It is the 21st century, and technology has progressed further than humanity itself could imagine.

2003, Tobio, the son of the head of the Ministry of Science, is killed in an accident. Mad from his grief, his father, Dr. Tenma, orders immediately the construction of a new, robot Tobio - a child of science.

While initially delighted at seeing his son reborn, gradually Tenma grew fed up at the fact that this new Tobio could not age and grow. In this newfound frustration, he sold him off to a robot circus. There 'Tobio' was given the new name Atom (Astro Boy).

Later, he would be taken in by Professor Ochanomizu, who serves as his guardian.

Human-robot conflict occurs over and over again, and is a major driving force. Atom never gets appreciation for his work in stopping plots and conspiracies on the international and even intergalactic scale solely because he is a robot. The authorities doubt him because he is a robot.

And as a robot, he has difficulty fully connecting with not just the humans around him (like his school friends), but even his robot family.

Atom's serialization was unfinished, as the magazine it was in ceased publication. While there was content for Atom after this, the narrative never properly concluded.

Official English

Volumes 221-238, 240-242, 251 and 252 of the Osamu Tezuka Complete Works