Mighty Atom (live action)

Mighty Atom (鉄腕アトム, Tetsuwan Atomu) is a live-action TV show created by MBS Productions. It originally aired from March 7, 1959 to May 28, 1960, predating the 1960s anime by 4 years.

It received a Japanese DVD release on October 23, 2009. However, only 58 out of 65 episodes are present due to being misplaced over time.1)

The actors were Masato Segawa as the titular hero, Akio Tanaka and Gorou Morino as Dr. Ochanomizu, Yoshiko Tagami as Dr. Ochanomizu's wife, Hiroshi Kiyama, Yonehiko Kitagawa, and Chizou Kurata as Inspector Tawashi. Atom's father and mother are portrayed by Kin'ichi Shimizu and Harue Wakahara, respectively.2)

Trivia

  • This is the only version of the Astro Boy series that has Dr. Ochanomizu with a known wife.
  • Unlike other roles, in this version Shunsaku Ban is portrayed as a student.

References

1)
Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy Live-Action Drama Gets DVD Box, from Anime News Network. Retrieved May 20, 2014.
2)
Wikipedia's live-action Mighty Atom page. Retrieved May 20, 2014.