A few months ago, my mom gave me what probably was the first and only anime DVD box set she ever owned: Astro Boy: the complete series (thanks mom!). I think she won it in a raffle. It was released in 2004, won by my mom probably in 2005, then watched in 2006.
I’ve been getting back into anime based on the excellent Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex 2nd Gig (aka longest. anime. title. ever.) and I thought I’d give Astro Boy (aka Tetsuwan Atom) a shot while I was cranking through some work on a Sunday evening. After I got used to watching Astro Boy jot around w/o a shirt for a couple episodes, what I found was much better than what I was expecting.

I expected the original black and white series from the 60’s, but got a high-definition remastered version from the 80’s. If you’re unfamiliar with Astro Boy, it’s nice to see how well it’s held up. One of the main themes is how robots and humans can co-exist (I, Astro Boy?). The episodes around developing that theme are surprisingly sophisticated and are basically on par with a lot of the psychobabble in today’s anime. I only have two complaints about my very free DVD box set:

1. No original Japanese dialog with subtitles. We get Portuguese, Spanish, and English dubs only. I think I heard a “Can’t we all just get along?”. Apparently robots are the Rodney King’s of the future.
2. As my wife made clear to me, this box set doesn’t have the original theme song (MIDI rendition!). It’s too bad, b/c when you hear it, you know it just fits right.

All in all, this is a very nice set of 50+ episodes. I don’t think it’ll capture me as much as my all-time favorite Cowboy Bebop, but it’ll do for my on-again-off-again sweet robots against the machine fix.