This one gets under your skin because the fight over the kid happens before the kid can even think straight. Dr. Yamanoue builds his android son on an artificial island in 2015 and wants a patriot, a weapon, a trophy for the Science Ministry. His friend and rival Dr. Kawashimo is the only man who can fix the flaw in that electric brain, which means every ounce of conscience Mars has was donated by the man his father can't stand. Watch it as what it is: 1977, 27 episodes, an Astro Boy-shaped hole someone tried to fill, and the strange honesty that comes from a robot boy who is aware he was assembled to somebody's specifications. The reason it lands is small and human. Mars keeps choosing the parent who gave him a heart over the parent who gave him a purpose.

On an artificial island in 2015, Dr. Yamanoue has built an android named Mars, hoping to raise him as a son. But Mars's electronic brain is flawed, and Yamanoue needs help from his friend and rival, Dr. Kawashimo, to fix it. The two scientists could not be more different: Yamanoue sees the robot as a strategic weapon, while the pacifist Kawashimo holds real affection for robots. When Kawashimo arrives with his daughter Miri and installs the brain, Mars comes to life knowing nothing of right and wrong. A robot boy with remarkable powers, he gradually learns what human emotions mean and uses his strength to help people in trouble, in this mecha science fiction series based on a story by Osamu Tezuka.