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Astro and his cameos

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 5:28 am
by Ataru Moroboshi
Thanks to his extraordinary fame, Astro had some interesting appearences not only on Osamu Tezuka's works, but on works from many mangakas and even some western authors. This thread pretends to be a compilation of "official" and "unofficial" cameos by out lil' robot:

1st appearance on Black Jack: Son of Hariti

Astro is Iwao, son of a very beautiful, sweet and healthy woman. He goes to infant school.

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As you can see, robot or human, Alvin is always after Astro. This time he's scaring him because there's a band of child kidnappers hangin' 'round the city.

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Iwao's mom (Zephirus?) is a sweet and gentle lady. Every night she reads Astroboy's adventures to her beloved child. Iwao thinks that if he was Astroboy he would defeat those pesky criminals (NOTE: I'm following the spanish translation of BJ, Ed. Glénat)

Iwao is kidnapped for XXXXXX reasons (well, read the story an you'll see for yourselves. I'm not spoiling nothing now that i know BJ is been published in the USA this year). Skunk takes their leader to him, but they don't know that Shibugaki (Alvin) has given a penknife to Iwao in order to defend himself if the real kidnappers take him. And...

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Alley-hoop! The leader is stabbed in the arm by the agile Iwao. He keeps on fighting until he's rescued by the police. Darn, Astro looks even more brave as Iwao than as his usual self!

2nd appearance on Black Jack: You're guilty!

If you have the vol.22 on the Dark Horse edition of Astroboy, then you've have read this one. For others, here hare some details. Astro (his name's here is unknown) plays the part of the brother of a young businessman. He's now an older version of himself. For the uniform, I guess he's about 13 or 14 here, starting secondary school.
Astro's bro is stabbed by a violent thief (very à la GTA now than I think of it). Astro seeks revenge and prepares a bait for Atlas, in order to kill him with penknife (again), but after some fast thinking, he decides is better to frame him in order to convict him in a quite memorable scene:

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3rd Appearance on B.J.: Astro in an Abbey Road fashion

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Uran in BJ: Money! Money! Money!

Uran had her moment of glory on BJ in this chapter. Tenma is a doctor who wants to be the medical chief of the Kanto region. Uran, called Kasumi in this story is her lovoely daughter. She wants her papa to stay with her. She loves him madly, and doesn't mind her dad being a big boss: she just wants him to be her father! Tenma, blinded by his own ambition, gets really mad at her. so mad that in the last panel makes a blooper: "GO HOME, URAN! OOPS! I MEANT KASUMI!" (in the following page, he turns into a rooster)

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So, Kasumi is now alone again (naturally)
"I promised myself to treat myself
And visit a nearby tower,
And climbing to the top,
Will throw myself off"
But somebody must tell her that it's only a song, and that its author is well alive and planning an important tour for the summer (this is real info: it's the 40th-anniversary-of-his-debut tour, so if you like Gilbert O'Sullivan, buy your tickets now), because she "throws herself off" from his dad's penthouse.

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And so, it's up to Black Jack to save her
SPOILER: ;) = :tenma: Understood?

Cobalt on BJ: poor lil' guy... And poor Melmo!!! (thanks, Jeffbert!) BTW, why is Uran looking so pissed off there?

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Atlas as a child
A cute lil' version of Atlas appears as the son of two star system characters (I don't remember the names). His father is a deceased alcoholic doctor (accident: falls downstairs) who owned BJ some money. His mother (Riiko) is a young, gorgeous and now widowed nurse who will fall deeply in love with BJ. As you can see for his posters, he's an Astro fan like all of us. The other photooo... Well, let's leave this character alone: Gaki Deka. A great manga, but not to be discussed now.

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Atlas appeared as an adult in a couple of stories more.

That's it at the moment. Tomorrow I'll post Astro's cameo on Midnight.

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:46 am
by Strange Wings
Thanks a lot for the scans and your narration, they're very interesting. Some of those pics are quite violent though, which might provoke the assumption whether the BJ manga series were supposed to target a more adult readership. Although, considering Tezuka's occasional direct picture language, I could be wrong here. ;)

"Ataru Moroboshi" wrote:Cobalt on BJ: poor lil' guy... And poor Melmo!!! (thanks, Jeffbert!) BTW, why is Uran looking so pissed off there?

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It looks as she's taking against Cobalt for throwing the ball at Melmo's bum. Uran always had a compassionate nature. :lol:

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 9:30 pm
by AstroBoyGF
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ASTROOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!! NNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!! [crys]

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 10:23 pm
by Wolf
Bart Simpson is Astro Boy in a couch gag. Fast forward to the 30 second mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KatVf0O22U

Astro Cat
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Aliens have created a tomcat endowed with the seven exceptional faculties similar to Astro Boy's. Supporting his owner, Tsugio, who is a sissy boy, this tomcat named Atomcat runs actively far and wide through the universe. --- This is a fascinating work resulted from Tezuka Osamu's challenging endeavor and daring to remake "Astro Boy."

Read Chap 1-7 online:
http://www.ourmanga.com/Astro_Cat/

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:36 pm
by AstroBoyGF
COOOOOOLLLLL!

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 11:56 pm
by Ataru Moroboshi
"AstroBoyGF" wrote:COOOOOOLLLLL!


I wouldn't express this better.

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 12:14 am
by jeffbert
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I believe the bad guy is portrayed by Bibimba[?], but without an English language Tezuka site, I cannot be sure of the spelling.

Anyway, thanks, Ataru! :astro:

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 10:35 am
by Ataru Moroboshi
Just to make it clear: I made aa mitake: Iwao's mom is WEALTHY, not healthy (well, as we can see, that too, but it isn't what I was supposed to write).
Sorry, peeps!
BTW, I'm quite sure the teacher on the dodgeball scene is a) Prince Franz Charming (from Princess Knight manga. In the anime, the prince was Rock) or b) Big X.

Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 7:50 pm
by Wolf
Its obvious that Frank Miller's The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot was inspire by Astro Boy and Gigantor. Can you see the similarity?

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Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2009 8:10 pm
by AstroBoyGF
yeah....creepy....O.o