Astro has been very popular over several years

[Shiyonasan]

If there's one thing I've always liked about this forum, it's seeing all of the fans of the series who saw the 1963 anime when it aired. It's pretty cool seeing all of your individual stories of how you became a fan of Astro Boy back then.

As for me, I became a fan of the series in February 2011 (though I did watch a little of the 2003 anime back in 2004 on Toonami). That means I've been a fan for almost 2 years now.

Also, yes, Atom is cute. I'll leave you fangirls to love on him though.

I thought the Astro Boy fan base has been pretty small in recent years, but recently, activity has been getting better on this forum

Since I've joined, activity seems to have fluctuated over time. When I first joined, there was actually quite a bit of activity. However, the forum was pretty much dead for the first half of 2012. As you said though, the forum seems to have been gaining more activity recently.

It varies from time to time.

[Novacain]

If there's one thing I've always liked about this forum, it's seeing all of the fans of the series who saw the 1963 anime when it aired. It's pretty cool seeing all of your individual stories of how you became a fan of Astro Boy back then.

aww, us 80's kids get the short end of the stick

At least the music was good

[AprilSeven]

aww, us 80's kids get the short end of the stick

Noooo way, Novi!!

The 80's version was the last anime that Dr. Tezuka was directly a part of, and that makes it very special. I also think - over all - the quality of animiation was best there, and from my time here, I'd say most folks here would agree.

Heck, each version has its pluses and minuses - that's actually part of what makes this fun . . . so many FLAVORS of Astro!!

I am now blessed with the three boxed sets - 60's, 80's and 03 - and I find myself really loving each of them in a different way. So I don't think there IS any "short end" -- IT'S ALLLL GOOOOOD!!!

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

OMG!! That mean's you're just a couple years older than me (and HEY!! That mean's you and Cybotron are now the SENIORest of the "senior" members!!)

We "originals" have got to stick together!!

I'd been following this forum for some time before jumping in, but felt strange about joining in at first thinking I'd be in the midst of a bunch of 'teeny boppers' (and that phrase is DATED). The obvious thing though is that other than the recent movie there ISN'T any really new (at least in this country) material featuring Astro. So I guess the age group is not what I first expected.

He still IS used commercially in Japan, appearing in ad's, on billboards, etc. I DID see two manga style books in the library 'card catalog' teaching history to kids (one on Einstein, one on Anne Frank) featuring Atom and Uran. These were in English BTW. Anybody ever seen these?

(removed the library links since they turned out to be transient)

I am impressed with the number of people that have learned some Japanese so they could enjoy the anime in it's original form. Japanese was not available in the public schools as a language option when I went to school, and I don't think it is even today in most of the country. Given the nature of the written language, learning to speak it would be easier than to learn to read it (though from what I've seen manga is written in a hodgepodge of Kanji and western scripts).

[racoonangel]

Omg astro boy is my all time crush I wish he could be my boyfriend you know he is close in age to me I guess. I think in the 2003 version he is like in the intermidiate grade level

[AprilSeven]

Ksharf, have you read Urasawa's "Pluto" manga? Astro isn't the main character, but he's certainly at the core of the story - especially as it moves towards its conclusion.

What I found appealing about it - beyond the quality of writing and illustration - was that he took the "corny-ness" out of Tezuka's character designs . . . and actually made everything seem very "real" and very plausible (so, yeah - no "boots" on Atom! And Uran's hair was in spiky twin ponytails)

I've been here for a couple years, and arrived not knowing there were all these other "versions" - it's been great catching up, and I still have a long way to go.

[racoonangel]

Astro boy had lasted a long while going from comic books ( mangas) to live action movie, to first animated version, then a colored version, then a more modern version, and finally a 3d version. Astro boy has been brought back several times. he definately hasn't been forgotten. he was so popular the producers just want to keep bringing him back to the world inspiring young children to dream big and beyond imagination.

[Tetsuwan Penguin]

Ksharf, have you read Urasawa's "Pluto" manga? Astro isn't the main character, but he's certainly at the core of the story - especially as it moves towards its conclusion.

What I found appealing about it - beyond the quality of writing and illustration - was that he took the "corny-ness" out of Tezuka's character designs . . . and actually made everything seem very "real" and very plausible (so, yeah - no "boots" on Atom! And Uran's hair was in spiky twin ponytails)

I've been here for a couple years, and arrived not knowing there were all these other "versions" - it's been great catching up, and I still have a long way to go.

I've read the Pluto manga. I was lucky, our public library had all of the volumes. I enjoyed it very much and I looked for other works by the same author. I found an anime of his 'monster' manga on line. It was a bit long but good. The main character in 'monster' was a doctor named Tenma! BTW I read they were making an Anime of Pluto. It might be out by now.