Atom The Beginning

Atom The Beginning (アトム ザ・ビギニング) is a spin-off prequel manga of the Astro Boy series. It is authored by Tetsuro Kasahara with concept works for the manga done by Masami Yuuki and supervision done by Makoto Tezuka. It is currently serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine, Hero's. Atom The Beginning debuted in the January 2015 issue of Hero's. [1]

The manga tells a unique interpretation of the story leading up to the birth of Astro Boy. After a catastrophe of unknown cause hits Japan, which extensively destroys Japanese land, the Japanese people rely on technologically advanced robots to reconstruct the land. The story focuses on a leading university for robot production five years after the unknown catastrophe, with a young Dr. Tenma and Dr. Ochanomizu attending the university along with brand new characters.

The manga is officially available in tankōbon in a few different languages including Japanese and Spanish, though not in English. Volumes of Atom The Beginning can be purchased on Amazon Japan and shipped internationally. Free previews of the chapters in Atom The Beginning can be read online at Hero's official website. The free previews are in raw Japanese.

A Spring 2017 anime adaptation was announced and confirmed on November 20, 2016 via MoCa News. An official website for the anime adaptation opened on the same day. The anime adaptation aired for 12 episodes from April 15, 2017 to July 8, 2017.

Summary

Chapter 1

A sudden, unexplained catastrophe hits Japanese cities. Following the catastrophe, robots become more and more commonplace, helping to rebuild the affected areas. A mysterious black-haired girl is shown waiting to cross the street.

Five years later, the story shifts to a leading robotics university, where a young Ochanomizu runs back to his dormitory with a sandwich and some groceries. He passes by three girls in the same class as him, who don't notice him calling out to them. He tries to play it off, but becomes embarrassed about it.

While still trying to play the situation off, he accidentally runs into Moriya Tsutsumi and knocks him out of his wheelchair. Horrified, Ochanomizu tries to help Moriya back into his wheelchair. The two talk to each other, and it's mentioned that Moriya is one of Japan's most promising young geniuses.

Moriya snaps his fingers, allowing his own wheelchair to pick him back up and place him back into his seat on his wheelchair. The two part ways, and Ochanomizu becomes flattered that Moriya talked to him. Moriya turns to see a red-haired girl approach him, who calls him “big brother”. Moriya calls her “Motoko”, and the chapter ends.

Anime Episodes

NumberEnglish NameJapanese NameJapanese Air Date
1 Birth of the Mighty Atom鉄腕起動April 15, 2017
2 BewußtseinベヴストザインApril 22, 2017
3 Pursuing the Respective Leadsそれぞれの追跡April 29, 2017
4 Welcome to Nerima U Festival練大祭へようこそMay 6, 2017
5 Step on it! Maruhige Shipping激走マルヒゲ運送May 13, 2017
6 Lab 7's Annihilation!7研壊滅す!May 20, 2017
7 Ran and Princess Teru蘭とTERU姫June 3, 2017
8 Robot WrestlingロボレスJune 10, 2017
9 Six is Unfit to Fightシックス戦闘不能June 17, 2017
10 Battle RoyaleバトルロイヤルJune 24, 2017
11 A Dialogue対話July 1, 2017
12 BeginningビギニングJuly 8, 2017

Trivia

The supervising editor for Atom The Beginning is Makoto Tezuka, who is the son of Osamu Tezuka.

Notes

[1] Atom The Beginning debuted in the January 2015 issue of Hero's, released on December 1, 2014. The physical version of Monthly Hero's was discontinued on October 30, 2020 (the November 2020 issue) and transferred to online only format with the name Hero's as of November 27, 2020; manga featured in Hero's can be read on the Comiplex website, including Atom The Beginning.