Announced back in June 2014, with the very first image from Astro Boy Reboot released late last year as well, the upcoming reboot of the beloved robotic boy wonder has finally released its first teaser. Created as a co-production between Tezuka Productions in Japan, the Monaco-based Shibuya Productions, and Caribara Proudction in France, the upcoming series will have 26 episodes, each clocking at around 26-minutes, aimed at an audience between eight and twelve. The original manga was written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka from 1952 to 1968, the series following the eponymous Astro Boy (originally known as Mighty Atom in Japan) and his adventures in a futuristic vision of the world in the 21st Century, where robots and humans coexist.
The legacy of Tezuka and the series still stands tall to this day, with there being several TV adaptations in the 60s, 80s, and 2003, as well as the 2009 feature film. Astro Boy himself was even inducted into the Robotics Hall of Fame in 2004. It will be interesting to see where this reboot goes, whether it will be an entirely new endeavour or if it will adapt both the lighter and darker elements of Tezuka’s original story. Currently there’s no US adaptation or distributor announced, however I hope that the new generation of children throughout the world will get to experience the wide-eyed enthusiasm and heroics of Astro Boy. The beautiful art style, subtle yet effective music, and sense of wonder the teaser portrays all have me very excited to see this new re-imagining of one of my favourite characters from my childhood.
