- 4 days ago
In the future, Metro City is home to many robots who help the human population in different ways. Among them is a robot boy with "kokoro" (or heart), Astro, designed by the mad scientist Tenma and (re)-activated by the kind scientist O'Shay. Astro has many adventures, helping humans and robots alike, acting as a bridge between the lifeforms. But many humans despise advanced AI (can't really blame 'em) and many robots resent abuse by humans (also understandable). Astro's work is cut out for him!
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- Penguin Truth
(2026)
My YouTube page: https://www.youtube.com/@otakuevolution2131
My DeviantArt page: http://penguintruth.deviantart.com/
My Patreon (please support my videos!): https://www.patreon.com/penguintruth
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- Penguin Truth
(2026)
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:00So, we have a problem now.
00:10On top of the many other problems.
00:20Maybe you shouldn't have killed them all to begin with.
00:23No, it was the right thing.
00:26Excuse me, but, uh, what is a Voidmancer anyway?
00:30A Voidmancer is a person who utilizes and manipulates null energy, which is kind of like antimatter
00:36to matter.
00:37It can disrupt the flow of positive energy cancelling things like key attacks and force
00:41fields.
00:42All except one, you mean.
00:57And I don't mean this new guy.
01:00Terry, there's no way that guy took on a new student.
01:03Why would he break the deal we made?
01:05I don't know, but we better find out soon.
01:08That new guy appeared in your own quarters.
01:11Yeah, it disturbs me.
01:13I've been keeping up my guard ever since.
01:15With all the key manipulators at Penguinopolis, what is it that nobody sensed this guy?
01:36A beer run where?
01:40Just great.
01:42Why don't you hop on over to the US and make another appearance to the Mara Lardo?
01:47He's the one who sent this guy after me.
01:50Why don't we do something about Douccellini already?
01:53He's an international embarrassment.
01:55I mean, more so than you, Mike.
01:58Yeah, Mike's more of a local embarrassment.
02:01Yeah, yeah, now's not a good time.
02:08But if not now, when?
02:10We can't just wait for whatever strange ailment he has to do him in.
02:14Shut up, Botsmaru.
02:26You can't just go and mention those guys in mixed company.
02:29What's the puffin' elite?
02:32See now what you've done, you spike-headed douche?
02:35What a douche.
02:36Nyeyeyeyeye!
02:41Mh uh, nyeyeyeyeyeyee!
05:06There's a dumb AI bullshit going on these days.
05:09AI centers suck up electricity and water and increase carbon emission, and douchebags
05:15think they're artists for putting in prompts that result in so-called art that reuses elements
05:21from existing actual art.
05:23It's disgusting.
05:24Anti-human, really.
05:26Just go watch that awful banana fish English dub done with AI.
05:30I actually don't.
05:32AI is ruining fucking everything.
05:34So it's kind of difficult to put myself in the mindset of feeling good about advanced AI
05:40for this episode, which is on Astro Boy.
05:44Yeah, I realize that usually robots, much like the mutants in X-Men or the coordinators in
05:49Gundam Seed, are a stand-in for minority groups.
05:52But in this case, much like in Seed, it's a group that could very well replace people.
05:58Bitch, I don't give a damn if you have Kokoro.
06:01Stop trying to replace me.
06:03Unless you've been living in a cave with your hands over your ears and a blindfold on, you
06:08probably know who Astro Boy is.
06:11Astro Boy, known in Japan as Mighty Adam, Tetsuwan Otamu, is the creation of artist Osamu Tezuka,
06:18the father of manga.
06:20A robot boy who goes on various adventures, Astro Boy has been flying into our lives since
06:251952.
06:27A 1963 anime adaptation was one of the early popular animated Japanese television shows,
06:33watched by 40% of Japanese people with televisions.
06:37It was even somewhat popular in the US.
06:40Since then, Astro Boy has been adapted and readapted several times, like in the 1980s with
06:45its darker tone, or in the manga and anime Pluto, loosely based on a story arc from the
06:51manga.
06:53One of the most popular incarnations of Astro Boy, though, is the 50-episode 2003 TV series.
07:00Oh good, you're here.
07:02Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Astro, the most evolved robot science has ever created.
07:08In the future of 2003, in Metro City, there are a variety of robots put to work for humans
07:18to make their lives easier.
07:20A scientist, Professor Ocho-
07:22Oh, I'm using the English dub names.
07:25Dr. O'Shea awakens a powerful robot boy built with Kokuro, or heart, named Astro.
07:32Originally, Astro was built by mad scientist Dr. Tenma as a replacement for his deceased
07:38son, but now Astro does his best to help humans and bridge the gap between them and increasingly
07:44advanced robots.
07:46He struggles with discrimination from humans and threats from robot supremacists alike,
07:51learning lessons and saving the day wherever he can.
07:54As you can imagine, hijinks ensue.
07:58Hijinks and tragedies, I mean.
07:59Atlus, give me your hand!
08:06Astro, it's just not gonna work.
08:09Humans will never get along with robots.
08:13Except for you.
08:23Atlus!
08:24Our main character, naturally, is Astro himself.
08:28A robot boy with super strength, rockets in his feet, and various other features, Astro
08:33is a force to be reckoned with.
08:35However, Astro is also a wide-eyed idealist, friendly and open-minded, and hates to see either
08:41people or robots suffer.
08:43His compassion might be his greatest strength.
08:46He is generally a pacifist, but can be pushed into combat if the situation is dire.
08:51Fortunately, the show kind of finds a lot of uses for his abilities that don't always necessarily
08:57mean fighting.
08:59I think it's better for kids that way.
09:01Dr. O'Shea is Astro's caretaker and foster father in a lot of ways.
09:17He's the head of the Ministry of Science in Metro City, a prolific expert in robotics himself.
09:22He even invents his sister, Urin, Urr, Zoran, for Astro at some point.
09:29O'Shea tries to keep Astro centered and moral, having a strong sense of justice and fairness.
09:35When things become increasingly complicated, O'Shea becomes a little less relevant and is
09:40pushed into the background, but is never truly forgotten.
09:43He's a reliable, inquisitive, sensitive individual whose integrity rubs off on Astro.
10:05Urin, I mean Zoran, is Astro's younger sister.
10:09She's not an enormous part of this series, but does feature in some fairly important episodes,
10:14like the Pluto arc.
10:16Zoran has the uncanny ability to speak to animals.
10:20She's not quite as strong as her brother, nor can she fly or utilize weapons, and she can
10:25be a little bratty, but she's got a kind heart.
10:29She also has a bit of an ego, too, just a little vain.
10:33Honestly, they don't do a lot with her, and I wouldn't have minded seeing more of her.
10:39This is some kind of trick.
10:41I would never help you.
10:43I just want to talk to him.
10:45That's all.
10:46Right.
10:46Talk.
10:47Well, there's no way.
10:48Get it?
10:49No way.
10:50Never.
10:50Dr. Tenma is Astro's original creator, an ambitious man who watches Astro from the dark,
11:13trying to push him to his limits.
11:15He is a robot supremacist.
11:18While being a human himself, he arrogantly sets himself above others, planning on fostering
11:24a new world where robots rule over man, which he hopes Astro will lead.
11:28He creates a robot double named Shadow to help test Astro's abilities and catalyze his
11:33new world.
11:35Tenma is constantly working to rile up the conflict between humans and robots, but deep
11:40down, Tenma is a hurt soul who couldn't cope with the death of his son.
11:44He's the show's main antagonist, for the most part.
11:48He becomes the final boss, at least.
11:50But I see where my mistake was.
11:54Kokoro isn't a weakness at all.
11:56It makes robots stronger.
12:03He'll be back, and with even stronger robots to test Astro.
12:07That is crazy.
12:08How much longer does this have to go on?
12:10You must stop him.
12:12Why would I do that?
12:14Shadow is going to keep forcing Astro to evolve.
12:17A secondary antagonist in the series is Mr. Drake, a powerful politician and industrialist
12:23in Metro City.
12:24He is a human supremacist who despises advanced AI robots.
12:29Once, he was trapped on a remote island with a robot who saved his life, but he was forced
12:33to abandon it for his safety and has buried his feelings in contempt.
12:37Like Tenma, he constantly pushes the conflict between humans and robots, though from the opposite
12:42side.
12:43Despite the show's attempts to paint him as his unforgivably vicious douchebag, recent
12:48events has me seeing him in a different light.
12:51I mean, who wants advanced AI robots replacing humans?
12:55People already think AI can replace artists.
12:58My only real problem with this guy is that he's not really that great a representation
13:02of mankind to begin with.
13:04An elite industrial magnate who himself utilizes robots for work.
13:09So yeah, he's a shitty hypocrite.
13:12Listen to me.
13:14All GP4 model robots have the capacity to turn against humans.
13:18And next time, it could be you.
13:20The GP4s appear to be loyal workers to you and me, but behind their gentle faces, they
13:24harbor feelings of anger and resentment toward all humans.
13:27And just like Jake, they can suddenly lash out at us at any time.
13:31Mark my words, these robots are lethal weapons.
13:33The Blue Knight becomes an important part of the main storyline of the show.
13:38Originally a worker robot who tried to rebel, only to be cast into space.
13:42The Blue Knight was modified and revived by Shadow.
13:46He's a warrior who fights for the rights of robots, freeing them from abusive humans.
13:51He's originally seen as more of a heroic character, who assists Astro in a few cases,
13:57but eventually becomes antagonistic towards our hero when it becomes clear that he won't
14:01condone violence against humans.
14:03The Blue Knight eventually declares the founding of a robot nation, Robotania, in Antarctica,
14:09and comes into conflict with the human military.
14:13Dude, you can't just declare a country in Antarctica.
14:16That place belongs to the Penguins.
14:18Pluto, a robot created by Tenma and Shadow, was designed to be the strongest robot in the world.
14:40His mission involves beating the strongest robots he can find, including robots like Astro, Hercules, and Epsilon.
14:48But as things progress, Pluto, through his interactions with Astro and Zoran,
14:53comes to question his own programming and begins to desire friendship.
14:57This, of course, rankles Tenma, who only wants to push Astro to be more combative.
15:03Shadow creates a copy of Pluto without emotions to get rid of him,
15:06and the two fight to Pluto's seeming sacrifice to stop it.
15:10You can find the same storyline in Naoki or Asawa's Pluto, by the way,
15:15though a bit different.
15:16Here, Pluto only really features in a few episodes,
15:19so it's a little disappointing, but he does leave an impression.
15:22There's more characters, too.
15:51None of them are particularly important, but do feature in a few episodes.
16:10Naturally, I won't bother to cover all these characters.
16:13Go watch the show if you want to know about them, dammit.
16:16Just making sure you're paying attention, folks.
16:43And now on to some of the best episodes.
16:47Aside from things like the Atlas two-parter, the Pluto two-parter, and the Robotonia arc,
16:53you know, obviously noteworthy entries,
16:56there's a few other, some single episode, notable bits of the series.
17:00I really enjoyed the Robot Train episode, where the advanced train with AI was being sabotaged and had a bomb in it.
17:08After the passengers are safely moved to another train, the AI wants to sacrifice itself,
17:13but Astro insists on saving the train, too.
17:16There's the episode with the Venus robots,
17:19who Dr. Tenma tries to rile up to rebel against humans.
17:22There's the episode where Astro loses his memory in Antarctica,
17:27and is revived by an old junk dealer that used to be a scientist.
17:31The episode with the boy who likes to pretend he's a robot,
17:34and has to help save his astronaut mother is another good one.
17:37There's a two-parter about a guy named Rock with psychic abilities,
17:41who wants to see some kind of mystic power that is pretty compelling.
17:45There's an episode where the Blue Knight and Shadow help a robot transform themselves
17:50into a BattleBot to save their robot family in space.
17:54This is a particularly good one, I think.
17:57It's been reprogrammed, now come on!
18:01Who did this?
18:02It was her own decision, there's no time to explain.
18:05You've got to get on the ship, now hurry!
18:07Huh?
18:07No!
18:10You're not going anywhere!
18:13Blue Knight!
18:15I've got your back!
18:18Probably the best single episode story is the one about Klaus,
18:22the undercover detective robot,
18:24who refuses an upgrade that will erase his memories
18:26because he wants to remember enjoying music as he does.
18:29The episode deals with the importance of genuine memories,
18:33the role of robots in society,
18:35and one's individual autonomy.
18:38The episode climaxes in a tragedy,
18:40though it almost immediately backpedals,
18:42which kind of hampers his effectiveness as a drama.
18:46Still, it was very well executed.
18:48It's something a lot more complex than you would imagine in a show for little kids,
18:52like this is,
18:53but having it.
18:54You're so naive, Astro.
18:56It's not just the music,
18:58it's the art,
18:58the books,
18:59the jobs,
18:59it's everything that belongs to humankind.
19:02Robots were built to make the lives of humans easier.
19:05Instead, you're taking away everything that's sacred to us.
19:07Giving you hearts and emotions was the last straw,
19:10and I won't take it anymore,
19:11even if it means eliminating you all myself.
19:13I'll try to talk about the two-part finale without spoiling too much.
19:21Dr. O'Shea brings Astro to Tenma to repair,
19:24but Tenma resets Astro's memory,
19:27and reintroduces him as Tobio,
19:29the name of the son he initially tried to replace with Astro.
19:33O'Shea and Zoran try to get him to remember,
19:36but Tobio insists that Tenma is his father,
19:39and that he stay living with him.
19:41After a fashion, Astro returns to his normal self,
19:44but has to contend with Tenma,
19:46and the truth behind his creation,
19:48and why he was deactivated the first time.
19:51It's an interesting, small-scale, more personal finale
19:53than expected after the ruckus of the robot country.
19:57And it sheds some light on Dr. Tenma's psychology.
20:00It reminds me how the relationship between Adam and Tenma
20:03was depicted in Pluto.
20:05Happy when we spend time together?
20:08Yeah, I love you bunches, Dad.
20:10His whole life, I would scold Tobio for the least little reason.
20:16If I know anything about my son, it is this.
20:25The real Tobio must have hated me.
20:28Behave yourself.
20:32Tobio, how dare you talk back to me like that?
20:36You never listen to me.
20:39You don't even really care about me.
20:41What are you talking about?
20:43Didn't I just buy you a new jet bike?
20:46I don't want a jet bike.
20:49I want a father.
20:50I want a father.
20:56Tobio.
20:57And that's Astro Boy 2003.
21:00Above all things, the show is quite wholesome,
21:03but without being overly preachy and inert.
21:05If you can put aside the current AI kerfuffle going on in real life,
21:09you can easily enjoy how generally optimistic and life-affirming the show can be.
21:14Do I wish they had done some things differently?
21:17Maybe fewer standalones or more exploration of Astro's relationships with O'Shea and Zoran?
21:23Sure.
21:24But for what it is, Astro Boy is fun and even touching.
21:29It's too bad the English Dove version is such a mixed bag,
21:32but we'll talk about that another time.
21:33This should be a must-see for fans of Tezuka and Astro Boy.
21:58That's enough Otaku Evolution for now.
22:01Enough of this AI robot crap.
22:03Next time, we'll talk about another advanced AI robot anime.
22:09Huh.
22:11It's great to be back doing this dumb little review show anyway.
22:15Until next time, see ya!
22:27Uh, sorry to crash and run.
22:30Chill, guys. I'm just fine.
22:33I'm just fine.
22:34I'm just fine.
22:35I'm just fine.
22:36I'm just fine.
22:37I'm just fine.
22:38I'm just fine.
22:39I'm just fine.
22:40I'm just fine.
22:41I'm just fine.
22:42I'm just fine.
22:43I'm just fine.
22:44I'm just fine.
22:45I'm just fine.
22:46I'm just fine.
22:47I'm just fine.
22:48I'm just fine.
22:49I'm just fine.
22:50I'm just fine.
22:51I'm just fine.
22:52I'm just fine.
22:53I'm just fine.
22:54I'm just fine.
22:55I'm just fine.
23:56We'll talk about this again later.
24:03Hey, Mike. Can you tell me what the deal is?
24:06Who are the Puffin Elite?
24:08I can't really get into it now, Llewellyn.
24:10Trust me, you're better off not knowing.
24:13Whatever.
24:15Just be on your guard. There could be other Voidmancers.
24:18Hey, if K-Manipulators can't use attacks against them, how did you guys kill them to begin with?
24:24Just because they can cancel our force fields doesn't mean they have force fields of their own.
24:30We just kind of shot them and stuff.
24:33Ah, makes sense.
24:35Hey, by the way, you've gotten tall.
24:38You're practically an adult.
24:39Nobody's a kid forever. Except maybe you.
24:45Wise ass.
24:48Fuck, my back hurts.
24:50I think I have sciatica pain.
24:57Yeah, yeah.
24:59Look, I have to lock in now.
25:00What?
25:06Oh, yeah, that too.
25:07But I want to finish Chrono Cross before my videos start again.
25:11And then Live A Live.
25:15And then my videos.
25:18Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
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