why do you love astro???????

[AstroBoyGF]

the reson that i love astro is that...well he came to me before a dark part of my life began and at first i did not understand who he was...then after i got into it...i found alot of myself with in him...like his father abandon him same with me and my father...we both were teased alot in school and we both have our birthdays in the same month we both are the middle child...there is alot i could go on and on...this was more an emotional thing i had with myself and i was able to deal with it...so like dragonrider said he's is my woopie^^ and i feel in love with the show and astro but more with astro than any other character i've ever did...and if he was a real person i would tell him well one i got a mad crush on you...and two you help me...no you saved me from something that could have happen worst...i could have been doing drugs and stuff from all of my emotional issues....but astro did save from all of that and in a way i re-lived my child hood...and even though it was it was an unhappy time in my life thanks to my step father i felt this was the time i smiled the most at this time i think....and now after that all happened with my family...i feel that i've have gotten stronger and i want thank mr. tezuka-san that he made me found my passion...like to animation and art and i wanna change anime and cartoons all together and make it more meaningful for children...i want them to think when they see my cartoons...and i feel if they learn something from my cartoons it would make me happy

[sgupta]

With the latter point I take issue with you saying justice in quotes, like it's wrong to fight for or unrealistic. Astro fights for justice and peace, that's what all superheroes do. They fight for those they love, for the rights of others to live and be free, and they try to instill the virtues of love, caring and kindness in their foes. Granted Astro is often shown being more successful at this, though that's more of a writing choice.

Point is all superheroes and heroes in general would like nothing more than for the fighting to stop, and that's what they're trying to do. The ones who want revenge would fall more towards anti-hero anyways.

Fair criticism. Rereading what I posted, I'm not sure what I intended came across in that section (or was too trite at any rate). The quotes weren't meant to imply it's wrong or unrealistic - more that justice can be a subjective concept, and often is dependant on the hero's perception. I also shouldn't have leapt right from justice to revenge, as my wording implied there's nothing in between. I also shouldn't have used the word most - many would have been a better choice. But I'd argue it still stands there are plenty of heroes that are still primarily "good" but show little mercy to their enemies and won't go to nearly as great lengths to help them.

Astro comes off to me as more pure-hearted than most heroes, even when written into a dark world like the 2003 series. And I'd still argue many if not most heroes, while they may have the same ideals, don't actually try to achieve their ideal the way Astro does. Perhaps its naivety on his part, but a lot of heroes are more practical. Sure, they might try to "save" the villain, but only to a point, and eventually the chances stop. Not so with Astro. Yes, he'll fight if he has to, but he also will always give another chance. And he really *believes* peace can be achieved, not just as a dream, but as a reality. Even in the manga, he started primarily as an ambassador of peace more than a traditional hero.

Keep in mind I haven't finished the 2003 series yet (or really started the 80's or 60's series apart from viewing the pilots), and I'll be curious to see if Astro ever meets a villain he can't reason with.

[MegaAstroFan75]

Fair criticism. Rereading what I posted, I'm not sure what I intended came across in that section (or was too trite at any rate). The quotes weren't meant to imply it's wrong or unrealistic - more that justice can be a subjective concept, and often is dependant on the hero's perception. I also shouldn't have leapt right from justice to revenge, as my wording implied there's nothing in between. I also shouldn't have used the word most - many would have been a better choice. But I'd argue it still stands there are plenty of heroes that are still primarily "good" but show little mercy to their enemies and won't go to nearly as great lengths to help them.

Astro comes off to me as more pure-hearted than most heroes, even when written into a dark world like the 2003 series. And I'd still argue many if not most heroes, while they may have the same ideals, don't actually try to achieve their ideal the way Astro does. Perhaps its naivety on his part, but a lot of heroes are more practical. Sure, they might try to "save" the villain, but only to a point, and eventually the chances stop. Not so with Astro. Yes, he'll fight if he has to, but he also will always give another chance. And he really *believes* peace can be achieved, not just as a dream, but as a reality. Even in the manga, he started primarily as an ambassador of peace more than a traditional hero.

Keep in mind I haven't finished the 2003 series yet (or really started the 80's or 60's series apart from viewing the pilots), and I'll be curious to see if Astro ever meets a villain he can't reason with.

Well most villains are often unreasonable in other stories. Green Goblin, Joker, Ganondorf, Wily, and you have to remember most heroes only fight when the other guy has struck first. Plus you have to remember the nature of the opponents in the stories. Astro generally faces robots, and how are you going to put a robot in prison? But don't forget Astro also faces Skunk and rarely tries to reason with him in the same way he reasons with Atlas, Pluto or the Blue Knight. He'll destroy Skunk's machines and then drag him to the police.

A good example of a hero getting fed up with giving second chances is Mega Man. Dr. Wily 'apologizes' at the end of every game, but turns around and goes right back to his evil ways. And Mega Man in the later games has gotten sick of it and has even considered killing Wily. That's why I say there's a lot of dependence on the writers and how stubborn they want to make the villains.

I know 'justice' can be subjective, but that depends on how broad or narrow you want to look at it. All heroes believe in the same basic concept of justice and what they're trying to stop villains from doing are, basically, killing, stealing, torturing and injuring. Basically how Astro treats Skunk. Astro brings Skunk to justice all the time.

[MightyAstro]

Why do I like Astro?

Well I enjoy science-fiction and adventure for one reason. That's probably what sparked my appeal initially when I first saw the second series in the 1980's. Plus there's something about Tezuka's style of animation that you can't help but enjoy. I always loved watching Kimba when I was young and knew nothing about Tezuka himself. But those shows have a magical attractive quality to them. Just like Disney animation. Tezuka is an equal to Disney.

[Hikari Tail]

Astro Boy was the first manga i read and i fell in love with it instantly, i also felt in love with other creations of Tezuka, MW, Black Jack, Unico, Kimba, Metropoils . Tezuka is my idol and i hope to one day be like him, i admire his work and no mather what subject it is if its a fairy tales, robots , wild life monsters vampires, religious holy men, serial killers, teenage adventures , Tezuka makes gold of it.

[AstroRex]

Even though he is a robot, Astro was built with a heart and soul which makes him seem like he is almost human. He has character and he shows emotions, which makes him seem so much alive, that it's hard NOT to like him. Furthermore, he's a hero! He shows courage, loyalty, faith, and trust when he's with others and he will protect, help, and defend others who are smaller or weaker than him. He knows he is stronger, faster, and more powerful than nearly all humans, and yet he will never hesitate to use his mighty strength and powers to help out when the need arises. He's a HERO! Everyone loves a HERO and that's why I like him so much.

[1magus]

Welll he's cute

[Nora]

Welll he's cute

One just can't argue with that

[dannavy85]

Cuteness, wrapped with a pit bull body.

[Mokonafan]

I got into the series knowing very little about Astro, other than him and the series are what Tezuka was/is best known for in the U.S.

I like Astro because I almost never see a child hero that cool in cartoons, movies, or comics. I never watch many cartoons or movies, though, so maybe I'm missing something there. ^^;
He's also very different from a lot of the heroes I've seen in cartoons and movies I've watched.
He's pretty much a little one-man army. Blasters in his arms, a laser from his finger, machine guns in his butt (xD), and he's got rockets in his feet. For an incredibly cute character, he packs quite a punch. ^^
He's a robot who can think for himself, who knows the difference between right and wrong, but that doesn't mean that he still doesn't make mistakes every now and then. He most definitely is a lot more than computer chips, circuit breakers, and metal that some robots in comics or TV shows are.