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Astro Boy Gets Limited Reprint for Tezuka's 90th Birthday

One manga's greatest visionaries' most iconic creations is getting a limited-edition reprint to celebrate his 90th birthday. Osamu Tezuka's early Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom) manga chapters will be released in a three compiled volume set limited to only 777 copies with serial numbers. This 90th birthday edition collects chapters serialized from 1951 to 1956 in Shōnen magazine.

This is a second reprint of the chapters. Geneon Entertainment (now NBC Universal Entertainment) published the Astro Boy "Original Edition" Complete Works Reprint Unit 1 [1951-1957] in limited quantities in 2009. It quickly sold out and its market price skyrocketed.

This new release will cost 10,800 yen including tax and is slated for August. It includes chapters spanning from "Atom Taishi" (Atom Ambassador) to "Midoro Numa Jiken" (Beautiful Mud Swamp Case). The publisher used the previous Original Edition Complete Works Reprint Unit 1, the original magazine, and other materials to create the new edition. It is printed in the same size as original magazine serialization and includes all the original color pages. Customers that purchase the book via Fukkan will also receive an A4-size art print.

The original Astro Boy manga was published in Kobunsha's Shōnen magazine from 1951 to 1968.The manga inspired the country's first full-fledged half-hour television anime series in 1963, followed by a color television series in 1980 and a remake in 2003. Hong Kong animation studio IMAGI produced the computer-animated film version of Astro Boy with distributor Summit Entertainment in 2009. A joint production between Tezuka Productions and Nigerian television station Chanel TV created a television animation project in early 2014. The French, Monaco, and Japanese Astro Boy reboot project and a planned live-action Astro Boy film were also announced.

The prequel manga Atom The Beginning's anime adaptation is currently airing on Amazon Prime's Anime Strike channel.

Source: Comic Natalie