Anime Review: Astroboy 2003

I'll be reviewing Astroboy 2003 tonight! 

Read on for more!

When you watch an anime there are certain things that we all look for. They are as follows: Character Development, Artistic Appeal, Opening and Ending Originality and Interestingness, and Plot Complexity. These are our FOUR anime judging qualities and by reviewing this way we can avoid spoilers, I think. So let's begin!

Summary 

Astroboy is a story that has changed many times over the years. The original story by Tezuka Osamu was aired in the 1960's and had one hundred and ninety something episodes. The 2003 version is the newest anime version out. In this version, Dr. Elefun/Dr. OShea (in the english dub) awakens a humanoid robot that it's creator Dr. Tenma discarded. Dr. Elefun dubs the boy robot Astro and takes on the role of being his mentor and foster father. Dr. Tenma though is jealous and to keep a hold in Astro's life he organizes challenges and enemies for Astro to face because Tenma wants him to become the strongest robot. The world that they live in is racist against robots because humans believe that robots should not be intelligent or have emotions. It's up to Astro to bring the humans and robots together, with the help of his foster father Dr. Elefun or Dr. OShea.

Character Development 

I actually haven't seen the other astroboy series so I don't know how much better or worse the character development is compared to them. I can comment on the character relationships in this show. In this version Dr. Oshea or Dr. Elefun (in the japanese) is like astroboy's father. Unlike the other series' Dr. Oshea doesn't create Astro robotic parents. He IS Astro's father in this one. Dr. Tenma is Dr. Oshea's rival. The theme is based on their rivalry as Astro's true father figure. Dr. Oshea does create Astro a sister, who is called Zoran in the english series. The main bad guy robots or rivals are Pluto, Atlas, and the Blue Knight. 

Artistic Appeal

This series is done with the same style as Tezuka's orignal Astroboy series. The only difference is that the colors are newer. Tezuka's artistic style is unique and very cool to watch!

Opening and Ending Originality

If you watch this show dubbed in English you're killing yourself in this category. There is no opening and ending for the American version, only instrumentals. But if you watch the show in Japanese, there are cool openings and endings. See the second opening at the beginning of this post which is by M-flo and Chemistry.

Plot complexity

I don't know about the other Astroboy plots. However the first astroboy being 190 something episodes must have more plot complexity and it was created directly by Tezuka Osamu. This version had episodic plotlines but there was a overarching story behind Astro's origins and the rivalry between Dr. Oshea and Dr. Tenma. Astro's fights with other robots are very short and if you're looking for shounenesque training and fights you're not going to find it as much. But the tensions between the rivals in this show are very good and worth watching.

Overall: Recommended