Chii-Tan in the manga, which volume was it?

[Dr. Jerk]

I was looking over at Tezuka in English's Publication Index (it's more complete than their other manga index), and noticed that there was an issue entitled 'Chii-Tan', which can only mean that he apparently appeared in the manga as well as the 60's series.

Unfortunately the index didn't list what Dark Horse volume it was collected in, not even what Kodansa volume it could be found in. It kinda makes me wonder if it's some sort of 'lost issue', having not been collected in a tankobon (volume) before, which I hope not.

So I was wondering, was that issue (which apparently has two chapters of) ever been collected in a volume? And if it was collected in a Dark Horse volume, which number was it?

Thanks.

[ASTROBUDDY]

Chi-tan (which is also translated as Ti-tan, because the name is a play on the Japanese borrow word for "titanium", thus he is Titanium, adopted baby brother to Atom, Cobalt and Uranium! His one and only manga story originally appeared in the last two issues of Mushi Prod.'s "TetsuWan Atom(u)" Club magazine. (dated 4/66 & 5/66) ["TetsuWan Atom" Club magazine if you are unaware was a magazine tie-in published by Mushi Pro. and featured stories that were not published in Kobunsha"a Shonen manga. Its format was similar to something like "Disney Magazine".]

"Ti-tan" was never reprinted and does not appear in the Dark Horse collection. So it and the story known as "Jungle Kingdom" or "Jungle Devil Boundary" are considered "lost" stories. The reasons why they may have been "lost" leads to much speculation, but no one seems to know for sure. Of, course both stories were turned into anime. "Jungle Kingdom" became "Jungle Mystery" and if you look up Jeffbert's threads to "Chi-tan's Adventures!" you find many of them there as the episodes featuring him were not dubbed into English and are only available on Japanese DVD as part of the TetsuWan Atom(u) boxed collection.

I

[AprilSeven]

Here's what I'd like to know -- if I were to purchase the Japanese boxed set (I think a site called CD Japan or something?), would I be able to actually play the dvds -- it sounds like they need a player from Japan? And if that's the case, how on earth do people in America get to see these episodes?

Isn't there a hulu or youtube equivalent in Japan where we could watch the episodes? I would LIKE to own them, but it seems to require a great deal of money and special equipment. There MUST be some way, what with the internet to let us at least have a single viewing.

I wish I had a Japanese friend or something!

[Dr. Jerk]

Lost issues huh. Well that's quite disappointing.

And uh, thanks for the info Astrobuddy, but I didn't need to know that much.

[AprilSeven]

@ Astrobuddy, I DO appreciate the extra info -- I was trying to locate the manga relating to Chi-tan too, and wondered why it seemed to be missing.

Hopefully someday we can find a way to fill in the gaps.

[ASTROBUDDY]

Hi, AprilSeven

The DVDs from Japan are region 2 and would probably not play on a DVD player made in the U.S. as those are region 1, unless you have a region free DVD player that can play DVDs regardless of point of origin. I am sure some one is uploading episodes somewhere and youtube may have a few. Any one out there know for sure? But the best place I've found where we can get an idea of the episodes has been the threads posted by Jeffbert right here at this forum!

Your welcome, Dr. Jerk! (I see you are aptly named!)

I

[Dr. Jerk]

@ Astrobuddy, I DO appreciate the extra info -- I was trying to locate the manga relating to Chi-tan too, and wondered why it seemed to be missing.

Hopefully someday we can find a way to fill in the gaps.

I do know that Tezuka Productions have been publishing the Astro Boy manga as they appeared in their original Shonen magazine publications, with colored pages. It came in units of boxsets and had much nicer volume cover art. But I don't think the Chii-Tan chapters, and others not serialized in the Shonen magazines, would be in it.

*Sigh* What I would give for something like that to come to the states. But that's unlikely, even in Europe where Tezuka's works are more popular.

[jeffbert]

Here's what I'd like to know -- if I were to purchase the Japanese boxed set (I think a site called CD Japan or something?), would I be able to actually play the dvds -- it sounds like they need a player from Japan? And if that's the case, how on earth do people in America get to see these episodes?

I have neither a TV nor a DVD player; I use my PC and POWER DVD. To view regions other than 1, I use ANYDVD, a little program that not only allows any regions on any DVD drive, but also lets me skip all the stuff that usually comes on whether or not I want to see it. It is free to use for the 1st month; just be sure that if you buy the key, you make a copy on a CD. I initially just configured an external DVD drive for region 2, though any drive can be set for other regions, you can only change it 4 or 5 times.

COUNTDOWN: 95

NOBODY WILL EVER CATCH ME!!

[AprilSeven]

JEFFY!! THE BIG 7K!! YAY!!

And thanks for the info, I'll check into it further....

[Dr. Jerk]

There's something called a VLC Media Player that lets you play any region dvds without having to switch the region.

And better yet, it's legal.