This show has no business being this good

Oct 28, 2023 2:32 AM

Offline

Aug 2021

484

I watched this in one sitting. I just couldn't stop. You telling me this is a goddamn Astro Boy side story? I only have pop-culture, surface-level knowledge of Astro Boy lore and it still managed to make me feel utterly nostalgic. The whole thing vibed in a particular 80's-classic feeling with the insane levels of production they managed to squeeze in and how unorthodox the storytelling was.

Just how much money did they throw at this?

Every single character, down to the background extras, was animated with an unnecesary level of care I haven't seen in about a decade. No BG-character hidden eyes, no copy-pasted faces, no wonky eyes, no cheap face-coverings... It is truly rare to see anime characters imbued with so much life, flowiness, and weight outside of movies. They even bothered to draw the lens distortions on characters wearing glasses. Even the 3D was mostly unnoticeable, as it should be. THIS is how you integrate 3D into your pipeline, Japan.

I am surprised how well they managed to adapt the source's wacky character designs into this semi-realistic but still-clearly-anime style. I especially liked the toned-down mega noses; they fit so well with the rest of the artstyle.

Sure, it wasn't masterfully composited in post-production like your Demon Slayers nor did it have any over-the-top flashy battle sakuga, but not once did it look ugly. In fact, it looked way better than the average 4-hours-long shows we get every season.

Sound design was serviceable and the music was really well crafted and used in perfect service of the story. Characters did their job and didn't stray too far into clichés (some may disagree, but they felt so refreshing to watch and I'll die on this hill). And the story was interesting enough, although the way it was told stole the spotlight from the plot itself. Yeah, it got a bit cheesy and sentai-esque at the end of the last episode, but it managed to stay pretty grounded until that point and it wasn't a terrible way to end the series anyways. It stuck to it's themes and closed accordingly just fine.

You could tell no corners were cut. As someone who appreciates the little details shown when a studio goes the extra mile, I am truly grateful for this show and the staff who made this revenge witch-hunt, superpower, soft sci-fi, detective story possible.

I hope it gets a lot lot of attention cause this should be the bare minimum delivered by studios. I'd rather have only 7 shows with this much love put into them each season than the usual 30+ cheap cashgrabs we have to dig through to find the few gold pellets unnoticed at the bottom buried under the isekai pile.

AnimaticideOct 28, 2023 4:43 AM

Oct 28, 2023 3:05 AM

V1P3R0P

Offline

Mar 2021

3131

This quality is a result of the freedom for creativity and a lot of time, given to the avengers of the animators to go plus ultra!! I'm not sure if you know about this, but this show was announced to be in production sometime in 2017.. These 8 episodes took them 6 years to make (of which, around 2 years might have been less progressive due to COVID)

Oct 28, 2023 3:10 AM

CheliosX

Online

Dec 2022

1981

Yes. It was truly peak.

Oct 28, 2023 3:11 AM

Animaticide

Offline

Aug 2021

484

V1P3R0P said:
This quality is a result of the freedom for creativity and a lot of time, given to the avengers of the animators to go plus ultra!! I'm not sure if you know about this, but this show was announced to be in production sometime in 2017.. These 8 episodes took them 6 years to make (of which, around 2 years might have been less progressive due to COVID)

Thanks for the info-dump, I did not know that. I CAN TELL from the final result that a lot of time was invested in this. It was a delight to watch

Oct 28, 2023 4:41 AM

Ash_li

Offline

Feb 2017

It's an Urasawa retelling of an Astro Boy side story. He essentially remade the story in his own style. Definitely check out Monster if you liked Pluto

Oct 28, 2023 7:00 AM

Pablo_Neruda1

Offline

Dec 2022

761

it was undoubtedly a peak work of art.

Oct 28, 2023 10:03 AM

Lucifrost

Offline

Feb 2016

12383

Animaticide said:
You telling me this is a goddamn Astro Boy side story?

No, it's not. "The Greatest Robot in The World" is an Astro Boy story. "Pluto" is Urasawa's own story that was inspired by "The Greatest Robot in The World."

Animaticide said:
I am surprised how well they managed to adapt the source's wacky character designs into this semi-realistic but still-clearly-anime style.

There is nothing wacky about Urasawa's designs.

その目だれの目？

Oct 28, 2023 10:24 AM

Touka

Offline

Jul 2008

3525

Considering how acclaimed the manga is, I think it has every business being this good.

I write about manga → morningroo.com
and movies → letterboxd.com/ugla

Oct 28, 2023 10:26 AM

Ichijo_HikaruHDD

Offline

Apr 2022

Lucifrost said:

Animaticide said:
You telling me this is a goddamn Astro Boy side story?

No, it's not. "The Greatest Robot in The World" is an Astro Boy story. "Pluto" is Urasawa's own story that was inspired by "The Greatest Robot in The World."

Animaticide said:
I am surprised how well they managed to adapt the source's wacky character designs into this semi-realistic but still-clearly-anime style.

There is nothing wacky about Urasawa's designs.

Yes, that's what he says, that the original 50's manga character designs were well fit in Urazawa's art style

Oct 28, 2023 10:46 AM

#10

Lucifrost

Offline

Feb 2016

12383

Reply to Ichijo_HikaruHDD

Lucifrost said:

Animaticide said:
You telling me this is a goddamn Astro Boy side story?

No, it's not. "The Greatest Robot in The World" is an Astro Boy story. "Pluto" is Urasawa's own story that was inspired by "The Greatest Robot in The World."

Animaticide said:
I am surprised how well they managed to adapt the source's wacky character designs into this semi-realistic but still-clearly-anime style.

There is nothing wacky about Urasawa's designs.

Yes, that's what he says, that the original 50's manga character designs were well fit in Urazawa's art style

@Ichijo_HikaruHDD
That's the way Urasawa draws everything. It would be weirder if a manga written and drawn by the creator of Monster and 20th Century Boys didn't resemble Monster and 20th Century Boys.

その目だれの目？

Oct 28, 2023 10:51 AM

#11

Ichijo_HikaruHDD

Offline

Apr 2022

Lucifrost said:
@Ichijo_HikaruHDD
That's the way Urasawa draws everything. It would be weirder if a manga written and drawn by the creator of Monster and 20th Century Boys didn't resemble Monster and 20th Century Boys.

But it's not the way Tezuka draws things, and that's what makes it fascinating to see Urazawa adapting so well to it and the point of the post you were answering to

Oct 28, 2023 10:55 AM

#12

Lucifrost

Offline

Feb 2016

12383

Reply to Ichijo_HikaruHDD

But it's not the way Tezuka draws things, and that's what makes it fascinating to see Urazawa adapting so well to it and the point of the post you were answering to

Ichijo_HikaruHDD said:
But it's not the way Tezuka draws things

A manga drawn 14-20 years after Tezuka died doesn't look like it was drawn by him? Wow! You must be really smart to have noticed that.

その目だれの目？

Oct 28, 2023 11:00 AM

#13

Ichijo_HikaruHDD

Offline

Apr 2022

Lucifrost said:

Ichijo_HikaruHDD said:
But it's not the way Tezuka draws things

A manga drawn 14-20 years after Tezuka died doesn't look like it was drawn by him? Wow! You must be really smart to have noticed that.

You are missing the point. What makes it fascinating to me and that comment is how well the kiddish-looking fare of Tezuka was transformed into the realistic portrayal, when a lot of other works trying to make something more mature from the original kids source material makes them look either unrecognisable or are otherwise clunky looking in the transition.

See All Discussions

Poll: » Pluto Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 ) King_KK - Oct 26, 2023	69	by jose1kira »» Jan 9, 4:32 AM
Poll: » Pluto Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ScarRufus - Oct 26, 2023	51	by MatthewTCG »» Dec 26, 2024 9:16 PM
Poll: » Pluto Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 ) watsym - Oct 26, 2023	60	by MatthewTCG »» Dec 26, 2024 5:53 AM
Poll: » Pluto Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) MegamiRem - Oct 26, 2023	140	by perseii »» Dec 18, 2024 11:56 PM
Poll: » Pluto Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ryzxgum - Oct 27, 2023	54	by xspookydarknessx »» Dec 1, 2024 4:10 AM

This show has no business being this good

More topics from this board

Poll: » Pluto Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Poll: » Pluto Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Poll: » Pluto Episode 3 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Poll: » Pluto Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )

Poll: » Pluto Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 )

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters