Kato is an eccentric artist and demolitions expert. He is employed by the politician Acetylene Lamp, and thrives on chaos and showing off his personal style. He is played by Rainbow Parakeet via the Osamu Tezuka Star System.
Origin[]
In his titular home manga, Rainbow Parakeet is an esteemed actor by day and a master thief by night. As an actor, Yosuke Hogata has the acclaimed ability to portray almost any character, regardless of appearance, gender, or size. As a thief, Parakeet steals priceless items either for a client or for his own personal entertainment. He sometimes accepts acting roles for free, and later secretly steals from a wealthy person in attendance.
While he is a thief by nature, he still has a heart of gold, and helps other actors who come his way. Parakeet is accompanied by his gay[1] dog Saburo Tama, and his pet parakeet who's also his namesake. In Japan, Parakeet is one of Tezuka's most popular lead characters. The manga was even adapted into a highly successful musical stage play that continues to be performed by all-actress theatres, such as Takarazuka Revue.[2]
Personality[]
In the 2003 Astro Boy series, Kato is chaotic neutral. He loves orchestrating chaos with his inventions, and considers destruction just another artistic platform.
In his original manga, Parakeet is much less destructive, but still prone to playing tricks on others. He will do the right thing when possible, but he is a master thief by nature.
Appearance[]
Kato's clownsona
In the 2003 series, Kato has green-coloured hair in a thick bob cut. He wears large, pointed sunglasses with red lenses and thick black frames. These glasses also function as smart glasses, and can help him analyze things around him. He often wears a long, white coat,white gloves and an ascot.
Kato has also appeared as a clown for his video calling cards. As a clown, he has the same hair but in turquoise, full face clown makeup. He wears a ruff collar, fat suit, and a baggy full-body jumpsuit.
In his original manga, Parakeet's hair is a wig color blue, and he actually has black hair in a short pageboy cut. He conceals his hair and clothing frequently because of his job as a stage actor. Because of this, his true appearance is very rarely shown unobscured.
Anime[]
1980 series[]
Rainbow Parakeet appears as Inspector Randolph Holmes in the 1980 series episode "The Man-Made Solar Sphere". He is a robot-hating private investigator who, years before, survived a catastrophic explosion. He was manhandled at a robots-only hospital, the only one nearby. As a result, he is a cyborg, and the only remaining organic part of Holmes' body is his head. He has openly despised robots ever since. Holmes' colleague Dr. Winston offers to let his robot assistant go with Holmes, but Holmes claims, "I'd rather die than ask a robot for help."
Holmes meets Astro Boy when investigating a stolen spacecraft causing destructive heatwaves. Hiroshi Ochanomizu, the Solar Sphere's designer 20 years before, is pursued by hitmen, so Holmes takes Ochanomizu's place. Holmes allows himself to be kidnapped so he can be taken to the solar sphere's location. However, Astro breaks into this lair, and Holmes is forced to accept help from Astro or face death and a catastrophic heatwave.
2003 series[]
Dr. Kato being arrested
Dr. Kato is an engineer whose area of expertise is bombs and other explosives. Kato's criminal mantra is, "destruction is the purest form of art".
In Neon Express, Kato plants bombs at the Ministry of Science and leaves video calling cards with a clown version of himself. He allows himself to be arrested, so he can watch the police react to the reveal that the Neon Express has been bugged. The train goes out of control due to Kato's hyper-acceleration device, and bombs have been installed around the train station. Kato was not motivated by money, but the opportunity to use his talents to create pure chaos.
In Escape from Volcano Island, Kato is now employed by Lamp. He is tasked with making a volcano erupt during the Robot of the Year awards, and triggers the eruption with underwater explosives. Later on in Battle of Steel Island, Kato becomes a close associate of Lamp's and assists in staging the siege against Astro.
Manga
Later in the manga series of Akira Himekawa just like in the in the 2003 series, he becomes a close associate of lamp. Later, Lamp, Kato, and Katari attempt to blow up the Tokugawa Moon Plant. Atlas and Astro intervene, while Lamp fires Katari for reckless behavior and Kato leaves Katari at the Moon Plant following Lamp's orders.
In the manga canonically it is said that he was a scientist in the ministry of science