Atom: The Beginning

Atom: The Beginning (Japanese: アトム ザ・ビギニング, Hepburn: Atomu za Biginingu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tetsuro Kasahara, with writing contributions by Makoto Tezuka and Masami Yuki. The series is a prequel to Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy manga series, depicting the events up until the birth of Astro Boy. It began serialization in Hero's Inc.'s Monthly Hero's magazine on December 1, 2014, and has been compiled into ten tankōbon volumes as of July 2019. An anime television series adaptation aired from April 15 to July 8, 2017.

Atom: The Beginning
The cover of the first volume featuring A106.
アトム ザ・ビギニング (Atomu za Biginingu)
Genre	Science fiction[1]
Manga
Written by	Tetsuro Kasahara Makoto Tezuka Masami Yuki
Illustrated by	Tetsuro Kasahara
Published by	Hero's Inc.
Magazine	Monthly Hero's
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	December 1, 2014 – present
Volumes	12
Anime television series
Directed by	Katsuyuki Motohiro (Chief) Tatsuo Satō
Produced by	Naohiko Furuichi Fuminori Yamazaki Kazuaki Takahashi Mariko Satō Isamu Yoshikuni Masato Ishiwatari Shinichi Nakatsuka Nobuko Irie
Written by	Junichi Fujisaku
Music by	Noriyuki Asakura
Studio	OLM Production I.G Signal.MD
Licensed by	^NA Sentai Filmworks
Original network	NHK G
Original run	April 15, 2017 – July 8, 2017
Episodes	12

Plot

Two prodigies, Umatarō Tenma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu, have spent endless amounts of time researching robots with Tenma wanting to produce a god and Ochanomizu wanting to produce a friend, eventually producing the robot A106. The question that duo were wondering, would A106 eventually turn into a god or a friend?

Characters

Umatarō Tenma (天馬午太郎, Tenma Umatarō)

Voiced by: Yūichi Nakamura[2]

Hiroshi Ochanomizu (お茶の水博士, Ochanomizu Hiroshi)

Voiced by: Takuma Terashima[2]

A106/Six (シクス, Shikusu)

Voiced by: Yūki Inoue[2]

Moriya Tsutsumi (堤茂理也, Tsutsumi Moriya)

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai[3]

Motoko Tsutsumi (堤茂斗子, Tsutsumi Motoko)

Voiced by: Mikako Komatsu[3]

Ran Ochanomizu (お茶の水蘭, Ochanomizu Ran)

Voiced by: Ayane Sakura[3]

Shunsaku Han (伴俊作, Han Shunsaku)

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi[3]

Kensaku Han (伴健作, Han Kensaku)

Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita[3]

Maria (マリア)

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjō[3]

Media

Manga

Kasahara's manga series began serialization in the Monthly Hero's magazine published by Hero's Inc. on December 1, 2014. Makoto Tezuka and Masami Yuki are responsible for the manga series' editorial supervision and concept design, respectively, with Tezuka Productions collaborating.[4] As of June 5, 2020, the series has been published in twelve tankōbon volumes, with the first volume being published on June 5, 2015.[5]

Volume list

No.	Japanese release date	Japanese ISBN
1	June 5, 2015[5]	978-4-86-468417-0
2	December 4, 2015[5]	978-4-86-468441-5
3	June 3, 2016[5]	978-4-86-468462-0
4	December 5, 2016[5]	978-4-86-468482-8
5	April 5, 2017[5]	978-4-86-468495-8
6	June 5, 2017[5]	978-4-86-468503-0
7	December 5, 2017[5]	978-4-86-468528-3
8	June 5, 2018[5]	978-4-86-468570-2
9	December 29, 2018[5]	978-4-86-468607-5
10	July 5, 2019[5]	978-4-86-468656-3
11	December 5, 2019[5]	978-4-86-468680-8
12	June 5, 2020[5]	978-4-86-468727-0

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced in the July 2016 issue of Hero's Inc.'s Monthly Hero's magazine in June 2016.[6] The anime series is directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro and Tatsuo Satō, with series composition by Jun'ichi Fujisaku and animation produced by OLM, Inc., Production I.G and Signal.MD. Takahiro Yoshimatsu designed the characters and Noriyuki Asakura composed the series' soundtrack. Shinobu Tsuneki, Yoshihiro Ishimoto and Shinichi Miyazaki are responsible for mechanical design.[7] The 12-episode series aired from April 15 to July 8, 2017, on NHK G.[1][8] It was streamed by Amazon on their Amazon Prime Video service.[9] Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for home video and exclusively streamed the series on Amazon's Anime Strike streaming service.[10] The opening theme song, titled "Kaidoku Funō" (解読不能, lit. "Indecipherable"), is performed by After the Rain,[11] while the ending theme song, titled "Hikari no Hajimari" (光のはじまり, lit. "The Beginning of Light"), is performed by Yoshino Nanjō.[3]

Episode list

No.	Title [lower-alpha 1]	Original air date
1	"Birth of the Mighty Atom" "Tetsuwan Kidō" (Japanese: 鉄腕起動)	April 15, 2017
Two college students Hiroshi Ochanomizo and Ummataro Temma test out their latest robot's arm which creates a shock wave destroying their lab's wall and hurting Ummataro, Hiroshi tends to Ummataro's wounds, he asks Ummataro why did he make arm so strong? To which he replies he wanted the robot to be top notch, it looks cool and goes on to brag about their robot and it's Bewusstsien A.I. Hiroshi complains about running out of funds because of Ummatoro's hi tech upgrades reminding them that they both are late for their part time jobs, Hurriedly Hiroshi takes off on his way he bumps into Moriya Tsutsumi and knocks him down he apologizes to Moriya while his sister Motoko arrives to help out, Hiroshi takes off without addressing her, Moriya asks Motoko not to get any funny ideas to which she says that she wouldn't get involved with those guys still she thinks stimulating them would be fun. Hiroshi reaches his job as captain Dacaron in Meccha City parade where he runs into Ran Ochanomizo (his little sister) he inquires her about whereabouts of Ummatoro and asks her not to steal their spare parts while dressing up he spots Ummataro already heading up ahead (as Mayor Cemmecha) parade is inaugurated by Dr. Lolo, Roborace champion among the robots being featured while a mummified humanoid stands on top of citadel, General Takeumma catches fire crowd thinks that its just special effects continues to cheer, from a distance Motoko checks out Hioroshi and Ummataro; as Ummataro sneaks up from behind and accuses her of being a spy while she asks if Ummataro was standing here who was in the costume? The robot in the costume turns out to A106 who realizes the threatening situation and puts out the fire later Ummataro and Hiroshi check out the broken robots to find explosives concealed in it to which Ummataro points how their made A.I. sensed the situation and took preventive measures on its own accord.
2	"Bewusstsein" "Bevusutozain" (Japanese: ベヴストザイン)	April 22, 2017
The same mummified humanoid stands in front of a billboard while he is assigned a target as A106; While back at lab 7 Hiroshi wakes up Ummataro as to get ready for their academic briefing sessions while Ran tries to seek into Nerima University to obtains spare parts from lab 7's junkyard there she runs into Motoko who was visiting Hiroshi she talks to Ran for a while, realizing she is Hiroshi's sister and how she collects spare parts to make robots soon it lands upon that Hiroshi must be at his regular briefing and she takes off. Meanwhile at briefing session lab 1 finishes its superb presentation impressing everyone except professor Saruta and Ummataro who remains confident about their presentation being better than others, While rest of the labs continue to screw up their presentations the humanoid reaches labs 7 and forces entry while Ran tries to intercept. The humanoid shifts target to Ran on commands of Dr. Lolo who turns of to controlling the robot and monitoring the situation via drone. Meanwhile Ummataro berates everyone at briefing calling them names and branding their works as fake which has no direction towards building an autonomous A.I. and goes on to brag goes their Bewusstsein system how it has bridged the gap as Hiroshi continues that how their A.I. integrates leading to ego consciousness leading to anonymity making everyone confused & giving a feeling of absurdity impresses no one except professor Saruta, Back lab Ran continues to dodge humanoid while A106 activates and comes to rescue in the end after paring a few blow with A106 it takes of when Hiroshi and Ummataro return Ummataro complaining about being stopped in middle of presentation to find the wrecked state of their lab.
3	"Pursuing the Respective Leads" "Sorezore no tsuiseki" (Japanese: それぞれの追跡)	April 29, 2017
A multipurpose private detective investigating in lab 7's junkyard is caught by A106, Ran and Ummataro who brand him as suspicious and inquire about his intentions while Hiroshi returns with Motoko turns out Motoko and detective (who identifies were Kensaku Han) are acquaintances. Han tells them that he is searching for a robot pet named Malon which has a huge reward; Motoko pipes in that if Han wants to find the pet he should hire boys as campus is very large, difficult to warfare and exclusive to students, Ummataro agrees to the offer finding it as it was a good opportunity to test A106's new sensors, Han reprehends by saying that robots aren't qualified for such jobs causing a spat with Ummataro to which both make a bet. Hiroshi, Motoko and Han search around campus employing old fashioned legwork Motoko asks him about the person who made the request to which Han explains the man might have had strong emotional attachment to the pet, while searching Motoko bumps into an old man who lost his way around. Meanwhile Ummataro and Ran use A106's sensors to search for devices using old network technology used by the pet to communicate during which the come across the same old and find a similar pet in his bag, the man turns out to the client; both teams put two and two together to discover only one hit was remaining at the construction site where A106 finds Malon returning it to its owner.
4	"Welcome to Nerima U Festival" "Neri taisai e yōkoso" (Japanese: 練大祭へようこそ)	May 6, 2017
Ummataro declares the lab 7 will be putting up an Udon Noodle stall for Nerima University festival while others question his choice of selection; Meanwhile in dark alleys a sketchy guy talking on the phone informs the person on other end that a program is ready to go he will hand it over, the person on the phone asks him to beware of ICE (international Criminal Enforcement). As guys on lab 7 step up the stall Haru (A101 A.I. personal assistant) synchronizes Udon instructions to A106 during which Motoko inquires Hiroshi about names of other A10 series robots, she notices that A105 is missing to which Ummataro and Hiroshi change the topic asking Motoko about her role getting ingredients, the guy delivering turns out to be Shunsaku Han son of Kensaku Han who on his way bumps into the sketchy man and his partner carrying the software who are running away from an officer the man drops the chip in ingredients. Shunsaku and Hiroshi pour the ingredients and give to Six for further processing. The man realizing that he dropped the chip goes back to search he steals a robot costume and runs around ransacking every stall with flour in it meanwhile Motoko suggests that she and Ran dress up in maid costumes to increase their stores appeal, after changing while returning to the stall the man attacks them thinking they are threats Six comes in to rescue, after the matter is settled. People wanting to see Six visit stall where they are astounded by six’s abilities and taste of noodles the stall becomes a success, At last the sketchy man’s accomplice returns to Lab 7’s stall to get the chip.
5	"Step on it! Maruhige Shipping" "Gekisō maru hige unsō" (Japanese: 激走マルヒゲ運送)	May 13, 2017
Ummataro and Hiroshi reach Maruhinge corp. In search of work where they find the owner to Kensaku Han he agrees to give the boys the job but blindly refuses for A106. Suddenly an important moving job comes in so he hires them all out of desperation. The client turns out to be Motoko who has a habit of moving out whenever she gets involved/hopes to get involved with someone, Six quickly learns the job and gracefully packs and puts away the boxes while Maruhinge struggles. Accomplice of sketchy man hacks into cities system causing all connected robots to go haywire. Guys notice an berserk autonomous truck going at high speed in direction of jam they decide to stop it but are unable to gain control they try to override the system by plugging Six into its system this makes Six throw Ummatoro & Hiroshi take into the truck and he himself take control of the situation, they both think that Six also went out of control while Six manages to stop the truck damaging his own body and overheating his system. On site investigation causes delay to moving.
6	"Lab 7's Annihilation!" "Ken kaimetsu su!" (Japanese: 研壊滅す！)	May 20, 2017
At Tsutsumi residence Motoko tells Moriya about lab 7’s accomplishments to which he reminds her not to get involved still she remains adamant about making Hiroshi fall for her to which Moriya hints what if Hiroshi were to disappear next day she visits lab 7 where Hiroshi and Ummataro are fighting over A106’s state stranded Hiroshi takes off out of anger, crying and again bumps into Moriya who appraises him on his research paper and offers him to join lab 7 Hiroshi in utter surprise thinks that Moriya is kidding meanwhile Motoko catches up to them Hiroshi tell her how he and Ummataro collaborated and how he always intends to get his way swearing that he won't return unless Ummataro restores six and offers an apology to him to which Motoko takes it upon herself to get Ummataro to apologize, she employs various tactics along with Ran which fail at last they threaten him about revealing A105 to the world to which Hiroshi and Ummataro pretend to make up suddenly the container and ran where standing on starts to tumble to help Both Ummataro and Hiroshi work together this eventually settles their spat. At last post robot puts an invitation to robo wrestling in lab 7’s mail box.
7	"Ran and Princess Teru" "Ran to Teru hime" (Japanese: 蘭とＴＥＲＵ姫)	June 3, 2017
Ran and her friends at robotics club at Tokyo Perfectural Sanpoji high school add finishing touches to their robot Teru Hime (Princess Teru) as their entry for JRRC Junior robot rescue competition which tests disaster management robots where the robots have to cross a damage inflicted sites obstacles find the dummy, report its location and cross the finish line in minimal time. While Ummataro and Hiroshi remain unmoved and disenchanted by the invitation to robot wrestling competition Hiroshi calls its banal and uncivilized while Ummataro believes that six is already the strongest and needs no proving while Motoko is thrilled. Hiroshi and Motoko visit the robotics club to check on Ran there Ran's club members seek out Hiroshi's advice on to deal with Ran as she is extremely smart and innovative but remains adamant on her ways to which Hiroshi advises them to take action to something which the firmly believe is right. While returning Hiroshi get a mail from Moriya asking him to reconsider his offer, at the competition almost all the robots get stalled at some level only one manages it but due to robots crashing the infrastructure hosting the competition stats losing its integrity, one robot manages to clear the course during Teru Hime's she clear most of course flawlessly but due her humanoid forms flexibility and poor quality materials used to make it her joints lock up seeing this the rest of the club members pull out a hidden ace and transform their robot but the building starts to collapse sensing this Six takes the necessary action rescuing the robot the girls despite winning forfeit the award. Dr. Lolo shows up to Ummataro and Hiroshi asking whether the got their invitation to Robo wrestling finally revealing the mummified humanoid to be her robot MARS.
8	"Robot Wrestling" "Robotto Resuringu" (Japanese: ロボットレスリング シックス戦闘不能)	June 10, 2017
Hiroshi seeing how badly the robots get beaten up flips out meanwhile rest of them remain composed and confident of Six’s victory while Motoko mocks them about their unawareness of robot wrestling despite being robotics students to which they replie that were occupied in developing A10 series and bewusstein seeing them Shunsaku joins them and advises them on their upcoming opponent’s abilities and asks them to beware seeing his knowledge about robot wrestling Hiroshi makes him a part of their pit crew while Ummataro throws Motoko out. Shunsaku makes them aware about the rules of robot wrestling and Six heads to take on Mohican Basho a first generation robot (i.e. remote controlled) controlled by Linda Oishi who after plentiful of boasting gets the match started Six continuously dodges Basho’s attacks while analysing him and ends the fight by removing its antenna getting the ignominy as the crowd wanted to see some action while Dr. Lolo and Mars observe the fight. Ummataro asks Six to this time punch a hole through the opponents chest and rip its vitals Six goes up against Iron Hammer of Fury Gigatron Hammer second generation (i.e. pilot controlled) this Six quickly reaches the cockpit turns of Hammer and takes out the pilot bringing a quick end thought public still gets enraged but the start looking on the brighter side on Six’s fighting style.
9	"Six is Unfit to Fight" "Shikkusu sentō funō" (Japanese: シックス戦闘不能)	June 17, 2017
After winning their first two fights the gang and Six are walking back to the room. However, instead, they're stopped by the people they've faced and by some that they will fight in the future. Luckily, this isn't a bad encounter though rather the other fighters are just curious about Six. While talking about how Six works, it becomes clear that something is wrong. Six's defibrillator has given out. They ask around for parts and are able to find a quick replacement. It doesn't last long though and gives out shortly after Six's new fight. Angry with how Six isn't listening and isn't as brutal as he wants, Tenma takes it out on Six. He talks about how Six is just a robot, and despite the fact that Six isn't at full strength, he insists on forcing him to fight. Calming that then it'll just prove what a poor robot he is when he's beaten. When all hope is lost though, help comes from an unlikely person.
10	"Battle Royal" "Batoru Roiyaru" (Japanese: バトルロイヤル)	June 24, 2017
With Six back and ready, he's not the only one joining the fight. Dr. Lolo and her robot Mars are joining the battle too. She calms that her robot will fight everyone. Meanwhile, Six starts to think about the people around it and comes to a decision. Soon, the Deadly Taurus, Drum Shoulder, Hell Scissors, Six, and Mars begin their battle. However, as the battle goes on Mars beats off the other robots with relative ease. He cuts through them like butter until it's down to just him and Six. As they both prepare for the battle that's coming, it becomes clear that Six is not just a robot. For he asks why Mars fights and wants to talk with him.
11	"A Dialogue" "Taiwa" (Japanese: 対話)	July 1, 2017
Mars and Six's true battle has just begun. Six may be fast, but it's taking everything he has to dodge Mars' attacks. When Mars starts flying, it's revealed that he is part of an army unit. Meaning that he's some sort of weapon robot. While news about this spreads, Dr. Lolo's men cut video survival to online streams and tv. The whole time so far Six had been calling to the other robots in the arena and to Mars. Mars tears off Drum Shoulders head and throws it at Six. Six can sense that it's still alive though and tries to call out to it, Mars uses this distraction to his advantage and cuts out Six's right eye. This doesn't deter Six however as he continues to call out to Mars even as his right arm is cut off. After Six is cut in half he still keeps trying to reach Mars. People in the audience start crying seeing Six being hurt like this. Tenma refuses to pull Six out calming he deserves to die if he's going to lose. Finally, Six reaches Mars heart and Mars collapses. Still rather than care for his robot, Tenma runs off to find Dr. Lolo. He rubbs in the fact that he won while she just walks away. The episode ends on Six's vision slowly giving way and him saying, "You...Me..."
12	"Beginning" "Biginingu" (Japanese: ビギニング)	July 8, 2017

References

Notes

1. English titles are taken from Amazon Video.

References

1. "Atom the Beginning Anime's 1st Promo Video, Story Intro Posted". Anime News Network. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
2. Chapman, Paul (January 27, 2017). "Yuichi Nakamura and More Join the Cast of "Atom the Beginning"". Crunchyroll. Retrieved January 27, 2017.
3. "Atom the Beginning Anime Casts Takahiro Sakurai, Mikako Komatsu". Anime News Network. February 17, 2017. Retrieved February 17, 2017.
4. "Rideback's Kasahara Launches Astro Boy Prequel Manga". Anime News Network. October 1, 2014. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
5. アトム ザ・ビギニング ゆうきまさみ×カサハラテツロー. Hero's Web (in Japanese). Hero's Inc. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
6. "Astro Boy Prequel Manga Atom the Beginning Gets Anime Adaptation". Anime News Network. May 30, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
7. "News Sites Briefly List Staff, 2017 Spring Premiere for Atom the Beginning Anime". Anime News Network. November 20, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016.
8. "Atom the Beginning Anime Gets 12 Episodes". Anime News Network. March 23, 2017. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
9. "Atom the Beginning Anime Reveals Premiere Date, New Key Visual". Anime News Network. March 7, 2017. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
10. "Sentai Filmworks Licenses Frame Arms Girl, Atom the Beginning Anime". Anime News Network. March 30, 2017.
11. "After the Rain Performs Atom the Beginning Anime's Opening Theme". Anime News Network. January 5, 2017. Retrieved January 5, 2017.

External links

• Official website (in Japanese)
• Official anime website (in Japanese)