
Ready?
Like Tetsuwan Penguin, I first saw Astro in the 1960s, and I understood the story to take place in New York City. So, first of all, Astro is American.
Astor Boynton III is a descendent of John Jacob Astor (the wealthy American industrialist who perished on the Titanic). Part of the Astor family fortune is what built the Institute of Science, which is situated in mid-town Manhattan.
Dr. Boyntons wife, Sarah was a scientist and astronaut who perished on a space shuttle mission when Astor was 5 years old. The family has a condo in the city, and a large, modern home in Scarsdale (a wealthy suburb about ½ hour out of New York in Westchester County).
Astor is a student at Dalton (an exclusive private school), and his best friend, Nicholas Watkins, are both 12 years old, at the top of their class, very geeky, but also NOT angels. The two tend to have way too much time on their hands, unsupervised, and they get into all kinds of mischief. Nicks parents are both employed by the IOS, and when Astor dies in the car crash (Nick was supposed to be with him that day), they quickly move away to California to give their grieving son a new start.
About 10 ½ years after he was created, Astro awoke one morning to find his voice had suddenly changed, and his legs were both approximately 2 inches longer. Dr. Elefun, upon examining him and a call to the secluded Dr. Boynton confirmed that, indeed, Astros growth programming had finally kicked in (about 8 years late!). Dr. Boynton and Elefun worked together to fabricate an adult body for Astro. One of the advancements is his new AI, which exists in living brain cells that were cloned from Astor.
Astro is reunited with Nick when they are both selected for a mission to Venus. Over the next year they become close friends although very different in temperament. Drone exploration reveals that there is, in fact, a tiny pocket of life on Venus. This trip is a major turning point in Astros life.
So basically, you envisioned Astor/Tobio as movie Tobio...somewhat.
Either way, your head canons are really interesting April. You can definitely tell that you've put a lot of time and effort into these.