TIL that the trend of anime’s signature large eyes started from mangaka Osamu Tezuka’s works, who himself was influenced by Disney and Betty Boop cartoons, and fashion designer Jun’ichi Nakahara’s works. Other factor such as a proverb involving eyes also played a part.
It’s pretty common not to have heard of his works, Astro Boy is the only one that made it over to the West but it’s never gotten a ton of attention. I remember the 2003 series got some play on Saturday mornings and Toonami but it was really short-lived.
Pluto which came out on Netflix late last year is a reinterpretation of an Astro boy arc that’s done fairly well.
MAPPA also made a great anime adaptation of Dororo a few years ago but it mostly flew under the radar.
I used to watch Astroboy in the 80s on TV in Canada lol. It had to be one of the earliest shows that talked about rights for artificial intelligence.
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