Pluto

Just a quick forewarning; Pluto is a show set in the universe of Astro Boy and it assumes a passing familiarity. You can intuit a fair few of the references the show kind of expects you to get and most of them aren't important. But, if you find yourself kinda lost, I'd suggest watching a small bit of the 80s or 2000s versions, I watched em as a kid and I like em both. I'm not that much of an Urasawa guy, and less of an Astro Boy guy, but or because or irrelevant to those facts, I think Pluto is fairly exceptional. Yes, it is very ooh ahh and has some *very* well put together visuals. However, what I think comes through the most in Pluto is Urasawa. Urasawa has a kind of maturity to his writing that keeps me coming back to it like a dog to its chow; Mask-off: I think about Monster offhandedly every other week. They're not life changing works or anything, but Urasawa has a certain angle to his storytelling that is magnetic. He's interested in why people go off the beaten path, towards criminality and otherwise failing social expectations, and his inquisitive interest shows itself in his writing in a way I can't help but admire. Pluto isn't as concerned with that subject matter as Monster is, but it is still a big part of Pluto's identity - a part I love. Pluto's main feature for a lot of it's length is the weaving of it's central mystery, a mystery that is handled well. It's not the most astounding mystery to ever exist in Anime, and there are dimensions to it that aren't explained in a super fascinating way, but if you enjoy good ol mysteries- it's not a poorly handled one. Just to address the #haters out there, a complaint I've seen here often is that Pluto likes to organize it's stories out of building empathy for a character before stealing them away. This isn't strictly unfair, Pluto *does* do this, but I don't think it's all that special and I didn't find it distracting. Not a deflection but a disagreement! If you disagree with me- die! The show does suffer the slight Urasawa curse where he's so good at writing everything up to an ending and not as good (though not bad) at writing the actual ending. Much like some of his prior work, the last few steps ahead of the ending are the juiciest pieces. Regardless, the show up to that point is very well done. It may not be life changing, but it should prove to be a tight and well-handled ride that, though not very deep in it's exploration of them, wields it's characters to great effect. Anyways, have you guys heard of this little-known show called Monster?

It is undeniable that Pluto is a well-produced and thought-provoking story with a strong vision. However, the magnitude that the show builds up is not properly fulfilled by a wholly satisfying resolution. The journey was fun to watch and scratches a highbrow itch that people who love Blade Runner will enjoy; I just wish it actually closed the narrative loops more effectively. The structure of Pluto will hardly be unfamiliar to fans of the murder mystery, which is what the majority of the runtime is concerned with. I go as far as to call it "Hard Boiler Plate" as the patterns of the episodes become pretty obvious after a while. The stakes get steadily ramped up to a global scale which gives it the proper anime bombast and plenty of varied locales you're unlikely to see in most shows like this. While it attempts to thread the tension into this story, I hesitate to call this a "thriller." The pace is far slower and the storytelling more detached from scene to scene, allowing for a lot of familiarization with locations and relationships. One of the most difficult parts of Pluto's storytelling is its method of dealing with flashback scenes. There is no clear visual transition from "present" to "past" events, which makes things feel jarring. This attempt to replicate the non-linear structure of some mystery stories comes off mostly as unsuccessful in large part because it rarely seems like we're being shown anything all that important that wouldn't have been better left to the reader's/viewer's imagination. I couldn't help comparing a lot of the events of the 39th Central Asian War to Full Metal Alchemist's own depictions of wartime cruelty and there's no doubt - FMA did it better (both versions). Even when we're demonstrated that the characters have some significant history together, it never appears to weigh much on their actions. In fact at several points in the story it seems the characters are in ignorance of those connections until the plot needs another beat to move it forwards. It felt there should have been a lot more going on in the story in terms of the struggles of the main cast to give them more ample reason to fight and defend what they love. Two of the characters have basically the same motivation, which all ties back to the theming that runs through this whole series. Apparent from nearly the first scene is the question of "What makes us human?" and "How close can artificial life be to humanity?" This is an overriding social tension through the whole story, as robots have rights and live amongst humans. In some ways this is explored to interesting conclusions, but for a lot of the rest of it it's just... There. Those themes certainly make you think, but do they actually add anything to the narrative? In my opinion, not spending a lot of time pontificating on these more interesting questions serves to make the story shallower rather than deep. It also feeds into many character decisions, which seemingly have little to do with the logic of the world and more about symbolism. Symbolism and parallels - especially to mythology - are hard to do right without coming off as hokey. The original mangaka had some constraints as he was trying to recontextualize the story of Astro Boy (as an aside, I know nothing about Astro Boy beyond the cliffnotes and I don't think it's necessary to enjoy the story) but I can't find a lot of the attempts anything but hamfisted. The title itself is dropped in the series very early on and you get a completely false impression of what it means - until it does actually mean what you think it does, sort of? And the story's reconciliation feels not very earned because of the disconnection between its different pieces. Several times, I just said "What?" to the screen at some of the logic. This was both of the world with its strangely adapted robots and at points in the story which never got a decent resolution. To me, little about the villains' plans made all that much sense given the world this was set in. I especially disliked the cockroaches - what was that even about? The failures of the grander narrative does not mean you will not enjoy this. As mentioned, the artistic quality is wonderful. It's presented as a prestige series and mostly lives up to that, if perhaps not always with the best direction or cinematography that can be found in animation or live action. The world is pretty well-realized on screen and the animators set a wonderful standard for spectacle in a highly detailed anime like this. I watched it dubbed, which was very good, if not quite standout. Episode to episode I was excited, but unlike the best mysteries or thrillers I wasn't super excited to watch the next episode. It was just kind of pleasant, which I don't think is what people will expect from a show made like this. Pluto stands on its own two feet as a production and shoots for the moon but misses. If you're into it and its ideas, you will definitely have a very good time and may even love it. For those looking for something very meaty and thrilling though, I don't think this has the necessary flesh to chew on.

The most remarkable thing about Pluto is how it so arduously sets up its many mysteries, only to answer them in the least spectacular way. No foreshadowing, no possibility for the audience to guess, the collective cast has to spend the entire finale exposition dumping to tie up all the wasted plot threads, and what's worse, introduce more that are "only explained in the manga". Seriously, the two primary antagonists have no ties to the broader mystery whatsoever, and go almost completely unexplained. All this just leaves you wondering, why did you put up with such awful pacing, such caricatures acting out the blandest, most predictable tropes? For EIGHT HOURS. Save your time and watch literally anything else.

After the murder of a very famous robot named Mont Blanc, detective Gesicht is tasked with solving the case and finding who murdered Mont Blanc. After getting some evidence for the the death of Mont Blanc, more things start going wrong and eventually there are more victims. Gesicht now has even more things to solve and even more mystery surrounds the murders. He eventually teams up with one of the most advanced robots in the world, Atom, and the two try and solve the case step by step. Immediately from the first episode I was loving the show already, the first episode was kinda split into two parts, and I loved both parts. The second half was really good, it was such a great story and was told very well. By the end of it I was almost tearing up, it was very sad. Every episode was interesting in its own way and had me feeling different stuff each episode. The last episode of the series was really sad, and almost made me tear up again lmao. Through the entire show there is always mystery to it, and I really liked that, you couldn't really tell most of the time what was going to happen, other than a few scenes, but everything was mostly just boom that happened. There was some predictable stuff but most of the time I couldn't really tell what was going to happen. (Maybe I'm stupid) Every episode something new happened and you learned more about something and it got me even more invested in the show. Every episode you were introduced to new characters, and I loved pretty much every character in the show. Almost every character was connected to something and a lot of them had really good stories behind them. Most of the characters were so crazy well written and I absolutely love that part of the show. If a character showed up and seemed boring, by the time you see them a few more times you would love them. Each character had emotions and showed emotions, and that made me so much more interested in everyone. Almost every character added something to the show, or added more things to other characters, and made them even more interesting. Even some of the characters that were just there for an episode or very few scenes throughout the whole show, they had their own reasons of being cool. Another thing about the characters was the character design, I will say I am not really familiar with the Pluto manga or Astro Boy, but it's really obvious that some of the characters are inspired by Astro Boy. A lot of the characters looked really cool, and the way they were done obviously reminds me of other stuff that Urasawa has done. (I love his art style and I really gotta watch/read more of his stuff) The animation and art of the show was amazing, there was some little stuff that I can complain about but it was great otherwise. The thing I want to complain about was that there was a little bit of CGI used, but still it looked really good, I can't really even complain about it actually. The animation through the entire show was really great, certain scenes had it just meh, but other scenes it went crazy. It was mostly the scenes with action or scenery or fights where the animation went crazy. One of the best scenes in the show was near the ending of the last episode, the animation there went bonkers insane and I freaking loved it. Another thing I loved about the show was the art, or the backgrounds, every episode went crazy with that, like forests or mountains or cities and buildings, and the sky. The music in the show was amazing, in the first episode it wasn't really the actual soundtrack for the show, but there was some really nice stuff in the second half of the episode, and I LOOVED it. Every scene in the show had music playing that was appropriate for the scene and fit really well. And even the credits for the episodes the music was nice. And yes I watched watched the credits just to listen to the music LMAO AAAA anyways didn't really hear anything about this until my friend brought it up to me, after looking at it I also wanted to watch this more since it was partially made by the creator of Monster, (which I need to finish). I think this is my favorite show from 2023, its just so great in so many ways. The animation, the story, the plot, the music, the characters, and so much more. This show was an adaptation of the Pluto manga, a crossover made by both Osamu Tezaku, the creator of Astro Boy, and Naoki Urasawa, the creator of Monster, and it was made from an Astro Boy story arc. I definitely need to read this soon, since this show was crazy good. I recommend, very very good, very very epic at some parts, very very sad at some parts, keeps you interested pretty much the entire time watching. 10/10 very awesome. Loved it.

Just a typical suspense of Naoki Urasawa, wrapped with great animation. I could not choose "Not Recommended" only because it is well animated. Especially story of Gesicht was great, but it should be credited to Osamu Tezuka, not Urasawa. I was a big fan of Naoki Urasawa since <Master Keaton>, fond of <Yawara> and <Happy>. However, from <Monster> I've been getting tired of his repeating suspense; "something horrible is coming, but don't know what." At least <Monster> was fine due to charismatic villain Johan, but <20th Century Boys> did the same thing again with charmless villain surrounded by fools, and I don't even remember the story of <Billy Bat>, and have given up reading <Pluto> comics. As predicted, <Pluto> repeats that pattern again, and no one would be surprised since we all know that it is Pluto. I really want Naoki Urasawa stop writing suspense and try something new.

Immediately off the back of watching Monster, Pluto landed. So what's good about this? EVERYTHING, AGAIN. Following a similar approach to Monster - it's clever. Naoki Urasawa has put the effort in to ensure the respect to one of his childhood heroes. The Director Toshio Kawaguchi follows suit from the Monster adaptation by not messing with the story and cleanly adapting it. Bravo! If only stupid US writers could understand this. (Well... One Piece adaptation was pretty good so there's hope!) Art - Good CGI! Again lifted straight from the manga. The clever adaptation from the original Astro Boy models to the more life like approach of Naoki Urasawa is great. Story - Another genuine wow: Naoki Urasawa IS possibly the best mangaka - he's consistently great, consistently well thought out character driven, consistently consistent. Again, he has done his research on psychology and especially into trauma/PTSD. Showing the human condition through the Androids of the series > each a unique consistent personality, each someone you care about. Fantastic. Music - It's ok - it's not as memorable as you would hope, but it never feels incongruous.

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.

The first thing that came to mind as I finished the show was just, what a waste. Comparable to the general opinion about Game of Thrones probably. Right from the first episode there is an undercurrent of deeper feelings and ideas being woven into the narrative. The mysteries and plot twists themselves are peak, but the characters, their emotions, and the overall concept of feelings make it a lot more complete. The thing that made me think it's a waste was not my time spent on watching the show, but it's ending. It had so much potential, the world, it's characters, the story, every ingredient available to make the perfect delicacy and they just burnt everything by the end. The first 6 episodes are peak after peak after peak. Story is compelling, the characters are deeply emotional and make you want to watch them, the sound team is insane, and the overall visuals nd production value are probably some of the best. Then come the last two episodes. The entire story is reduced to be around atom, none of its deeper themes are truly fleshed out or given vaid conclusions. It ends like a hurriedly packed suitcase where you just stuff classics and basic themes and hope that its enough. I've cried while watching this and yet feel like eating it above a 7.5/10 would be a crime.

I watched pluto and I the first episodes I was enjoying the misteries the dark vibes and everything that pluto had to offer. But in the end I have to say that pluto is mediocre anime at most, and this is not a hate review, no, it's a warning review. First of all, the Anime opens many mysteries from the start to make crave for more mysteries and how each mystery will be solved. The problem here tho is that all the mysteries make the series kinda boring. The story is there only to pass messages about the life, feelings and the question if robor with advanced Ai can live with human as equals. Can a robot feel hate? Despear? Sadness? These and a lot more questions are the messages that pluto is trying to pass to the viewer. The story is a just the way to deliver them. It does what Detroid (the game) does but the worst possible way. Also it takes some inspiration from Pinocchio (the non living doll that gets a heart), trust me it sound far-fetched but it's not,evwn the anime shows the same thing if you are careful. The combat is there but only to "wake up" the viewers, but only for 1 minute on your screen at most, I don't judge that of course is not a fighting anime after all. My major problem is that, the two primary antagonists have no ties to the broader mystery whatsoever, and go almost completely unexplained. The teddy bear supercomputer is a villain that the anime never explained his backstory, who created him or why he have all those plans... He just exists and a certain mindset and that's all. After I searched about it (a lot) I found out that you must see Astroboy to understand who he is and more things like gesicht's past and etc... I feel robbed from mister naoki for my 8 hours that I sended watching this anime only to have Naoki throwing a comercial for astro boy on me. If yiu main villain is an Astros boy character GET YOUR HEAD down and explain that in your new anime / Manga... Why I have to search for it in the internet or even worst thinking who is that bear or what Gesicht's past? Plot holes after plot holes for no reason at all. You want to learn mystery? You want to see a good mystery anime? Get Psycho pass, ghost in the Shell, Ergo proxy and I can say more if you wanna... Do not lose 8 hours for a commercial of another anime...

It’s such a shame that a free-form medium like Anime which allows for varying approaches to storytelling, to be so streamlined and limited to a fraction of what it can really branch out to. You have all kinds of fantasies and epics adapted into a firm bundle of eye-ear-orgasmic animation and sound that draws you in like nothing else, but there is so little dedication to more realistic stories that grip closer to reality it seems. Pluto, is, however, a grim detective thriller set in a sci-fi near future with real-world-like geo-political tribulations with a sprinkle of existential amalgamations. The marine lens follows Gesicht, a top-of-the-line android detective who finds himself involved in investigating the murder of one of his old war pals in what was both bone-chilling and thought-provoking journey that challenged not only his “humanity” but also the human consciousness of the viewers. Both the animation and sound design were world-class standouts, And by no means overshadowed the genius of the core plot of the show but they also remained a force to be raised on their own. It’s one of those shows that give the feeling that you’re not watching an Anime, and rather, a TV show that’s more real than most live actions even are. We can’t talk about this once-in-a-decade masterclass without bringing the characters under the spotlight because they were nothing but exceptional. For instance, Gesicht and Atom are more “human” than many humans in the show despite being robots at core, and it’s not the cosmetics that sell it the most as much as their expressions and interactions do to the point where the fine line between a human and a robot gets so blurry that existential questions bring out themselves on their own under the form of real events that take precedence in the story. Especially for fans of author Naoki Urasawa’s other works like Monster. Pluto embodies his unique style in depicting a real-world-like narrative under such a believable image that it’s criminal not to bring it up in every other conversation. This is a classic to be watched and recommended for years to come. Overall: 8.64/10.

Without a doubt Pluto is a very beautifully produced anime with a moving storyline and wonderful character building... But is it the anime for you? Yes, it's based off of astro boy, yes, it's about humans, robots and what it means to be alive. But at the heart of it, it's a commentary on War (which makes sense considering it's roots). I really loved the beginning, the world building and characters things were really moving and shaking. But the pacing stalled, and the episodes were long. It became really hyperfixated on the themes it was trying to convey. If you like that sort of thing, moral questioning and characterizing human emotion this may be the anime for you. However it's not so much of my cup of tea, hence the lower rating.

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.

Let me just start by saying I've never given a review on mal before. With Pluto however being a manga reader awaiting news on the anime for years finally coming to fruition really made my day. Pluto like most of Naoki Urasawa's works have a mystery that makes up the central theme of the plot. The mysteries in the Pluto didn't fail to have that "shock factor" that he's known for and furthermore the manga and anime are both quite compact having only 8 volumes and 8 episodes respectively. THE PLOT: Not surprisingly , it has quite a lot of generic sci-fi traits due to it being a re-telling of the Astro Boy: world's greatest robot arc. Yet as loose details like the fact that flying cars and robots being a reality, all the similarities between the plot ends right there. The 7 greatest robots have the same names yet each one has their characteristics as well as episodic one-shots tied into each episode for most of them. North no 2 in episode 1 was easily one of standouts having a complete beginning , middle and end and beautifully represents an important theme of how robots have emotions too. The anime too like the manga seems to have the potential to reward re-watching really shedding light on a lot of the 'core themes' as well 'ideals' that Naoki Urasawa holds towards this society of robots and humans. 10/10 THE ART AND MUSIC: The animation is good, like really good and made real good use of their cgi usage. The studio M2 having the same director who directed Monster as well as Master Keaton was obviously a huge benefit as the pacing and use of animation to such an amazing story was done perfectly. A few frames during episodes were a tiny bit shoddy, especially the beginning episode but it was short lived and we were gifted a lot of beautiful spectacles toward the end. The music and sounds too were top notch, really amplifying the viewing experience and I couldn't have it any other way. Brau-1589's voice and Atom really stood out to me as it was exactly how I imagined them to sound. So yes the voice acting was top notch too. 9/10 Overall being a manga reader, I was not disappointed with all the waiting due to the end product. And I highly recommend checking out the manga as well as supporting Naoki Urasawa and the Studio M2 to produce more works such as Billy Bat.

I didn't watch Astroboy, knew nothing about so called "father of manga", wasn't sure if I should watch it at all. But since it was made by author of Monster I was kinda obliged to. It starts with strong music composition, dark tone, grim mood despite nice and colorful image. In first minutes it became obvious that this anime is about references to Monster through the characters' appearances as much as being a revival of ancient shounen series. But how ended a shounen anime which mutated to seinen? Nice animation? But the lack of action scenes which happened somewhere in background. Good music? But always to make emphasis on something what supposed to be important just like in old movies, one problem all these moments were far too weak in comparison with music effect. Great art style? Sure, but it's basically the Monster once again, in a high definition this time. Nothing new at all. In the end of the day who cares about all these parts of production when the most important is always plot, characters, world-building, lore, dialogs, and thrilling secrets of course. Genres: Action, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Suspense Themes: Detective, Psychological What a nice variety of tags but all of superficial and present only technically: -Action? Not that much due how badly combat scenes represented. -Mystery? Not that much since the story progressed very slowly and tended to repeat the same points over and over. -Sci-Fi? Only technically, there are robots, flying cars, futuristic cities, and... that's it, everything else is basic, no details at all, we don't even know how exactly robots' "computer brain" works, it must be working magically in the same way as how robots cry with actual watery tears somehow. -Suspense? Oh, this one tries hard to make a facade of suspense through artistic direction, music, the manner of dialogs but fails since most of plot secrets are predictable and obvious from the start and other things which were not that predictable were simply not that inspiring. All these production tricks are too forced and feel fake, it's like serve a mere porridge in ancient Chinese bowl, not worth it. -Detective? Sure, since we have the actual detective hear with some annoying nightmare but not that much at everything else. -Psychological? Only formally since robots have no human brains or neural system to be "Psychological", just an imitation of humans led to imitated pseudo-emotions. Phenomenal anime, it feels artificially prolonged due all these theatrical pauses, mute scenes, a lot of talking but also in the same time feels like it goes too fast through actually interesting events. One one hand it was wisely sentimental at rare moments but on another - too sentimental (I would call it "short sentiment" since it lacked prebuilding phase), like, it was a right time to put in another sentimental element for viewers according author's feel but maybe he is too old and became too sentimental to be normal about this or it's just Netflix tactics which likes to use cheapest emotional manipulations just like any murican media does since forever. I didn't fast-forward episodes since anime pretended the whole time that the big secret is just around the corner and characters would be like "What is this?" each time but in next second just go for another "corner" to be surprised even more while I felt nothing about characters' discoveries. On one hand some of people here say that robots are superior to humans species but in the same time all these robots can't do anything but copy humans at everything. Worst part about this anime is the fact that author of Monster is simply doesn't suit the original shounen story. It's just a wild seinen fanfic and it shows. Monster was a real one psychological thriller from the beginning to the end, and it was great at it. I watched it twice despite it still the most lengthy anime in my life. Sure, it could be slightly shorter, like, not 73 episodes but something around 54-64 but it was still great. And now simple question? How to represent robot's life and everyday struggle when you are great author of great psychological thriller? Yeah, it's impossible to do so adequately. This is why author ended with extremely humanized robots who act like humans everywhere and every time, and nobody even call them androids for some ridiculous reason. And this is why everything here feels off, too superficial, too fake. Robots here are represented like slightly autistic people who have some troubles with showing emotions while in reality robots simply cannot be emotional not due "computer brains" which are different, but due humans have neural system, first human understands something with brain but then chemical reaction happens - the aftereffect of short thinking. Robots simply cannot have it, there won't be sudden raise in body temperature, raised tempo of heart, sudden sweat, etc. The whole story ignores basic biology and the classics - "The Wizard of Oz", what did the robot from the fairytale asked for? Did he asked for human brains to be just like humans? Or for emotions as is? No, instead he asked for HEART because he had his brains and they worked well but he couldn't comprehend anything fully without the heart and emotions it produces. It's kinda funny that Japanese author made so strong emphasis on brains when the vast majority of anime go for heart over brains (I mean, there is anime Kokoro (Heart) which is all about "true understanding" through feeling by heart and emotions). But there is another bad thing about the anime: illogical world, lack of social coherence. In one moment we see how robots have families, adopt children (even human ones), robots try so hard to be like humans that it's not even funny. But in the same time killed police robot goes straight to dump, and nobody cares even about his memory chip, the robot is just a tool, object which is somehow had a robot wife at home who is all dramatic about her dead husband but didn't care to take the body and memory chip on her own. So what is this about then? Are robots actually equal to humans ( just like the local law states) or are they just silly mimics who ignored by humans instead of being hated for their fake behavior? The only opposition group here is the one which is cult-alike fascist or something, what is ridicolous. What kind of world is that if people lost their jobs then died from starvation, poverty, and suicidal tendencies while robots lived in nice houses obviously built for humans. Pretty disgusting world to me where "emotions" of robots have no value since nobody cares about humans here with actual emotions. The ending? The destination doesn't matter when the "road" itself was too bumpy and curly, it was a tiresome, a disappointment. And I bet that the reason is the blindness of author who just wanted to achieve his 20-years old dream - to rewrite the story he liked while his friend - his old editor wasn't a start for too long and wanted to be in a spot of attention once again at any cost, this is why he persuaded the author to work on the ridicolous idea and Netflix like to sponsor any niche trash anyway so when famous author appeared it was easy deal for the company.

Pluto is an awe-inspiring tale birthed from the fusion of two era-defining mangakas (Tezuka and Urasawa) and beautifully delivered by Studio M2 in a way that captures both the heart and origin of the medium while fully realizing what it was eventually capable of achieving. Astro-Boy was the perfect story to represent this idea as a way to look back into the past through the lens of the future, both in reality and fiction. Pluto's themes of grief and hatred begetting hatred are just as relevant as it was then when Astro-Boy was created as it is today, and the topic of AI is likewise fitting. Pluto explores these ideas within a fantastical future marvelously through mystery and solemnity, accentuated by breathtaking visuals, complex characters, and a grandiose score that ranges from thrilling, to moody, to hopeful. However, one possible grievance with the anime lies within its worldbuilding. The blur between man and machine can occasionally be confusing or unbelievable enough to be worthy of a head scratch, but otherwise, the rest of the world is fascinating and engaging enough to ignore these faults. TL;DR: lots of clankers

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

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 .

Title: Pluto Review: Must-Watch "Pluto" is a captivating masterpiece that blends science fiction, mystery, and profound philosophical themes. Set in a world where robots coexist with humans. What unfolds is a thought-provoking narrative that makes one think of what truly humanity is. With the recent rise of artificial intelligence, there couldn't be a better time than now for this anime to be released. After seeing many reviews stating this anime is too boring to watch through or that the finale although good, not being enough to make one go through the preceding 7 episodes; initially had me dropping this series but I'm so glad that I gave "Pluto" a chance. Thus making me write the first review I've ever written. Naoki Urasawa's storytelling prowess shines through in "Pluto," as he masterfully crafts a complex and intricately plotted tale that keeps readers on the edge of their seats. The characters are richly developed, each grappling with moral dilemmas and existential crises. He shows that a story is not all about fight scenes and 'ecchi' scenes in the name of romance and actual storytelling is much deeper and thought-provoking than that. Without saying much, Urasawa shows much to make one glued to their screens. The anime had me hop from one website to another to learn more about Urasawa, the manga "Pluto" and even its parent story - "Atro-Boy". What I want to say is that the series is anything but boring, "Pluto" made me so involved that I worked faster to finish my task so that I could watch the next episode. And it shows how involved one can get to the plot What truly sets "Pluto" apart is its exploration of profound philosophical themes. Through its compelling narrative, the series prompts one to ponder questions about the nature of consciousness, the boundaries of artificial intelligence, and the essence of humanity itself. The result being the birth of an absolute masterpiece. Overall, "Pluto" is a must-watch for science fiction, mystery, and thought-provoking storytelling fans. With its compelling characters, rich themes, and masterful execution, "Pluto" turns out to be a classic.

"Nothing comes from hatred" The above mentioned statement is the central theme of this anime and it actually manages to convey it pretty well. As someone who has never fully watched Astro boy, I went in with somewhat high expectations since it was a pioneer of anime by Osamu Tezuka so it had a certain heritage to it, which this anime definitely fulfilled I'd say. Naoki Urasawa, Hailed as one of the greatest storytellers of this generation and certainly needs no introduction so when this was released obviously people had high expectations and so did I and it did manage to meet every single one of them. Story : is pretty basic but is told in such a roundabout way that it makes you want more every episode. Urasawa's characteristic storytelling trait where he prolongs the inevitable and in the process reveals some more stuff all the while showing us something profound, Robots vs Humans involving political and psychological warfare. In a world where Robots are living alongside humans and have the same rights as them, One incident can cause the entire society to become fearful of the robots. The plot revolves around this and I wont spoil further but it has a good setup. Characters : There are 7 main robots and each robot shown has such remarkable character writing that they make you actually feel for them and care for them. The Humans aren't really the main focus here and as it should be. Especially the two central characters, The Detective Gesicht and Atom. I personally really loved Gesicht's character and think he stood out the most. All 7 of them express an emotion of life. Soundtrack, Animation : This looks, sounds and feels like an extremely high budgeted production and I'm glad that it got this treatment. No complains here. Enjoyment and Message : The very important thing in this seemingly complex story between Robots and Humanity is the message, which is actually amazingly simple and its that "Nothing comes from Hatred" I really like when an already great piece of media manages to provide us with an important message and this one certainly did. This one was an easy 9/10. Thanks for reading!

Repetitive. Forced. Full of holes. The development of the characters was discarded in the face of a lost script, which seems to not know what it is doing. Lost dialogues, many things unexplained or poorly explained. The story starts well, but goes downhill a lot, it seems that the production didn't know how to properly develop the characters, their stories and relationships. Everything was discarded and the ending ignored all the construction done up until then. Disappointed.Technical issues, such as animation, direction or soundtrack, are indifferent, nothing special. In almost every episode they use beautiful landscapes in search of an emotional appeal. The work strives to move you in every way, they want to cause empathy repeatedly until it becomes a bit saturated.