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"You missed the flight by this much."








Here is the title character; I believe the synopsis for this episode says that this nation wanted to build the largest robot in the world, in hopes of increasing its prominence. But the $$ was soon gone, leaving the people destitute.






It seems the woman on the right was modelled on Max Fleisher's 'goons'.


They do their dance, then demand contributions to the robot fund.








The boy Pepito is angry with his papa, who has designed the gigantic robot because the country is bankrupt from building it. Now that the henchmen have retrieved the boy, the govt. can use him as a hostage to make papa complete the work.

Anyone remember Gomez' Ghost (Horrible King Horrid)? Here he (the actor) is in a similar role.


He claims he is the victim.








Pepito's papa insists the robot brain still needs work, but the king is insistent on installing it now.


















See any familiar faces?






He has just drawn his finger across his throat.


















This one is for that infamous thread.


Why is it that these things always have death rays? THE COLOSSUS OF NY the M5 computer, & this guy, while none were apparently designed for destruction, they all had death rays.

For a moment there, I thought maybe we were going to have a glimpse of "Gigantor" - or maybe this ep is where the idea came from?

And did I see Goku the monkey in the crowd?

Interesting to note how the "robot race" bankrupted a country (not dissimilar to the Cold War's cost to the Soviet Union). Another example of Tezuka's prescience.

Yes, that is Goku at the far left.

I do not know if this really had anything about the arms race, as it was not so much about competition, but merely about a nation seeking fame. Yet, I think the comment is appropriate, as the spending occurs either way.

"AprilSeven" wrote:For a moment there, I thought maybe we were going to have a glimpse of "Gigantor" - or maybe this ep is where the idea came from? And did I see Goku the monkey in the crowd? Interesting to note how the "robot race" bankrupted a country (not dissimilar to the Cold War's cost to the Soviet Union). Another example of Tezuka's prescience.

Interesting! As one can note, the "Gigantic Robot" does bear a slight resemblance to "TetsuJin Hachigo (28) aka "Gigantor". This may have been a "tip of the hat" to Gigantor, as surely Tezuka was aware of the "other robot character", that beginning in 1956, was also featured in the same "Shonen" magazine that featured "TetsuWan Atomu" (aka our hero, Astro Boy). As to the other, you pose an interesting supposition, as Tezuka was known to place subtle political satire into his works.

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