Customer Reviews

Astro Boy - The Complete Series

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

PLEASE, stop complaining that this isn't the original Astro Boy series. This has to be the most absurd basis for a review I've ever read. It's like yelling at a waiter for bringing you EXACTLY WHAT YOU ORDERED even though in your mind you really wanted something else. It's insane. You're not even reviewing the DVD set that this section is reserved for. You're just mad because you weren't paying attention. It's not like Amazon fooled you. If you had bothered to read the DVD specs in the first place, you would have realized that this set is from the 2003 TV series (which is beautiful and true to the "original" 1963-66 Japanese series). So, open your eyes next time. Don't bash it before you've seen it.

Any "true" Astro Boy fan will be happy to own this collection.

I've started watching Astro Boy on Cartoon Network. I missed a few episodes, so I picked up Astro Boy The Complete Series. The box set contains special feature. There are 50 episode on 5 DVDs. If you want to know the episode titles I have include them in this review. Also 29 episodes never before aired in the United States.

Disc .01
01.Power Up!
02.Rocket Ball
03.Atlas
04.Astro VS. Atlas
05.Destination Deimos
06.Into Thin Air
07.Rainbow Canyon
08.Neon Express
09.Franken
10.The Venus Robots

Disc .02
11.Revivng Jumbo
12.Robot Hunters
13.The Rise Of Pluto
14.The Fall Of Acheron
15.Dragon Lake
16Lost In Outland
17.Deep City
18.The Blue Knight
19.Hydra-Jacked
20.Geo Raider

Disc .03
21.Secret Of The Blue Knight
22.Robot Circus
23.Little Sister, Big Trouble
24.Micro Adventure
25.Only A Machine
26.Robot Boy
27.Dawn Of The Techno-Revolution
28.The Legend Of Tohron
29.March Of The Micro Bears
30.Old Dog, New Tricks

Disc .04
31.The Case Of The Phantom Fowl
32.Gideon
33.Fairy Tale
34.Shape Shifter
35.Firebired
36.Space Academy
37.Atlas Strikes Back
38.Battle-Bot
39.Time Hunters
40.Escape From Volcano Island

Disc .05
41.Avalanche!
42.Battle Of Steel Island
43.Undercover
44.Into The Dragon's Lair
45.Night Before The Revolution
46.Robotnia
47.Showdown In Robotonia
48.Journey To Tomorrow
49.Astro Reborn
50.The Final Battle

Astro, the beginning of all the world's anime. This young robot boy with the ability to think and feel like a human is truly a joy to have in anyone's anime collection. When the series aired on KTLA and later on Cartoon Network, I was impressed and astonished. Superb, top quality anime in all its glory, that is Astro Boy! Too bad both networks cut the series out of their line-ups shortly after it started. Their loss.

The DVD collection comes in a 5-CD set, with 10 episodes each. According to the box, 29 of these 50 episodes were not aired in the U.S. and I would have to agree. Some of these I have never seen before and I know Cartoon Network aired more episodes than KTLA, so if I didn't seen them on T.V., they must not have been planned on being released here. As for the anime itself, all I can say is "Wow." They did a superb job revamping the first anime in history into this masterpiece.

The visual quality is incredible. Everything from electricity to circuit boards to explosions to Astro's arm cannon attack, they all please the eyes. Voice acting is also very well-done, each character sounds exactly as they look. There are Spanish and Portuguese versions of the episodes, but no Japanese sadly and neither have subtitles. That's okay though, it doesn't make the anime less enjoyable. Plus, these two languages sound pretty good on the anime, especially if you're a pro in understanding either.

The only thing I can say that is off about this great collection is that the episode order is a bit misplaced. They first show you Astro's sister Zoran on Disc 2, but she actually is officially introduced on Disc 3. Also, flashbacks are shown in one episode, but they are of scenes that happen in future episodes. A slight mistake they have made, but I won't hold it against them. After all, there are so many pros that this small con is easily forgotten.

Extra side note: in historical context of thinking, feeling robot boys, Astro Boy came first and it seems like Megaman was based off of him in practically every way, so remember who the blue bomber should give credit to next time you see him.

Final conclusion: This anime belongs in every anime lover's collection! I haven't even finished watching the whole thing, but it doesn't matter. I know I'm going to love the rest of it. Do yourself a favor and get this. You won't be disappointed, especially if you watched the Metropolis anime. That anime and Astro have the same visual intensity and character design (same staff worked on both), so you're getting more out of buying this DVD set.

I saw the theatrical movie the day it came out and loved it, so went and bought the 1980s color remake version DVD set and this 2003 version DVD set. I gave this product 4 stars because the series itself is great and I would highly recommend purchasing it, but there are a few flaws with this DVD set that made it so I could not give it 5 stars.

1. My primary problem with this set is it does not have the option of Japanese with English translation subtitles that I prefer having while watching anime (the 1980s set did though).

2. My next concern is there are several scenes missing throughout the episodes. Also most of the episodes are out of order, but that didn't bother me as much as the lack of Japanese language option and the missing scenes.
--Many of the missing scenes I don't understand why they cut, like the scene in the second episode that explains why Astro sleeps even though he's a robot.
--A couple more examples are: 1)the missing scenes of how Tobio died, Dr. Tenma finding Tobio after the car accident, and crying over his dead son (there's no blood/gore) in a couple episodes; 2)in the first episode when Astro is flying for the first time they cut some cute parts of his interactions with robots and humans (including a man and his daughter who you see later in the episode and other episodes).
--In this DVD set Atlas is said to have always been a robot and is just remade, but in the uncut he was actually the man's son who died in an accident and Dr. Tenma agrees to make the robot with the boy's memories (like he did with Tobio).
--Also, the episodes are originally in widescreen.
--Even though I bought an import uncut copy (Japanese with English/Chinese subtitles) of the series I would still buy a domestic uncut release, partly because the translation subtitles on the import are not great quality and are a little hard to understand at times.

3. This I thought was funny more than a problem. When watching the episode "Dawn of the Techno-Revolution", which is completely made up of scenes from other episodes in the series, I saw a scene of Astro in front of a fountain with a boy that appeared to be in a wheel chair that does not fit with any of the other episodes. This scene is actually from an episode that was completely cut out and "Dawn of the Techno-Revolution" replaced. Why cut an episode and include a scene from it in the episode that they replaced it with? LOL
--The cut episode has to do with Astro and his school friends watch a robot play of Peter Pan in a park and bring up the fact that Astro will never grow up. A man nearby has the robot fairy sprinkle dust on the kids watching, which allows him to hypnotize the kids that night. The hypnotized kids end up on a flying space craft that looks like a pirate ship. The man plans to use a device he built that will make it so the kids will never grow up and take the kids to a place in space he made to look like Neverland. Astro is trying to find his missing friends and meets a boy in a floating (wheel) chair in front of a fountain in the park who is also looking for missing friends. The two boys find the ship and rescue the kids who when no longer hypnotized tell what they want to be when they grow up and also tell Astro they will always be his friend even though he will never grow up.

The following is the order the episodes play on the import uncut set:
01. Power Up!
02. Rocket Ball
03. Destination Deimos
04. Into Thin Air
05. Rainbow Canyon
06. Atlas
07. Astro vs. Atlas
08. Neon Express
09. Franken
10. The Venus Robots
11. Robot Circus
12. Reviving Jumbo
13. Little Sister, Big Trouble
14. Micro Adventure
15. Only a Machine
16. Robot Hunters
17. The Rise of Pluto
18. The Fall of Acheron
19. Robot Boy
20. (Eonian Teenagers aka Eternal Boy)= replaced episode
21. Dragon Lake
22. The Legend of Tohron
23. Lost In Outland
24. March of the Micro Bears
25. Deep City
26. The Blue Knight
27. Old Dog, New Tricks
28. Hydra-Jacked
29. The Case of the Phantom Fowl
30. Geo Raider
31. Gideon
32. Secret of the Blue Knight
33. Fairy Tale
34. Shape Shifter
35. Firebird
36. Space Academy
37. Atlas Strikes Back
38. Battle-Bot
39. Time Hunters
40. Escape From Volcano Island
41. Avalanche!
42. Battle of Steel Island
43. Undercover
44. Into The Dragon's Lair
45. Night Before the Revolution
46. Robotonia
47. Showdown in Robotonia
48. Journey to Tomorrow
49. Astro Reborn
50. The Final Battle

Thank you for reading my review, again I highly recommend this series and please support the release of an uncut DVD and/or Blu-ray set for this series in the U.S.! =)

to reduce confusion of Astro Boy DVD series, please note that there have been 3 series so far: the Black and White 1963 series, the 1980 First Color version, and the 2003 Color version with different stories.

The black and white 1963 version has 193 episodes.

The 1980 version has 52 episodes for the Japanese version, with the first and second episodes merged and cut into 1 episode as the US version. The birth of the character Atlas is removed in the US version. As a result, the US version only has 51 episodes.

The 2003 version has 50 episodes. This version once again has one more episode in the Japanese version. The US version has 1 episode less, which is replaced by a "clip show episode". (probably meaning frame by frame). Personally, I think the 1980 version is slightly cuter than the 2003 version. The 2003 version is more lavish.

More information can be found on Wikipedia: use the keyword Astro Boy, and then try Astro Boy 1980 and Astro Boy 2003

This is a great deal for the entire series. For 40 bucks, you get all 50 episodes. It's a great show, that follows the manga, somewhat loosely, but hey, it keeps to the basic idea and the animation quality is spectacular. I don't exactly like Astro's voice though, it's not high-pitched enough, but it suffices and it's definitely worth your time and money. It's perfect for Tezuka fans, like myself, and a great show for kids as well.

I wouldn't mind the original series from the 50's being released either, but hey, at least Astro boy is finally on DVD in the US.

First the good stuff. The animation is light years ahead of the two previous astro boy series. The characters are fairly true to the original. And, the action scenes are pretty good.
Now the bad stuff. Way too much preachy political correctness. Lame dialouge. Boring synthesizer background music. And worst of all, the episodes are obviously not in chonological order! How hard is it to put the episodes in order?

This is the 2004 dub of the series that release in japan in 2003
It aired on Kids WB and Cartoon Network in The USA
Well is it a remake of the 1980 color version?

Maybe If you look into it the 1963 version of the series you
will see remakes from there in both the 1980's and 2003/04
versions! Even if only 104 of the 193 made it to the us in the 1963 b&w series

the 2003/04 versions are pretty close

Now the 1980's ver you should have both because the story lines go off in differtent direction right away

the orig 63 show is available in 6 boxset from japan is about 1,500 bucks and is only in japanese
and ep 125 is the only one that is kinda missing ( done with stills )
here is the real review for the set for sale here.

The first Japanese manga to be adapted into an animated series, ASTRO BOY was directed by the legendary Osamu Tezuka, and is representative of a nostalgic golden age of comics. Astro is a robot who lives in the "retro-futuristic" Metro City. Originally created by research scientist Dr. Tenma in the image of his deceased son, he was discarded with the scientist's realization that his son could never be replaced. Later discovered by the kindly Dr. O'Shay, Astro was revived and given a robot family, while O'Shay served as his mentor, in the belief that humans and robots can and should get along with each other. Astro, however, is not like other robots; in addition to his superior strength and jet-rocket arms and legs, his brain is the most advanced in the world, and it is capable of feeling all human emotions. Astro is a reluctant superhero, fighting to keep the peace between robots and humans, and always coming to the city's rescue against all manner of nefarious evildoers. Episodes include "Rocket Ball," "Franken," "Deep City," and "The Blue Knight."

"Astro Boy - The Complete Series" is the best Japanese color anime treatment of Astro Boy, based on the work of the legendary manga and anime artist, Osamu Tezuka. Tezuka's work in manga and anime is unparalleld and stands alone in style and substance in this graphic Japanese genre. He is without peer in the entire ouvre of his work, especially with "Astro Boy - The Complete Series." He is in a class of his own. This is why he richly deserves the subriquette "The Walt Disney of Japan." I would heartily recommend "Astro Boy - The Complete Series" and all other works of Tezuka's which he produced over his illustrious lifetime.

many other reviews here complain this isn't the 1960's anime, and while i see where they're coming from...duh. nor the 1979-80 series that many people saw growing up. this 2003 series takes the best elements of the previous two shows, as well as the original manga, and creates a veritable masterpiece of what is already considered THE essential anime. incredibly produced and with one of the best english dubs of the last decade, this show should be a part of every anime collection, and should go on the shelf where it belongs, right next to the other two shows and the graphic novels. PICK THIS ONE UP!!