Anime Rebirth

Review - Tetsuwan Atom

Review by Roriconfan

Value: 10
You may have heard from time to time about a series that begat a whole new genre, such as Tetsujin-28 being the first mecha series that began the trend. Other times you may have heard about a series that defined a whole generation, such as Dragonball Z being the most renowned series of the 90’s. Well, Tetsuwan Atom is THE series that begat and defined ALL anime. Why? Because it is the VERY FIRST anime ever made! (Thus, the mark of 10.) There are of course older animated movies that were made in Japan, way before Atom. But they cannot really be called anime because the style of animation was not the same.

Here is a small history lesson. Up until the 1950’s, animation and graphics were made in a very Japanese way. If you look for classical paintings of Japan’s past on the Internet, you will find a lot of pictures that depict their way of expression, up until that time. Their trademarks were the almost extinct perspective and the expressionless faces of the people, which were very realistic and reminiscent of the average Asian morphology. Nude was forbidden, as was any form of romance and emotional grimace.

When Japan lost in World War 2, the new generation tried to get stronger by mimicking the winning side. One of those things was the original form of animation. Osamu Tezuka based his drawings on those of Walt Disney’s and the result was anime! From now on, there was detail in perspective, faces reminiscent of cartoons and not realistic, but also abundant in emotions and grimaces. Nude was allowed, and so was romance.

Tetsuwan Atom is the very first manga that was animated with this new way of animation. Needless to say, IT WAS SUCCESSFUL!

Animation & Sound: 3
No, the series don’t deserve anything good here. There are many scenes with well-made action, lighting, and camera angles, which were quite a feat to accomplish back then. But unfortunately, time is a cruel judge and all those wonders of the 60’s pale in comparison with even series with lame animation of today.

Story & Characters: 5
It’s a fairy tale at first glance that blends drama, science fiction and action. Quite a lot for an early work, I must say.

The protagonist (and essentially the only character to care about) is Atom, a humanoid robot equipped with super powers but also with emotions. Seen as a replacement for his creator’s dead son and as an effective new weapon, Atom fails at the purpose he was made for. His body doesn’t age like a human and his feelings constantly prevent him from ruthlessly obeying orders. Every episode is a test of strength or courage Atom faces in a mechanized, and rather dangerous and deprived society. He faces people with cruel hearts and inhuman behaviors, but is also aided by good-hearted people and robots. Every episode features a battle with an evil robot or human that attacks an area or goes against Atom’s moral code (get ready to see many classical mecha special attacks here). Sometimes he is forced to fight a battle he finds unnecessary (taking orders and such) but does so anyway, just to prove himself useful to his father.

The story is a dark version of Pinocchio and criticizes the dehumanizing factor of technology and ambition. It was interesting to watch up until the 90’s, but nowadays there are dozens of series that have done the same in better ways. The Tree of Palme and the Ghost In The Shell are two fine examples that have overshadowed the story of Tetsuwan Atom.

Besides Atom’s father/creator (who was funny to watch for nagging all the time at Atom for not being a perfect killing machine), all other characters were uninteresting.

Enjoyment: 4
Story continuity and character development are almost non-existent, which ruins a big portion of the show. The plot is very predictable most of the time and all this drama and too-goody behavior gets annoying after a while. It has its bright moments, though.