Thoughts on the Japanese 2003 Astro Boy series?

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Fuzzy Pickles!
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Thoughts on the Japanese 2003 Astro Boy series?

Postby Fuzzy Pickles! » 11 years ago

I think we all know about how the 2003 English dub was a big water down of the original, but I'm curious about the general consensus of the Japanese version for those who have seen it (and especially those who own the series on DVD).

I've heard very good things about it, with it getting an A+ on Anime News Network (review was in 2003, before the dub was made). If the show is truly as good as its supposed reception, then it's worth knowing Japanese just for this (though with college and other important factors, it'll be far off).

The series can be bought in Japanese at CD Japan. However, they're very expensive and the entire franchise cost a fortune (It was over $531 when I added them up. Combined with sales tax and import tax and it'll cost over $600 to get it. Then I would have to get the R2 DVDs). So I do plan on picking them up eventually, but it'll be awhile.

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Postby F-Man » 11 years ago

Save money by getting what's out there in Korea. They have English subs too. But it's only half of the series, and episode 20 is missing, and volumes 4 to 6 are on single layer DVDs so less good quality. The subtitles make up for it though.
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Toshio
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Postby Toshio » 11 years ago

Episode 20 is Eternal Boy and it's there.
The original japanese have much more emotion than the american dub.
I gave up on dubs since they're mostly non canon.
The american version was a example with Atlas being just a robot and no information about Tobio's death.

The japanese have several scenes which got removed from the dub and specially scenes which are plot relevant like Uran singing in the forest with the animals for example.
Last edited by Toshio on Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:36 am, edited 2 times in total.

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Postby BBally » 11 years ago

I downloaded the original Japanese version with English subtitles (not sure if I'm allowed to say from which site so I won't until someone says otherwise) and I'm up to the Jumbo episode.

So far if it continues to impress me I might consider the 2003 version to be my favorite anime series period, it hits the right cord for me, the animation is top notch, it stars my favorite anime character (Astro or Atom), it has a lot of giant robots (I'm a huge old school mecha anime geek), I'm also a fan of superheroes and Astro could be considered one, I love the True Blue song, while it uses Tezuka's designs, there are characters who are given a more modern look, which works especially the female and young men characters.
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Postby Little Brown Fox » 11 years ago

I saw a fansub of the first episode (in three parts, as well as 1/3 of the second episode) on Youtube, ages and ages (like, two, almost three years, maybe?) ago. I distinctly remember being awed by it. Watched the same episode in English (crunchyroll had the English dub up on Youtube at the time) not too long afterwards; I remember cringing at the outright hokeyness, as well as the comparitively unpleasant replacement-soundtrack.
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Postby Prettywitchiusaka » 11 years ago

Well, what else can I say other than this; I love it.

Is it the best anime ever made? No, there are plenty of faults in the series that might drag it down for some. But for me, it is easily one of the best anime I've ever seen in my life, if not thee best.

It took a huge risk by rebooting the Astro Boy franchise Japanese audiences were familiar, but it was a gamble that payed off. The story is well written and fairly well paced, the characters are in control of their actions and are really likeable. And while the themes explored are very classic staples of science fiction, they're executed in new and exciting ways that both a child can understand, and an adult to be engrossed with.

As for the dub, I've said it before, and I'l say it again; I don't hate it, I hate parts of it. Do I think the sub is better? Absolutely. Do I think the dub should be ignored? No, not completely. It's the only version we have that's available for legal purchase in the west after all. And since a redub will most likely never come into fruition, I have no qualms with owning the dub set, even if the episodes are heavily edited.

In short, this may very well be my favourite anime series. Or at the very least, somewhere in my top five.

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Postby Toshio » 11 years ago

Hope they make a Blu-ray re-release with the original japanese audio, so everyone can enjoy the beauty of the original version as well.

The original DVDs also have character descriptions narrated by Makoto Tsumura which are pretty interesting.
Last edited by Toshio on Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:42 pm, edited 3 times in total.

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Postby Prettywitchiusaka » 11 years ago

Really? That's actually kind of cute, I'd love to hear those!

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Postby Shiyonasan » 11 years ago

I watched the entire series through a fansub a couple years ago and thought it was great. In terms of production values, the 2003 anime is superb. Great animation, good music, and great storylines (well, for the most part). Voices are great as well. Makoto Tsumura does a good job voicing Atom in place of Mari Shimizu.

Not much more I can say than that except for this: definitely avoid the dub. Otherwise, everybody else has made some good points.

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Toshio
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Postby Toshio » 11 years ago

"Prettywitchiusaka" wrote:Really? That's actually kind of cute, I'd love to hear those!


The way which she announce the character descriptions is quite cute too^^

Ah, the episode previews...

They're so lovelly^^

Mimi did the preview of Robot Farm, despite not being a recurring character.

Uran did the preview of her debut episode, that was adorable.

Also, it was awfull how they hid important factors of the story in the dub...

It felt much confusing why Dr. Tenma was obsessed over Astro after he was revived by Dr. Ochanomizu in the dub.
Omitting the part which Dr. Ochanomizu tould that Tobio died made people think that Astro was just a robot.
They even tried to hid that Tobio was Dr. Tenma's late son and don't showed his fate even in the last episode.

They also made it confusing Mr. Tokugawa's intentions about making a robot heir, when Daichi was actually HIS son who died.
And by watching the original version we could understand why it was so dramatic.

So, what they did can't be considered as canon, taking in consideration that was not a faithful translation of the series.

Most of us will have to buy the japanese or Korean DVDs in order to understand what trully happened.

I believe they should have made a much better job and specially considering that many countries only got the 2003 series so far, instead of the first two anime series.
Even a partneer of my work doubt the series still had friends due his views on the dub...

Since the dub can't please everyone outside USA, they ended up disappointing those who wanted to buy the series with the original audio and subtitles.

We deserved a lot more and I wonder if Sony can understand it and try again.
Last edited by Toshio on Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:47 am, edited 4 times in total.


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