Astro Boy, known in Japan as Mighty Atom, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's Shōnen from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 tankōbon volumes by Akita Shoten. Dark Horse Comics published an English translation in 2002. The story follows Astro Boy, an android young boy with human emotions who is created by Umataro Tenma after the recent death of his son Tobio. Eventually, Astro is sold to a robot circus run by Hamegg, but is saved from his servitude by Professor Ochanomizu. Astro becomes a surrogate son to Ochanomizu who creates a robotic family for Astro and helps him to live a normal life like an average human boy, while accompanying him on his adventures.
The history of anime can be traced back to the start of the 20th century, with the earliest verifiable films dating from 1917. The history of anime dates back to the early 20th century, with Japan producing its first animated films in the 1910s, influenced by Western animation techniques. However, it wasn't until the 1960s, with the work of Osamu Tezuka, often called the "God of Manga," that anime began to take shape as a distinct cultural phenomenon. Tezuka's *Astro Boy* (1963) is considered one of the first major anime TV series, setting the foundation for the animation industry. Over the following decades, anime grew in popularity both domestically and internationally, with diverse genres and styles emerging. By the 1980s and 1990s, anime had become a global phenomenon, with influential works such as *Akira*, *Dragon Ball*, and *Sailor Moon* reaching international audiences. Today, anime is a major part of global pop culture, known for its unique art styles, storytelling depth, and expansive influence across media.. Before the advent of film, Japan already had a rich tradition of entertainment with colourful painted figures moving across the projection screen in utsushi-e (写し絵), a particular Japanese type of magic lantern show popular in the 19th century. Possibly inspired by European phantasmagoria shows, utsushi-e showmen used mechanical slides and developed lightweight wooden projectors (furo) that were handheld so that several performers could each control the motions of different projected figures.
Osamu Tezuka was a Japanese manga artist, cartoonist and animator. Born in Osaka Prefecture, his prolific output, pioneering techniques and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the Father of Manga", "the Godfather of Manga" and "the god of Manga". Additionally, he is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during Tezuka's formative years. Though this phrase praises the quality of his early manga works for children and animations, it also blurs the significant influence of his later, more literary, gekiga works.
Frederik L. Schodt is an American translator, interpreter, and writer.
Unico is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Sanrio's shōjo manga magazine Lyrica from November 1976 to March 1979 and collected in two volumes. The series follows the titular unicorn as he uses his magic to help friends from around the world across different time periods. The series was drawn in a western style, being published in full color and read from left to right. It has since been published in different collections and has been adapted into film and comics. A modern-day reboot of the series began publication by Scholastic under its Graphix imprint in 2024.
Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce Go! is an American-Japanese animated television series created by Ciro Nieli. It is produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, with animation being done by The Answer Studio in Japan. The series was the first original show produced for the Jetix block and for the Jetix and Disney channels worldwide, where the show premiered on September 18, 2004. It ran for four seasons composed of 52 episodes, each 22 minutes long. The show reunited Tom Kenny and Clancy Brown in roles similar to their characters in SpongeBob SquarePants.
Cobra is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Buichi Terasawa. Set in the far future, the series tells the story of Cobra, who lives an adventurous life until his enemies begin to hunt him down. Cobra surgically alters his face and erases his own memory to hide from his foes and have a normal life. Eventually, he regains his memories and reunites with his former partner Lady Armaroid. Terasawa devised it as a mix of Spaghetti Western and samurai stories, and aspects of films, varying from James Bond to Disney.
Astro Boy, sometimes referred to as New Mighty Atom, is a color remake of the 1960s anime black-and-white series of the same name, both series are adapted from the manga series by Osamu Tezuka.
Makoto Tezuka, officially romanized as Macoto Tezka, is a Japanese film and anime director, born in Tokyo. He fashions himself as a visualist and is involved in the creation of moving images beyond film and animation. He partially owns Tezuka Productions and helped in releasing the posthumous works of his father, Osamu Tezuka.
Astro Boy is a 2009 animated superhero film loosely based on the manga series of the same name by the Japanese writer and illustrator Osamu Tezuka. Produced by the Hong Kong-based company Imagi Animation Studios, it was directed by David Bowers, who co-wrote the screenplay with Timothy Hyde Harris. The film stars Freddie Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Donald Sutherland, Bill Nighy, Matt Lucas, Eugene Levy, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlize Theron and Nathan Lane. In the film, Dr. Tenma (Cage) creates Astro (Highmore), a teenage robot implanted with the memories of his son after he is killed in an accident. The pair face Stone (Sutherland), the president of Metro City who is running for re-election, for their betrayal.
Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd. is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as Marvelous Melmo, the 1980 and 2003 Astro Boy series, and Black Jack. It is also the holder of the intellectual property of Tezuka's works; his son, Makoto Tezuka, currently aims to use the company to extend Tezuka's manga series with new issues and publish posthumous works such as Legend of the Forest.
Shenmue III is a 2019 action-adventure game developed by Ys Net and originally published by Deep Silver for the PlayStation 4 and Windows. The third installment in Sega's Shenmue series and the first without Sega's involvement, it is the sequel to Shenmue II. Like its predecessors, it consists of open-world environments interspersed with brawler battles and quick time events, with a day-and-night system, variable weather effects, non-player characters with daily schedules, and various minigames. Players control the teenage martial artist Ryo Hazuki, who continues his search for his father's killer in the mountains of 1980s Guilin, China.
Shenmue is an action-adventure game series created, produced and directed by Yu Suzuki. Shenmue (1999) and Shenmue II (2001) were developed by Sega AM2 and published by Sega for the Dreamcast. Shenmue II was released in 2002 in Western markets by Microsoft Game Studios and ported to the Xbox. Shenmue III, developed by Suzuki's company Ys Net, was released for the PlayStation 4 and Windows in 2019.
Hanna-Barbera Studios Europe Ltd., formerly Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe and Cartoon Network Studios Europe, is a British animation studio headquartered in London, England, and owned by the UK division of Warner Bros. International Television Production, a subsidiary of the Warner Bros. Television Group, ultimately owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is the EMEA arm of Cartoon Network Studios.
Akio Sugino is a Japanese character designer who is known for working with Osamu Dezaki and his designs on Golgo 13 and Space Adventure Cobra.
Method Animation is a French animation studio owned by Mediawan through its Kids & Family division founded in 1998 by Aton Soumache. The studio produces CGI and 2D animated shows. It came together in 2014 as the culmination of a merger of Dimitri Rassam's Chapter 2 and Alexis Vonarb's Onyx Films. In 2018, Mediawan obtained a majority stake in Method Animation through its acquisition of ON Kids & Family and ON Entertainment.
Twin Mirror is a 2020 adventure game by Dontnod Entertainment. Co-produced with Shibuya Productions, the game was released for PlayStation 4, Windows, and Xbox One on 1 December 2020. It received mixed reviews from critics.
Little Astro Boy is an anime television spin-off series Astro Boy franchise created by Osamu Tezuka. Aimed at preschoolers, the series was produced by Tezuka Productions and Yomiuri TV Enterprises in partnership with Nigerian broadcaster Channels TV.
Go Astro Boy Go! is an animated television spin-off of the Astro Boy franchise created by Osamu Tezuka. Aimed at preschoolers, the series was produced by Planet Nemo in collaboration with Tezuka Productions.
Shenmue: The Animation, also known simply as Shenmue, is an anime television series based on the Shenmue video game series by Yu Suzuki and published by Sega. A co-production between Crunchyroll and Adult Swim, the series aired from February to May 2022. A Japanese streaming release followed in April 2022. Shortly after its streaming debut in Japan, it was decided that a televised broadcast of the series would commence a month later on Tokyo MX in May 2022. The anime series adapts the storyline of the first two games, Shenmue (1999) and Shenmue II (2001).
