Astro Boy 2003

Alternative Titles
English: Astro Boy (2003)
Synonyms: Astroboy, Tetsuwan Atom (2003), Astro Boy Tetsuwan Atom
Japanese: アストロボーイ・鉄腕アトム

Information
Type: TV
Episodes: 50
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 6, 2003 to Mar 28, 2004
Producers: Sony Pictures Entertainment, Dentsu, Tezuka Productions
Genres: Action, Adventure, Kids, Mecha, Sci-Fi, Shounen, Super Power
Duration: 24 min. per episode

Synopsis
The series consisted of fifty episodes. Though many episodes of the series can be regarded as "free-standing" in as much as they do not have anything to do with the series major story arcs, the 2003 series can be regarded as having a well-defined beginning, middle and end. Although the series appears to initially have two main plotlines - Dr. Tenma's eventual plans for Astro to evolve and another plotline about robot rights - these two story arcs dovetail toward the end of the series.

The show is set in 2043, where robots are common part of humanity's lives. In Metro City, the renowned Doctor Tenma disappears after trying to construct an AI robot using a new technology called Kokoro (which is Japanese for "heart"). Professor Ochanomizu replaces Tenma as head of the Ministry of Science and discovers a boy-like robot and brings it to life and names him Atom/Astro. He soon discovers he can fly via rocket boosters in his hands and feet, and has superhuman strength and other such abilities, and must deal with robots and villainous robot-hating humans who threaten his friends, fellow robots and Metro City, becoming a hero in the process. Astro quickly learns he is a robotic duplicate of Dr. Tenma's dead son Tobio, and was shut down after seeing how discarded robots were dealt with by his father, something similar that Tobio experienced before dying.