Astro and Mega Man, leave Mega alone
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:47 pm
Right, I am very fed up and feel like I have to post this.
What is the first thing that comes in mind when someone mentions Mega Man, or as I personally prefer to call him, Rockman? You all think of Astro Boy, and then there comes all of the assumptions and theories that Mega Man was a direct 'rip-off' of Tetsuwan Atom.
And to be honestly, I hate hearing this. I really do. It actually kinda upsets me sometimes, given that I am a diehard fan of both and am very willing to defend both should I see fit.
Of course, I cannot ignore the reasons why people think that the Mega Man franchise is some 'copy-cat', however what many people fail to realize is that these are rather similarities, which aren't all that strong really, and not a direct copy. The most obvious of similarities is the fact that both are young robot boys, (Rockman's canon Fixed A.I. Age is 9, but he's often depicted as a teenager.) and that both often fight evil, and live in a futuristic world.
...Okay, and? That is pretty much the only real similarities there are. Astro is a robot capable of flight who has several weapons under his arsenal right from the get-go. Rockman cannot fly (unless he has Rush Jet or Rush Adapter, both of which are provided by his robot dog Rush), and Rockman can only use his 'arm buster' and has to get other weapons by defeating Robot Masters.
Speaking of arm buster, Mega Man's arm buster came first, not Astro's arm cannon.
And finally, Astro runs around in nothing but a speedo and red boots whereas Rock wears blue armor and a blue helmet. These may be considered small, but appearance and function-wise, they certainly aren't that similar.
As for the story. Astro mostly deals with a criminal/monster/robot/alien-of-the-day. Rockman is the sworn enemy of Dr. Albert Wily, who constantly sends robots after him to kill him which Rock has to stop to prevent Wily from either destroying or taking over the world. This plot is however more similar to Tatsunoko Production's Casshern.
Speaking of which again, Dr. Thomas Light could be seen as parallel to Dr. Ochanomizu, whereas Dr. Wily could be seen as somewhat of a parallel to Tenma, but not quite a lot. You could even say that Rock's robot sister, Roll, is parallel to Uran.
But really, that is just it. Rockman's history of development is a foggy one, but most people will safely say that many different franchises had helped inspire it.
That's the thing, it's called inspiration, NOT being a direct copy-cat. Copying would be having Rock be half naked and shoot bullets out of his butt, but he doesn't. Rather many things and many factors had merely inspired them, which last time I checked, was no crime. Rockman and Astro Boy are both original in their own right, and every time I hear 'copy' when placed next to both, I do get quite angry and frustrated about this.
If anything, Jetter Mars is more of a 'rip-off' that Rockman will ever be, but none of you actually consider it to be a 'rip-off' merely because Tezuka also created it.
... Please. Just leave Mega Man alone, I don't want to hear this sort of thing anymore. I am a fan of both, have even been working on a Mega Man comic of my own in addition to an AB one, and well...
Well if there were to ever be a Tezuka VS Capcom, I would want AB and Classic series Rockman to both be in it. You may not understand what that means, but I respect both. A lot.
...That is all.
What is the first thing that comes in mind when someone mentions Mega Man, or as I personally prefer to call him, Rockman? You all think of Astro Boy, and then there comes all of the assumptions and theories that Mega Man was a direct 'rip-off' of Tetsuwan Atom.
And to be honestly, I hate hearing this. I really do. It actually kinda upsets me sometimes, given that I am a diehard fan of both and am very willing to defend both should I see fit.
Of course, I cannot ignore the reasons why people think that the Mega Man franchise is some 'copy-cat', however what many people fail to realize is that these are rather similarities, which aren't all that strong really, and not a direct copy. The most obvious of similarities is the fact that both are young robot boys, (Rockman's canon Fixed A.I. Age is 9, but he's often depicted as a teenager.) and that both often fight evil, and live in a futuristic world.
...Okay, and? That is pretty much the only real similarities there are. Astro is a robot capable of flight who has several weapons under his arsenal right from the get-go. Rockman cannot fly (unless he has Rush Jet or Rush Adapter, both of which are provided by his robot dog Rush), and Rockman can only use his 'arm buster' and has to get other weapons by defeating Robot Masters.
Speaking of arm buster, Mega Man's arm buster came first, not Astro's arm cannon.
And finally, Astro runs around in nothing but a speedo and red boots whereas Rock wears blue armor and a blue helmet. These may be considered small, but appearance and function-wise, they certainly aren't that similar.
As for the story. Astro mostly deals with a criminal/monster/robot/alien-of-the-day. Rockman is the sworn enemy of Dr. Albert Wily, who constantly sends robots after him to kill him which Rock has to stop to prevent Wily from either destroying or taking over the world. This plot is however more similar to Tatsunoko Production's Casshern.
Speaking of which again, Dr. Thomas Light could be seen as parallel to Dr. Ochanomizu, whereas Dr. Wily could be seen as somewhat of a parallel to Tenma, but not quite a lot. You could even say that Rock's robot sister, Roll, is parallel to Uran.
But really, that is just it. Rockman's history of development is a foggy one, but most people will safely say that many different franchises had helped inspire it.
That's the thing, it's called inspiration, NOT being a direct copy-cat. Copying would be having Rock be half naked and shoot bullets out of his butt, but he doesn't. Rather many things and many factors had merely inspired them, which last time I checked, was no crime. Rockman and Astro Boy are both original in their own right, and every time I hear 'copy' when placed next to both, I do get quite angry and frustrated about this.
If anything, Jetter Mars is more of a 'rip-off' that Rockman will ever be, but none of you actually consider it to be a 'rip-off' merely because Tezuka also created it.
... Please. Just leave Mega Man alone, I don't want to hear this sort of thing anymore. I am a fan of both, have even been working on a Mega Man comic of my own in addition to an AB one, and well...
Well if there were to ever be a Tezuka VS Capcom, I would want AB and Classic series Rockman to both be in it. You may not understand what that means, but I respect both. A lot.
...That is all.