TETSUWAN ATOM (ASTROBOY) Ep 2: ROBOT BALL (review)

Series Title: TETSUWAN ATOM (ASTROBOY)
Episode 2: ROBOT BALL
Premise: A scientist in the future succeeds in creating a robot boy that is the first robot that thinks like a real child.

Wow, I really can't say enough about this show. When I was a little kid I remember watching shows that tried to teach children how they should behave. These shows, like SHAZAM and ELECTRA-WOMAN were fun, but really totally stupid. I watch them now and enjoy them for the crap and cheese that they were. However, the Testuwan Atom/Astroboy remake series is like night and day compared to those old shows from my youth. This second episode of the remake series truly captures a nearly perfect balance between story, imagination, fun, and morals.

In "Robot Ball," Atom learns about rules. He learns about them through being exposed to kids "his own age" that he can identify with. They play a game that they watch on TV called Robot Ball. It's like a cross between basketball, American football and inline skating. It looks like a damn fun game to me. Anyway, Atom uses his ability to fly during the game. He's told by the other kids that he can't do that because it's cheating. Now, the way I'm explaining it, it sounds typically patronizing, but it isn't because Atom is learning these lessons from other kids.

However, the episode isn't just Atom playing ball with some new friends. During the game, a robot dog shows up and steals their ball. Atom, realizing that he's got powers the other kids don't have, goes after the ball. One kid manages to follow them both as the dog leads them all the way to the Robot Ball stadium where the championship is being played by robots specifically designed to play the game. Inside, the lead kid points out his favorite player and explains how he always plays fair. Suddenly, that very same robot goes haywire and begins cheating by smashing apart the other players. The crowd is stunned as are Atom and his new friend. Then, all of the doors to the stadium slam shut. Over the loud speaker an ultimatum is made by a strange large-nosed man in the shadows. He demands that Atom play against the bezerk robot in a game of robot ball. If he doesn't, the berzerk robot will begin killing people in the stands.

I could go on, but then you'd have no reason to watch the episode. :)

Suffice it to say that I really wish I had a show like this to grow up on. As an adult, I felt like it wasn't patronizing me the way the old episodes of SHAZAM did when I was a kid.