Astro Boy: An "open source" character/story?

[AprilSeven]

I find it kind of ironic that Osamu Tezuka was very "flexible" in the telling of Astro's story and the characters involved. He boldly changed the storyline -- modifying the causes of/situations around Tobio's death, human mother, robot parents, siblings (and how they came to exist), and so forth.

The 2009 movie changed everything in dramatic ways once again (even though Dr. Tezuka was not directly involved in the changes). It almost seems as if he had no problem with modifying the particulars to the story, as long as the key issues and character personalities were kept intact.

Whether or not he intended it to be so, it's as if he created a group of characters and a story that could be updated, customized and modified indefinitely. The issues certainly haven't become obsolete - and one of the fascinating things for me is to read the fan fiction that depicts the characters as today's youth (rather than the 1950's ideal) -- Astro is just as engaging now as he was a half-century ago.

Maybe that's because his creator kept imbuing new life into Astro's story and personality -- and he has left us with the invitation to continue doing so. Can't say I know of another character like this - and perhaps that's why I feel Astro's "best days" are still ahead of him!

- Yeah!! Long live ME!

[gabriel]

Your argument is interesting, but I have to say that Astro wasn't the only character who undergone this situation. Have you ever read a DC superhero comic? The characters origins were changed a lot of times because the writers felt the previous story had became obsolete. This solution was extremely confusing for occasional readers so the writers had this idea: there were different origins due to the fact that the stories took place in many alternative universes. I think the same is for Astroboy: more of an upgrade of the same Astroboy, we should consider we have watched or readed many Astros from many universes.

As Astroboy fans we can see the canoical glass half full because it's good there is still some interest for Astro or half empty because this character is becoming always less appealing. I mean the 60s was a huge success, the 80 s version a moderate success, but the 2003s and the Cgi movie didn't find a large audience. Despite the failure of the movie the manga Pluto has been one the most sold in Europe: maybe are not the character themselves the problem but the fact the people want a different approach to Astro and friends, just like that of Urasawa, considered more adult than Tezuka's original work.