Venus Robots

Venus Robots is the 10th episode of Astro Boy.

Plot

On a fishing boat way out at sea, the robot on board claims that the catch is successful, and the crew is baffled as to why it is so heavy. However, they later find a metal robot in their net, which later activates and asks, “Captain? Are you my captain?”, before de-activating again. The crew brings it back to Metro City, and Dr. O’Shay explains to Astro that it is a Venus Robot.

O’Shay informs Astro that the Venus Robots were created by the Ministry of Science several years to work on the planet venus, in order for space colonisation, and they were meant to terraform the planet. Unfortunately, the method was to use the highly dangerous liquid nitrogen, which was later deemed too dangerous (powerful enough to cover the entire planet with ice), and so they were de-activated and dumped into the ocean. This puzzles O’Shay, as the Venus Robot’s memory chip claims it was operational until it was caught. O’Shay leaves, but just as Astro turns also the Venus Robot once again repeats his message.

Astro conducts further investigations, heading deep under the sea and entering a trench, and discovering a huge city underwater entirely built by the Venus Robots. Astro confronts one and tells him that he’s a robot, built by humans, but the Venus Robot only says that they were built by the captain. The robot shows Astro a statue of their captain (a human), and tells him that they await the day that the captain would come and tell them what they must do to serve. Astro leaves the city, completely unaware that the mysterious Dr. Tenma has been watching him, commenting that the robors have adapted to their surroundings, and that they only need someone to lead them - before stating “and that someone would be me”.

Tenma projects a holographic image onto the statue of the captain, and starts to lead the Venus Robots, who really believe that he is indeed their captain. However, Dr. O’Shay and Yuko back on the surface are extremely concerned, since there are more of the robots and they might fire their nitrogen rays. But while Astro wants to save them, a reluctant O’Shay sadly admits that they, as a last resort, might need to destroy the robots and their nitrogen rays to save the planet. The Venus Robots start to pop out of the sea and continue their mission. There are over 50,000 of them. The robots start heading in the direction of the Ministry of Science. Police Inspector Tawashi plans to destroy the robots, but Astro stops him, revealing that it would only set off the liquid nitrogen inside them. The Venus Robot tells them that they are to go to the ministry of science and to ‘salute their captain’.

Astro and O’Shay works out that by ‘saluting’, the Venus Robots will activate their nitrogen rays. The robots ignore Astro’s warnings and keep on advancing. O’Shay figures out a plan, but is foiled by Tenma, who cuts the power supply, and Dr. O’Shay knows that Tenma is behind all this. Tenma beams out the holograph again, and the first robot goes to the top of the spire and prepares to salute, but stops and takes out the nitrogen tank, which explodes. O’Shay tries to stop the hologram, and Yuko de-activates the robot dog (the same one which was seen in Robot Ball) which was projecting it - and they put on a new holograph, which allows the robots to see the truth about their creation. An angry Dr. Tenma arrives and demands that the robots ‘obey their captain’, but the lead Venus Robot states that their real captain would never ask them to harm humans. O’Shay falls out of the window, Astro tries to save him and fails, but the Venus Robots form a chain and saves both of them. The robots move deeper into the ocean and builds a stature of Astro to honour him.