Astro Boy

Astro Boy, known in Japan by its original name Mighty Atom (Japanese: 鉄腕アトム, Hepburn: Tetsuwan Atomu), is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. English volumes were not available until 2002, when the manga was licensed by Dark Horse. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the death of his son. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on adventures.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Some funny jokes and funny moments.
 * 2) Some likeable characters, like Astro Boy, Ochanomizu, and Uran.
 * 3) Some touching and emotional moments, like when Tobio died in a car crash.
 * 4) It spawns anime adaptations in 1963, 1980, 2003, 2014, and 2019.
 * 5) It spawns internet memes.
 * 6) Creative action scenes.
 * 7) It spawns films, like The Brave in Space (1964).
 * 8) The idea of a very strong robotic human boy was very awesome.
 * 9) Stupendous morals.
 * 10) Some cute moments.
 * 11) Some awesome villains, like Hamegg.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Some mean-spirited moments.
 * 2) Some adult jokes.

Reception
Astro Boy became Tezuka's most famous work. Frederik L. Schodt, the translator of the English version of the manga, said it had "extraordinary longevity and appeal across cultures." Schodt said that many of the stories are sometimes of uneven quality. Schodt said that as the time becomes closer to a true age of robots, Astro Boy assumes more meaning. Jeff Yang of the San Francisco Chronicle said "while kids came for Astro's atomic action – just about every installment included Astro harrowing a fellow robot who'd fallen from digital grace with his fission-powered fists – they stayed for the textured, surprisingly complex stories."