran, Cobolt, Kimba(He never grew up in America that is) and then there's Pinoko. She's not a robot like Astro or Uran, but she has that rare disease that Gary Coleman has that prevents her from growing up. That's right, she's actually an adult trapped in a child's body. But she doesn't seem to mind this. In fact she's in touch with her iner-child and evan dresses like like a little girl. She has the best of both worlds.

Most guys probably think she's a freak and reject her, but not Black Jack, because he's a freak too. So she bacame his live-in girl friend and nurse. I love the argument that her and Uran got in on the Time Machine in which Uran said "Hey, how can you be a nurse?, Your just a little kid" and Pinoko said "I resent that, I just turned 21". Then later they played together in the castle, CUTE!

Astro and Uran also don't mind being a child forever. In fact in one of his manga stories he talks to God on Xmas eve and asks God to let him stay a child forever. AWWW!
There's only one story that Astro had and adult body: Astro Stolen
Astro hated his adult body and was happy to be put back in his child body. This is one reason why he never grows up. He doesn't want too.

I did not know BlackJack was an anime as well. Cool. I will see if I can not find out some info on this. Any you would supply here would be appreciated.

Unlike a lot of people, I would like to see Astro grow up. I have yet to be lucky enough to get copies of the Astroboy Mangas, but in the Anime (80's here as I dont care for the newer one, and remember too little about the 60's version) one of the many famous Tezuka inconsistancies was the "mental age" of the astroboy character. I realise that it IS supposed to be a childrens manga, and by definition most people for some reason believe this is an excuse to bend the facts to fit the story. For me this was always an annoyance. Even when I WAS a kid watching, it annoyed me that Astro could seem like einstein one minute, then seem like a 2 year old the next.

Now, if there was an arc of the manga (or anime) where Astro was allowed to "grow up" there would be a lot more scope for these simillar stories to work within the "logical maturity of Right and Wrong". I realise that seems to make it sound like I would like to see Astro as a Vulcan, but with propper stories (and Morals, or lessons) Tezuka could have made some of the stories used in Astroboy more consistant, and therefore deliver stronger satisfaction and consideration of the issues addressed.

Possibly also unlike most others, I preferred Astro addressing issues than just going the thump, or the joke. Sure those were pretty cool too, but if it was not for the conscience behind a lot of the stories I would not have appreciated and loved Astro as much as I did. As much as I still do, in fact.

Heh.. we should get T-Shirts made with "Everything I needed to know in Life I learned from Osamu Tezuka" on them

Originally posted by Atoman@Dec 21 2004, 05:48 PM
Hey all,

I thought I'd post a thread for Black Jack and his girlfriend and nurse Pinoko.
After seeing them in the 80's Astro episode The Time Machine. I thought I'd try out some of Black Jack's own dvds, so I bought one. :wahah: Wow, what an awesome show. Like Astro, Kimba the White Lion and Princess Knight, this show has lots of heart/kokoro.

Tezuka sure likes the immortal child. He had Astro, Uran, Cobolt, Kimba(He never grew up in America that is) and then there's Pinoko. She's not a robot like Astro or Uran, but she has that rare disease that Gary Coleman has that prevents her from growing up. That's right, she's actually an adult trapped in a child's body. But she doesn't seem to mind this. In fact she's in touch with her iner-child and evan dresses like like a little girl. She has the best of both worlds.

Most guys probably think she's a freak and reject her, but not Black Jack, because he's a freak too. So she bacame his live-in girl friend and nurse. I love the argument that her and Uran got in on the Time Machine in which Uran said "Hey, how can you be a nurse?, Your just a little kid" and Pinoko said "I resent that, I just turned 21". Then later they played together in the castle, CUTE!

Astro and Uran also don't mind being a child forever. In fact in one of his manga stories he talks to God on Xmas eve and asks God to let him stay a child forever. AWWW!
There's only one story that Astro had and adult body: Astro Stolen
Astro hated his adult body and was happy to be put back in his child body. This is one reason why he never grows up. He doesn't want too.

After seeing Pinoko's origin in the manga, & also having watched 2 dvds, I had not realized that she had the mentality of an adult. In the movie, clearly, this was not the case. Only as a little kid could she be abducted without even realizing it. She clearly believed that Black Jack had asked the abductor to care for her while he was away. Perhaps there is an inconsistency, but, as I recall from disc 1 of 7 currently available, while she did proudly announce her age, she also exhibited nothing but child-like behavior.

Hi Jeffbert,

Could you please write a summery of Pinoko's origin? All I know is that Black Jack saved her life once and so she decided to be his live-in girl friend and nurse, and Black Jack had no hang-ups about her being an adult in a child's body.

In episode 2 of the OVA's she called Black Jack on the phone while he was away on business and told him off saying: "I made your favorate kous kous, and now what am I supposed to do with it". Then he said he won't be back for a while and she said "Oh yeah, well you can go to Hell". Then he laughed and said "That might not be a bad idea". Then she trashes some furniture and says "That does it, were're through! I'm gonna date other guys".

He really does love her though. In episode 1 he sees her fallen asleap in a chair or something and covers her with a blanket. AWW!

Saionara.