AstroBoy Online Forums

That was one of the videos I was talking about! And a dude walked right in front of the screen during a critical part of it, too. :T

I remember all of those images! I found a smaller version of the second one around the forum, I think; the first and last ones depict the same scene, which I find important to note that I read somewhere about the obligatory giant robot attacking the city starting on the ground first, and at one point, using Astro as a power source. If you look at it, it already even looks like him... And that third image is a blown-up part of the screenshot that was originally used to promote the film. Hnnnng I'm so upset by all of this... they wouldn't have felt the need to release that promotional clip, I'm guessing, because this was after they changed directors, I believe, and just before they turned everything on its head. All of this stuff is so bittersweet...

Thanks anyway, though. :3c

Yeah, I don't think the movie is bad as it is but it does suffer from having multiple directors on and off the project. Gave it this feel that it wasn't sure what it wanted to be.

Not a lot of set variety; too much going on in too short a time. I'm not even sure it was planned to be an origin story of any kind, was it? They initially acknowledged the problems of trying to start from the beginning. Of course, by this point in development, the one we were lamenting the loss of (or at least, I was), I think they had already decided to start at the start. It's kind of hard with this franchise; it's bad to start with the origin story in movie form, but at the same time, not enough people would have been familiar with this character and his universe to properly connect like they needed them to. At least the movie we got had some fans. It's still painfully mediocre, but...

Anyways, should we be talking about this here? Hehe, I kinda blathered on about it in a thread meant for the Reboot, instead...

yeah, I think that's a big problem. Not many know his origin. But Astro' overall story is a huge one with lots of things going on that are nearly impossible to cram into one movie and I think his origin on its own a fascinating story that could be a good movie.

LOL probably not. We're kind of off topic now
So... how about that reboot, huh? XD

Yeah, but the problem was that it was just too short a time to really do his origins, no matter how it's told, justice, especially since there has to be some kind of conflict going on, or the movie is pointless and/or boring. A movie like this needs action, and lots of it, so they can't afford to focus too much on one thing. Plus, animated movies are never too long...

There hasn't been any news about the Reboot, so unfortunately, there really isn't much to say that hasn't already been said! I hope that they get their ducks in a row pretty soon, though. Ain't much point in having a newsletter, if it never gets updated... Unless they plan to use it more after the show begins, which I could totally see, and would probably be a wise move. :3c

I can totally see that. I don't think trying to explain his origin was a bad idea since many outside of Japan may not know his origin and may be confused by the movie. But it's a kind of convoluted origin that needs really good writers and directors to properly portray and pace it and I'm not so sure if this movie had that. On the other hand though, one could easily see Astro's origin as a "MacGuffin device." That is, a plot point that only exists to drive the story and is then never mentioned again. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MacGuffin In Astro Boy' case, Tobio is a pretty big MacGuffin because most of the time once Astro is created Tobio is never mentioned again. I think the only time it and even Tenma was crucial through out the entire story was the 2003 series. Outside of that, Tenma usually disappears from the story and Tobio is rarely talked about again. In fact, Tobio becomes so unimportant that in the manga when Tenma finds a way to manipulate time, he uses it to try to change his past with Astro and I remember thinking; "Wouldn't you rather want to try to save your dead son?" .__. So yeah, in the long run, Tobio may not even be necessary to the story sometimes

Yeah, I know about MacGuffins; and I know that poor Tobio is a huge one. It's not like that changed with the movie we got; he existed pretty much to die- as well as to establish a somewhat distant relationship with his father, in order to maximize said father's guilt. 'Cuz you know, that's good storytelling, apparently. (Actually it kind is, ahaha; I'd be a hypocrite if I thought otherwise- I mean. I kind of already am; but, this is kinda tame to me...)

I think it is potentially good story telling. The father trying to deal with the fact that his son is gone and a robot can't replace him, but he's created this robot so he must under stand that the robot is his son now too. The robot trying to understand that he's not the son he thought he was, but can still wants to find love in his father, this is gripping stuff. Perhaps too difficult for a children's movie though

Naw, it's complex, but even an adult might have a hard time understanding all of it. Plus, with the characters being slightly older, it might appeal more to a demographic within that age range that might be able to have a better grasp on it.

indeed. Sometimes just talking about Astro's origins to people who don't know the series is a little convoluted XD