A wasted potential. Atom: The Beginning had a great premise. Tell the story of Doctor Tenma and Doctor Ochanomizu as they create Bewusstsein, the AI system which will revolutionize robotics and will lead to creation of one of the greatest anime/manga icons of all time, Atom. And we get that, but we also get a lot of useless filler. First 7 or 8 episodes work in repetitive episodic format. X Slice of life situation happens. Everything goes well, until something goes wrong. A106 saves the day. The end. This would've been fine if it built the characters of the show, or the world of theshow. But sadly it doesn't happen. After the first half of the series we enter the second half which has continuous plot up until the very end. Aaaaaaand...it's not very good either. There is some action but it's bland. Characters are mostly uninteresting, the world itself is uninteresting. The show itself is uninteresting. We don't get to see how Robots deal with gained humanity. We don't get to see early stages of AI exploration. We get a fighting tournament. Only episode which somewhat saves this anime from being completely mediocre, is the finale which at last brings some retrospective and contemplation. As I said, the characters are uninteresting. All of them lack depth. All of them lack originality. Only Tenma occasionally shows deeper characteristics. But these moments are rare. Usually he's just a male tsundere/genius that doesn't act as genius. Hiroshi is the good guy, Motoko is the smug girl and Ran is the shy loli. From the production standpoint it's fine. Music is good but forgetable, animation is fine (I am glad they kept the Tezuka's trademark noses) and CGI is actually pretty good. I was looking forward to this anime the most in the last season. Sadly it disappointed me, but the final episode gave me a little hope for the future. If the series returns for another season, I hope this will be the path it'll take. Anime about beginnings of Atom deserves something better than episode about making udon.

The fact of how underrated and overlooked this anime is, makes me quite sad. and the fact that a lot of generic anime is rated higher than this, makes me salty. but I ain't going to talk about how salty or sad I am on this review, but what makes Atom: The beginning so special for me? TL;DR: Overall Section Now, I'm sure that many people out there have watched Astroboy at least once . Astroboy was an important part of my childhood as how other anime like Dragon ball or even Saint Seiya were childhood for others (sadly Super ended being garbage) so knowing that aprequel to Astroboy was going to happen in spring season caught my eye, I, of course didn't expect a full packed action like Astroboy were. but at least a bit of what happened a long while ago, before Astroboy was even created, a past where Tenma and Ochanomizu were lab pals. What inspired them to create an A.I that could think like a Human? a Robot capable of feeling something? be aware of spoilers in case I let some squish over here Story 8/10: we are introduced on a futuristic world were robots with A.I are possible for easy tasks like construction, traffic, or even partners for humans(something like dogs for example). so what lead Ochanomizu and Tenma to attempt creating a robot with "Heart"? will they succeed on the Idea of creating robots that can think, act and feel like a Human? that lead into creating A10-6, Ochanomizu and Tenma's latest creation, a robot that has a "heart" on itself and can think like a human, but with improved strength and reflexes as for where the story is heading, this is more of a SoL anime with some heartwarming moments, of course there will be some development, specially for A10-6. yet, the concept of improving the "bewwustsein" system to make a even better robot with a "heart" is still there, and while they experiment with A10-6 on basic tasks, they get more ideas of what can they do to improve the A.I for upcoming projects. let's not forget the nostalgia factor of how the idea of a Heart grows while we think of their success with Astroboy Art 9/10: the art for both OP and ED were gorgeous, I also like the Idea of not depending that much on CG graphics on robots (with the exception of robo-fights, yet it didn't look bad at all) there was an episode were the animation quality did fall considerably, yet it wasn't really bothering me, overall the art was really appealing and beautiful. I won't get enough from Tenma and Ochanomizu "Nose grabbing" when they succeed on something XD Sound 8/10: Both OP and ED delivered on the Soundtrack department. the OST was really special to me, quite touching when it had to. I liked A10-6 voice overall, Seiyuus did a decent job, not complains here Character 9/10: who would thought that a single robot could develop this much? proving the success of the "Bewusstsein" system, the development of A10-6 was excelent, it was a bit slow, but was completely worth it. even the OP defines what is he feeling (at least that's what I get from the lyrics) feelings that are still unkown for him, questions without answers for a robot, what is his purpose? the last episode was really heartbreaking while we were hearing A10-6 inner thoughts as how he feels with himself and what has become of his "life" while having deep thoughts and being cared by the whole gang. oh yeah, before I forget, as for the other cast of characters, they are unique on their own, I got my appreciation over Motoko-waifu xD, and some nostalgic factors over Tenma and Ochanomizu, can't speak much of them, because, after all, this story is more about A10-6 IMO Enjoyment 10/10: Since the first episode, I knew what I was up to. What I can say is that if you enjoyed Astroboy, you will surely enjoy this one Overall 8,8/10 TL;DR: Nostalgia hits like a train with an Unique setting and refreshing premise

Atom: The Beginning is another re-imagining of the classic anime, Astro Boy. The way it goes about doing this is handled a lot better than maybe it's MAL score might suggest. I thought the story was great overall. Each mini arc that was given to us throughout the series was interesting. In particular, I thought the last part of the story was amazing. The art and animation wasn't anything spectacular but I also had no complaints about it either. I share most of the sentiments for the soundtrack and sound design as well. The character designs felt familiar yet updated for a more modern look. Where Atom: TheBeginning really shines is with its characters. The way how they interacted with one another, Ochanomizu and Umatarou in particular, made for an entertaining show. I also thought that the main and the supporting characters all got sufficient development. In closing, Atom: The Beginning was an anime that I was able to get a lot of enjoyment from and I'm surprised at how underrated the show actually is. I definitely encourage you all to give this anime a watch!

Honestly, as much as I somewhat enjoyed this series, I can't help but think that so much of its potential was left unused and wasted. Atom: The Beginning had a good basis upon which a fantastic series could have been established, the story was there, the characters were there, what could go wrong, right? Well, this is usually what happens when what a series has to truly offer is left unexplored, here we had the concept of artificial consciousness, AI is one thing, but to give a machine a soul, to make it sentient and aware, to have it feel and connect on a "human" level,it's exactly that what the series first hints that it will be focusing on, instead, it was left ignored and the application of it thrown aside until the couple last episodes, and even then it wasn't fully explored or given the attention it deserved. Most of the episodes presented were fillers, and yes an argument could be made that those helped establish more character development, but I feel like that's something that could have been done while focusing on the actual plot of the series, instead, we get a touch of useless scenes here, a bit of useless twists there, and a side dash of drama to top it all, sigh.. Overall, this is was an "alright" anime deserving of a general rating of 7.

Throughout it's entire runtime Atom the Beginning was a thoroughly unique experiences. Much like Astro Boy, the series it functions as a prequel to, Atom the beginning utilizes a light, colorful and action packed presentation to drive a rather complex idea home. The idea that robotic beings created by man might gain sentience is no new concept. It's a concept explored multiple times by various authors of science fiction. And yet Atom the Beginning presents itself in a significantly different manner. The series focuses on the thoughts of the central character A106 instead. While most of the series is seemingly episodic in nature the actionsof everyday life, the action set pieces and every small character moment slowly causes A106 to grow. Granting the eventual climax of the show immense weight and the climax being a tournament arc making it even more engrossing. On a pure technical level Atom the Beginning manages to stand out. It's art style is reminisce of Astro Boy making it completely stand out. It's animation is fluid whenever necessary. It utilizes 3d cgi and 2d sakuga animation at just the right moments to give the viewers maximum impact. Every impact is emphasized with strong, crunchy sound effects. In the end Atom is an anime that truly cares about the viewers. It want's the audience to experience something instead of just watching throwaway entertainment. And for that I can't stop praising it.

It is quite sad that few have seen this hidden gem of a series. As a person, who never saw Astroboy before, I was quite surprised how well this series was able to keep me interested even without me understanding refrences that were made about this old 60s anime. Story 7/10: I think that the weakest part of the series was its story. Until this anime reached Robot Tournmant arc story was a bit too similar to Slice of Life type of series. Usually I dislike such stories because way too often those series doesn't manage to make me interested in those characters from early onand thus doesn't keep me intrested when characters are having minor and relatively risk free adventures. Surprisingly my experience with this series was opposite to that. From early on I found most characters endering (especially A106) and so I didn't found it hard to enjoy their adventures/events eventhough they were relatively small in nature and and relatively insignificant. When Robot Tournament took place I was already invested enough that I felt struggle of A106 when he was facing against Mars. Looking back to this series I would say that it was quite important to have those small stories before big tournamant, because they made me care even more about those characters. Although I should mention that I would have not seen them so positively before I saw tournament arc. Art 9/10: The art for both OP and ED were just gorgeous. I also liked that there weren't a lot of CG used for robots. Thanks to that I didn't felt that those robots doesn't fit with rest of the series (unlike with most other shows that have mechas or robots in them). Sound 10/10: Both OP and ED were very good. I really liked OP that managed to make me pumped for this series and also had few character moments (for example them being or beach or driving next to coast) that managed to make characters in this series even more endering for me :) I also liked rest of the soundtrack. Especially one song that managed to get me to tear up (that happens relatively rarely). I don't know the name of this song but it for example played when in last episode A106 jumped into the air and saw something dreamlike. I can't wait to listen whole sountrack when it comes out. It is honestly one of my favorite soundtracks, although not as good as my all time favorite FMA Brothehood's soundtrack. Character 9/10: A106 was just amazing. Creators of this series managed to capture something quite unique.. a character who was both robotic and human at the same time. How he felt, what he thought and how he saw the world was just captivative. In some other series (f.e Ghost in the Shell) character is usually ether more human or more robotic. But for some reason I felt that he was nether and both at the same time. Unlike some other series I bought into his struggle of identity. Other characters i enjoyed as well. I especially liked Ran and Hiroshi. I liked Ran's deep interest in engineering (especially robot engineering) and how she goes to salvege old parts so that she can fullfil her interest. And eventhough she was basically small engineer, I still felt that it didn't lessen the fact that she was still a child. Only character I didn't like very much was Tenma. I felt that his motivation weren't explained well enough. He changed his opinions way too often based on a whim, rather than based on a proper reason (especially decisions that involved fate of A106) and that is why I just didn't understood him and his thinking. Hopefully we get 2nd season that delves more into Tenma. I really liked how immersed I was into the story of those character. I felt like they were all my old friends that I have known for years :) Overall very good charaters Enjoyment 10/10: I really liked and enjoyed watching this series. Although I understand that it might not be so enjoyable for others, who see first half of series way too slow and who didn't enjoy anime's characters as much as I did. But at least for me this series was a blast.. and hoefully it will be as good for others as well :) Overall 10/10 I know, I know, mathematically it is 9/10, but because I enjoyed this series so much I can't see myself putting this series lower score than 10. Story could have been better but for me enjoyment of other parts of this series closes my eyes to this one gripe I have with this series. Hopefully you all understand :)

This has to be one of the most snubbed anime from its season. Can't say it's exceptional, nor would I strongly recommend it but I was still surprised that something so recent and generally fun went by unnoticed. This show holds few surprises or twists so I think if premise got you interested, it should be a safe watch. Art: solid all around. It's hard to praise it for anything in particular but in this day and age just having a good color direction and backgrounds that don't look like lazily filtered photos is already nice I suppose. Character designs are a mix of genericanime and modernized Tezuka designs, made to fit among the more recent anime manga art styles. It can be a bit jarring to see plain as day anime character next one of the more unique looking Tenma and Ochanomizu but overall you get used to it. Robots are the strongest part for from visual standpoint. All of them looked quite distinct and their outward appearance served as good reflection of their practical purpose. Atom's emotionless face felt very appropriate for a robot with a heart that only starts to learn how to feel. Animation: you guessed it. Nothing really impressive here either, which was rather disappointing after OP that boats brilliant animation from many talented artists. Sure early on there are a few nice cuts here and there but later on show switched to (admittedly very competent) 3D and at that point most of the credit goes to direction that made even very limited animation look nice. Sounds: not even gonna say much here to save everyone's time. It's good but the only thing that stood out to me were the robot voice acting. Before Atom learns to recognize emotion a bit better he genuinely sounds like it's all going through some text to speech generator. Story: Atom is a mostly episodic in nature so don't be fooled when people casually throw the word "filler" around. Up to robot wrestling, the episodes are all nice and self-contained stories about robots helping out people. There are some overarching plot elements bit they are rather insignificant. In the final episode it all comes together to form a bare minimum of satisfying ending but judging by preview slot in the last episode the show is intended to have another season. As is all plot comes down to Atom developing consciousness and his AI evolving to kind of form a personality through prior experience but it doesn't go anywhere else beyond that for aforementioned reasons. Characters: Tenma is a power maniac, Ochanomizu is very nice, Mustachio doesn't trust robots, Ran wants to fuck Atom. Extremely basic but not without charm. Funfactor: It's a fun little show but I find it hard to recommend unless you're already interested in it to any extent.

I liked the art style well the noses. Two guys making an ai robot that can interact with others. Some episodes where the robot save the day at the end. Those episodes were enjoyable. Then we have an antagonist type robot that shows up here and there then we get a fight. Later on we have a tournament arc where the robot enters. The tournament arc was pretty good, then of course robo making it to the final against the antagonist, great fight. Well I hope for a 2nd season, but I highly doubt there is going to be a second season since this one didn't get moreattention than it did. Story-6 Art-7 Sound-8 Character-8 Enjoyment-8 Overall 7

At first, I went to watch Atom: The Beginning with no expectation. After I watched the OP, I knew what I was getting into, so I didn't expect much. If you already watched it OP, you know what I am talking about. Its OP just gave a spoiler at the end of the season. However, there were some interesting concepts laid out for Astro Boy universe in this prequel. I loved it. Judging by the concept, its target audience is supposed involved people who grew up with Astro Boy (20-30 years old) while wanted to have kids can enjoy, but it didn't go all out.If it were going to aim at adult, please make the whole concept adult. Overall, I enjoyed the story very much watching episode as its own individual, but expecting good amount of fillers that are going to introduce its characters via them. Atom: The Beginning had a potential to be one of the greatest anime of all time, but it definitely wanted to play its long game here. It introduced a great concept of this universe for audience to understand it. There were a few elements that were teased to audience left unanswered by the end of the season. There were also good amount of fillers. I understand why they exist, to introduce new set of characters. The studio wanted ultimately wanted to produce a lot of seasons. Story: 7/10 Fillers started at episode 3... and following after that. Art: 9/10 Great CGI, but not that top notch. Sound: 9/10 Great start, you can tell how composer put into this song. Then meh later. Great OP and Great ED Character: 7/10 The studio wanted to flesh out its characters later on in another season, not quite of development in one season. I still wanted its character to be more adult though, not included depression or anything. Enjoyment: 9/10 I enjoyed most of episodes. Overall: 8/10 I loved the anime a lot. To the creator, please focus on the main plot, but not bot wrestling.

I like this anime, because I think that it's in perfect Osamu Tezuka's style. The graphic is modern and the story has been unpdated. The story is really amazing and I love the 'humanity' of the protagonist, 'atom' aka 'six'. You can find his evolution during the entire story and I suffered, like Ran, when he was under repair. Ran, the little sister of Ochanomizu, is really interesting, a shy and cute girl with a great love for robots. She is a robotic true genius and probably could be more intelligent than her bif brother. Being this a modern anime Ran stands out among many anime dominated by tsundere girls. Thefamily who grows around him is lovely and 'six' is a good and true hero. The two young doctors are great. It's a pity that only the first volume of the manga has been animated.

A forgotten, severely underrated piece. This anime was supposed to promote the manga, but it seemed to do quite the opposite. I don't usually watch sci-fi anime, though I really like sci-fi as a genre, but Atom: The Beginning just had a certain mood or something that peaked my interest, even so that I can totally rewatch and reread this series. It's unique, though an Astro Boy prequel. Unfortunately, for some reason the story of this anime is much slower-paced than the manga, making it more boring than it actually is. A very good thing I have to say about the anime is the opening! It's oneof my all-time favorites. The characters are also about the same, usually, though a little more well-written in the manga. HOWEVER! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND reading the manga!!! I remember watching the anime and thinking: "Hmm, this could've been so much more..." and when I a few years later decided to read the manga, it was EVERYTHING I had hoped for!! No filler- just straight into the action. In general, I love the characters and story of this series. Give it a chance! I don't understand why nobody knows of a series this good. Story: 7/10 (in manga 10/10) Art: 8/10 (in manga 10/10) Character: 10/10 (in manga 10/10) Enjoyment: 7/10 (in manga 10/10) Music: 10/10 Overall: 9/10 (manga 10/10) (I would give the anime 7 or 8 out of ten, but this series's rating is unfairly low so that I'm trying to promote it a bit :,) ) Sorry that I was now one of those: "THE MANGA IS BETTER!!" - people ... but it's really the truth this time xdd

ATOM= is a Robot Japan in the near future suffers an unexplained major disaster. Five years later, reconstruction is well underway. Two young researchers at a university are pinning all their hopes on robot development. Now their new interpretation of the eternal hero Astro Boy up until his birth is just about to start! -from my anime List- So Im a big fan of this anime. The Story and art is really nice. But the Soundtrack was a lidle bit bad, but ok. I give the show 8 from 10. I liked the main charakters and the girls are cute to hehe.How did you like it?