series with Tezuka Productions to reboot Atom anew from his birth. The fact that the first series was in black-and-white and was not rerun very often, and that it was not broadcast outside Japan, was also cited as a reason for the remake. The plan for the reboot was brought up in 1970 and 1971, but was abandoned, and it was not until 1974 that the project was launched. The plan for this series was realized due to the popularity of the Osamu Tezuka special animation that NTV had been airing on 24 Hour TV: Love Saves the Earth since the first edition in 1978. The contract was made directly between Tezuka Productions and NTV, not through an advertising agency. As in the first series, Tezuka himself participated as a staff member in charge of scripts, storyboards, direction, and key animation. In this series, the first episode is set in the year 2030, which is a change from both the year 2003, the year of Astro Boy's birth in the original manga, and the year 2013 in the first anime. Since the music director was Seiji Suzuki, the sound effects used in the previous shows The Rose of Versailles and Lupin the Third Part II are used throughout, as both were broadcast on NTV and were available for use. It was customary at the time to change the voice actors every time the broadcasting station changed, but at Tezuka's request, Mari Shimizu as Atom and Hisashi Katsuta as Dr. Ochanomizu were retained from the previous series. The opening theme was initially commissioned to Yasuo Higuchi, but when the demo tape was played to an overseas buyer with whom a contract was negotiated, he was very unhappy with it, saying, "What part of this is Atom?". Thus, the opening of the previous anime was arranged in a modern style and used in various arrangements during the series, but viewers complained to Tezuka and the broadcasting station about why the original music was not used as it was. In the final episode broadcast at the end of 1981, a live-action video of Tezuka himself giving a message was shown at the beginning. This video was shot by Tezuka's son, Makoto Tezuka, at his request. However, in the ending of the episode, Hisaya Tamate is credited as the cinematographer, while Makoto is credited as the director. Characters Atom/Astro Boy Astro has a strong