Utopia or Dystopia: Depictions of Technology and Ethical Dilemmas in the World of Astro Boy
Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atomu) is a Japanese science fiction multi-media franchise developed by Osamu Tezuka. The series follows the adventures of the titular Astro, a powerful humanoid robot boy, as he saves the world and overcomes evil in a futuristic Japan.
Astro Boy presents a utopic view of the future of technology. To understand Astro Boy, you must first understand the circumstances of the series creation. Astro Boy was made at a time of turbulence and uncertainty in Japan (Gibson 2012). It was right after the end of the second world war and the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It was in the wake of this disaster that Tezuka “yearned to transform the nuclear fears of the day into an image of utopian stability” (Gibson 2013). Levitas (1990) defines utopia as “how we would live and what kind of a world we would live in if we could do just that” and in many ways Astro Boy encapsulates Tezuka’s Utopian vision. Astro Boy presents a world where nuclear power is used for good rather than evil (Gibson 2012). Advanced forms of communication and transportation are commonplace, there is even a freeze bomb with the power to end global warming by refreezing the polar ice caps, all powered by nuclear energy. This use of nuclear power for good is also seen in the character of Astro. Astro, a…
