AGP#028a – The Greatest Podcast on Earth, Part I

Hosts: Evan “Vampt Vo” Minto, Frederik L.
Schodt, Ed Sizemore
Topic: Comparison of all versions of the Astro
Boy story “The Greatest Robot on Earth” (original manga, 60s
anime, 1980 anime, 2003 anime, and Pluto manga)


In a last-ditch effort to release a podcast for Osamu Tezuka
Month, I recorded this episode with manga translator Fred Schodt
(author of The Astro Boy Essays, translator of Astro Boy and
Pluto) and manga reviewer Ed Sizemore (Manga Worth Reading),
featuring an in-depth discussion of the Astro Boy story “The
Greatest Robot on Earth” and all of the adaptations thereof. The
episode was quite long and I wanted to get something out before
the end of the month, so this is only the first part of the show.


In it, we only get to two of our discussion topics: Astro’s
fateful decision to increase his horsepower and the dichotomy
between the philosophies and depictions of Dr. Ochanomizu and Dr.
Tenma. In addition, there’s a quick announcement of an Ani-Gamers
Podcast contest at the end of the episode, so stick around to
find out how to win some fabulous Tezuka-themed prizes, courtesy
of Vertical, Inc.


Show notes and links after the break.


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(Runtime: 37 minutes)

[00:00] Opening Song: “R.O.D. OP” by Taku Iwasaki (Read Or
Die OAV OP)[00:16] Evan introduces our two awesome guests.

[02:07] We move on to some background and a plot synopsis of
“The Greatest Robot on Earth.”


[05:31] Our trio begins with a quite long conversation about
Astro’s decision to upgrade his horsepower from 100,000 to
1,000,000. In doing so, we also bring up the central themes of
“The Greatest Robot on Earth” and get into the underlying
characterizations of Astro, Dr. Ochanomizu, and Dr. Tenma.


[31:17] Continuing with our discussion of the two doctors, we
begin with Evan’s idea of the two as representing an
angel/devil dichotomy. (In discussing the topic, Ed brings up
an alternative model of the two as representing a yin-yang.)


[35:58] That’s it for this half of the show. Evan announces the
(late) Tezuka Month contest for the podcast.


[37:27] Ending Song: “Tetsuwan Atom” by Atoms (Astro
Boy[1980] OP)