COBALT'S EPISODE LIST

[jeffbert]

I am sorry to disappoint you, but I am going to be cheap; rather than using text, I use an image:

COBALT APPEARANCES B&W.jpg (81.96 KiB) Viewed 2555 times

There was one other ep, but I was unsure of Cobalt's presence in it.

[Shiyonasan]

Interesting list, jeffbert.

So Cobalt appears in 40 episodes for sure and 41 if he does appear in that episode that you aren't sure about. I just did the math: Cobalt only appears in about 21 percent of the series regardless of whether it's 40 or 41 episodes. He really wasn't present in the '60s anime all that much it seems!

Also, if you need the English or Japanese titles for that list, this link should help:
Astro Boy 1963 Episode Title List

[jeffbert]

I have the Japanese titles, Shiyonasan, as translated on the web page for the series; 2nd column of the table; 1st column is the J sequence. Thanks for the link, anyway.

[Little Brown Fox]

EEEEEE~ This makes me so happy! I didn't think he appeared in "A Great Fuss Over Babies", though. But maybe there just wasn't a screen grab with him in it?

Aw jeez, there's just so many episodes that never made it to English-speaking shores... and, from my understanding, there are at least two that never will, lost as they are... how unfortunate...

It seems I was right in my assumption that the Japanese version included more appearances of Cobalt than the English version! I'd ask about Chi-tan, too, but somehow he doesn't feel as relevant. I mean, for the most part at least, he doesn't really DO anything, does he?

[AprilSeven]

FABULOUS LIST Jeffbert - thank you so much!!

Actually if you consider the fact that Cobalt didn't enter the series until half-way through (93 out of 193), one could argue that once he appeared, he was a part of HALF the remaining episodes, and that is a completely different sign of significance.

Uran wasn't in every single episode either . . . I wouldn't be surprised to see that she's in about half the episodes as well.

I have a feeling that Tezuka liked the idea of Astro having a "brother" but maybe he felt he could develop a more interesting character if this "brother" could not be a 100% "good" character - as Astro and Uran are (although Uran displays some bratty/diva personality traits that set her apart from AB).

By swapping out Cobalt/Jetto for Atlas, we get a character that is flawed, but has the potential to be "good" and I think that was ultimately why poor Coby was dropped.

I still say there's room for Cobalt and the "Fiery and Furious" story on Fanfiction.net does a fantastic job of bringing Astro, Atlas, Mars AND Cobalt together - and proves they are 4 interesting personalities!

As for Chi-tan . . . his got super-strength and a super-cry that can bust things!

[Little Brown Fox]

He didn't have that in the show, though.

Anyways, wasn't Cobalt dropped because his presence was considered redundant after they went with the whole "evil twin" thing with Atlas? At least, that was the theory I heard...

Interestingly enough, in the Japanese dub of the '03 series, Atlas isn't referred to as a "brother" at any time (at least, not in the short clip of "Atom vs. Atlas" that's on Youtube under the same name).

[AstroBlaster1998]

No there is many times in the 03 series it is said that
atlas is Astro brother

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

FABULOUS LIST Jeffbert - thank you so much!!

Actually if you consider the fact that Cobalt didn't enter the series until half-way through (93 out of 193), one could argue that once he appeared, he was a part of HALF the remaining episodes, and that is a completely different sign of significance.

I still say there's room for Cobalt and the "Fiery and Furious" story on Fanfiction.net does a fantastic job of bringing Astro, Atlas, Mars AND Cobalt together - and proves they are 4 interesting personalities!

I Agree ... Cobalt is a unique character, and he has his place right along side of Atlas and Uran. I really like the way Dan has managed to mesh all of the Tetsuwan robots together, including Mars! BTW I think the way he has it Cobalt is to Atom the way way Mycroft is to Sherlock.
(BTW AprilSeven, I've got a future fanfiction story brewing in the back of my head that will introduce the Cobalt character to MY pastiche. Not sure if it will be the very next story or not though. I promise it will be a different slant on things!)

[AprilSeven]

@ Astroblaster - Little Brown Fox was referring to the Japanese dub . . . so it's possible that the brother reference was not made there? I'd be interested in knowing that.

I mean . . . Tenma created a LOT of robots. So . . . are they ALL Astro's brothers and sisters? In the 1980's series, Atlas was built off of Astro's blueprints . . . so couldn't he actually be considered more of a clone? And I guess Niki/Nuka could be considered that as well? What makes a robotic duplicate a clone vs. a sibling? Tenma didn't make Atlas in the 1980's series (I always thought the "brother" reference was a bit of a stretch).

In the 2009 series, I got the impression Tenma used his technique/technology from building Astro to create Atlas for Tokogawa - but he didn't build a copy of Astro.

Otherwise . . . Shadow would also be Astro's brother, right? Or maybe, because he's a copy of Tenma . . . Shadow is Astro's uncle?

@Tetsuwan Penguin -- I'm definitely looking forward to THAT fanfic!

[Little Brown Fox]

@April: You mean the 2003 series, right?

@Penguin: Would I have to read the others in order to get this one? I mean, I already read the first one, so I should be pretty good on that front. But I'm not really sure I want to read the other two, especially the latter (unless that IS the one that has Cobalt/Jetto in it? that'd be really weird...). Also, who's Mycroft? I've never read any of those books...