Tetsujin 28 Vol. 1

Osamu Tezuka’s creation about a boy and his robot receives a new lease of life in this colourful new series.

The story is set 10 years after the war, and centres around a young lad named Shotaro, who has been raised by his mentors, the Police Chief Otsuka and Professor Shikishima, a man who worked with Shotaro’s late father. Now a genius detective (who can drive a car at 10 years old!) Shotaro is about to come to terms with his origins, and his namesake in the form of an invincible war robot.

With a highly retro finish, Tetsujin is intelligently scripted and well directed anime, with plenty of pace and some likeable characters. The post-war sentimentality of the characters provides much of the emotional content and motivation for the key cast. Shotaro manages to be precocious without being irritating, and Tetsujin 28, when it makes its appearance, is really rather splendid.

The series aesthetic is probably going to be off-putting for those who like their anime to look state of the art and flashy (many of the characters look like they were drafted in from The Beano), but those who enjoyed Astro Boy and Giant Robo should enjoy the energy that Tetsujin 28 has to offer.

The dub is lively and handles the drama and comedy well, but if you’re going to watch a disc with this much historic significance, you really ought to watch the Japanese language track.

Extras are slim here, with just a clean opening sequence and some trailers to keep you amused, but the 5 episodes on the disc should make up for that.