do i need to watch the 60s astro to understand the 80s astro?

[willpitman]

hi ,
I was wondering if i had to watch the 1960s astro boy in order to understand the 1980s astro boy. i typed it into google and nothing came up so i thought id ask here. Also do you have to watch the 1980s asto to understand the 1990s astro.
i would watch them all but after watching episode 1 of the 60s astro i kinda didnt like it so was just wondering if it was really neccasary

THANK YOU

[Dante69]

You don't need to understand any older version to understand another. They all seem to have their own story. It's all the same, but different in a sense.
P.S. The 2003 version is my favourite!

[willpitman]

so they dont follow on from one another??

[Dante69]

Nope. Each of them are a remake of the other. Made a little differently thought.

[willpitman]

thank you very much. been a great help

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

The 1960's anime is the most closely related to the Manga in the artwork, and stories. It was created using a limited animation technique and was done in B&W. This is the only version that includes Cobalt.

The 1980 version is in color, and many of the stories were also lifted from the manga. This was the last Astro anime that Osmau Tezuka had anything to deal with (except for some special TV programs that were never made available to the English speaking world, though you can find sub'ed versions of them on line).

The 2003 Anime was created with new stories and a larger story arc over the entire series. In some ways the rendition of Astro is the most endearing in the artwork, but the series has a 'darker' theme.

Each of these stands alone on their own, you don't need to see them in any order, but I would recommend eventually viewing them all. The '63 anime is full of Tezuka's inside jokes to his readers. The 80 version is somewhat toned down more to a kid's show while the '63 at least in the original Japanese was created as a family show. NBC rescripted it during the dub, dumbing that down. Ditto for what was done to the 2003 anime.

[ASTROBUDDY]

The 1960's anime is the most closely related to the Manga in the artwork, and stories. It was created using a limited animation technique and was done in B&W. This is the only version that includes Cobalt. The 1980 version is in color, and many of the stories were also lifted from the manga. This was the last Astro anime that Osmau Tezuka had anything to deal with (except for some special TV programs that were never made available to the English speaking world, though you can find sub'ed versions of them on line). The 2003 Anime was created with new stories and a larger story arc over the entire series. In some ways the rendition of Astro is the most endearing in the artwork, but the series has a 'darker' theme. Each of these stands alone on their own, you don't need to see them in any order, but I would recommend eventually viewing them all. The '63 anime is full of Tezuka's inside jokes to his readers. The 80 version is somewhat toned down more to a kid's show while the '63 at least in the original Japanese was created as a family show. NBC rescripted it during the dub, dumbing that down. Ditto for what was done to the 2003 anime.

DUMBING IT DOWN! I beg your pardon, but the 1963 original was not dumbed down. As a matter of fact the adapted scripts were very close to the original translations. The main changes were in adapting a show from a basically mono ethnic society to a multi ethnic society and concentrating on the similarities in presenting the show to an audience outside Japan and basically other than Japanese. Of all the versions of Astro Boy, the 1963-6 original is the only one that was extremely popular in its original run and for several years after.

To willpitman, I do agree with TetsuWan Penguin in that you should try all the versions of Astro Boy as they all have something to say. As for the original I suggest you give it another try and you may come to not "kinda dislike" it if you watch a different episode. May I suggest the one color episode, "The Moon Monsters" (Japanese title, "Earth's Defense Squadron"). It appears in Japanese with English subtitles on line. If you like that one then you might try "Attack from Outer Space" (Japanese title, "The Last Day on Earth") But the latter is a great example of changes made in the US due to cultural differences in children's programming between the USA and Japan. (I guess TetsuWan Penguin would say this episode was "dumbed down"!)

I

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

I stand by my comment in the sense that Ladd DID dumb down the show from what today would be a PG rating to a G. While today we would laugh at the idea of doing this, Astro lost his but guns in many scenes and other violence was toned down.

[ASTROBUDDY]

I stand by my comment in the sense that Ladd DID dumb down the show from what today would be a PG rating to a G. While today we would laugh at the idea of doing this, Astro lost his but guns in many scenes and other violence was toned down.

You are entitled to your opinion even though it is not based on fact.
Ladd and his staff in adapting the show for US broadcast kept the integrity of the show intact, so there was no "dumbing down" as I understand the phrase to mean. As I understand it, "dumbing down" means taking an intellectual property that is difficult to understand and simplifying it to make it easier to understand. That did not happen here. The changes made when adapting "TetsuWan Atomu" for an English speaking audience were primarily cultural. Other changes were made to make the show pass broadcast standards in the US. Things that were acceptable in Japan as far as what was shown in a children's program was not in some cases acceptable in American TV. A good example of this is Atom's rear end machine guns. In the US they were explained as coming out from his hips and not his butt. Yes, another factor that was toned down was the amount of violence in the original.
The intellectual content of the show was kept intact as American audiences could easily understand what Dr. Tezuka was trying to say in his programs and there was no need to "dumb it down"! As evidence I offer the fact that Dr. Tezuka was generally pleased in how his show was presented in the US. Now if you don't see the validity of my argument then I will agree to disagree with you.

I

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

I see what you mean and don’t disagree with that. Perhaps "dumbed" was the wrong word and "tamed" would have been better as the goal was to make it more acceptable to kids by their parents. In Japan the whole family would watch the show, but in the US just the kids.