#SORT OF.

[the-hydroxian-artblog]

Cucco Link! (for DarkFlipRaven, and others)

[deltawilds]

OUTER WILDS SPOILERS AHEAD !! MAYBE ? IDK !! Time Buddies fanart, but I wasn't sure whether it might be spoilers or not....

What's the perfect hangout place ? Insulated jellyfishes of course !!

[callmrmorrow]

rewatching invincible s2 right now and noticed some fascinating stuff about my goat, donald ferguson. especially in s2ep4, where he’s sort of figuring out that he’s kind of… not entirely human.

more specifically, how insanely detailed the tech he’s made of must be. in s1, this guy gets blown to bits. to our knowledge, this has happened at least 38 other times, all of which were followed by donald realizing he’s a robot, raging on cecil, and then learning that he willingly had his memory wiped… and then dying while saving others again. donald is a real and true hero, but there’s also something about harm reaction.

this metaphor is more commonly used to explain like… demand avoidance in adhd, where you can put your hand over a hot stove and even if you really WANT to push your palm down on it, your body won’t do it. it has a sense of internal self-preservation.

when donald is taking the switchblade to his arm to confirm that he still bleeds like a man, he hesitates. he doesn’t WANT to hurt himself; his robot body — and i’m pretty sure his brain is somewhat robotic, either that or cecil has clones of his brain courtesy of the mauler twins or something… — has a sense of self-preservation.

(or cecil programmed in safeguards to try and keep donald from spiraling over this again and again, but i don’t think he’s that way with donald. the guy isn’t a contingency, this guy is his friend — if not the closest thing he has to family.)

that self-preservation is a ridiculous thing to put in technology, along with an entire fake circulatory system. this isn’t even sinclair’s tech, which implies a genius — or a team of them — who can fucking make robots that are unaware that they are even robots, maintaining the traits of their human body and mind. (there is like no way the maulers didn’t have a hand in this dude, maybe the GDA has a mauler clone that they retrieved from a battle and reconditioned to help them out?)

but beyond that… he’s denied that self-preservation in almost 40 different instances, and continues to do so. donald is an INSANE character. he willingly has his memory wiped with the full knowledge that he will always be the guy on the front line, running in to save others.

give this man a MEDAL he’s like the real captain america here. incredible.

[hellspawnmotel]

well you guys really called my bluff on this one, haha. I have a lot to say on the topic so this will probably turn into a long post but the answer really depends on this: what interests you about astro boy, pluto, and the franchise/tezuka's body of work as a whole? what do you want out of this experience?

if you're just looking for places to read/watch these things and that's it, I'll put some links here at the top so you don't have to dig through this whole mess.

you can read astro boy (original manga) here (there are occasionally missing pages on this website, if/when you run into those you can switch to this one which is harder to navigate but complete)

you can watch/download the 2003 anime (english sub) here

you can read naoki urasawa's pluto here

so you're interested in astro boy but aren't sure where to start: my opinion as someone whose point of view you respect for some reason

it didn't occur to me until recently that for a lot of people who follow me, your cultural touchstone for the concept of astro boy is most likely to be the 2009 american movie. I didn't watch that as a kid, I was 14 when it came out and fully into my "anime is superior to western animation" phase, but I've watched it now and well.... if you like it that's great! I did not. I'm not going to dwell on that, but I think it's worth noting that whatever your opinion on it as a movie is I don't really think it's a good representation of astro boy and its themes. moving on.

the manga

if you want the pure, unfiltered astro boy experience, this is as close as you're gonna get. it's gonna be a little haphazard though because the dark horse publication, which is probably the only way you're gonna find to read it in english, does not order the stories chronologically. I don't think that really matters because there's not a lot of continuity so as long as you understand the basic premise you can read in whatever order you want, and this puts a lot of really good stories first anyway so it's nice too. personally as far as all versions of astro boy proper go, the manga is my favorite. it's not always an easy read, for reasons I'll get into in a moment, and it's not always good either. some stories are phenomenal, some are just plain silly, and some are downright terrible. but given how long it ran for and how consistently and without breaks tezuka worked on not just it but all his other manga too I think that's too be expected. but even the bad ones I think are worth a look! this is the history of manga as a medium right here! and I love the manga, it's fun, funny, wonderfully drawn, compelling, shockingly dark at times, and just a fascinating read for those with an interest in classic comics.

all that said, I think it would be irresponsible of me to recommend it without also including a big fat disclaimer, which dark horse was kind enough to put at the front of the book.

if you have an interest or familiarity with classic/vintage manga, anime, comics, and cartoons, you probably saw this coming, but some of this shit gets REAL racist, most often in terms of how people are drawn. some of tezuka's biggest inspirations were the rubberhose american cartoons of the 20s and 30s, and all that implies. for whatever the opinion of a white american is worth, based on his writing I really do believe he had good intentions- he consistently speaks out against racism and bigotry in general, in astro boy especially. you can tell he was very passionate about it. but I'm not gonna defend the guy either, you can't be drawing people like that, even if it was the 40s-80s. a lot of the experience of getting into tezuka is reading a story where the moral is "racism is evil! end discrimination!" accompanied by straight up racial caricatures in the art. it's baffling and infuriating. if I could I would travel back in time and hire the man a sensitivity reader, but I can't, and he's been dead for 35 years so we'll never know what he would've done about it today. all we can do is take it as an opportunity to learn and do better. but, if all that puts you off getting into the manga or the series at large, I don't blame you!

with that out of the way, the size of the manga might intimidate you. there's a lot of it. lucky for you you don't have to read all of it if you don't want to! I've read the entire thing because I'm a completionist at heart, but I've had several friends come to me for a smaller and more manageable reading list, which is as follows:

(stars for my personal favorites, grimaces for "I did enjoy this one and I think it's worth reading but I don't feel good about recommending it". I also think "the artificial sun" and "atlas" are important reads if you're interested in the history of the franchise because they get referenced a lot, but they are VERY racist and I don't think theyre good enough overall to make them worth putting on the list despite that.)

that was long. next up:

the 2003 anime

I am not quite done watching this one but I'm pretty close so I feel confident in saying: on the whole, it's great! it looks absolutely fantastic for a tv anime from that era, the character and world design is top-notch, and overall it does a really good job adapting the best and most important parts of the manga into a continuous story, although it softens the blow of the darker moments quite a bit (which might be a good thing for you, depending on your tastes). it's pretty beloved by western fans, and for good reason.

I do have my issues with it, for one this might not be a popular opinion but I think they majorly screwed up on adapting the "greatest robot on earth" arc (my favorite arc btw, yes I might be salty), for another they really sand the edges off of uran's character compared to the manga and make her a lot more meek and girly. but that's just my opinion and if this show is the only one you've watched you wouldnt know that anyway. so don't let that deter you if you're interested, you'll be missing out on a pretty fantastic kids show.

so, if you're looking to really dive chest-first into astro boy as a franchise and understand all there is to know: maybe don't start with this one. it changes a lot from the source material and kind of does its own thing. but if you're just looking for a good story thats fun to watch and total eye candy, go nuts!

pluto

pluto by naoki urasawa is an adaptation/reimagining of astro boy's most famous and beloved arc, "the greatest robot on earth". it's also what got me into the franchise and one of my favorite manga ever! pluto reinvents the story as a detective thriller set in the aftermath of what is effectively, and obviously, the iraq war. it's brutal and harrowing, and beautiful and cathartic and hopeful. to me it is the gold standard for "dark and gritty reboot of a children's story" because urasawa adores tezuka and respects the original version, which was always a dark tragedy anyway, just presented differently. you might have seen pluto got an anime adaptation last year as well. I've watched it, it's pretty good! it doesn't change all that much (I don't like the few things they DID change but whatever) but I just think urasawa's artwork, paneling, and pacing are completely unmatched so I'd recommend the manga first. I'm not gonna be that asshole who insists you gotta read the manga over the anime though, if anime is easier for you you're better off having experienced pluto that way than not at all.

(if you ARE interested in both astro boy and pluto and are considering which to get into first, it's important to know that reading the arc pluto is based on will spoil a loooooot of things about the story. so weigh the pros and cons of that before making a decision!)

so, that's basically what I have to say. I haven't watched the 60s or 80s anime adaptations so I can't give insight on those, and I'm by no means an expert on any of this. I only started reading the original manga like three months ago and before that my memories of the other stuff was pretty faded, before I revisited it. if you're interested though I hope this helps, and I hope you enjoy yourself if you decide to take the leap! it's kind of a rabbit hole. I did not know what I was getting into when I decided to reread pluto, but I'm sure glad I did.

if you have any other questions about my personal opinions, feel free to shoot me an ask as well!

[slateblueflowers]

Hello kepcobi nation. Have we discussed how next week is Tuesday. The 24th.

[peachphernalia]

shitty phone doodles GO

i had fhe absolute worst conversation with my friends last night about . w. well about dream using Outdated Language. and. Yeag. sorry

[blue by p0pcornpr1nce, dream by joku, ink by comyet]

[scoringeffects]

PIT@PHI Jan. 13, 2007 // PIT@SJS Jan. 27, 2025

[slabime]

assorted stuff sorry for so little still having problems getting back into the groove + obscure weird hyperfix that I dont. feel like sharing art for.

[gwendolyn-of-loxley]

It's finally happened.

The tgirls of tumblr finally got me. My egg is shattered and, like ancient pottery, there is no way to truly assemble the facade that has been broken. I am a woman. I am a strong, beautiful woman, and I cannot wait to find out who I become.

[archi-pelago]

more zonai au

wanted to doodle the god of time for this au, meet "Ordona" aka the Fierce Deity of Time

Link is an ancestor of his and he's extremely hands off, usually passing shit onto Hylia or Demise or the three goddesses bc he's not invested in basically anything. when he is, its only when time and space is at risk, which isn't very often, but if he gets involved he's got a worse temper than Demise

Link bullies an Ocarina of Time out of him! here's a size comparison. Considering Zonai!Link is about the same size as Sidon, this dude's a bit toll. He also didn't used to be a god of time until he defeated Majora a long time ago through his music, when he was still very very young

it was a sad affair, and one of the reasons he doesn't participate in wars between the gods anymore. Majora nearly decimated the Zonai population and they never really recovered, even after Ordona took the helm. (as a result he's THRILLED that Link turned into a Zonai. hell yes my sonboy. furry upon thee!!)

[ihateloginwallsfuckyou]

i get too scared to interact with my mutuals what if i send them an ask and they come to my house and spray my eyes with raid

[satorugorjus]

little nanago / gonana ship chart! (Original template by goomyloid)

[ihateornithologists]

i remembered i had a very stupid childhood photo (it's lost unfortunately) of me and my sister holding dead ducks (..my grandpa often goes hunting so. having dead birds at home was kinda a normal thing) ... but i have no idea what we looked like so i tried to recreate that wonderful picture with rudolf and gisela instead......

[8redphoenix8]

Doctor. What do you see?

[sebthebees]

I'm so happy geno won this for us I don't give A FUCK where we are in the stands!!! geno won us a game against the flyers byeeeeeeeee