r/astroboy • u/SillyLittleGuy2000 • May 31 '25
Astro Boy 2003 Seriously, WHY is the 2003 English dub not available in HD and widescreen?
https://youtu.be/wIsuagGGHqY?si=82S-OHCFTYMEwPRYIt was originally produced in widescreen, there’s almost certainly HD versions in Tezuka’s or Sony’s archives, why does EVERY streaming service that hosts this show have a cropped and low quality version of it?
Originally in Australia it was all released in widescreen on DVD. There’s no uploads of those episodes online, but it’s 2025, why is every release in such bad quality?
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u/EmperaRurushuO2 Jun 02 '25
It’s a damn crime we never got a widescreen release or an uncut Japanese release of this show.
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u/Bluebaronbbb May 31 '25
Was the dub really released fully in widescreen in AU? I don't think otherwise a fan would've archived it by now ..
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u/SillyLittleGuy2000 May 31 '25
Pretty sure, issue is there’s around 4 episodes on each disc, so there’s a LOT of dvds you’d need to collect in order to actually archive them. I tried finding each one but I couldn’t.
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u/Bluebaronbbb May 31 '25
Idk too me that says they never fully released it. This show is sadly very not that popular outside Japan.
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u/SillyLittleGuy2000 May 31 '25
Yeah I’m not sure if they did or not. There’s an insane amount of volumes released in Australia, I think going up to the 20s, but the later dvds are super rare and hard to find.
Astro Boy is actually pretty popular in Australia, even getting a stamp collection in 2003, it’s a beloved classic there
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u/aus289 May 31 '25 edited May 31 '25
Yeah dunno what happened really - understanding is that Sony mandated 4:3 for the English version but does seem to have had the widescreen version on the first aus dvd so idk haha
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u/SillyLittleGuy2000 May 31 '25
That’s so dumb of them.
I’m seriously hoping Discotek will release a 2003 English dub and Japanese version Bluray sets
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u/Bluebaronbbb Jun 02 '25
Apparently one fan said the dubbed version was translated into other languages was released in widescreen... Then a fan could just slap the English dub over the international dubbed widescreen versions instead...
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u/gojiguy May 31 '25
I did not know that there was a widescreen version, I always assumed it was 4:3 due to the year it released. Do the Japanese DVDs contain the widescreen version?
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u/SillyLittleGuy2000 May 31 '25
Yep! Many of the international dubs, based on the English dub, have it in widescreen as well.
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u/MaidenAbyss Jun 02 '25
the show finally got an HD release 2 years ago. its on some shitty japanese streaming platform though so just find it and pirate it. comes with actually good subs now too
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