Atom sacrifying himself is pointless

[GreenDarthVader]

Fun fact, [SPOILERS] Astro boy also sacrifices himself in the GBA Omega factor game, and once again, it was a crowning moment of awesome. [/SPOILERS]

And now to leave this argument thread which is too full of assumptions about what could have happened in a fictional world.

[Prettywitchiusaka]

Really? Man, I really got to play Omega Factor one of these days.

[jeffbert]

A important fact about Atom's sacrifice is that a very powerful enemy could appear suddenly and destroy ALL of Atom's hard work.
That enemy could even appear just after his sacrifice and that enemy would even get the chance to kill as his please since Atom was out of the way.

Like I said: Atom's chances are NOT always zero and he was not taught that he should have tried to save himself as well and find another way.

We don't need to always go into a ending where our dear one dies to save everyone while there is still a chance of a much bigger threat appear taking advantage of his death to ruin everything.

All the humans except Napolatan had fled the earth; where do you find villains among the robots? Of course, when the human finally return to earth, there might be villains among them, but if Atom had not flown the device into the sun, nobody would have had anything to return to. irate:

It was Natsu Onada Power, in God of Comics, who wrote about Tezuka's "Anti-happy ending" (p. 61) & using it in kids' comics. On this page, she cites at least three characters who sacrifice themselves, Atom, Mimio, & Leo. Here is a larger quote:

Tezuka’s narratives often gained emotional impact from drawing on more traditional Japanese values and sensibilities, such as glorification of self-sacrifice.

(61).

Though, as I have already stated, when the sun's heat is continually rising, eventually even robots will cease functioning. Therefore, Atom's life ended sooner than it would have otherwise, but if he had not flown into the sun, everyone, including himself, was facing certain doom. In this case, I do not consider it self-sacrifice. You, Toshio, have your own values & opinions; we understand that, & you must also understand that your opinion, though you highly regard it, is not necessarily correct.

I have never been a soldier, but I understand that the thing a true soldier (as opposed to a coward) values more than his own life, is are the lives of his buddies. The film The Fighting 69th is a prime example, James Cagney's character is a jerk, a loser, etc, & has been disciplined numerous times, to the point where his superiors decide to shoot him. He is in a cell, waiting execution, when an enemy bomb liberates him. He runs for freedom, but somehow learns that his platoon, his buddies, are pinned down, & facing annihilation. He could say, "better them, than me" & simply keep running, but he makes his way to them. In the end, he leaps upon a grenade and uses his body to absorb the blast & save his friends. By your reasoning, he was a fool; Maybe so, but he was not motivated by mere logic, or the instinct for self-preservation. Rather, he was motivated by love/friendship. In the end, he had redeemed himself by this act of self-sacrifice. Its the same thing with Captain Ketchup (In the Atom on Mars story). I will omit the details, as I think I have made my point: your point of view is that of a coward or a child; "my life is all I care about; to hell with the whole world if I must die."

Sorry for the lack of tact! A child simply cannot understand why some choose to die in order to save others; or, I should say, why they must die to save others. It is just the way life is. Like it or not, they all do not live happily ever after. Elsewhere on this forum, we were discussing the censoring of the English language versions of the various MIGHTY ATOM TV series. Nearly all references to death and human mortality were removed or replaced by narration that reassured the viewers that this character was O.K., etc. KIMBA TWL is another example; dead animals lie down, cease all movement, but the narrator assures us they are just resting.

Power, Natsu Onada. God of Comics: Osamu Tezuka and the creation of post World War II manga. Jackson, MI. University Press of Mississippi. 2009

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

The nice thing about comics and science fiction, is that death isn't the end. Spock died in ST2-TWOC, but he was resurected in the next film! Tezuka may have killed Atom off in episode 193 of the 1960's anime, but he found at least TWO different ways to bring him back in the Manga. (And being a member of the star system Atom appeared in other stories such as Marine Express, and many Black Jack stories). Heck, if you're my age you might remember all the 'alternate realitiy' versions of Superman where the Man of Steel was killed off, lost his powers or his memory, etc....

[Dragonrider1227]

Well, when he's sacrificing himself to save the entire world, say if the entire world were to be destroyed if he didn't sacrifice himself, then it wouldn't matter if the villains were there or not because if he didn't sacrifice himself, everyone would be dead

[AprilSeven]

What I remember reading in a few places is that - according to Japanese story-telling tradition - the only way to bring Atom's story to a close, was to bring an end to Atom. This isn't to be "gory" - it's just what is considered to be "normal."

That said, Tezuka gave Atom a true hero's end: lovingly sacrificing for his beloved Earth. He's NOT "sad" or morose . . . he's completely assured he's doing the very best for the planet.

Also remember that in the end Ochanomizu declares he will build "another" Atom - so although we are left with Atom's family/friends waiting anxiously for his return, we are also told that Dr. O will not let the Earth be without another Atom.

And yes, there's the "parody" of him rebuilding Atom II who turns out all wrong . . . but the anime gives an ending that - while "sad" - is also hopeful. And then - as if to quell all sadness - they have Atom and Uran come take a bow at the end (clearly he's "alive"). So, yeah, Tezuka doesn't QUITE kill him off!

[jeffbert]

I recall Tezuka's original intent for what we know as KIMBA THE WHITE LION, that the cycle of life was to be presented, birth, cub, king, father, & leo dies, leaving Lune/Rune to reign in his place, but I do not recall anything similar about Atom, though I will recheck Fred Schodt's book, to see if it is there.

[AprilSeven]

@ Jeffbert - the first place I read that was in The Right Stuf's Episode Guide. It might be included in the booklet that came with the 1960's Ultimate Box Set. I'll see if I can put my hands on the former, and pull the quote...