Pluto

Pluto is a mature adaptation of one of the most iconic arcs of Astro Boy. The manga, by the same name, is widely considered a masterpiece and is a deep passion project for the writer. I want to keep this mostly spoiler-free. I would highly recommend going into this blind, and if you love Seinen anime/manga, you will have an absolute blast here. Pluto comprises some of the most well-written and heartfelt characters whose story reaches a perfect end.

Every single character from the original arc in Astro Boy has been given justice in this remake. Atom (Astro Boy Himself) and Gesicht are the main ... leads of this show and both of them never fail to keep me engaged. The suspense is all very well done and the conclusion to it all is personally among my favorite endings in fiction. Pluto, isn’t just any story focusing on humans and robots, it is THE story focusing on humans and robots.

Going into Pluto I knew we would get a brilliant adaptation because the project was led by Masao Maruyama. He founded Madhouse and MAPPA, who specifically founded this new studio to adapt extremely well-deserving and overlooked mangas akin to Pluto. The animation is stellar for the most part, but at times some special effects don’t go too well and make the scene look weirdly blurry. Overall, they have done justice to the source material and it is as good of an adaptation as any fan could’ve asked for, 10/10.

Moreover, some of the other masterpieces he produced are Monster, Perfect Blue, Death Note, Hunter x Hunter (2011), Nana, Trigun, Hellsing Ultimate, Paprika, Kids on the Slope, and Tokyo Godfathers, among many others, the guy has been the driving force for masterpieces left and right. Also, the music composition is being done by Yuugo Kanno, who is well known for his extremely popular JoJo opening themes.

The Mangaka Naoki Urasawa is well known for his genius in developing murder mysteries or suspenseful tales that get increasingly interesting as you read. He has genuinely created some of the most masterful stuff in modern entertainment, and to finally see this manga by him get such a phenomenal and passionate adaptation feels so good; I waited for so long to get one. I hope that Pluto is successful enough that we get one for 20th Century Boys, which is another manga by Urasawa.

This is the golden standard for what a Netflix original anime should be, the best I have ever seen Netflix put out and story created by none other than the legendary Naoki Urasawa. Amazingly complex story about robots that gives you so much emotions, everyone put so much passion into this project from the animation to the voice actors.
Definitely a must watch for anyone looking for mystery genre. Astro boy is a legendary manga and anime, Naoki urasawa was a huge fan of it and wanted to make his own spin on one specific arc. This anime is loosely based off the Pluto arc ... in astro boy. while respecting the source material, Naoki does his own thing with Pluto and it’s a worthy successor

Netflix figured out a formula for an excellent anime adaptation of a manga. All it took was to make a movie length episode of each graphic novel volume and use the existing storyboards that are the manga panels by Urasawa Naoki.

Pluto is modern retelling (and a love letter to Tezuka, see if you can spot the major Black Jack reference) of a Mighty Atom (Astro Boy) story by Osamu Tezuka. Urasawa turned what was basically a robot beat-em up into detective story about serial killer of robots and humans, and touch into international politics, racial discrimination, and the ethics of artificial intelligence.

The story may be ... already great, but it needed time and talented animators to bring this to the screen, and fortunately, this production had it.

I really like how the entire series was a rising crescendo that culminated into the events of the last episode. Pluto the robot was mostly concealed in the early episodes to build the drama and tension. Its full reveal with the battle with Epsilon had impact because of it. This way, it managed to sell the massive stakes of the last episode.

Seldom could an anime production team being able to be in sync with the vision and intention of the original author. This time they nailed it. They even stuck the landing. This was enough for me to turn an easy 9 rating into a 10 because this is a masterpiece.

,,Nothing will be born from hatred."

Another masterpiece from the mangaka Urasawa Naoki.

Pluto is not your basic mystery anime, the story starts of as a weak breeze, and becomes a huge hurricane at the end. The characters are well written, and we can see some HUGE character development during the episodes, which is kinda familiar for those, who already met previously some of the mangaka's work (Monster, 20-21th Century Boys).

The soundtrack just fits perfectly into the picture, and perfectly emphasize the mood of the current frames.

Everyone should give this show a shot, even if they are not a fan of the genre, because it will ... be a heart melting memory to remember, and every minute of the show is totally worth the investment.

Great Job, Naoki, Great Job, Studio M2

A potential masterpiece flawed by tonal inconsistency

Pluto has an interesting premise, set in a world where robots and humans coexist after 39th Central Asian War. But the writing was very messy. It never seemed to find its rhythm, jumping erratically between locations, themes and sub plots. I enjoy complex anime but Pluto feels more like a simple story made unnecessarily complex by a poorly written, unfocused story.

Characters - 8
The character design was pretty solid, especially Gesicht and Atom who were my favourites. I liked the way that certain character dynamics were used to influence how viewers interpret the relationship between humans and ... robots. For Monster fans like myself, there were plenty of identically designed characters which was fun to see (Johan, Dieter, the professor etc.). I believe the sub is the superior mode to watch with slightly better voice acting especially for the younger characters.

Story - 5
As stated previously, the story was highly convoluted which made it a disorienting watch all the way until the final episode when things finally came together. I think they would have benefitted from giving more time to build a foundation to establish the atmosphere, themes and setting - one minute the anime takes place in Germany with a deep thriller / psychological feel, then it jumps to Australia and becomes an action/adventure. What made Monster so special (and a far superior product btw) was the atmosphere - it was so immersive, tense and intoxicatingly dark. Pluto felt like it struggled to form an identity and instead collapsed into the cliche tropes of mecha anime. The hour long episodes were a good idea because they created a more cinematic experience, however I believe there were pacing issues that may have come as a result. The story felt fragmented and lacked the 'flow' that the best quality always have. The second half of ep. 4 was exceptional but it lost its rhythm quickly after

Music - 6
The music was not a big part of the show with not many memorable tracks but it was seamlessly integrated which was commendable.

Art / Animation - 8
The art style followed Urasawa's uniquely realistic style and was quite enjoyable to watch. I wasn't a fan of the CGI and backgrounds though - it felt very artificial and was even a bit distracting in some of the scenes where it was heavily relied on. The production value was very high though, typical of a Netflix Original series, but there's something about the less 'touched up' style (90s anime demonstrates it best) that just can't be beaten in my opinion.

Overall a solid watch with all the ingredients to create a legendary masterpiece, but failed with execution and flawed storytelling. It's very overrated on this site so far, probably because of all the excitement from manga readers waiting for the adaption and off the hype from Monster. If you're looking for a mecha anime I would recommend Ghost in the Shell Neon Genesis Evangelion or Code Geass over this, but it was definitely a unique anime worth a watch.

If you love sci-fi and cyberpunk with a deep story since it is written by Naoki Urasawa himself (the creator of Monster, 20th century boys and billy bat) then this anime is for you.

In a world where the line between humans and robots is thinner than a hair on a microchip, the story plunges into the abyss of the age-old quest: What does it mean to be alive? Based on Osamu Tezuka’s “Astro Boy,” particularly the "The Greatest Robot on Earth" story arc, "Pluto" is more than just a rehash of old circuits; it’s a riveting narrative that delves into the hearts (and hard drives) ... of its characters.

Gesicht is not your run-of-the-mill robot detective. His quest to solve a string of mysterious robot and human deaths is anything but a mere wild byte chase. Gesicht finds himself tangled in a web of conspiracy that could fry his circuits, with the eerie antagonist, Pluto, lurking in the shadows, ready to strike.

The narrative is laden with themes of memory, consciousness, and the enigma of existence that will have you pondering if Siri has a soul. The juxtaposition of robots with the emotional bandwidth of humans against humans with the empathy of toasters presents a stark, thought provoking contrast.

Urasawa artistry not only sketches the external world but also delves into the internal landscapes of his characters. The emotions etched on the faces of robots and humans alike are so palpable, you think they were crafted by Apple engineers.

"Pluto" is more than a mere "Anime". it’s a philosophical inquiry. It's a sign, A prophecy of the future, a tale that will have you smiling, laughing, crying, and, most importantly, questioning whether your coffee maker has been plotting against you all along.

Yes, a 10/10. that's it from me.

Alriiiiiiiiight. Pluto is here, and damn have I waited a long time for it.

I’m gonna keep this concise instead of spewing meaningless drivel and elaborating on the entire synopsis of the plot.

Here we have an adaption of one of Urasawa’s masterworks, as well as the finest series produced by Netflix as of so far- animated or not. The fact of the matter is this- the source material was already great. But what makes this series so spectacular is that it elevated everything you loved about the manga and made it better, and I’ll die on this hill.

Pluto has been out for years ... upon years, and the original manga is already well reviewed. Fact of the matter is, I don’t need to rave about how remarkable and groundbreaking this piece of work is. It’s already well established that Urasawa is potentially the greatest mangaka of all time in respect to his ability to write narratives. Pluto is an exemplary manga that shows just that.

Our trust in Netflix isn’t very well established on the side of anime. It had some break out hits in the form of Edgerunners and Castlevania, but few would have put stock in their ability to adapt such a work. All it took was ONE trailer, and my mind was changed.

The result was a labor of love. This is an anime that had ambition. It didn’t want to just live in the shadow of the manga, it wanted to be everything the original work was, and more.

They succeeded. It shows in every corner of the production. I’m watching this show in English dub, since it makes more sense thematically since it isn’t just centered around Japan as a setting. The English voice actors put their soul into each role. The music was astounding, making the emotion originally portrayed by Urasawa amplified. The expressions of the characters maintain the signature style developed by the author. And it goes without saying, but the art direction is among the best I’ve ever seen. It’s vivid, rich in detail, and filled with set pieces that make you question just how much money was funneled in for the budget.

Seeing it adapted on the big screen with such care creates a substantially more remarkable foundation for the series. I found myself brought to tears on multiple occasions, all by scenes I thought little of upon reading them; but overwhelmed by when watching them. That’s right, I downright admit I think this adaption is better than the source material- which is a rare occurrence. This is a remarkable achievement in animation that brings me optimism when thinking about the future of anime as a whole.

I’ve heard criticism about the pacing of Pluto due to the hour long episodes. To be Frank, it is a brain dead criticism. Each volume is adapted into each episode, which in turn adapts the pace of the volumes as they were released. In my mind, this is worthy of further praise.

It is my hope that with the success of Pluto, an adaption will come of what is arguably Urasawa’s magnum opus, 20th Century Boys.

Until then, one can hope. One can enjoy the result that has come from this adaption. One can enjoy what is by far the greatest anime to have been produced in years. Enjoy.

One of the best hits of the year, and perhaps the decade, a masterpiece of animation and the world of series in general, episode number 1 was definitely a punch to the heart. Yugo Kanno does a spectacular job, and the soundtrack is a marvel.

Despite being announced over 6 years ago, the animation remains fresh and wonderful. Urasawa shines with his work, and the adaptation does it justice on stratospheric levels.

What is humanity, what makes robots robots, and humans humans?

A significant part of the moral idea is based on knowing that neither humans nor robots are so far from themselves, but at the same time, ... they seem to separate more than the sun from the earth.

A story full of emotions with a brutal cast, and personally, one of the animes you must watch even if you're not a fan of the genre. And if you are, you should watch it before you die.

With one of my all time favorite manga getting an anime adaptation, my standards were set high and this delivered. Its a prit near perfect adaptation that is very obviously a passion project from people who love the original story. Pluto tackles one of my favorite topics of AI and AI rights and does it from within one of my favorite mysteries being Mystery so from the start its a story I was bound to love. I think while in some parts it shows its age being written almost 20 years ago it also aged very well and still holds up as a good thought ... piece in current times where AI is becoming more and more of a real pressing issue. While I thought some of the color pallets in certain scenes were a bit bland that's pretty much my only complaint. The use of CGI was acceptable and the whole anime looks very nice. While I still think I like the manga better for pacing reasons, I think this is an amazing anime and I wish it would get more attention.

Kinda mind-bogglingly good.

I don't know how Urasawa can write so many scenes in a row that feel so powerful and don't slow the story down at all, or how he can attach me to so many characters so quickly with only a handful of scenes without feeling like he's cramming things in, or how he can make me genuinely interested in so many different philosophical themes and questions without beating me over the head with them while there's still an entire murder mystery to solve, or how he makes so many moving parts not just fall into place perfectly but do so in such cathartic ... ways that feel like they barely give me a break from the tornado of emotions, or how, or how, or how...

I really don't have bad things to say about this show.

The direction here is a big step up from the last Urasawa adaptation I saw (Monster), with much more dynamic-feeling transitions from scene to scene, making it harder to pause, and especially making any revelations feel less belabored than they often did in Monster. The animation is... fine, great in some places, it does its job.

The first episode essentially gives you an accurate taste of what's to come, but that specific episode also isn't completely representative of the others for specific reasons, so I'd say either decide whether to watch the show or not based on the first half of episode 1, or make up your mind about halfway into episode 2.

Unrelatedly, one of the characters shares a face with Johan Liebert, for obvious reasons, and the moment he appeared in the show made me feel nauseous, like something horrible was about to happen. I've never experienced that with another fictional character. Must've been especially traumatized by Johan.

I'm gonna have a fun time trying to figure out how to explain at family functions that my favorite show of the year is an Astro Boy fanfiction.

What does it mean to be human? Is it our ability to feel love, compassion, empathy, sadness, joy, and despair? Or is is one capacity to feel hatred and anger?

7 years in the making, this was based on a manga that was a collaboration between Tezuka Productions, and Naoki Urasawa. The basis of the story being "The World's Greatest Robot" arc from Astro Boy, Osamu Tezuka. Urarawa turns the story into sci-fi murder mystery, exploring what is even means to be human. He even changes our main protagonist, Astro/Atom, to Gesicht, a detective with Euro-pol trying to solve a string of mysterious murders where ... each victim is left with objects protruding from their head. Made to resemble "horns". Our first victim is Mont Blanc, who is considered to be one of "The World's Greatest Robots". Gesicht then seeks insight from 6 remaining greatest robots for help in solving the case.

Honestly, I've enjoyed everything I've read from Urasawa, and I think he's one of the greatest Manga-ka of our generation. Not only that, I'm a *huge* Tezuka fan, so this collaboration is a match made in heaven. I was excited to hear this was being adapted, and so far they did not disappoint.

The source materiel, so far, is being translated to animation beautifully, and I think the one hour episodes match the pacing of the manga very well. I even love how well this studio nailed Urasawa's art-style. Down to some shots where you can see the variation in line weight on the characters' outlines. My only gripe is the clash between the 3D used for some of the background objects and effects/explosions, but it hasn't been enough to pull me out of the story.

I really have nothing notable to say about the OST. While it fits the atmosphere of the anime very well, I've noticed some tracks get played...a bit repetitively. Otherwise, it's ok.

So far so good, I'm excited to see the rest!

Very similar to monster. It's like monster but in another world.

Pluto is a mature adaption of one of the most iconic arcs of Astro Boy. The manga, by the same name, is widely considered a masterpiece and is a deep passion project for the writer. I want to keep this mostly spoiler-free. I would highly recommend going into this blind, and if you love Seinen anime/manga, you will have an absolute blast here. Pluto comprises some of the most well-written and heartfelt characters whose story reaches a perfect end.

Every single character from the original arc in Astro Boy has been given justice in this remake. ... Atom (Astro Boy Himself) and Gesicht are the main leads of this show and both of them never fail to keep me engaged. The suspense is all very well done and the conclusion to it all is personally among my favorite endings in fiction. Pluto, isn’t just any story focusing on humans and robots, it is THE story focusing on humans and robots.

Going into Pluto I knew we would get a brilliant adaption because the project was led by Masao Maruyama. He founded Madhouse and MAPPA, who specifically founded this new studio to adapt extremely well-deserving and overlooked mangas akin to Pluto. The animation is stellar for the most part, but at times some special effects don’t go too well and make the scene look weirdly blurry. Overall, they have done justice to the source material and it is as good of an adaption as any fan could’ve asked for, 10/10.

Moreover, some of the other masterpieces he produced are Monster, Perfect Blue, Death Note, Hunter x Hunter (2011), Nana, Trigun, Hellsing Ultimate, Paprika, Kids on the Slope, and Tokyo Godfathers, among many others, the guy has been the driving force for masterpieces left and right. Also, the music composition is being done by Yuugo Kanno, who is well known for his extremely popular JoJo opening themes.

The Mangaka Naoki Urasawa is well known for his genius in developing murder mysteries or suspenseful tales that get increasingly interesting as you read. He has genuinely created some of the most masterful stuff in modern entertainment, and to finally see this manga by him get such a phenomenal and passionate adaption feels so good; I waited for so long to get one. I hope that Pluto is successful enough that we get an adaption of 20th Century Boys, which is another manga by Urasawa.

Story: 10
Animation: 10
Sound: 10
Characters: 10
Enjoyment: 10

Total: 10

It is hard to undersell this masterpiece. Especially the theming around the cycle of hatred comes up all the time and is handled beautifully. Furthermore, the source was treated with respect and care. The animation is top-notch and impresses almost constantly. Sure, there are some minor issues, but the good outweigh the bad 1000-fold. In a similar fashion lies the sound design. Minute details are cared towards, especially in regional stuff like the German police sirens.
However, there still doesn't seem to be a German advisor in Japan. While the major things were written correctly, most of the short ... filler text, even when they fill the screen, aren't translated properly. But every single anime does struggle with this.

Still, Pluto manages to hold the viewers attention for the whole duration of the episodes. Even tho, they still can be split into traditional 20 minute sections in most cases. The fluidity of the animation and the sound underlay a great story about what it means to be human. Especially since we approach the age of robotics very soon.

It's a bit of a mess. A beautiful, creative, devious mess. But still.

Urasawa falls into the Ryōgo Narita school of writing. Neither of them seem to have the slightest idea how to drip feed information to their audiences, which information should be given freely, and which should be held back as plot twists. In Pluto, as in Monster and Narita's stories, Baccano and Durarara, this results in a mess. A simple story made convoluted to the point where it's borderline impossible to understand what's going on most of the time. Even many of Pluto's plot twists don't hit home, because it's more mess to add ... to the existing mess. It's not until you get close to the end when you're given enough information to make sense of it. At that point, viewers will often think 'wow that was hard to understand, which means it was probably deep.' Part of this is a pacing issue, but it's mainly a problem with the writer.

It's disappinting, because Pluto has so much going for it. Great animation, great music (though it won't blow your socks off), great detail, production value, and voice acting on both the sub and dub. But it's all held back by the spaghetti slop story. And unfortunately, that story is Pluto's main draw. I can look past that enough to appreciate what the story had going for it - its themes and ideas. If they'd been structured differently, Pluto would have been the masterpiece many pundits will no doubt call it anyway.

As it stands, the best I can do is a (generous) eight

THIS IS A SPOILER-FREE REVIEW

Naoki Urasawa has been one of the most renowned mangaka of the last century, continuing his success into the modern era. His works however, always seemed pretty difficult to adapt, mostly because of their lengthy storytelling that doesn´t really lend itself for seasonal airing. Pluto is the first Urasawa adaption since “Monster” back in 2007 and has been in the works for multiple years. Will this be the first in a new series of remakes?

Story – 9/10

First off, this is a retelling of the classic manga “Astro Boy”, but it deviates a lot from the source material, so much, that you ... could say it is it´s completely own thing. There are characters and themes that Urasawa took from the original, but the genre has shifted quite a lot.
Instead of the mild entertainment for the whole family that the old series provided, “Pluto” is a very dense and mature series, that can get pretty dark during most of it´s story. In a world where humans and robots live together, the show takes some highly unique approaches in terms of storytelling. Even though this setting has been explored many times before, not only in anime, but in movies, TV-shows and video games too. But although this series is based on an older manga, the way it explores these different themes seems very new and refreshing. The show runs for 8 episodes, but unlike most modern anime, every episodes spans for over an hour. This has probably been done trying to include big chunks of Urasawas massive story arcs in as few episodes as possible, otherwise they could not have adapted the whole manga in a single season.
The pacing is extremely slow, but never to a point where I felt the show dragged, which tends to be a problem with a lot of older shows. Every episode brings something new to the table, and moves the story forward in classic Urasawa fashion. Every time the show answers some of it´s questions, new ones arise, keeping you on the edge of your seat until everything gets wrapped up nicely in the end: an effective mix of the genres thriller, psychological, mystery and sci-fi. The scale of every decision is massive, the action is thrilling and the different character interactions are an absolute joy to watch. This has certainly been one of the shows that deviate the most from the classic seasonal anime formula, but that only makes it more interesting.

Art – 9/10

After many years of planning, an unsatisfactory pilot and multiple reworks, Pluto finally released in last years winter season, and received widespread critical acclaim, expecially for it´s unusually high animation quality. The series was produced by the famous Masao Maruyama, founder of studio MAPPA (“Chainsaw Man”,“Jujutsu Kaisen”) who founded his very own animation studio, M2. He stated in multiple interviews that adapting Pluto was his dream for a very long time and he will do anything he can to get the project done, even though the production will face a lot of problems.
The final product however does, in my opinion, absolutely delivers in every aspect. Not only is every episode the length of a movie, they also feel like ones. The main reason for that is the absolutely spectacular effects animation. This show has a very distinct style to it while also closely sticking to the original manga. The movement is fluid, the backgrounds are highly detailed and every character has a wide range of expressions making everyone feel alive. The dark tone of the story perfectly gets reflected in the shows gloomy art style. This is a perfect example of how to adapt a classic manga to fit the modern anime landscape. This really opens the door for more older anime receiving remakes (20th Century Boys….!).

Sound – 8/10

This is where the shows plays the most upon the foundation of it´s classic roots. The soundtrack is clearly old-school, with a lot of classic piano and saxophone tracks. The sound design (I have to emphasize again that this is one of the most underrated aspects of anime productions) is crisp and clear.
The sound-effects also give the show it´s own unique identity. This show does sadly not have an opening, but to be honest, I don´t think it needs one, especially not some 24/7 J-Pop Song. Other than that, there is not much to say here, very solid stuff overall.

Characters – 10/10

This is probably the shows biggest strength. In my opinion, a lot of anime clearly struggle when it comes to this category, probably because a lot of them tend to rush through as many plot-points as possible, leaving a lot of possible character development in the dust. The last show I gave 10 points in this category was the third season of “Kaguya-Sama” back in the 2022 summer season.
Pluto absolutely destroyed this category. Every single character in this show is highly memorable, interesting and well developed:
First of, I have to say that the lack of a true protagonist is actually one of the series biggest strengths. The narrative constantly switches between different characters, giving everyone a chance to shine. Some characters only appear in like half an episode and quickly turned into fan favourites. The heart-warming relationship between Duncan and North#2, the mystery around Pluto's past, the crazy but relatable villains, everything gets fully fleshed out. My favourite characters are definitely Gesicht, Atom and professor Ochanomizu. Even side characters like Brau-1589 have massive screen presence in the little scenes that they are in.
If you ever need an example of a great cast in modern anime, this is the one. This is one of the clearest 10/10 I have ever given.

Enjoyment – 9/10

This was a blast to watch. Every episode was better than the last and although the finale was just solid and nothing outstanding, the show delivered everything it promised to.

- Marco_Yooo

FINAL SCORE - 9/10

Okay, so maybe a 10/10 is a bit too much for most, but honestly, I'd beg to differ.

The series does a beautiful job at blurring the lines between the intent of human and AI by offering a very unique perpective of what a potential future could look like between the two. It isn't your typical 'mankind vs robots' premise. Even when compared to its parent show, Astro Boy. It's more of a 'look at what it is we can achieve as a joint force/entity' sort of thing. I would hate to spoil anything so you'd have to actually watch it to understand what I mean. ...

But before you give it an honest watch, here's some advice; pay attention, and the attention will surely pay you. This isn't your typical run-of-the-mill series. Although, I could understand why the average joe would dislike an anime as deep as this one. Being that it's only 8 episodes long, each one is on average ~1 hour long each, giving it the time needed to create the context necessary for this kind of depth. It isn't solely just about the animation, fight scenes (which are fairly lacking until further in), characters, or the writing in general. It's more so a culmination of all these aspects and then some. Throw in a touch of philisophical insight and you get a "chef's kiss" designed to keep those of a mindful intellect asking themselves "what if" by the end of the series.

As mentioned, this isn't a series for everyone. But for those who do manage to understand, by the end of it all, you're going to love it. It could either be a masterpiece or massive flop, depending on who it is that's watching. Enjoy.

Wow just wow , finally a fucking perfect adaptation that's a masterpiece , an incredible story full of emotions , I don't have anything else to say because already reviews the manga , perhaps you wondering why I give 9/10 and manga 10/10 , just because the ost this anime has lack of ost I barely hear something they could just give a beautiful soundtracks that can make you dive deep in the story ,A beautiful art of work this manga not for everyone for sure , the amount of emotions that contains is insane , also it's so mature ... , how so ? Basically it so similar to astro boy story but this version is mlre mature lol , It has a good verity of events and some shocking moments with good plot twist timing , I'm not exaggerating if I said this one of the best manga out there , it doesn't matter how many words or sentences I'm gonna type here cuz whatever im about to say won't express my true feelings , just read it and definitely won't regret it .

Pluto is a perfect mystery, science fiction, drama series. The overall tone of the show from beginning to the end shifts from a detective show to a drama, then it becomes a thriller mystery title. After some point it turns into a thoughtful piece of media that approaches topics like human rights, it also provides shounen plot with solid understanding of artificial intelligence setting at some point as well. Even though I told tons of topics and genres this show handles they and more in an 8 episode (around 60 minutes for each episode) beautifully. But these are not the main beauty of the show. ... It tells and gives opinions on most humane topics using robots and their interactions. This makes this show brilliant and unique.

With the newly developing sophisticated artificial intelligence, robots struggle to understands emotions and the result of these emotions. Watching this struggle also makes you realise humans also doesn’t understand these concepts fully as well. So, during this wholesome journey we start to think some solutions for these problematic topics, like the robots in the series. Because it respects the human as a subject and let viewer to think about the topics it provides. Furthermore, letting them have their own solutions during the show is the part what makes it one of the perfect pieces of media. The only issue about the series is the revelation in the end feels a bit rushed. But it doesn't make the show suffer at all.

Also, it being an 8 episode is a big plus for the series. As a fan of Naoki Urasawa, Monster is a story with 74 episodes. Once it's consumed, it doesn't offer a rewatchability element, and it has slow moments that makes the show more thrilling. These slow moments also prevent viewers from rewatching the show. But Pluto on the other hand as a shorter piece provides more condense experience for viewer.


As a final statement I can easily recommend this show to anyone that wants to have a thrilling experience and want to think about subjects the show presents. If you're not into mystery titles or want to watch an action-packed show without giving any thought the show would disappoint you in these aspects.

Arriving after several years of development, Pluto is the anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s well-regarded manga series featuring a more mature take on a story arc of the famous Osamu Tezuka series, Tetsuwan Atom (or Astro Boy for Western audiences), set in a future setting where the German robot detective, Gesicht, is attempting to solve a recent string of robot and human murders that lead him to some shocking developments when it’s discovered a robot is behind the murders, despite robots supposedly being programmed not to kill humans, and the murders connected to a larger conspiracy at hand.

In going with a more mature focus on ... elements of Tetsuwan Atom’s story, Pluto opts to go for a more believable design of its characters and scenery. Lacking the exaggerated bodily proportions and designs of Tezuka’s manga series, Pluto opts to make characters have more realistic details with their designs and make the designs of some of the robots look more menacing compared to older designs from prior Tetsuwan Atom adaptations. Similar to Urasawa’s last animated adaptation Monster, this gives characters and scenery a rather detailed look compared to many titles released for this year. In addition, the larger scale of the capabilities of some of the robots lend the series some impressively animated sequences and battle scenes that are nicely animated and among the more visually pleasing titles I’ve seen for 2023.

It’s a little tricky for me to dabble into Pluto’s story without spoiling things heavily, so I will try my best to be careful what I cover in this review. But essentially, the two major components of Pluto that the series focuses on are its mystery surrounding the human and robot murders, as well as exploring the complications surrounding sentience within robots. For the mystery element, Pluto takes its time to slowly uncover more about the causes surrounding the murders, those involved with them, and the mysterious conspiracy behind them. While Gesicht is seemingly the main character of this series, Pluto actually splits focus between other characters who get involved in the mystery as they learn of more elements to it and questioning their very nature. Unlike the original Tetsuwan Atom story arc, Pluto takes its time to flesh out a number of the characters involved with the situation to give them more purpose and allow the audience to develop a connection to them. This also adds a tragic element to Pluto as those who have read or seen older adaptations of Tetsuwan Atom know the inevitability of the fates of some characters that the series explores.

Exploring the complications of robot sentience also come into play with exploring Pluto’s mystery and some of the issues facing its characters. Like humans, more advanced artificial intelligence (AI) in robots within Pluto can demonstrate emotions and behave in ways that can be either positive or negative depending on their mindset, developments, and actions. This adds to the psychological focus of the series as several of the robotic characters have advanced enough AIs to be able to discern and emulate human emotions and nature, this affecting them with a number of story elements vital to different components of the mystery surrounding the robot and human murders occurring throughout Pluto. This rich amount of psychological focus is a unique focus on AI compared to other similar titles that get in the habit of romanticizing AI to varying degrees, whereas robot AI in Pluto is capable of being just as flawed as humans depending on their developments.

In short, Pluto’s more mature take on Tetsuwan Atom lends it a good amount of mystery and psychological insight in regards of the development of robot characters and their advanced AI discerning human emotions. It retains elements of Naoki Urasawa’s manga series with its more realistic artwork, fair number of suspenseful scenes, and psychological focus with the mindsets of characters affected by the title’s events. The unique viewing medium of the series as an 8-episode ONA with each episode running close to or over an hour a pop means quite a bit of story is packed into each episode and its slow pacing may not be everyone’s cup of tea. But if you enjoyed the psychological suspense and mystery of Urasawa’s previous well-regarded hit anime adaptation, Monster, in spite of its lengthy 74-episode run, you should get similar enjoyment out of seeing Pluto.

Pluto stands as an exemplar of the anime medium's storytelling prowess. Its themes are rich and nuanced, offering viewers a captivating journey into a world marked by uncertainty, conflict, injustice, and war. Pluto is a remarkable, sophisticated, and uplifting exploration of the future and the human experience.

• Plot 10/10
Pluto unfolds in a future where artificial intelligence has attained sentience, blurring the lines between humans and robots. It poses thought-provoking questions about the boundaries between the two, all while delivering a clever mystery drama with an edge-of-your-seat suspense.

• Visuals and Music 9/10
The art style seamlessly complements the show's themes, and the background music enhances the overall ... experience. Action sequences are skillfully executed, accompanied by top-notch cinematography and visuals. At times, I felt that they compromised a bit which is justifiable, no doubt. Great work by the whole team.

• Characters 10/10
The characters are meticulously crafted, each possessing intricate personalities and deep moral quandaries. Their motivations, dreams, and philosophies on life add layers of depth to the narrative.

In summary, Pluto is a profound and philosophical masterpiece that leaves viewers in a state of wonderment.