Atlas and Blue Knight

[MegaAstroFan75]

Anyone notice how awfully similar the 80's anime Atlas and Blue Knight are? Both have swords that can shoot electricity, both style themselves off horsemen from historic eras, both ride a horse that flies, both want robot supremacy and both like killing humans.

There's also similarity to King from Mega Man in that all three style themselves lavishly as powerful and royal looking beings and again, all three want to establish a world without humans. Or a nation.

Interesting no?

[Uran-chan]

I kinda notice that matter when i was watching the series
and indeed it was interesting

[jeffbert]

You know too much. I also have noted these & other similarities, which I am saving for the book I am writing. So please, cease & desist from this discussion.

[Nora]

Our beloved creator of Astro has a huge habit of creating animes/mangas with the same people in it, just different roles. Its not uncommon for him to slide one characters personality into anothers. So yeah your probably right. they're probably one in the same thought.

[MightyAstro]

I also thought Blue Knight was loosely based upon 1980's Atlas. He was certainly milder though, wasn't he? He hated humans for sure, but he never filled the outright villainous role that Atlas played so well.

[MegaAstroFan75]

Found yet another one in Mega Man in this same grain of charismatic, lavish and elegant styling robot leader.

This time it's the General of Repliforce in Mega Man X4, the series of which parallels the 2003 Astro Boy series quite strongly and making me think that the latter might have drawn on the former quite a lot. In this case the General does a similar thing to the Blue Knight and declares he's founding a new nation for Reploids (androids who can think and act like humans and based on Mega Man X). And just like with the Blue Knight this causes a war to break out.

However neither of the Mega Man guys rides a flying robotic horse which is a concept rather ridiculous sounding on paper, but ends up working in Astro.

[jeffbert]

I also thought Blue Knight was loosely based upon 1980's Atlas. He was certainly milder though, wasn't he? He hated humans for sure, but he never filled the outright villainous role that Atlas played so well.

Actually, 1980s Atlas is based upon the BK, not the other way around. The BK's story was one of the last in the original Tetsuwan Atom series (that ran in Shonen (Boys) magazine). I believe it was published in the early 1960s rather than the late '50s.

[MightyAstro]

Ah yes. Volume 19 of the Dark Horse Manga if my memory serves me correctly.

The Blue Knight is in that story with a completely different origin background and fate outcome for the character. Amazing how many times you can get the same story told in different ways with Tezuka.

[AprilSeven]

Yes, it's true! Many of the great composers (Beethoven, Handel, Mozart, etc.) borrowed heavily from each other and themselves, as well as folksongs and popular music of the times.

They were also notorious (except for Mozart) for re-writing/re-working their creations -- not unlike the various versions of Atom's incarnation Tezuka came up with. I actually kind of like it -- he basically makes the entire concept so fluid that one could continually tweak it through perpetuity!

Astro lives forever!!!

[avatargirl]

sO WISH astro boy could be shown on Boomerang like they show so many other shows no where as good as ASTRO BOY is