Atom: The Beginning

Five years after a devastating disaster, Japan is rebuilding with robotics at the center of its technological future. University researchers Umataro Tenma and Hiroshi Ochanomizu pour their limited resources into A106, nicknamed Six, an experimental robot equipped with an advanced intelligence system they hope can understand more than simple commands.

Six repeatedly displays something his creators did not fully expect: compassion, curiosity, and the beginnings of a will of his own. As funding problems push the team toward robot competitions and increasingly dangerous encounters, Six's clashes with machines such as the formidable Mars raise a larger question about what kind of heart a robot can possess.