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The Gender of Astroboy Fans
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:59 pm
by Daichi
It occurs to me that there I'm always meeting waaaay more female Astro fans than males. But why?
Is it because males tend to grow out of Astroboy? Do they think that they are too mature for it, or shouldn't enjoy it because it's too cutesy or too emotional? And do females hold on more to their childhoods? Do they more appreciate the lessons taught by Astroboy?
Are you yourself female or male? And what is your take on this issue?
Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:20 pm
by jeffbert
Forgive me for this, but I must insist on proper use of 'gender,' which despite popular use, is not interchangable with 'sex.'

This is my personal gripe, I am not acting on my authority as moderator, so please do not take it the wrong way.
But to your question: I am male, nearly 50, have never had children, and have little hope of ever having any. I have affectionate memories of my pre-teen childhood, & enjoy the antics of little children. However, this may be because I was never a parent, & only think about the pleasant aspects of children.
However, my enjoyment of children is only part of the reason I like Astroboy. I also enjoy classic cartoons, & the 1963 series is a classic cartoon. It features the same type of humor as those old MGM & WB cartoons.
Why I like Astroboy as a character: I think Fred Ladd best expressed it by saying that he is a little kid who beats the big-bad villains (Schodt's Astroboy Essays).

Posted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 11:11 pm
by Astro Forever
I'm female, but it seems to me that there are a lot more males than females here...

Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 12:09 am
by Fauna
I'm a female, fifteen in fifteen days. Back in eighth grade, I got to meet two boys my age who admitted they had watched Astro Boy in the past, but stopped after they hit puberty. In their words, they were embarrassed to show people that they watched the chronicles of "a boy with no shirt".
But I still like Astro Boy for the dozens of different stories, all the characters (cameos and regulars) and how I used to think of Astro as a big brother when I was watching the Canadian dub back in '96.
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 4:39 am
by Dragonrider1227
I'm male and I have a weakness for cute kids and cute robots and Astroboy's both! XD
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 6:17 am
by Tetsuwan_haruhi
I'm a female and I love Astroboy probably because
1. Robots are cool
2. Astro is adorable
3.I like all kind of anime
I'm not really 100% sure why I like Astroboy I enjoy watching the anime and he's cute!
Posted: Wed Feb 13, 2008 9:54 pm
by jeffbert
Welcome to the forum, Tetsuwan_haruhi.
Please feel free to ask any questions about Astroboy.
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 4:52 am
by munquibyte
:noob stumbles into middle of discussion:
Stat:Female
Demographic:late thirties and (finally!) finishing a PT animation major.
Why:Not a huge anime or manga fan, but has a soft spot for Tezuka.
Not that nuts about kids, but finds Astro a cute little booger.
Robots are cool, especially sentient ones.
Huge nerdism:Hey man, AB was cyberpunk and transhumanist thirty years before there ever were such words in our vocabulary. My pocket protector is chafing.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 12:30 am
by Ataru Moroboshi
Male, 24 years, from Western Europe, still single and with no sentimental relationships at the present time (and neither at past time).
Huge fan of manga and anime since being 8/9 years old and nowadays mostly interested in the long, long "classic" period of manga (1946-circa 1985), with Osamu Tezuka as THE main exponent.
And that's all: A sketched description of myself.
Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 4:10 am
by Daichi
"jeffbert" wrote:Forgive me for this, but I must insist on proper use of 'gender,' which despite popular use, is not interchangable with 'sex.'
Excuse me, but I wasn't aware. Anyways, in this case I believe it's a little more forgivable, after all, think of how it would've come across if I'd said "The Sex of Astroboy Fans".
I'll give you a minute.
I'm 17, didn't grow up with Astroboy but gained an interest in it as a young teen mostly due to the very humanlike androids, creatures I've loved since I was very young and got into because of RockMan/MegaMan.
American, so finding Tezuka wares is difficult. It's surprising I even got into it to begin with, with it being relatively obscure in these parts and all the prejudging, but thankfully I found it, and love it.
And surprise of surprises, I am female. X-D