Amazing 3
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Amazing 3 (Japanese title:W3 - Wonder 3) is an Osamu Tezuka manga and an anime series.
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Synopsis
The story involves Patrol W3, three humanoid extraterrestrial special agents from the Galactic Control who visit planet Earth to decide whether or not it should be destroyed. They assume the physical forms of a rabbit (Captain Bokko a.k.a. Bonnie), a horse (Nokko a.k.a. Ronnie), and a duck (Agent Pukko a.k.a. Zero). They befriend an earth boy, Shinichi Hoshi (Kenny Carter in English version); together with Shinichi's secret agent brother Koichi, they fight crime and remedy world problems. They ground travel in the Big Wheel, a large tire-shaped vehicle with passenger space in its center.
Eventually, Galactic Control determined that Earth was unsalvageable and should be eliminated for the good of all other planets. Learning of this, Shinichi convinced the Amazing 3 to take him to their homeworld, where he pled the case for humanity. He convinced Galactic Control to give mankind a stay of execution until Shinichi had reached adulthood.
The anime
The anime series based on it was also made by Tezuka. It was released in 1967. 52 episodes were produced in black and white by Mushi Productions. All 52 episodes are available in Japan on two DVD boxed sets.
Availability in the USA
The series has never been officially released on video or DVD in the United States since the English-dubbed film & audio elements were destroyed at the bequest of the Japanese rights holders. An undetermined number of episodes of do exist which were videotaped from Los Angeles' KCOP during the earliest days of home videotape, the proof being their availability on unlicensed tapes distributed through fan circles. Some of these episodes may still be found at at Sci-Fi or Comic conventions, but generally in poor quality on VHS tape dubs. At least one company is known to have DVDs produced from the KCOP broadcasts available for sale.
Appearance in other media
Amazing 3 make a cameo appearance in the Astro Boy: Omega Factor game for the Nintendo Game Boy Advance released in 2004, along with several other characters created by Osamu Tezuka.