Atom: The Beginning (Japanese: アトム ザ・ビギニング, Hepburn: Atomu za Biginingu) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tetsurō Kasahara, with writing contributions by Makoto Tezuka and Masami Yuki. It was serialized in Hero's Inc.'s Monthly Hero's magazine from December 2014 to December 2020 and transferred to Comiplex online website in November 2020. Its chapters have been collected in 26 tankōbon volumes as of June 2026. An anime television series adaptation aired from April to July 2017.
The manga is based on Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy series and is initially set up as a prequel, depicting the events up until the birth of Astro Boy. However, as the story progresses, discrepancies with the main story of Astro Boy emerge, and it is later revealed to be a different world with a divergent history from that of Astro Boy after an incident in 1969.
Contents
Plot
It is five years after a catastrophe of unknown cause occurred in Japan. The young genius duo from Nerima University, Umatarō Tenma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu, work together to develop a new type of artificial intelligence called Bewußtsein, which has an "ego" or "mind". Equipped with it, they create an autonomous robot named A106 ("Atom" in Japanese wordplay), which has a will and a personality. However, their Laboratory 7 is chronically short of funds. In addition, it is difficult for the faculty to understand them. To earn funds, they participate in a Robot Wrestling tournament for the prize money. They win by exploiting the weaknesses of their opponents, and in the end, they shut down the previous champion, Mars, to win the tournament, and become the center of attention.
However, things take an unexpected turn when they try to find out more about Dr. Lolo, the developer of Mars, out of curiosity. As a result, both Umatarō and Hiroshi end up being targeted by a mysterious organization, as they get involved in the secrets of the underworld, the murkiness of the government, and the darkness of the catastrophe five years ago, but this does not damper their spirits. At the request of the Ministry of Science and the university's upper management, they are asked to participate in the World Robot Battling (WRB) event in Australia with the successor to A106, A107 (Yuran). However, as Yuran's enthusiasm for the competition spread, the other robots began to run amok. In the end, the WRB is cancelled, and when they return to Japan, Hiroshi's grandfather, who had been out of town, appeared before them. What he told them was an unbelievable story about a "boy-shaped robot from the future" (which Hiroshi had heard of before). Based on the information his grandfather had given him, Umatarō and Hiroshi headed for Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. There, they incompletely solve the mystery of the boy-shaped robot in question.
Characters
Umatarō Tenma (天馬 午太郎, Tenma Umatarō)
Voiced by: Yuichi Nakamura
A 19-year-old graduate student doing robotics research at Laboratory 7, Department of Robotics, Nerima University, who skipped five years of school, earning his undergraduate credits within a year of entering the university and moving on to the master's program. In terms of age, he is of the same generation as the university's freshmen. He is also working on a new type of AI, the Bewußtsein, and is also involved in the development of onboard equipment and power units for robots, with the one currently under development capable of 100,000 horsepower.
Hiroshi Ochanomizu (お茶の水 博志, Ochanomizu Hiroshi)
Voiced by: Takuma Terashima
A 26-year-old graduate student who works with Umatarō on robotics research at Laboratory 7 of the Department of Robotics at Nerima University. He is righteous, gentle, and good-natured. Because of his face, which is also called "little koala" by Umatarō, he is not popular with women, but he doesn't seem to mind as he has little desire of that kind. He is tall and thin at first glance, but he is reasonably strong, likely because he used to organize the scrap material around the laboratory.
A106
Voiced by: Yūki Inoue
Also known as Six. He is the sixth model of the autonomous "A10 Series" robots equipped with Bewußtsein, currently under development in Laboratory 7. His catchphrase in Robot Wrestling is "kindhearted science boy." He was originally conceived by Umatarō as an "ultimate superhuman with seven powers," but Hiroshi decided to change it. He is equipped with Boost Cylinders in his lower arms and legs, which are operated by high-pressure gas, and uses Boost Jumps to enhance his jumping power, a fist attack called the Impact Attack, and a High Speed Beat Punch that is operated continuously.
Motoko Tsutsumi (堤 茂斗子, Tsutsumi Motoko)
Media
Manga
Kasahara's Atom: The Beginning began serialization in the Monthly Hero's magazine published by Hero's Inc. on December 1, 2014. Makoto Tezuka and Masami Yuki are responsible for the manga series' editorial supervision and concept design, respectively, with Tezuka Productions collaborating. The magazine ceased publication on October 30, 2020, and the series was transferred to Comiplex website, starting publication on November 27, 2020. Shogakukan Creative has collected its chapters into individual tankōbon volumes. The first volume was released on June 5, 2015. As of June 5, 2026, twenty-six volumes have been released.
The manga is licensed in English by Titan Publishing Group, in partnership with StoneBot Comics. The first volume was released, under their Titan Manga imprint, on October 11, 2022.
Anime
An anime television series adaptation was announced in June 2016. The anime series is directed by Katsuyuki Motohiro and Tatsuo Satō, with series composition by Junichi Fujisaku and animation produced by OLM, Inc., Production I.G and Signal.MD. Takahiro Yoshimatsu designed the characters and Noriyuki Asakura composed the series' soundtrack. Shinobu Tsuneki, Yoshihiro Ishimoto and Shinichi Miyazaki are responsible for mechanical design. The 12-episode series aired from April 15 to July 8, 2017, on NHK G. It was streamed by Amazon on their Amazon Prime Video service. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series for home video and exclusively streamed the series on Amazon's Anime Strike streaming service. The opening theme song, titled "Kaidoku Funō" (解読不能; lit. "Indecipherable"), is performed by After the Rain, while the ending theme song, titled "Hikari no Hajimari" (光のはじまり; lit. "The Beginning of Light"), is performed by Yoshino Nanjō.