Hosts: Evan “Vampt Vo” Minto, Frederik L. Schodt, Ed Sizemore
Topic: Second half of our comparison of all versions of the Astro Boy story “The Greatest Robot on Earth” (original manga, 60s anime, 1980 anime, 2003 anime, and Pluto manga)
This is the second half of episode #028, featuring a continuation of our discussion of Astro Boy and its many adaptations. If you’re confused about this show, I’d suggest you listen to the first half, which you can find right here. Additionally, listen till the end of the show for contest information, primarily that the Black Jack “suggest-a-topic” contest will be ending next Sunday, April 25 at 11:59pm.
Show notes and links after the break.
(Runtime: 47 minutes)
[01:03] We begin with talking about the character of Pluto and his relationship with Astro’s sister Uran. We kind of meander off into a discussion of Uran specifically and Urasawa’s interesting take on her character in Pluto.
[07:49] Some more focused discussion here of Urasawa’s art in Pluto and his plans (or lack thereof) for future Osamu Tezuka adaptations.
[12:25] We talk about Pluto’s depiction in Urasawa’s Pluto manga, which gives him less of a “human” personality and makes him much more mysterious than his original character.
[17:28] Ed gets us talking about specific moments, themes, and visual cues from Tezuka’s original manga that Urasawa includes in Pluto. This later expands into some talk about Tezuka’s greater ideas about humanity in his manga. Evan mentions an “internal focus” to Urasawa’s version as opposed to an “external focus” in Tezuka’s original.
[22:40] Then some references to older Astro Boy stories and other Tezuka manga series and the themes therein. Ed calls Astro a “circular” character. We talk about how to introduce people to the Astro Boy canon.
[27:57] We talk about the end of the story and the reasons provided by each story for why Pluto destroyed so many beloved robots. Ed describes Tezuka’s understanding of what Evan calls “second-degree responsibility” and brings up an idea he calls “temporal arrogance.”
[39:35] Evan wraps it up by asking about each person’s favorite adaptation. We provide some final thoughts on what order to read/watch the versions of this story.
[43:24] That’s the end of the show! Check out Ed’s reviews at MangaWorthReading.com and Fred’s books and other information at jai2.com. Follow all three hosts on Twitter Ed is “edsizemore”, Fred is “fschodt”, and Evan is “VamptVo”.
[46:44] Ending Song: “WORLD END Instrumental” by FLOW (Code Geass R2 2nd OP)
[46:59] Evan throws in some information about the Black Jack contest, which ends on Sunday, April 25 at 11:59pm.
