Page 1 of 4
Dr. Tenma and Blue knight
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 6:52 pm
by CommanderEVE
i was wondering

would you guys think tenma is a good guy under all that hate of his?

... and the blue night is he good or evil becuase i can't tell what do you guys think?... tell me your thoughts about them and feel free to coment
(sorry about all those stupid treads i made they had noting to do with astro boy)
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:42 pm
by Astro Forever
Sparx wrote:i was wondering

would you guys think tenma is a good guy under all that hate of his?

... and the blue night is he good or evil becuase i can't tell what do you guys think?... tell me your thoughts about them and feel free to coment
I think ambiguous characters give depth to any fictional story. While I don't condone what Tenma did, I still sympathized with his suffering and it moved me, even if he hadn't been the best father to begin with. It set up for a truly great moment in the end.
It's a little bit the same thing with the Blue Knight. Also the 1980 final Atlas episode also showed that bad guys could sometimes show a bit of heart.
Astro is cute, charming and moving but, like so many heroes, he is
too perfect in a way. He needs to be conterbalanced by more complex characters who show more shortcomings.
Sparx wrote:(sorry about all those stupid treads i made they had noting to do with astro boy)
You don't have to be sorry, it's okay in the General Discussion forum.
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:47 pm
by Kaileocomial
Neither of them seem downright evil, but certainly not the blue knight. They're just a bit misguided, each in their own ways.
I'd say the blue night is definately not evil, as he only wants robots to be free... he's not out to kill or hurt humans, but if they're getting in his way then he'll do what he has to do in order to accomplish his goals... and most of the time those getting in his way are painted as 'bad guys' anyways.
Tenma is a different case. He really seems to think he's doing the right thing, and that the evolution of robots is for the greater good, but he seems to place very little value on the lives of humans, or even individual robots. His ultimate goal is (or seems to be, I only just finished disc 4) seeing robots take their place as the dominant species on planet earth, and he doesn't seem to care who he has to kill in order to accomilish this.
This of course refers exclusively to the 2003 series, as Tenma's character is very different in the other incarnations of Astro Boy, and I don't believe the blue knight plays as large a role in any of the others (he's not even in the 80's show)
Posted: Tue Aug 22, 2006 8:50 pm
by Kaileocomial
Astro Forever wrote:I think ambiguous characters give depth to any fictional story.
This is one of the things I really like about Tezuka's writing, every character has a perspective, and the line between good & bad is often a thin one (just as with real life). It makes for more complex story telling as you said, and also offers a more realistic view of the real world.
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:11 am
by jeffbert
The BK is consistent throughout his appearances; Tenma is not. Sometimes he is an enemy, others, he is a benefactor & savior. I was gathering data for a page on this subject, but was sidetracked. I expect to work on it again soon, though.

Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 4:19 am
by astro_mcfly
Well, this is an interesting topic. Jeffbert, you're right. You really don't see Tenma that much staying with one view. He acts a little different every time. (I'd give a better answer, but I haven't watched it in AGES...)
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 8:43 am
by CommanderEVE
what was tenma like in the 1980's and the 1963's?... i don't know becuase i'm a little young? i heard that thay changed him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Tenma is that all right?
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:38 pm
by astro_mcfly
He doesn't appear as many times, and isn't as much of a main character. I don't think he was AS insane (like the whole robots taking over the world thing.) but I could be wrong. (at least to my knowlege... I haven't watched the 60's series and can't afford it right now.)
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 6:08 pm
by CommanderEVE
Posted: Wed Aug 23, 2006 7:23 pm
by jeffbert
Sparx wrote:what was tenma like in the 1980's and the 1963's?... i don't know becuase i'm a little young? i heard that thay changed him
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Tenma is that all right?
He makes more than a few appearances in the'60s anime, at least 1 was as benefactor:
172nd Episode: The Herald Brothers
Note that the manga versions of several stories made Tenma good-guy, 'Cleopatra' was 1 of them, 'Biggest' was another
--------------------------------------------
107th Episode: Release of the Earth
(97 Mystery of the Metal Men)
put Tenma in a rather neutral role becuase in that parallel world, Tobio had never died.