This article takes a look at Tezuka Productions efforts to energize interest in the late Osamu Tezuka’s signature character, Astro Boy.

Among these efforts are a new SoftBank mobile phone featuring a decidedly overweight Astro Boy by artist Lily Franky and a new online anime series Yawaraka Atom.

Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Tezuka’s death. A decade ago, Shimizu began introducing new products based on Tezuka’s creation under what he has dubbed the “avocali system” – an amalgamation of avocado and California Roll.

“For Edo-style sushi to take off internationally, chefs had to incorporate local foods (such as avocado),” Shimizu says. “In the same sense, we felt the best way to disseminate Osamu Tezuka’s DNA was to have artists from around the world ‘cook’ his characters – even if it meant changing their look.”

The theory behind this is that it is better for the life of the character to allow popular young designers to make “secondary creations”.