Astro Boy
Astro Boy, Astro, le petit robot, 우주소년 아톰, 原子小金剛, 铁臂阿童木
Astro Boy (鉄腕アトム Tetsuwan Atomu, literally "Mighty Atom") is a Japanese manga series and television program first broadcast in Japan from 1963 to 1966. The story follows the adventures of a robot boy and a selection of other characters along the way.
Astro Boy is a science fiction series set in a futuristic world where androids co-exist with humans. Its focus is on the adventures of the titular "Astro Boy" (or simply "Astro"), a powerful robot created by the head of the Ministry of Science Doctor Tenma to replace his son Tobio, who died in a car accident, Dr. Tenma built Astro in Tobio's image and treated him as lovingly as if he were the real Tobio, but soon realized that the little android could not fill the void of his lost son, especially since Astro could not grow or express human aesthetics (in one set of panels, Astro is shown preferring the mechanical shapes of cubes over the organic shapes of flowers). In the original 1960 edition, Tenma rejected Astro and sold him to a cruel circus owner, Hamegg, who abused the performers.
While Astro languished in Hamegg's circus, Professor Ochanomizu, the new head of the Ministry of Science, noticed Astro Boy performing in the circus. He managed to make Hamegg turn Astro over to him. He brought Astro along and treated him gently and warmly, becoming his legal guardian. He soon realized that Astro was gifted with superior powers and skills, as well as the ability to experience human emotions.
(Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia, s.v. "Astro Boy")
