Interesting themes to explore in Tetsuwan Atom series

[Toshio]

There are lots of interesting themes to explore in Tetsuwan Atom series.

One of them is the case of Atom's birth in the original mangá and 1963 series which Dr. Tenma reject him for not being able to grow up.

That fact is unevitable, since Atom is a robot and a technology which would make a robot grow up is impossible.

Although some disagree there are another important factor related to a robot growing up being not a good idea to explore:

Robots would have to get aged like human does and they would have to look like eldery men or eldery women, which would be impossible since they're actually no living beings.

So, even if a robot had grow up through some weird technology which is like magic, he would have to look like an actual oldman in order to fit his human friends who got aged...

But, since he is not a living being, he would not die of old age...
Unless the parts got damaged and not repaired correctly.

Also, another important factor about Atom's birth is the fact he is NOT guilty of being born.

Does it make sense putting guilt in newly born children just because they born with a certain limitation or because the father rejected the mother since he don't wanted the child and got fed up with her?

If Atom had born without being quite close to Tobio, then it's not his fault, right?

[jeffbert]

Correct; nobody is responsible for being born. As odd as it may seem, the novel Frankenstein may have examined this question. Of course, one's interpretation is private, & may differ from others, but I have a so-called critical edition of that story, & it contains more than a few interpretations of it, that being one. That one was born guilty or damned, was actually a belief of Calvinism, & that essay interpreted Frankenstein as a rebuttal to it. Both Victor Frankenstein & Umataro Tenma created artificial beings for selfish reasons. Frankenstein merely wondered if it were possible to do so, while Tenma wanted to fill a void in his life. Neither cared anything for their creations, which is obvious because when it became obvious that these creations fell short of their expectation, they cast them away.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

In Frankenstein's case (well actually Frankenstein's Monster's case) It must have been even worse since he was created from the parts of various dead people and in theory might have had some memory of his former lives. The poor creature would have been only a shell of his former selves and probably would have rather not have been created, thereby hating his creator.

Astro on the other hand was a completely original creation and would have been like a human child finding wonder in discovering what life was all about. Being rejected by his creator father was a setback, but he was lucky in that he was given a new family that cared for him.

In the movie Astro was given the memories of Tobio (one can argue about being able to recover a persons memories from DNA in a strand of hair, but its' artistic license), so he woke up where his former life had left off only to discover that he was no longer the person he thought he was. Three completely different variants to the theme.

[AprilSeven]

Hmmm . . . I expected to read about interesting TA themes to explore, but most of the first post was a commentary on NOT writing about robots growing up and/or aging.

If you'd like, I can change the name of the thread, Toshio, or else you might want to realize that someone else (besides me) might actually have a theme they'd like to share that just happens to cast Atom in a completely different way, and you need to be respectful of that idea, even if it's one you'd never write about (or read).

And speaking of getting back on topic:

I've always thought it would seem interesting for Atom to meet friends of Tobio -- in particular, Tobio's best friend. Would he and Atom get along? It would be an interesting connection for Atom to his "human past." Would Tobio's "bff's" parents be accepting of Atom?

[Prettywitchiusaka]

Hmmm . . . I expected to read about interesting TA themes to explore, but most of the first post was a commentary on NOT writing about robots growing up and/or aging.

If you'd like, I can change the name of the thread, Toshio, or else you might want to realize that someone else (besides me) might actually have a theme they'd like to share that just happens to cast Atom in a completely different way, and you need to be respectful of that idea, even if it's one you'd never write about (or read).

And speaking of getting back on topic:

I've always thought it would seem interesting for Atom to meet friends of Tobio -- in particular, Tobio's best friend. Would he and Atom get along? It would be an interesting connection for Atom to his "human past." Would Tobio's "bff's" parents be accepting of Atom?

Ooh, I've always wanted to see that too. It would certainly make an interesting parallel for Tenma, who I can only assume would be suspicious of the little robot, since he doesn't seem to act like a regular kid.

[racoonangel]

i'd like to see more romantic stories of astro falling in love

[AprilSeven]

i'd like to see more romantic stories of astro falling in love

But . . . as a 9-12 year old boy?

[jeffbert]

I think Tobio's friends would be reluctant, to say the least, to accept Atom as a new or reborn Tobio. On the other hand, as a unique person, what boy would not want a robot for a best friend? Taken together, I think the boy would resist Atom's attempt to become friends, but, eventually, provided Atom persists, & uses the right approach, he would eventually accept him, though it depends on his personality.

[racoonangel]

i'd like to see more romantic stories of astro falling in love

But . . . as a 9-12 year old boy?

yes as in stories like that. I can even imagine myself being astro's girlfriend

[Toshio]

[quote=""AprilSeven""][/quote]
In fact AprilSeven, the issue of Atom not being able to grow up and the reason which growing factors are likelly impossible is a interesting theme to explore as well.

Specially if Dr. Ochanomizu explained why it doesn't make sense making a technology which a robot would grow up.

Another interesting issue is the fact robots can outlive most humans, so just growing up physically would not be enough for Atom.
There are characters from several animes who are older than they look and it's due several factors like being robots or creatures who have a much larger lifespan than humans.

Another interesting theme is the brotherhood and the importance of getting
along with our siblings.

It was explored a lot with Atom and Uran, but I feel that Atom could be a good example for big brothers who are not getting along well with their young siblings.

And Atom could teach a thing or two for bullying older brothers, right?

The issue of Tobio's friends meeting Atom and interacting with him wasn't explored yet from what I know.
It's like that ONLY Dr. Tenma and Dr. Ochanomizu remembered of Tobio so far...