is an anime television spin-off series ''

Astro Boy ''Astro Boy'', known in Japan by its original name , is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Osamu Tezuka. It was serialized in Kobunsha's ''Shōnen'' from 1952 to 1968. The 112 chapters were collected into 23 '' tankōbon'' ...

'' franchise created by Osamu Tezuka. Aimed at preschoolers, the series was produced by

Tezuka Productions is a Japanese animation studio founded by Osamu Tezuka in 1968. It is known for animating notable works such as ''Marvelous Melmo'', the 1980 and 2003 ''Astro Boy'' series, and '' Black Jack''. It is also the holder of the intellectual property ...

and Yomiuri TV Enterprises in partnership with Nigerian broadcaster

Channels TV Channels Television is a Nigerian independent 24-hour news and media television channel based in Lagos, Nigeria. The parent company, Channels Incorporated, was founded in 1992, a year before the Nigerian government deregulated the broadcast medi ...

. Consisting of eight 11-minute episodes, the series ran in English on Channels TV's children's block of programming between March 22, 2014 and April 26, 2014. It later received a bilingual

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

release in Japan on November 3, 2015.

Production

At the 2013

Annecy International Animated Film Festival The Annecy International Animation Film Festival (french: Festival international du film d'animation d'Annecy, officially abbreviated in English as the Annecy Festival, or simply Annecy) was created in 1960 and takes place at the beginning of J ...

revealed that they were in early negotiations to create local adaptations of ''

'' with international companies. The furthest along was a partnership with Nigeria's

, with whom Tezuka were looking to "re-version" the brand with. The international focus, which was made in part as a response to declining birth rates in Japan, was spearheaded by Makoto Tezuka and was hoped to receive funding from the

Cool Japan refers to the aspects of Japanese culture that non-Japanese people perceive as "cool". The Cool Japan strategy is part of Japan's overall brand strategy, aiming to disseminate Japan's attractiveness and allure to the world. The target of Cool Ja ...

initiative. The following January, Tezuka Productions officially announced the series. Described as "

edutainment Educational entertainment (also referred to as edutainment) is media designed to educate through entertainment. The term was used as early as 1954 by Walt Disney. Most often it includes content intended to teach but has incidental entertainmen ...

" aimed at preschool children, ''Little Astro Boy'' was greenlit for 8 episodes with the intention to focus on the lead's innocence, rather than might. While primarily produced by Tezuka in Japan, as part of being an international co-production, three Nigerian animators traveled to Japan to animate two sequences.

Voice cast

Episodes

References

External links

Little Astro Boy anime page at TezukaOsamu.net
* {{Osamu Tezuka Astro Boy 2014 anime television series debuts 2010s preschool education television series Animated preschool education television series Animated television series about children Japanese children's animated action television series Japanese children's animated space adventure television series Japanese children's animated comic science fiction television series Japanese children's animated superhero television series Action anime and manga Adventure anime and manga Osamu Tezuka anime Science fiction anime and manga Comedy anime and manga Androids in television