Atom: The Beginning
Atom: The Beginning 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 24 volumes as of August 2025. 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.
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, 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 event in Australia with the successor to A106, A107. 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". 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
;List of Astro Boy characters#Dr. Tenma;List of Astro Boy characters#Dr. Ochanomizu
;A106
;Motoko Tsutsumi
;Ran Ochanomizu
;A107
;Kensaku Ban
;Shunsaku Ban
;Moriya Tsutsumi
;Dr. Lolo
;Mars
;Hikozō Saruta
;Hiroshi's Grandfather
;Tsukie Saruta
;Hoshie
;Maria
Media
Manga
Kasahara's Atom: The Beginning began serialization in the 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. has collected its chapters into individual volumes. The first volume was released on June 5, 2015. As of August 29, 2025, twenty-four 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.