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Reviewed by Michael Aronson Continuing from the sixth volume, Astro’s time travel saga comes to an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. The disappointment is mostly due to wonky space/time theory, on which time travel stories heavily rely. If the science makes no sense, the threads of the story come undone, unable to dramatize the stakes and complexity of the situation. For some reason, Tezuka’s theory stands that a living being (robots included) cannot exist in two separate places at the same time. As Astro Boy survives up to the moment he is activated for the first time, the characters discover that the newly made Astro can’t come to life if the time-displaced Astro still exists. Thus – and I apologize for the spoiler – Astro dies so that he can be born. But wait! Is this really how Astro meets his fate? Not necessarily. Astro originally journeyed to the past with an alien woman named Scara. She lived on through Astro’s “death” and meets the newly born one. Eventually, the husband she left from her alien planet arrives to rescue her and take her back. But shouldn’t another Scara be living peacefully with her husband, having yet to leave him? Not by Tezuka’s time travel rules. Not only is she not with her husband, but he somehow has knowledge of her location and comes after her. However, if she’d gone back in time and lived for over forty years, wouldn’t her husband never have met her since her past self had been displaced? Ah, it’s really head-achingly confusing on account of the science not making any sense. Sadly, all it results in is a wasted time travel journey which may have touched the lives of Astro’s supporting cast in the past but had no repercussions for the present/future. What we’re thankfully left with is an exploration of Astro’s “birth” and early years, from Dr. Tenma’s reason for creating Astro to bringing Dr. Ochanomizu and Mustachio into the fold. Since all other significance in the story is vague and perplexing, perhaps we’re meant to assume that this was Tezuka’s attempt to sort of relaunch Astro Boy for a new generation and offer up a comprehensive origin story. To that effect, it certainly succeeds, though I can’t see why Astro as we knew him had to be sacrificed for this story to occur. Coupled with volume six, these three volumes are both a rewarding experience for fans of the series as well as a puzzling disappointment. Comment on this review of Astro Boy v7 & 8 on the Manga Life Forums. |
6 October 2009
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