Summary
Warning: the following contains spoilers for Astro Baby chapter 2, “Parent-Child Quarrel”, written by Shiro Moriya, translated by Amanda Haley, with lettering by Steve Dutro, now available to read viaVIZ Media.
The second chapter ofAstro Babyby Shiro Moriya brings up far more questions after Elly’s newborn child not only begins talking, but tries to convince Billy to kill its own mother, whose mind has already been consumed with the desire to consume human flesh. However, Elly’s unfortunate situation is far from the end of Billy’s problems, as he soon finds out that his town has been condemned by the government, and set for total elimination.
Continuing themanga’s strong start in Shonen Jump’s online platformand app,Astro Babyseems to have set up an extremely promising plot that melds together various fan-favorite concepts while incorporating elements that made it an interesting example of a “post-COVID” manga plotline.
February 2024 – ongoing
Billy Is Forced to Fight His First Love
The second chapter picks up from where the first left off, as Elly’s newborn tries to strike a deal with the extremely confounded Billy. In exchange for his assistance, the Baby will help Billy in return; however, the two need to first survive the immediate danger of a newly infected Elly finally succumbing to the effects of the Couper-29 virus. Just as Elly prepares to take a giant chunk out of Billy’s throat, the Baby sendsa stunning dose of malignant cellsto its mother, knocking her out temporarily. She wakes up and lunges at the Baby, attempting the same tactic that it used to incapacitate her, but according to the infant, its cells are “superior” to those of its mother. Despite this, Elly gains the upper hand, wringing her baby’s neck and preparing to take a huge bite, but Billy interferes just in time, sandwiching himself between mother and child.
Your kind sees us as mere pathogens, right?
With a feral Elly rampaging on his back, Billy is soon attacked, and she takes a bite out of his shoulder. Elly’s swift turning and the various physical changes imply that the Couper virus is one that not only causes aggression, but brings about various phenotypical changes that are conducive to life as a carnivore, like sharpened canines and a one-track voraciousness. Billy’s sacrifice gives the Baby just enough time to repair his own cells and gain the upper hand over Elly, sending her flying through the wall and tumbling to the road below as his umbilical cord popped out. Billy passes out from the commotion, and a while later, the Baby wakes him up because they need to get to safety soon.
Astro Baby Shows Us What Its Government Means By “Lockdown”
As Billy reawakens, he peers through the giant hole in the wall to take a look at Elly’s lifeless body; however, she’s gone. The Baby was unable to kill her because as his mother, she still has a significant amount of its cells in her body. Billy wraps up the baby and prepares to carry it as they walk to safety; noticing just how quiet it is around them. Before they can even leave the building, the two run into a heavily armed military squadron with eerie orders: toeliminate every last resident of North Hill. The reason for this lies in the world’s construction, which is explained in chapter 1. Due to the fact that the “virus” had a low rate of spread because it isn’t a communicable disease, and it was soon discovered that it is a pathogen with a “core”, Couper-29 could easily be restricted to the town of North Hill, preventing a large-scale disaster.
In the first chapter, Billy reveals in a conversation with a fellow recruit that it is the first time he, or any other aspiring soldier present has been in their hometown in five years. There’s also the fact that residents of North Hill are prohibited from leaving Farthes Peninsula – the landmass upon which North Hill is built. In the first chapter of Astro Baby, a meteorite crashes into the hospital where Elly is trying to deliver her baby, leading to the infection of the infant bythe lifeform in the meteorite. Beyond the meteorite, the orders to kill every last resident feels like a planned massacre with the objective of killing off what most people believe is a virus, and not a whole other kind of lifeform entirely.
Combining Elements From Various Familiar Media
While Billy is one of the few people who actually knows where the Couper-29 virus came from, no one believed him when he spoke of a “sticky black goo” taking over the bodies of individuals who soon became known as cannibals. Supposedly, a reaction from falling meteorites caused a mysterious lifeform to spring forth, but unfortunately, the scientist at the forefront of research into the “virus” very soon fell victim to its effects, but Billy fell in love with his assistant, who came to North Hill to continue the research into Couper-29. Elly was the only person who believed what Billy had to say, and he devoted his youth to becoming a soldier to protect her, enrolling in the military six years later.
The arrival of the virus through meteorites, and the resultant black goo are call-backs to the Symbiote from the Spider-Man franchise, but the spread of these organisms to the effect of a virus that causes people to eat each other, is reminiscent of Hitoshi Iwaaki’sParasyte – the Maxim, which featured a sentient race of alien parasites that used human bodies as hosts and had protagonist Shinichi Izumi as a special case in which the parasite could only take over his right hand. In being born with superior intelligence and control over its own cells, Elly’s baby inAstro Babyhas various similarities toParasyte’sMigi. The cores found in the alien parasites are reminiscent of the Nokkers fromTo Your Eternity, while the restriction of the Couper virus’s outbreak to one geographical area presents the same “walled-off narrative” seen inAttack on Titan.The most obvious similarity betweenAstro Babyand another piece of media isTokyo Ghoul, which also featureshuman-like entities feeding on human flesh, with rapid regeneration and superior strength as significant characteristics of the antagonistic parties of both narratives.
A Promising Start, But Still Too Early To Tell For Sure
One thing aboutAstro Babyis that it quickly sets up the world in which it is set, and it makes use of several plot devices to do so; however, its swiftness comes at the hefty price of meticulously crafting lore and characters. While it manages to pique interest, it misses an opportunity to make the loss of Elly’s humanity even more impactful than making her the star of the protagonist’s flashbacks. That being said, its sparse use of humour to offset what is otherwise a grave narrative is right on the money for a shōnen narrative, and the Baby stands to be a very interesting exploration of the extraterrestrial parasite trope, while maintaining some of the outlandishness that shōnen narratives are known for. Theart is good and is easy to read, and while it is dark and violent,Astro Babywouldn’t really count as a gory manga by any means. Chapter 3 will be a major test of the overall abilities of Elly’s Baby, and hopefully there will be an explanation of the extermination order taken out on North Hill.
