Messed up new Astroboy idea

[Master Atlas]

Hello,I'm kinda new...not just to this forum,but also the whole Astroboy thing,sort of.

I saw the 80s show when I was little,but I can't remember most of it. Recently,though I got the first 6 volumes of Osamu Tezuka's original Astroboy released by Darkhorse. Oh,& I've played a couple of the games via emulation,including that new one on the GBA...can't wait for the english version. And I've seen a couple of episodes of the new show...mabye I'm not that big of a n00b.

Anyway,I had a weird idea for a new Astroboy thing & I figured I'd share it here & see if anybody thinks it's cool.

It takes place around the start of the 22nd century & is a lot more dark & serious(yeah,I know,dark & serious has been done,but isn't it worth at least one more shot?). Everybody who's been around since the original series is pretty different looking than before. I'm not sure all of the story I've got so far will jive with any established continuity,though. Sorry...

Astro is ressurected in a new,more powerful body with no memory of the events leading up to his presumed demise. He's taller & leaner & slightly older looking(Astro-teen,mybe?) with slightly longer head spikes that are kinked in the middle so the look a bit like cartoon lightning bolts...unless that looks too silly. He now wears chest armour,gauntlets,different boots,stuff like that. His powers are a bit different,too. Ha has self repair nanites,a microfusion energy converter so he doesn't have to get refueled all the time,instead of finger lasers & 'Astro buster' arm cannons,he charges his whole body up with electricity & fires it off in deadly bolts,or uses it to power up physical attacks.

Anyway,he's been brought back by a scientist who found his ruined body lying in a junkheap & upgraded him using stolen plans & materials. He's been ressurected because the human race is in peril,& only Astro can save them.

Why are they in peril,you ask? One word: Atlas.

You see,after Astro mysteriously vanished,Atlas was virtually unopposed & built up his robot supremicist forces & went to war with the UN,or whatever political entity rules the world in the Astroboy universe. The conflict that ensued was long & bloody,but the robots eventually won out. Humanity is now an endangered species,forced to live in slums & remote areas for fear of being tracked down by Atlas's deadly hunter-killer droids.

The particular slum Astro & the guy who saved him are in is a junk filled wasteland that was the site of the last great battle in the Atlas wars. Everywhere you turn,there are rusting robot & battle mecha parts & people built houses & stuff among the scrap(think Battle Angel Alita). It's safe because the robots hardly ever come there,except for the ocaisional scavenger-bot scrounging up spare parts.

Anyway,Astro has been ressurected because he always upheld the dream of a paradise where humans & robots could be friends. With Atlas' hate & energeon-fueled human genocide nearly complete,the world is more in need of Astro & his ideals than ever. Astro continues to fight for right in a world gone wrong while trying to keep the horrors around him from getting to him.(no easy task)

So,the story is basically Astro & some other resistance shmoes fighting against Atlas & his evil robot empire.

And Astro & his evil bro wouldn't be the only returning characters.

Here are some ideas I had for placement of old Astroboy(& other Tezuka anime) favourites

An aging,reformed Rock,aka.Deadcross as a great resistance leader.

Lord Atlas' posse,including his long-suffering Queen,Levie'en Rose,his high guard,possibly including Pluto(& his wife,the sadistic Lady Uran! Wouldn't that be a twist?),Mont Blanc,Denkou,Epsilon,North #2 & Blue Kinght(formerly Rag),once(but not always) a vigilante on the side of justice who has once again lost faith in equality.

Jetter Mars,who has been forced by Atlas to lead his Martian occupation forces in exchange for the life of a human girl he loved(Jetter having moved to the Mars settlements in his ongoing quest to find himself). But the girl,once a full figured,quick witted beauty has become dishevelled & half mad from the tortures endured in Atlas' dungeon. Transformed into a self-hating mess,Jetter is realizes his lady love would be better off dead,but can't bear to let her go,so he seeks out Astro for a fight to the finish to ensure that both he & his true love are both put out of their misery...


So yeah...that's basically the premise for Astroboy: Dark future,as far as it is in my head. Just wanted to know what people think. Is it dumb?

[jeffbert]

Sounds like you want to cross Atom with the terminator and a few other sci-fi films. I would love to see the law suits for this one!

[cybotron]

Originally posted by Master Atlas@Apr 9 2004, 04:30 PM

So yeah...that's basically the premise for Astroboy: Dark future,as far as it is in my head. Just wanted to know what people think. Is it dumb?

Interesting ... The Tenma device claims another victim.... Dr. Boynton The original creator of Astro had such delusions... And went mad when he found that Astro was never going to grow any older or taller.... He sold Astro to the Circus. The inability of Adharma to escape the Maya. h34r: h34r: h34r:

[Xenomage]

I too though it would be neat to see a lightly older, more beefed up Astro in a gritty setting and this sounds interesting other than the fact that it seems like a bunch of already exsisting sci-fi plots all rolled into one.
I know its hard to get an original angle when your dealing with a character who has seen and done it all, but reading that made me instantly think of Terminator, the Matrix, Battle Angel ect, which probably isnt a good thing (mind you a Battle Angel styled Astro world would be kinda cool).
Not sure what you could do to get a fresh take on it though, short of changing much of the plot...

[Dragonrider1227]

Sounds intresting. I'm curious as to how Astro would look as a teen.

[cybotron]

Originally posted by Dragonrider1227@Apr 10 2004, 03:56 AM
Sounds intresting. I'm curious as to how Astro would look as a teen.

Astro's neck is in fact a coil... And so is the DNA Helix... But the interface to "Rainbow Valley" will not age....

Alternate Continua.... Dr.Who and the Time Lord Hypothesis.


<_<

[LLJade]

Sounds pretty cool! I wouldn't mind reading it! I myself am working on an Astro Boy fic, granted mine is about Atlas, the 2003 version, not the 80's version. Still though, that would be pretty sweet.

Lauren

[Xenomage]

Originally posted by Dragonrider1227@Apr 10 2004, 04:56 AM
Sounds intresting. I'm curious as to how Astro would look as a teen.

Something like this maybe? (based on Master Atlas' description)

[cybotron]

Originally posted by Xenomage+Apr 10 2004, 05:48 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Xenomage @ Apr 10 2004, 05:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Dragonrider1227@Apr 10 2004, 04:56 AM
Sounds intresting. I'm curious as to how Astro would look as a teen.

Something like this maybe? (based on Master Atlas' description)

[/b][/quote]
It begins to look like Vegeta... Dragon Ball Z... Sony won't like that. And neither will Funimation.

[Master Atlas]

Originally posted by Xenomage+Apr 10 2004, 06:48 AM--></span><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Xenomage @ Apr 10 2004, 06:48 AM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin--Dragonrider1227@Apr 10 2004, 04:56 AM
Sounds intresting. I'm curious as to how Astro would look as a teen.

Something like this maybe? (based on Master Atlas' description)

[/b][/quote]
Sweet!

That is pretty great. It's very believeable.

As to some aspects of the plot being derivitive...well,maybe. Yeah,I guess it is,but my idea was for Dark future to be more character driven than story driven.

It's about how the characters have changed & their passions & their struggles.

It's about Astro. His commitment to equality & peace,& how living in the world Atlas created changes him.

It's about Atlas,who doesn't think he's a bad guy. He has beliefs & he's determined to fulfill,no matter what.

It's about Lavien,who knows what Atlas is doing is wrong,but loves him & stays by his side because he has shown her tenderness & compassion no one else ever did(I can't remember the old show. Was Atlas really a good husband? I like the idea of him being kind & caring to Lavien,but a monster to everyone else).

It's about the resistance guys(most of whom I haven't really thought of names for. Mabye an older Pinoko & older classmates,like Tamao,Ken & Shibugaki,as well as some relatives of old faves like Ochanomizu,Mustachio & Tawashi,& Rock/Deadcross of course) who are Astro's allies,but their hatred of robots might be just as big a threat as Atlas,were they ever to sieze power.

And other stuff,too. Rag/Blue Knight has given up on trying to reason with humans & just goes around slaughtering them. Uran & Pluto are married & Uran has aquired a fascination for torturing captured humans. I dunno if Pluto would be any different. Maybe he'd be really whipped,or something. Jetter Mars hates his emotions now because of all the foolish decisions he made out of love & the pain they caused him & others.

And there's other stuff,too...but maybe I should just shut up now so I don't give too much away.

Still,I'm not even sure I'm going to be able to finish writing this. I'm already working on a screenplay of Megaman Zero...