Tetsuwan Atom (1980)

Full disclosure: I adore this series.

This particular incarnation of the anime is probably the best of the bunch in terms of overall enjoyment - it's far less dated than the original 1960s launch and has none of the soul-less feel of the 2003 series. This said, one should be prepared for what can perhaps best be described as a cliché 80's series: it's horrendously violent.

The entire show revolves around the mighty Atom (Astro Boy), a robot boy with 100,000 horsepower, a built in phone, butt-cannons, arm cannons, rocket boosters, super-hearing, and flashlight eyes. The scene is set in futuristic world where robots are ... in the process of (finally) acquiring their civil rights. True to American history, this is far from an easy process, and of course, this having aired in the 80's, killing off robot characters in terrible violent ways is par for the course (as long as they're not actually human, it was A-Okay!). Deaths of secondary robot characters are often pointless and under-whelming, but certainly interesting. This show (and the original 1960s incarnation) are a must watch for anyone who enjoys the classics!

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this show - despite being so old, Tetsuwan Atom still doesn't lose in terms of plot. I watched some episodes of the older original version (from the 60s) and the episodes have similar stories so I think this remake does a decent job of maintaining the storyline and keeping things interesting.
I also like the small differences (like how he got his boots, the way he and his father were separated etc).
The only thing that I think is kind of weird is when they put so much emphasis on the show of how he's a robot, but then ... expect him to feel a certain way when they call Atlas his brother. ...he's a ROBOT. you guys aren't brothers, you guys were just built the same way. In that vein, anyone could be your brother XD lol I just thought it tried being too serious and it felt kind of silly. Otherwise good show.

I never intended to watch this series when I first got into to Astroboy; but I caught a glimpse of the series on youtube and from then on I was hooked. My liking for the 1980's series of Astroboy is from its sheer uniqueness. It features the same story telling element of the 1963 series, but with a more dominant futuristic setting, such as in the 2003 series. Not known by many, the 1980 series was broadcast in the US in 1982. The recent DVD release features a combination of the Japanese Kanji character opening and closing sequences, along with the original english dub from ... 1982. The over-all presentation of the series is excellent. As a fan of old-school anime, this is definitely one of my favorite series, and I recommend it for any other old-school anime fans.