Jetter Mars
Introduction  is an anime series directed by Rintaro and written by Osamu Tezuka. Originally planned by Tezuka as a full-color remake of the original anime adaptation of his popular manga series ''Astro Boy'', unfavorable circumstances during the pre-production phase of the project led him to abandon it temporarily and create ''Jetter Mars'' instead. Although it remains as one of Tezuka's lesser known works, it gained a large following and is fondly remembered.
Development Unlike the vast majority of Osamu Tezuka's characters, Jetter Mars was not first published in comic book form, written and illustrated by Tezuka. In 1977, Tezuka's animation studio Mushi Productions faced bankruptcy, leading Tezuka to work as an animation director for Toei Animation for some time. He wanted to produce a color anime adaptation for his landmark manga ''Tetsuwan Atom'', (known to western audiences as ''Astro Boy''), but due to the financial distress of Mushi Productions, the copyrights on some of his characters were in limbo. Due to the deadline imposed on Tezuka by Toei to produce the new series, he wasn't able to secure the copyrights to his characters on time, which forced him to compromise his original project and redesign it somewhat, reworking it conceptually and visually to some extent.Tezuka then redesigned Atom slightly, and renamed him as Jetter Mars. Some aspects of Atom's original story are taken and used as the origin of Mars, such as him being created as a powerful android in the image of a boy. Two scientists are involved in Mars' creation, one conceiving him as a combat instrument and the other opposing that purpose, conceiving him as an instrument for peaceful pursuits. This element mirrors the disagreement found in the characters Dr. Tenma and Dr. Ochanomizu in ''Tetsuwan Atom''. Some other borrowed concepts can be found across the series.Some storylines in the episodes of ''Jetter Mars'' were remakes of classic and beloved stories Tezuka wrote and drew in his ''Tetsuwan Atom'' manga, such as ''The Artificial Sun'' and ''The Last Day on Earth''. The series was beautifully animated, and in the Tezuka tradition, it showcased many of his characters from his various manga works in different roles.In the same manner he wrote and illustrated his ''Tetsuwan Atom'' manga, Tezuka stayed away from graphic violence in ''Jetter Mars'', although the typical traits of his works are also present in it, such as the importance of moral values, humanity and strong emotiveness.The series was received by Japan's population with mixed feelings, as some wanted the original ''Tetsuwan Atom'' and some accepted ''Jetter Mars'' wholeheartedly as a different character, as it was intended to be. This made Tezuka lose interest in the series and it finished with 27 episodes produced. Having successfully secured the copyrights on all his characters once again, Tezuka founded Tezuka Productions a few years later, and was able to produce the color anime adaptation of Tetsuwan Atom as he wanted initially, which became a hit, much in the same way as the original anime adaptation from the 60's.
Plot The storyline is set in the year 2015.Two scientists, Dr. Kawashimo and Dr. Yamanoue, have created a robot with advanced capabilities. Dr. Kawashimo created his miraculous artificial intelligence, making him almost human, while Dr. Yamanoue created the robot's body, endowing him with astoundingly powerful weaponry.===Characters===The series featured many of Tezuka's most well-known characters, as well as some specifically-created ones.As expected from Osamu Tezuka, he put his "character acting company", known as Star System, to use to define the cast of ''Jetter Mars''. He created a few of the characters specifically for the series, such as Mars and Melchi, and the vast majority of the cast was classic and well-known characters from Tezuka's works, playing various roles. In the adjacent picture, it is possible to identify many of Tezuka's characters, from left to right: Daidalos, Shunsuke Ban aka ''Higeoyaji'' and Tezuka himself in the upper row; Inspector Tawashi, Rock Holmes and Marukubi Boon in the middle row; and Tamao, Shibugaki, Spider, Chief Nakamura, HamEgg, Acetylene Lamp, Ken'ichi and Hyōtan-tsugi in the lower row; among some others.The following list describes the characters featured more prominently during the series:: The protagonist of the series. A powerful robot built in the image of a boy, he has a body that can be used for destruction of cataclysmic proportions, and a near-human artificial intelligence. He finds himself often in the predicament of choosing to use his gifts for pacific or destructive purposes. : Mars' non-speaking younger brother, with the body of a baby. Endowed with tremendous physical strength, his only word is  (a word invented by Tezuka with no real meaning), which he always utters after displaying his power. : A robot made in the image of a young girl by Dr. Kawashimo. She possessed powers that enabled her to restore destroyed robots and machinery. Protector of Mars and Melchi, and "daughter" to Dr. Kawashimo. : Creator of Jetter Mars' incredible artificial intelligence and heart, and creator of Miri and Melchi. Opposing fellow scientist Dr. Yamanoue, he desired Mars to live a life of good purpose and peace. : Creator of Mars' body. He designed him as a machine for war, and thus named his creation after the Roman god of war. Mars looked up to him as his father. He disappears after being buried during atomic tests and is left for dead. : In many of his works, Tezuka drew himself as a character, immersed in the universe of his creations, and interacted with his characters. He included himself also in ''Jetter Mars'', appearing as friend and advisor to Mars. and : Two cartoony little characters, that appeared whimsically in nonsensical situations, as comic relief. Tezuka's signature, they appeared in all of his works, be it manga or animated, as they were a form of dialogue between Tezuka and his readers, developed during the years. Hyōtan-tsugi usually appeared falling in front of a character at the most inappropriate of times, and getting kicked out angrily by them, and Spider usually appeared in moments of tension, repeatedly uttering his trademark phrase, , roughly "Here ta meet ya!". Additionally, Hyōtan-tsugi appeared in each episode during the opening intro and end credits sequences. : One of Tezuka's most recognizable characters in his Star System, he appeared playing non-praiseworthy roles, as usual for him.
Episode list The series had 27 episodes, each lasting 24 minutes approximately. Broadcast by Fuji TV, on Thursday nights. As with all Tezuka's works, the series made use of his Star System cast technique, featuring many of his characters from previous works (manga or animated) as guests performing various roles. The following list includes the episode title, airing date and guest characters. Episode # Title Guest character Aired Short Summary 1 '''Mars is born, year 2015''' Faitan February 3, 1977 Today's is a special day as Jetter Mars is activated. However, this causes an argument between Dr. Yamanoue and Dr. Kawashimo. Dr. Yamanoue, Mars' father, made Mars to fight while Dr. Kawashimo finds this extremely inhumane. Later on, Dr. Yamanoue sends Mars to get Dr. Kawashio and his daughter Miri. Mars gets carried away though and throws their car around like nothing. It becomes apparent that Mars has no idea about the outside and can't tell what good or bad. When Miri starts crying because she's afraid Mars will hurt her father, he becomes confused. He doesn't know why she cares about her dad since his own is very harsh on him. However, a storm picks and causes an energy crash. So Mars and Miri are sent to fix it and stop the island from sinking into the ocean. It's also here that we learn that Miri is actually a robot like Mars. Mars and Miri are able to stop the island from sinking, but Mars ends up having to fight a practice battle robot. He easily defeats it though, and that wraps up the episode. 2 '''Counterfeiting robot gang''' none February 10, 1977 It's another day full of nothing but studying for Jetter Mars. He soon becomes fed up with it and while having to assemble a Tv for his father he comes across a News show. It reports that a boy has run away from home, however, Mars doesn't get to see the rest of it for Dr. Yamanoue makes him turn it off. So, Mars decides to run off and see Miri. He comes through their ceiling and while getting scolded, he sees the end of the News report. The boy is hugging his mother and she crying and saying that she'll never upset him again. Mars gets the idea that if he runs away, then his dad will apologize and hug him too. Mars takes off and flies over the sea. He ends up on a boat full of Counterfeiters. Realizing Mars value he's captured, although he doesn't know that. They decide to brainwash him and sell him as a stealing robot. Meanwhile, Dr. Kawashio and Miri decide to look for Mars. Miri follows Mars' signal to the ship. Mars isn't gonna allow for himself to be brainwashed though, but only because it reminds him of studying. When the crooks try to take Mars apart, he realizes that it means he'll never be able to see Miri again. Luckily, Miri saves him just in time. The two escape into the sea and Mars redirects missiles that were shot at them into the boat. The coast guard then arrives and take them home. Mars learn about fear and how it feels to be afraid. 3 '''Why is Mars crying?''' Mad Mask February 17, 1977 4 '''Goodbye, little brother!''' Tack February 24, 1977 5 '''Talent, the greatest robot in history''' HamEggs March 3, 1977 6 '''The girl that came from the star of dreams''' Dori March 10, 1977 7 '''Missing Miri''' Skunk Kusanagi March 17, 1977 8 '''Where did dad go?''' No. 1, No. 2 March 24, 1977 9 '''Lamp, the space trader''' Acetylene Lamp March 31, 1977 10 '''My lil' brother's name is Melchi''' Dr. Spice, Mrs. Tabasko April 7, 1977 11 '''Freshman Mars''' Mason April 14, 1977 12 '''Jam Bond, Secret agent''' Jam Bond April 21, 1977 13 '''Honey, robot exchange-student''' Honey April 28, 1977 14 '''The vampire from outer space''' Kuroro May 5, 1977 15 '''Melchi likes Mouster''' Mouster May 12, 1977 16 '''Zaza, the wandering planet''' Zazians May 19, 1977 17 '''The samurai robot from the seventh year of the Tenpō era''' Yumi, Samurai robot June 2, 1977 18 '''Resurrect, ancient robot''' Daidalos June 16, 1977 19 '''Mars' first love''' Agunea, Marukubi Boon June 23, 1977 20 '''Mars becomes a young boss''' Black, Dr. Jin June 30, 1977 21 '''Mighty Robot Joe''' Joe Asnaro July 7, 1977 22 '''Android Lullaby''' Mayumi July 21, 1977 23 '''The wandering robot''' Adios July 28, 1977 24 '''Miri, alone again''' Saromi August 18, 1977 25 '''The wolf-boy from space''' none September 1, 1977 26 '''Adios returns''' Dr. Kuromaru September 8, 1977 27 '''The flight beyond tomorrow!''' Sari September 15, 1977
Manga adaptation The anime series also was adapted into a few manga issues published as one-shot stories, based on the storylines shown in the anime. They weren't written or illustrated by Osamu Tezuka, but by various licensed artists. The issues are listed as follows:*Televiland Comics Issue:One-shot story illustrated by Shigeto Ikehara, published in the first issue of the magazine in 1979. *Bōken-ō Manga Magazine Issue:Illustrated by Rentarō Iwata for the defunct Bōken-ō manga magazine. *Televi-Magazine Issue:Illustrated by Kai Nanase and published in 1979. *Chū'ichi Jidai Magazine Story:Illustrated by Saisuke Hiraga, published from April to August, 1979.Short-story divided in five chapters.
DVD release Jetter Mars was released by Avex on March 27, 2009, as a five-disc DVD Box set which contains the complete series.
Merchandise Several records containing the musical score of ''Jetter Mars'' were released during the series run. These are listed as follows1. :''Jetter Mars''' only LP record, it contained several songs along a mini-drama. The songs included in the record:**********2.Single Releases:Several records containing single songs were released. These are listed as follows:*Mars Single Record 1, included the songs::*:**Mars Single Record 2, included the songs::*:**Mars Single Record 3, a re-release of the first single record, it also included a track containing the sound effects of the anime::*:**Mars Single Record 4, with the same content of single records 1 and 3, except it didn't include the sound effects track. It also contained a Drama track, with the voices and sound effects of the first episode of the anime::*:*:*Drama track: *Mars Single Record 5, its contents were practically the same as Single Record 4, only with some editing variations. :*:*:*Drama track: *Mars Single Record 6, included the opening and ending songs of the ''Jetter Mars'' anime, along the theme song for the anime adaptation of Yumiko Igarashi and Kyoko Mizuki's classic shōjo manga Candy Candy::*:*:*:*
Staff Involved in the production of the series:'''Original concept, creator''': Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫)'''Planning''': Kōji Bessho (Fuji TV), Takeshi Tamiya'''In charge of production''': Kiyoshi Ono (first season), Kichirō Sugahara (final season)'''Music''': Nobuyoshi Koshibe'''Series composer''': Masao Maruyama'''Script''': Masaki Tsuji, Shunichi Yukimuro, Yoshitaka Suzuki, Masaru Yamamoto, Hiroyuki Hoshiyama'''Chief Director''': Rintarō (りん・たろう)'''Producers:''' Sumiko Chiba, Noboru Ishiguro, Wataru Mizusawa, Masami Hatano, Katsutoshi Sasaki, Yugo Serizawa, Jihiro Taizumi, Rintarō'''Character Design Supervisor''': Akio Sugino'''Animation Supervisors''': Akio Sugino, Toshio Mori, Satoshi Jingu, Wataru Mibu, Tsuneo Kashima, Toyō Ashida'''Graphic Designer''': Liang Wei Huang'''Art''': Shohei Kawamoto, Liang Wei Huang, Tadao Kubota'''Photography''': Masaaki Sugaya'''Editing''': Masaaki Hanai'''Audio Director''': Ryōsuke Koide (Arts Pro)'''Recording''': Hideyuki Tanaka'''Production Co-operation''': Madhouse'''Production''': Fuji TV, Toei Animation
Read also * List of Osamu Tezuka manga* List of Osamu Tezuka anime* Osamu Tezuka's Star System* Tezuka Award* Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize
References