https://anilist.co/anime/99088/PLUTO/ Pluto is my first dive into Naoki Urosawa works that I completed. I gotta say he lives upto his reputation for good writing. He builds suspense and mystery with gripping narrative and good characters. Add some great production values with a few skilled staff you get an anime thats well worth a recommendation and a great piece of media. Two Authors One Story 500https://i.ur.com/stD0URx.jpeg Pluto is Urusawas take on The Worlds greatest robot chapter of Osamu Tezukas Astro Boy and I feel the need to preface this. Its not necessary to read it hell I would even say to not read first because it practically spoils Pluto given Urasawas story is a scifi murder mystery while Tezukas story is a battle shounen. That being said I want to give a bit of appreciation about how well Urasawa reimagined the whole story. Tezukas story while looks more like a battle shounen on surface with giant robots whose abilities are just superpowers theres an interesting level of depth in his characters. Pluto the storys main antagonist is a killing machine designed to destroy all seven powerful robots but that doesnt make him an evil character by nature. You see Pluto is a victim of surroundings. And the story gives snippets of moments to let you feel Plutos doing what it does because it has no other choice. The story lets you feel this inner turmoil the characters are going through. Urasawa took this inner depth and brought it out to the limelight with a different tone to the story. A brain capable of error is called Perfection Pluto argues that robots achieving manhood is akin to man achieving godhood a sentinence. That the most human is to be the most flawed which is ironic considering AI is meant to be flawless. Pluto explores this idea of a flawless machine understanding human flaws with all the good and bad that brings with it in a murder mystery plot. Gesicht understanding his hidden hatred Epsilon understanding sadness Atom who bears them both and Pluto understanding madness. Theres also a mention of grief with a few other robots as well but one less explored idea of this is murder. Is it inately human to kill someone? Brau1589 one of the Urasawas characters that are not in the Tezukas story personifies this idea that theres no flaw in wanting to kill someone. Most of the story keeps this as an anchoring point that connects to Gesicht and Pluto but I feel like it doesnt explicitly explores this idea which is bit of a missed opportunity. Overall though it tells an interesting duality between humans robots is same as flaws perfection and how they are tied to each other. A Reimagination One thing I especially adored between both works is the difference in how Abullah is handled which are different in tone. Tezuka speaks about society with it being grand and powerful in its message questioning the world while Urasawa speaks for oneself being a bit more personal questioning about the self. Entertainment This is where I go light on my words and speaks like a regular anime fan. Pluto is definitely a great anime to watch. Despite having 1 hour length episode it keeps you enganged in its story characters with some great visuals music aiding it. Though from an entertainment perspective I found the last 2 episode being the most boring especially episode 7. Epsilon getting an entire episode was bit of a stretch tbh his character arc is really similar to the regular pacifist protagonist trying to protect his loved ones. He is not a waste of space though his interactions with Pluto are deemed necessary for dramatic progression of the story but I think it didnt need to go that long. Brandos story is similar to Epsilon and his arc was neatly wrapped in half an episode. The Anime also shifts in tone near end starting as scifi murder mystery to giant robo battle shounen. While its something it couldnt avoid considering what its adapting I wish it couldve had a bit more smooth transition in tone than a sudden one. Conclusion I think Urasawa did an excellent job in breathing new life to an already well made arc. Few hiccups aside it also stands well as its own IP Independent Piece. Overall a great work. Ill be looking forward to Urasawa adaptations in future meanwhile Ill try to complete Billy Bat. https://youtu.be/qr4j282MH0?si=ZQ4OHjflmrCMbLz