The migration of Astro in US animes towards Japanese original

[AprilSeven]

I've come to feel that eventually Astro Boy will eventually be known everywhere as Atom, and tonight I noticed something that suggests this is true

In the original US anime Astro Boy was modeled after Astor Boynton (it's easy to see what was going on there).

The 1980's series Astro Boy was modeled after Toby Boynton - why else would they change from the original, if not to shift the sound of his name more toward Tezuka's choice.

Finally in 2003 Astro is modeled after Tobio Tenma -- they just went and made the complete move except for the Astro part. Also Elephun's name shifted to a name (O'Shay) which somewhat resembles Ochanomizu, as well as a number of other character with original Tezuka names.

Of course the 2009 movie doesn't follow the trend. But I think there WILL be another anime, and hopefully we can eventually see everything as Tezuka intended.

I'll see if I can deliver the for Christmas

Thanks Santa!

[Androids101]

Haha, reminds me of this motivational poster I did some weeks ago:



Seriously, lets just hope they don't re-dub everything...and cut episodes out...

Now we are going back to our original names. All characters change immediately.

Epsilon: Objection.

Order in the court!

Blue Knight: Attack the pig.

ORDER!! ORDER, I SAY!! ORDER!!!!!!! NOOOO!!!

[Dr. Jerk]

If you're suggesting that all characters will retain their Japanese names, well this seems very likely for all of the other characters, as it indeed happened with the 2003 anime with certain characters (or with characters such as O'Shay and Zoran, had similar names) and certainly the manga of course. Heck, even Tenma kept his surname in the movie, which is kinda surprising but I guess everyone knew him as Tenma and not as Boynton/Balthus/Chickenman by that point.

But in America and Europe, I think Astro Boy will always be known as Astro Boy or Astro for short. His name has always been kept the same, and keeping his Japanese name for localization would probably be more harmful to him than good. Because nearly everyone here, if not for the majority, knows him as Astro Boy and not Atom. Heck, he's commonly called Astro Boy in Japan too.

Also, what makes you think there will be another anime soon? I'm sure we all wish for the same, but it's quite unlikely at this point.

[jeffbert]

What did the JUNGLE EMPEROR movie dub call Leo? If 'Leo', rather than 'Kimba', I suspect that we might some day see 'Atom' as 'Atom.'

[Dr. Jerk]

What did the JUNGLE EMPEROR movie dub call Leo? If 'Leo', rather than 'Kimba', I suspect that we might some day see 'Atom' as 'Atom.'

True, but I think it's because they were trying to make the film more faithful to the original.

Astro Boy is however a lot more well-known and more popular than Kimba. (Not that popular anymore, but still more so than Kimba.) It just doesn't seem like something to keep his name as Atom here though, especially since he has always been known as Astro Boy.

In some ways, maybe the opposite might happen, maybe Japan might end up fully adopting the name of Astro Boy, the use of it certainly has been happening an awful lot.

[Androids101]

The '03 series was a flop in the US, thanks to the stupid broadcasting rivalry between Animax and Kids' WB.

The 2003 version of Astro Boy was extremely well reviewed by Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network, receiving a grade of A+ in every category and comments of "It's perfect."

There are many positive ones, though, which means that a new one just might go ahead.

And besides, 'Pluto' is already announced.

[F-Man]

I see both Astro Boy and Atom as somewhat outdated names still used today out of fondness for the character and not changing traditions. The atomic threat is no longer a concern as it was in the early 50's, and the conquest of space and astronomic secrets is no longer on everyone's mind like in the early 60's. But in both cases, the name sticks cause it just wouldn't be him without the name we've known him by all along.

[Dr. Jerk]

The '03 series was a flop in the US, thanks to the stupid broadcasting rivalry between Animax and Kids' WB.

The 2003 version of Astro Boy was extremely well reviewed by Zac Bertschy of Anime News Network, receiving a grade of A+ in every category and comments of "It's perfect."

There are many positive ones, though, which means that a new one just might go ahead.

And besides, 'Pluto' is already announced.

The anime series are created for special reasons. The 80's anime because Tezuka specifically wanted a color remake, and the 2003 anime was released to mark an anniversary milestone. Granted, we are nearing the silver 50th anniversary, but that won't happen until, in three more years? Even then, I don't think there's a lot of plans in the making for that.

Also, the movies don't count. There were some hopes that the 2009 movie would spark new interest for new movies or a new series, but the movie turned out to be a flop instead. It's doubtful that the Pluto movie will do anything great for the franchise either, the most I see happening is that Viz might release compilation books of the series.

[Androids101]

Sometimes it makes me mad to see that Tezuka Productions not making their own films, and instead give it to Imagi, a studio that has only made 5 films

[Dr. Jerk]

Sometimes it makes me mad to see that Tezuka Productions not making their own films, and instead give it to Imagi, a studio that has only made 5 films

They didn't gave it to them, Tezuka Productions were approached. And Tezuka Productions doesn't always create their own things, the most they do is hold licenses, they still have other companies do the films and publish things for them.

Such as the highly-anticipated Buddha films, those are being done by Toei Animation. And most of Tezuka's manga are published by Kodansa.