Feb 19, 2024
Although adapted from a 20 year old manga series by Naoki Urasawa (the esteemed mangaka of Monster and 20th Century Boys), and based on even older source material from Astro Boy, Pluto couldn’t feel any more relevant than it does today in the age of developing AI and the ongoing genocide of innocent civilians currently happening in the Middle East.
Pluto is a story founded in the realities of human imperfection and the destruction that we can force upon one another. It is a story about the emptiness of war. But it is also the story of childhood innocence, and the humanity found in learning
...
to let go of hatred.
Urasawa’s dark and mature twist on Astro Boy into a detective mystery thriller is a masterpiece rivalling Monster in its suspense, action, and heartbreaking character moments. I was on the edge of my seat one moment, and crying my eyes out the next. Urasawa’s character work is incredible, and every character felt real, fleshed out, and fully developed.
I haven’t experienced such a brutal and realistic portrayal of war in anime since Attack on Titan or Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood. In fact, with manga such as FMA and Pluto both being published in the early 2000s during the Iraq conflict, it is safe to assume the worldwide political climate was a key influence to authors such as Urasawa at the time. Indeed, history seems to forever repeat itself and the content of Pluto remains relevant and poignant, especially now in 2024.
Production wise, Pluto is as close as one can get to a perfect adaption, which is impressive for a Netflix release anime. Although a few odd blurry effects caught my eye in the first episode, they’re easily overlooked by the rest of the impressive and fluid 2D animation in the rest of the show - and topped off even moreso with stunning colour pencil animation designs in some of the final episodes. The ending theme by Yugo Kanno, well-known for his music in JoJos and Psycho-Pass to name a few, elevated the experience immensely; it added the perfect detective quality and somewhat reminded me of Cowboy Bebop’s iconic theme. The voice acting in the English version of Pluto was also fantastic, so dub watchers will be able to enjoy without fear.
Overall, all I can say to finish this review is that any fans of Seinen or mature Shonen stories should absolutely give this a watch - and maybe try and get your sci-fi loving friends and family to tune in too. Pluto truly tugs on the heartstrings, and I cannot recommend it enough!
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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