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Recently I have noticed that there has been more discussion of Tenma and his former wife Hoshie than usual. I imagine that this is largely due to the recent rps, and some of the discussions are being brought over to other threads.

So with the growing discussions on the pairing, I have decided to create this thread for these discussions instead. There was an older Tenma/Hoshie thread, but posting there would be necroposting/bumping an older thread, which I imagine is usually frowned upon.

But in addition, I have just finished reading all of volume 7 (had it for awhile, never got the time until now) which contained the chapters "Dr. Tenma", "The Tragedy of Bailey" and "Astro Joins the Circus", all of which included the characters Tenma & Hoshie.

And so, I have decided to create another observation thread, similar to my "Comparison: Tetsuwan Atom theme" thread, but this time there is nothing really to compare, and is thus more or less an observation of things. Might also help shed some more light on Tenma & Hoshie since I imagine that most you don't collect the original manga volumes.

Just be weary of spoilers.



Before I can actually observe the pairing and the chapters in question, there are several key factors that I feel must be mentioned first.

The three chapters of which they appear in ("Dr. Tenma", "The Tragedy of Bailey", and "Astro Joins the Circus") are all part of a smaller series called "Astro Boy Tales". In the original manga series, the series ended with the death of Astro Boy. He was however eventually revived by someone named Scara who is about as tiny as an insect, and together they travel back into the past where they eventually meet a younger Ochanomizu.

(I cannot get exact details on those earlier chapters yet, I don't have volumes 22 or 6 yet.)

However, as a result of time traveling, Astro and Scara end up creating a time paradox, which is an important, reoccurring theme in the Tales series. An example being that by meeting the younger Ochanomizu, Ochanomizu would later recognize "New Atom", as I call him, in present day. More on that in a bit.

Volume 7 starts off with three chapters that take place in the year 1993 (Meanwhile, present day is in 2043, not very good thinking on Tezuka's part), where Atom is revived from lack of energy but because the energy isn't as good as the one in the future, he can only last for about a day. At the end of those chapters, he goes back to a field hoping to find his friend Scara. Finally after running out of energy, Atom collapses and dies, leaving his robotic body to rust and decay away.

Toki wa nisenjuugo-nen~
OOPS I MEAN ZOOM BACK TO 2043

Back in 2043 starting with "Dr. Tenma", we are immediately given a brief explanation of the history of robots, similar to how Tezuka explained it in "The Birth of Astro Boy". When approached by several scientists who voice their concerns of robots being mass-produced on the tiny island of Japan, Tenma simply responds that all robots are to be their slaves and that anything they earn in their work is to be given to their masters. And thus robot slavery begins, where it becomes customary for robots to not be allowed to converse with people, etc.

Later, we are introduced to Tenma's family just as he remembers that his son wanted a gift, which turns out to be a model car that drives like a real one.

Under-age driving laws? What is that?

Just as Tobio puts it together, Hoshie expresses concern that Tenma doesn't actually spend a lot of time with Tobio and instead just spoils him by buying him presents, and that Tobio has been getting lonely as a result. Here we do not see much conflict between the couple, especially when Tenma calls her "Dear" several times, suggesting they're on good terms. He however thinks that there isn't much wrong with what he's doing, but then realizes that he should spend more time with Tobio. This is when Tobio gets into a car accident and Hoshie faints after getting a phone call.

This is different from "The Birth of Astro Boy", where it was Tenma who instead got the phone call alone in The Ministry of Science.

And as we all know, Tenma goes out to build the new Tobio a.k.a Atom. The other scientists think this will be too much of an ordeal and all resign from The Ministry. Tenma, being incredibly stubborn, refuses to accept this and later goes for a walk where he meets a man named Mr. Taba Koh. Somehow Taba Koh knows about the Ministry's latest project and offers to give Tenma ten million dollars to fund it. Tenma is of course skeptical, especially when Taba Koh mentions that the catch is that he wants to borrow Atom for one day once completed. Eventually Tenma accepts the deal, and two years pass as Atom is completed.

Unfortunately Atom doesn't activate, even when given power. Stubborn Tenma decides to literally live inside the lab room, even deciding to live off of instant noodles if he has to, until Atom can be born. This again seems to show how much of a workaholic Tenma has been, as if the neglecting Tobio wasn't obvious enough. Meanwhile in the grass field where the original Atom died, Scara wakes up and finds a newspaper article about the Ministry's latest project, no longer a secret anymore, and how that it cannot operate at all for unknown reasons.

Scara instantly recognizes the project to be the New Atom. And this is where the consequences of time travel comes into play, we get ourselves a nice little time paradox. Scara goes to the body of the Old Atom, and deduces that there cannot be two Atoms at the same time, hence why the new one will not work. Since there needs to be a New Atom and that only one Atom can exist, she destroys the Old Atom by making him self-destruct. Shortly afterward, the New Atom is now able to work and Tenma is of course overjoyed.

Tenma brings home New Atom and introduces him as (New) Tobio, and Hoshie is at first happy and hugs him, only to realize that he is a robot and then immediately rejects him. Tenma however tries to convince her to accept him by trying to tell her that he has the soul of a human and that he needs her to educate him. Hoshie reluctantly accepts and slowly but surely teaches Atom basic speech, grammar and good manners. Here there are still not much of a conflict between Tenma and Hoshie despite the fact that Tenma had absorbed himself into the development of New Atom, and he still calls her "Dear", but their indifferences are just starting to build with the birth of New Atom. Mr. Taba Koh eventually comes for a visit and asks to borrow Atom as promised, but Tenma says that Atom still needs educating. He demonstrates some of Atom's seven powers and Taba Koh decides to return again in a month.

Having some free time, Tenma gives New Atom a tour of the outside world, specifically taking him out to Tokyo to buy him new clothes. While there, Tenma explains to Atom about robots and how they slave away for humans, Atom also meets a robot who runs away from him thinking that he is a human, and Atom reads about robots in a library. Confused, Atom wonders if he really is a robot or a human like his family says, and Tenma tells him not to worry about it. New Atom also meets Scara, who explains to him that he will be the ambassador between humans and robots, and goes to hide as she tells him that he will understand later. Atom again asks Tenma the same question from before, only to be angrily dismissed and Atom sits alone as he expresses how lonely he is and that he wants a friend. Clearly parental love, which is usually only given to him by Hoshie anyway, is not enough for him.

Part 2

In the next chapter "The Tragedy of Bailey", Atom finds a room in the back where he finds a picture of Tobio and asks Hoshie about it, a secret which his parents have been trying to hide from him and she explains it. Hoshie tries to tell him that Atom still looks like Tobio, but Atom knows that she is lying and instead reassures her that he'll try to be like Tobio for her, making her very happy and she goes on to explain Tobio's mannerisms which Atom manages to imitate with ease. He even goes to try to take a bath, and Tenma rushes in saying that robots are not to take baths, and scolds Hoshie and Atom for suggesting it. Hoshie is also apparently tearing up in this scene at Tenma's harsh views on robots.

Some more time pass, and New Atom eventually meets Ochanomizu, who immediately recognizes him, but Atom says he doesn't know him and walks off. He asks Tenma about Ochanomizu, and Tenma tells him to stay away from Ochanomizu as he is his arch-rival. Despite Tenma being the head of the Ministry and having an iron fist in the field of robotics, Ochanomizu is more famous than he, and clearly Tenma is incredibly jealous of this. Angrily, Tenma tells Tobio to "Not go out so often".

Then, Mr. Taba Koh returns for a visit and says that the time has come to borrow Atom for a day. The two parents hesitantly let him go, and Mr. Taba Koh and Atom travel to Beverly Hills, America where Taba Koh lives. There Taba Koh explains that robots are treated even worse in America, but he is a friend to robots and wants to change that. He has a robot friend named Bailey who wishes to set an example to other robots by registering himself as a citizen. Taba Koh orders Atom to protect Bailey for this to work, and Atom flies off as he follows Bailey. As Bailey signs the papers to become a citizen, a large anti-robot rights mob gathers in the building outside as Atom watches. Bailey walks out the building and declares that by becoming a citizen, he is equal to humans, but then the mob tears him apart without warning. Atom could only stand and watch and cries over his failure as he flies back to Taba Koh's house. Taba Koh is disappointed yes, but understands it couldn't be helped. Suddenly the same mob gathers around his house, but Taba Koh threatens them with arm grenades and they leave. Finally the two decide to travel back to Japan.

Not without Taba Koh advising that Atom stays away from Tenma as soon as possible. They travel back and Atom is reunited with his parents, still wanting to be around his father despite Taba Koh's warning, and now has a better understanding of the human-robot conflict.

In the next chapter, "Astro Joins the Circus", we are met with a similar explanation from the 60's series (Actually, these chapters even redrew some scenes from the first episode, it's quite neat), that the months and years had passed, and Atom being unable to grow which angers Tenma a great deal. Hoshie tells him that he has been drinking again, his drunken response is that he should be allowed to drink anytime he wants. *Hic*

Now here, is where the pairing's conflict comes into play. As Jeffbert had once described in his own mini-essay on Hoshie, "Just as Hoshie's love for Astro Boy grew, Tenma's love for him had just as rapidly decreased". As Atom sleeps, he overhears his parents arguing that Tenma wants to get rid of "that freak" and Hoshie tries to reason.

"Shut up, woman!"

Then comes the inevitable, Atom is sold to Ham Egg, with the belief that he is only supposed to be at the circus "for awhile". Hoshie approaches Tenma and much to his shock, is given divorce papers for him to sign. Finally fed up with Tenma's selfishness and how he has been treating Atom, she leaves him. We skip ahead to the circus without another say from the two. While performing at the circus, Atom spots Hoshie cheering on for him. Atom however disobeys Ham Egg and is locked away into a room. Hoshie tries to get into the back stage, but her request is rejected and this is the last we see of her for a bit.

Later, Atom tries to keep up with Ham Egg's demands but is losing energy. He eventually finds Scara again and the two run away from the circus. They manage to get away but Atom collapses from lack of energy where he is found by a poor man who decides to sell Atom, but Scara (as a 'tiny, little voice') persuades the man to take him to Ochanomizu, who is joyed to have found Atom again and refills his energy. Ham Egg then arrives at Ochanomizu's house, which has been called a refuge for robots, and Ham Egg demands to get Atom back and shows him papers. However Ochanomizu gets the upper hand and Ham Egg leaves angrily. The following day or so, Atom gets a call that his mother got into an accident and is at the "Instant Hospital". He flies over to the "hospital", which is a tent, and finds out that it was a trap set by Ham Egg. Thus Atom is forced to work at the circus again.

Some days later, Ham Egg gets a call from Dr. Tenma, who explains that Hoshie, having suffered enough heartbreak of losing Atom, has had a heart attack and is now in a coma, constantly mumbling Tobio's name. Tenma is at her death bed and is actually showing great concern for her health, something I wasn't really expecting personally. Ham Egg however denies that Atom leaves and makes sure that Atom never hears a word of this.

Hoshie then dies and Tenma mourns her death, still confused on why anyone would love a robot.

Back in the circus, Ham Egg tries to get Atom to perform that Electric Hoop act that we all know by now. Atom does both tries successfully, but the crowds thinks it's too easy and that even a beer bottle can go through, which one person does throw. Then the whole circus tent explodes in fire and Atom saves Ham Egg with the little power he has left, but then collapses from lack of energy. Ochanomizu visits Ham Egg in the hospital, but Ham Egg still refuses to give back Atom.

This is where it is revealed that Atom has been left hanging in a locker/closet, immobile. Ochanomizu is forced to leave, being unable to help him. We're then left at a cliffhanger with the rest of the "Astro Boy Tales" chapters continuing in the 8th volume, which I also don't have at the moment.



These three chapters have confirmed my opinions of Tenma. He is a selfish and cruel man, who is also apparently a workaholic and an abusive person, in comparison to Hoshie who does not let judgment cloud her vision and is gentle and kind. There does seem to be an apparent love between the two however, as evident in the beginning. (Nothing romantic, just simple love) A love that eventually decreased as quickly as Tenma's love for Atom decreased. There was however still some love on his part if he actually went as far as to visit her on her death bed. As for Hoshie, it's more than likely that she never wanted anything to do with him after the divorce. Make what you make of this.

I did however, got a new thought to ponder over after reading these chapters.

Ever since the Original Atom time traveled with Scara, a lot of things changed for the future, possibly even affecting things that he would seemingly have no impact on. One thing was the change of the announcement of Tobio's car crash. In "The Birth of (Original) Astro Boy", Tenma got a phone call about it in the ministry. In the "Dr. Tenma" chapter however, where things have drastically changed ever since Original Atom's time traveling, Tenma was in his house and Hoshie got the phone call instead. That's just one of the many things that has changed.

Who is to say that perhaps Original Atom's time traveling hadn't affected the entire world? Maybe during Original Atom's time, there was no Hoshie. Maybe Hoshie only existed during New Atom's time. Perhaps Tobio was mothered by someone else. These are answers that we will never know however, but it did make me think about a lot about it. Of course, I doubt Tezuka wanted people to think of the time-traveling like that, but it's still interesting none the less.

So then, you may proceed with your discussions regarding the three chapters and the Tenma & Hoshie pairing. So please if you want to say something about them, do it here.

For the record, here is the original thread, just please don't bump it:
http://www.astroboy-online.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5359 Lots of good thoughts there.

And here is also Jeffbert's mini-essay on Hoshie:
http://tezukainenglish.com/?q=node/216/

Okay, go.

Previous Comparisons/Observations:
Comparison: Tetsuwan Atomu Theme

I didn't remember the present time was set in 2043! Are you sure? Very odd on Tezuka's part.

About events in "The Birth of Astro Boy", I wouldn't place too much importance on them. Tezuka made multiple versions of this chapter when making new Astro Boy manga compilations, in order to kick start the whole Astro story so the reader would not be lost in the middle of it all. Because the English edition is a translation of the Japanese 1975 compilation (plus the 1980's manga added at the end), the Birth of Astro chapter presented here was made in '75 for that particular edition. They could have just used Captain Atom to start it instead, but too many readers would have been disappointed by Astro's relatively minor role in it, and sales would have been hurt. Here is a comparison of two versions of the Birth of Astro. You can tell the one in color was made much earlier when Tezuka's art style had not evolved as much.

Though "Astro Boy Tales" is a different series than the original Astro Boy, I still consider it part of the main canon, because reading it gives the vibe of an author saying "OK, let's go back and fill in the holes, answering once and for all how the characters became the way they are."

we tend to forget and neglect the fact that he was a human with a heart as i've stated here

http://www.astroboy-online.com/forums/showpost.php?p=104390&postcount=9

i have great interest in the relationship of Tenma and Hoshie and we pay more attention to he had become but not what led to and what he was before. this kind of relationship is not found in stories (that I've read so far) such a match would a form of taboo but instead hush hush or rarely noted.

@Jerk,
it is interesting that you mentioned "dear",In Japanese the term "anata" is used between husband and wife as a means of affection and or equality but used other wise is improper, read here

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_language

"F-Man" wrote:I didn't remember the present time was set in 2043! Are you sure? Very odd on Tezuka's part.

About events in "The Birth of Astro Boy", I wouldn't place too much importance on them. Tezuka made multiple versions of this chapter when making new Astro Boy manga compilations, in order to kick start the whole Astro story so the reader would not be lost in the middle of it all. Because the English edition is a translation of the Japanese 1975 compilation (plus the 1980's manga added at the end), the Birth of Astro chapter presented here was made in '75 for that particular edition. They could have just used Captain Atom to start it instead, but too many readers would have been disappointed by Astro's relatively minor role in it, and sales would have been hurt. Here is a comparison of two versions of the Birth of Astro. You can tell the one in color was made much earlier when Tezuka's art style had not evolved as much.

Though "Astro Boy Tales" is a different series than the original Astro Boy, I still consider it part of the main canon, because reading it gives the vibe of an author saying "OK, let's go back and fill in the holes, answering once and for all how the characters became the way they are."

Ah yes, you're right about that. I've forgotten that Tezuka created several different versions of the same stories and later redrew them.

Dark Horse uses the Akita Shoten version. Now because the different versions are quite different, I'm willing to imagine that each version has its own canon. Either way, it was still thought-provoking while it lasted.

And Astronomical Girl, all I know is that they referred to each other as 'dear'. I wouldn't know if they did said anata in the original.

translation,Jerk, "Anata" is a close variation to something like "darling" or "dear" depending on the use and translation but, if they were on good terms yes,"anata" would have been used.

in many asian languages (that i have been told and researched) they have words that are commonly said between husband and wife the same in many other languages.

Astronomical Girl, I'd like to shed light on some information on Tenma and his wife in a rather obscure version of Astro Boy that will blow your mind. In this wacky/horrifying alternate universe, Tenma is Dr. Boynton, Tobio is Astor, and Tenma's wife is Jean...




The first time we see her mentioned is when Boynton and Astro are watching old family videos of his wife and son, this action forced by Astro upon realizing he's a robot.



It's insisted Jean is dead, but since we only see Astor's car accident, I really have to wonder if A) Boynton's over-exagerrating about their divorce, or B) Jean did away with herself after Astor's accident. NOW! Comics leaves so much unexplained that I've been left to analyze everything to get answers.



At one point when Boynton starts to go completely insane, he hallucinates that one of the female researchers is Jean, revealing just a little about their relationship and what happened to her. Apparently before his accident, Tobio did something to anger his parents, and they were breaking up at the time.


Sadly, I'd love to know more about what was going on, but the writer orchestrating this dropped out after issue eight, leaving the artist to make his own stories for a while. And there's nothing about Jean from that point on.

why,tell me this twisted and badly drawn cartoonist wannabe comic? when even fan artists make better storylines and at least try? one of the many reasons why i don't read those "NOW" comics its mess and its terrible

also i set my thinking on the pair on the Tezuka world at least it was legal. not some messed up...what the word? crud. this my opinion and meant no offence just an independant and cultured opinion

I personally find the NOW! Comics series fascinating because it's such an enigma; originally a guy who loved Astro Boy was going to be the lead artist and writer, but then he was replaced with an artist who didn't care and a writer who at least tried to pull something interesting out of the characters. But yeah, everyone looks like they were drawn with a broken catheter.

I'm pretty sure they based Jean on Ms. Ford/Honda from the 1980's series. Come to think of it, didn't Tenma and Honda seem like they could have had a past together? She's certainly the first person he calls up for help when Astro's AI stalls and he walks through town.



On the other hand, a friend and I have the theory that Tenma's outfits are a little too fabulous to allow room for a wife, but I don't know how fast I'll get jettisoned from this thread for saying so.

Astronomical Girl, Fauna has a right to give more insight on the observations or pairing, even if that involves giving observations on the NOW! Comics where the comic's 'Hoshie' happens to be named Jean.

And frankly, I have to agree with Fauna.