#you know 2009 is a step away from being 'well idk about robots but we'll treat you ok bc you're basically a human ^^'

[omegasmileyface]

IN THE ORIGINAL ASTRO BOY IT WASN'T ABOUT HIM BEING EXCEPTIONAL i mean he Was, just in that he was a robot hanging out with humans, and he was one of (one of!! not The) the strongest robots (discounting the pluto plot . i think tenma was on something when he way like "easy. yes. a million we can do that") and he had the whole 7 power set thing, due to ministry dedication, but that wasn't what made him special. what made him special was his bravery and dedication to peace (except when he was throwing shit at ppl but you know. paradox of tolerance) and problem solving skills and origin (expectations, the circus, etc). NOT TO MENTION that it wasn't even about him being special. in most of the stories the theme wasn't "Im Not Like Other Robots" the theme was, overwhelmingly, helping robots in general be respected.

and then the 2003 series used this idea of kokoro, working off the morals of peace and stuff like that to create a situation in which the conflict comes from the increasing similarity of ai to human brains. it created this divide between robots in general, who were intelligent but not perfectly, and the main characters with kokoro, who essentially had human brains but like electronic. but while it does cause a bit of an ideological divide (the idea that robots like Robita or Buddy are not as human as say atom or atlas) it also makes sure to insist that at least some of those morals apply to robots without kokoro, and it sort of represents a necessary time period-- its like if the original manga took place like 30 years ago when the modern Electronic Brain was just being perfected, and it wasn't commonly implemented. we still need to talk about how artificial life is treated while its imperfect or not all of it is perfect.

BUT THEN the 2009 movie took kokoro and ran with it. they turned it into the concept of the Blue Core and while it's usually acknowledged mainly as a power source, it's also implied that it contributes to how humanlike he is (for example the way his skin pales when it's removed... idk). regardless, it sets him apart from other robots, since he has this unique and powerful power source. AND while his brain works noticeably differently, he does still have all the memories of being human, so experientially he's closer to a human than a robot. honestly, sometimes he's portrayed as a halfway point between the 2 species (as opposed to the earlier series, where hes considered more of a full-robot ambassador for robots and humans (thus, ambassador atom)) so this is all to say-- in 2009 astro isn't a representative for robots, hes just himself. the 2009 movie isn't a story about robots, it's a story about astro boy specifically

which like would be fine except that the growth characters face in how they treat astro (acceptance, respect, just generally not torturing for entertainment or using as a weapon or a replacement) doesn't carry over to other characters? theres a slight implication (set up by the cartoon at the beginning and established by Orrin being treated with more respect at the end) that robots are not going to be considered disputable slaves, but (a) they dont outright address it or show it and (b) the RRF (robot communism... 🥺) is considered an unreasonable laughingstock to the end, which says a lot

I don't really have a point here except i guess that (tldr:) the astro boy series as a whole started off as (much like asimov's I, Robot) an analysis on how humanity is going to have to deal with the rise of artificial life. but as the series goes on, it strays further away from that Message and becomes more of a story for the sake of a story (or instead picks up a metaphor-- i could talk about 09 as an autistic metaphor 👀) and especially the 2009 movie... that's just a superhero movie, not a lesson about AI