How did you discover Astro Boy?

[Astro boy]

I discovered astro boy when I lived in Osaka for a year in 2000/2001. I just loved the clean aesthetics so I bought an Astro boy alarm clock and some other astro related stuff (when I got home to Sweden, the astro boy and tezuka toy collecting continued and has been out of control ever since . I have also since continued to grow my interest for Astro Boy and the entire Tezuka character world, which is awsome, and enriching in every way possible.

[ASTROBUDDY]

After reading all of the posts in this thread, I decided I would add my two cents! First I was surprised on how many of you out there are female! I was surprised because most of the women I know don't even like cartoons and the few that do like only "Disney"! (Although I do have a few friends who like "Kimba"!) Any way I first discovered "Astro Boy" when it first aired in my native New York City in 1963 when I was a little boy of about seven. It originally aired here at 7:00 pm in the evenings on what was then channel 5 (I believe the call lettters were WNEW!) This for you historians out there is what was known back then as a local VHF channel! I remember being sad when it was taken off the air! Although as years passed my only memories of the show was the theme song (This is the original Astro Boy march!) and the story to the episode I found out later was the original series episode, "The Strange Voyage"! (Remade for the 1980s series as, "The Wreck of the Titan"!) and a character named Princess Papaya Petal! (That name always cracked me up! For those who are wondering this is the name given to the female character who falls in love with Astro Boy not knowing he is a robot in the original series episode "Sea Serpent Isle"!) In the late 1980s, at a comic book convention I came across dealers who were selling VHS tapes of old childrens' shows from the sixties and someone was selling Astro Boy and this rekindled my interest in Astro Boy because I had always maintained that he was my favorite cartoon character! Shoot, I didn't even know he was Japanese in origin at the time! Watching those episodes again as an adult I realized that his stories really held my interest; not like the other shows from my youth which seemed like so much kidstuff! From then on I sought out everything I could find out about Astro Boy! It was amazing how much misinformation was out there about Astro Boy! I discovered the 1980s series (both the U.S.A. dub and the Canadian re-dub) almost by accident! But that is a story for another time! Along with how I came to this forum! It is just great to know so many others share the same passion for Astro Boy that I have! Everything really is go, ASTRO BOY!

[AstroBoyGF]

aww what a sweet tale!^^ thanks ASTROBUDDY!^^

[Uran-chan]

aww what a sweet tale!^^ thanks ASTROBUDDY!^^

AGREED ITS AN INTERESTING STORY....

[Reno]

I don't know why it is that there's mostly female Astro Boy fans. I actually don't personally know any male who's an Astro Boy fan.

Glad you came to be a fan, ASTROBUDDY ^__^.

[Astro Forever]

I never discussed cartoons with the boys in my class back then, but I remember that my best friend and her sister liked Astroboy as much as I did back then (though I wonder what she'd say today if she knew I owned two and a half boxsets of the series! ).

Another good friend must have liked the show as well, because I remember getting up after sleeping at her house and watching "Robot Land" on her VCR. That was fun!

I don't know of any girl who wasn't watching the Saturday and Sunday morning cartoons back then, and not any of them was from Disney. Pretty sure the boys did as well although maybe everyone's favorite shows might not have been the same.

[ASTROBUDDY]

I have to correct myself! When I gave it further thought I realized I do know a few women who like Astro Boy! But let me tell you a little anecdote about something that happened to me in my early search for Astro Boy items! Back in the late eighties or early nineties, my girlfriend knowing I was interested in Astro Boy had informed me of an article she saw in the papers about a shop that was selling Astro Boy merchandise! So I went looking for this store; had not really looked at what type of store it was and walked right in to where I saw a display case with Astro Boy items! I looked around for a store clerk when I noticed two men staring at me! I politely nodded hello and then I began to look around the store and at some of the other merchandise & realized to my surprise that apparently this store was a gay man's store and the two gentlemen (who were obviously gay) staring at me were probably wondering what this straight man was doing in this store! So you see this was an example of how Astro Boy's appeal transcends race, color, creed and sexual preference! I did end up buying some items from the store including a nice Astro Boy hand mirror for my girlfriend which she has to this day! [Sorry I went off track with this last post, but let me just add that in rediscovering Astro Boy, I now have a great new avocation, as I have a very extensive (and expensive) Astro Boy (along with a few other Tezuka items) collection, which includes an actual original "TetsuWan Atom Club" magazine from the sixties, as well as a very complete and minute knowledge of Astro Boy history and trivia!]

[Uran-chan]

I don't know why it is that there's mostly female Astro Boy fans. I actually don't personally know any male who's an Astro Boy fan.

Glad you came to be a fan, ASTROBUDDY ^__^.

Hmmm...i wound'nt agree with that iam an astroboy fan

and iam a male...

[AstroBoyGF]

well i'm a female and i like astro boy because i identify with him...its more on an emotional scale for me...

[Uran-chan]

well i'm a female and i like astro boy because i identify with him...its more on an emotional scale for me...

Not really?! your a female i don think so... just kidding

hey i saw your drawing in Driex blah never mind....but is saw your drawings
hey its great! Good Job.

And i saw your account with zoran pic..pls don t put Zoran pic or thread cause it make me blush. cause i love her more than my Life!,shes my angel,my heart,my life,and shes my wing, Dont ever post zoran pic in here or else i might be unconcious ness..