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Atomcat
Reading the "Astro Boy" comic book with his dad is Tsugio's one refuge from the bullies at his school. One day he finds an abandoned kitten, and names it after the robot hero to convince his family to keep it. But after a strange encounter with aliens honeymooning on Earth, Tsugio's shocked to find his cat can speak - and has all of Astro Boy's powers! Sworn to secrecy, Tsugio and Earth's tiniest hero together fight raging fires, awakened mummies, and more!
200 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1987
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78 people want to read
About the author
Osamu Tezuka
2,149 books1,287 followersDr. Osamu Tezuka (手塚治虫) was a Japanese manga artist, animator, producer and medical doctor, although he never practiced medicine. Born in Osaka Prefecture, he is best known as the creator of Astro Boy and Kimba the White Lion. He is often credited as the "Father of Anime", and is often considered the Japanese equivalent to Walt Disney, who served as a major inspiration during his formative years. His prolific output, pioneering techniques, and innovative redefinitions of genres earned him such titles as "the father of manga" and "the God of Manga."
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
February 1, 2023
This is one adorable and fun book. Osamu Tezuka gets a little meta here. Tsugoi, a huge Tetsuwan Atom fan, and his cat are hit by a car by aliens disguised as humans. In order to fix his cat, the aliens probe Tsugoi's memory and turn his cat into Atomcat, a cat with the powers of Tetsuwan Atom, aka Astro Boy.
Like I said, this is really fun stuff. Tsugoi and Atomcat get into all sorts of mischief involving ghosts, criminals, bullies, and mummies. It's a cute book and it makes me want to read more Astro Boy.
Like I said, this is really fun stuff. Tsugoi and Atomcat get into all sorts of mischief involving ghosts, criminals, bullies, and mummies. It's a cute book and it makes me want to read more Astro Boy.
June 13, 2018
Read for The Tezuka Challenge. Details can be found here.
What makes a good parody? The Artifice describes it as "imitation with a twist."
Osamu Tezuka revisited his classic robot hero series in 1987 not just by re-imagining the premise but incorporating the original story into it.
For the purpose of this review, I'll be referring to Astro Boy as Mighty Atom, since the parallels between Atom the manga hero and Atom the cat begin with their names. And it plays into the title's pun; "A tom cat" => "Atom Cat"
What Works
- The Genesis of Atomcat. Let's compare how the two Atoms are made. Mighty Atom was created when Dr. Tenma's son, Tobio, was killed in a car crash. Atom the cat is mechanized when two extraterrestrial tourists accidentally hit him and his owner with their car and try to restore him based on the memories of his young owner, who at the time is thinking of Mighty Atom.
The former story is executed in a tragic light. It's the loss of a father's only child, something that sparks madness and a desperation to recreate what was lost and insure that such loss doesn't happen again.
The latter is really funny. I could compare the scene to like two children breaking a vase and trying to put it back together and hoping no one finds out what they did. But, oops. Cats aren't supposed to talk or fly in this world. They didn't fix the vase, so to speak, but they made a pretty decent superhero.
- Those villains. Each villain has a different motivation and design, and I can appreciate the variety shown in this collection of little stories.
What Doesn't
-Freaking Tsugio. Look, I get it. Kids are cruel and bullying is the bane of childhood. But Tsugio has no growth in this story. He reads the Mighty Atom manga as an escape from his harsh school life and is the sole keeper of Atom the cat's secret. He's present at almost all of Atom's heroic feats.
However, in the course of this whole book, he doesn't stand up for himself. What could have been a great arc, a frightened boy finding courage in himself by helping his friend and achieving little victories, is wasted to give Atom more of the spotlight. Tsugio is a main character, and not giving him as much development as his pet cat is a shame.
What makes a good parody? The Artifice describes it as "imitation with a twist."
Osamu Tezuka revisited his classic robot hero series in 1987 not just by re-imagining the premise but incorporating the original story into it.
For the purpose of this review, I'll be referring to Astro Boy as Mighty Atom, since the parallels between Atom the manga hero and Atom the cat begin with their names. And it plays into the title's pun; "A tom cat" => "Atom Cat"
What Works
- The Genesis of Atomcat. Let's compare how the two Atoms are made. Mighty Atom was created when Dr. Tenma's son, Tobio, was killed in a car crash. Atom the cat is mechanized when two extraterrestrial tourists accidentally hit him and his owner with their car and try to restore him based on the memories of his young owner, who at the time is thinking of Mighty Atom.
The former story is executed in a tragic light. It's the loss of a father's only child, something that sparks madness and a desperation to recreate what was lost and insure that such loss doesn't happen again.
The latter is really funny. I could compare the scene to like two children breaking a vase and trying to put it back together and hoping no one finds out what they did. But, oops. Cats aren't supposed to talk or fly in this world. They didn't fix the vase, so to speak, but they made a pretty decent superhero.
- Those villains. Each villain has a different motivation and design, and I can appreciate the variety shown in this collection of little stories.
What Doesn't
-Freaking Tsugio. Look, I get it. Kids are cruel and bullying is the bane of childhood. But Tsugio has no growth in this story. He reads the Mighty Atom manga as an escape from his harsh school life and is the sole keeper of Atom the cat's secret. He's present at almost all of Atom's heroic feats.
However, in the course of this whole book, he doesn't stand up for himself. What could have been a great arc, a frightened boy finding courage in himself by helping his friend and achieving little victories, is wasted to give Atom more of the spotlight. Tsugio is a main character, and not giving him as much development as his pet cat is a shame.
February 22, 2021
Officially a big fan of Osamu Tezuka, he’s created lots of great manga with fantastic in depth Story’s and great art👍😁❤️
June 24, 2021
I'm glad I chose Atomcat as my first manga! Fun story and I appreciated that there was a directional flowchart in the front of the book - though I still messed up the order of the panels frequently :)
July 26, 2020
I can't believe I never knew this was a thing.
November 30, 2021
Nighttime reading with my 5 year old. Some of the stories were a little scary for her, but she enjoyed following the pictures. And I enjoyed sharing my first ever manga read with her.
January 23, 2022
Not boring, pretty cute actually. But it's nothing special. In Tezuka's canon, this is pretty low in my opinion. I will say though, that cat is so damn cute.
March 10, 2023
super cute :3
June 16, 2020
Working my way through several different manga series I deliberately set out to find a short one shot to fill my desire to make manga centric video every two weeks. The fact that Atomcat was also by Osamu Tezuka also seemed like a nice bonus as they are one of those mangaka you hear about all the time and figure you should read eventually. That said, not entirely surprisingling this book has not aged well for this social justice warrior. Oh the toxic masculinity!
Rewinding a bit, I did really enjoy the premise of this collection of shorts, that is atomcat's origin story. Which is hilarious. And minus the pretty miserable worldview presented, the book is rather well put together.
The young male protagonist even cries a lot, which was nice, even if atomcat is forever telling his owner/companion that he needs to be more of a man and grow a backbone. Thankfully the rapey cat character only appears in one of the short stories! If I never have to read another story featuring a cat rapist ever again it will be too soon. In comparison to him, the fact that the mother character is an oversized nag barely registered but should also be noted. Amusingly enough the book does include a very badly worded apology from his production company for racist caricatures. I only say amusingly because, while I am not an expert in racial representation in manga, the toxic ideas about gender were so overpowering and I didn't notice anything particularly racist so it just seemed even more clueless then the wording is just on its own. I assume this is a blanket apology that applies more specifically to other work?
Rewinding a bit, I did really enjoy the premise of this collection of shorts, that is atomcat's origin story. Which is hilarious. And minus the pretty miserable worldview presented, the book is rather well put together.
The young male protagonist even cries a lot, which was nice, even if atomcat is forever telling his owner/companion that he needs to be more of a man and grow a backbone. Thankfully the rapey cat character only appears in one of the short stories! If I never have to read another story featuring a cat rapist ever again it will be too soon. In comparison to him, the fact that the mother character is an oversized nag barely registered but should also be noted. Amusingly enough the book does include a very badly worded apology from his production company for racist caricatures. I only say amusingly because, while I am not an expert in racial representation in manga, the toxic ideas about gender were so overpowering and I didn't notice anything particularly racist so it just seemed even more clueless then the wording is just on its own. I assume this is a blanket apology that applies more specifically to other work?
October 5, 2016
I'm donating my volumes of Tezuka manga to my local library, but I figured I'd re-read them all one last time, so I ended up hauling a few of them to Moab for the weekend. ATOMCAT was among the graphic novels I brought and it was a quick and fun read. Personally I'd rank UNICO as my favorite children's-oriented Tezuka manga, but ATOMCAT is quite good too. Even if you've never read ASTRO BOY, ATOMCAT is easily accessible and doesn't require much knowledge about Astro Boy; reading this reminds me of how much I devoured my Garfield and Heathcliff comics when I was a kid, and I think that this would be a good entry-level manga for younger kids too.
Also: it's really short! I'm not officially including it in my 2016 book challenge or else I'd feel too guilty.
Also: it's really short! I'm not officially including it in my 2016 book challenge or else I'd feel too guilty.
December 16, 2014
A cat that looks exactly like Astroboy! Has adventures sort of like him! Is an adorable cat! It's meta, it's goofy, it's adorabbbbble. It's not for tiny tots, it's not half-assed, there are good capers and great characters, at the very least visually sharp and satisfying Tezuka work. And...cats!! <3
October 26, 2015
I was disappointed by this book despite the fact that I really wanted to like it. To me, it reads like an inferior version of the Doraemon books. It's technically ok, but I couldn't take the casual cruelty towards Atomcat. I hope Atomcat runs away and finds a new owner that will appreciate him.
June 13, 2015
A fun little quick read by Tezuka. It has a neat concept, a cat is turned into an Astro Boy clone as a tribute to the original manga and helps a bullied boy. It never really catches it's tone, which is probably why Tezuka dropped it, but it's still a fun and charming read.
July 28, 2015
Atomcat is easily my favorite of Tezuka's series for kids. Despite its rating, there are a lot of really excellent action scenes, and the baddies are varied in their motives and designs. The art is great, and I just love the premise and how Atomcat came to be.
September 29, 2013
What a fun book...great for all ages! One of my favorite authors.
June 2, 2015
Great all-ages book!
December 26, 2015
3.5 stars
January 24, 2016
Great for Astro Boy fans. Tezuka parodies himself in this offshoot about a kitten who kinda looks like Astro Boy. Robotic/cat/cuteness abound!
February 15, 2018
あの伝説のコミック「ドラゴンボール」が完全版になって帰って来た！ ブックカバーは全て鳥山明先生の描き下ろし。good
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews