Summary
Plutois set to air on Netflix in October 2023, and fans ofNaoki Urasawa, the manga artistbehind the masterpiece calledMonster,will probably be familiar with this title that made a manga run between 2003 and 2009. This thriller manga depicts a futuristic world where humans and robots live side by side as a mystery unfolds.
Just likemost great Seinen manga, it is not as popular asNarutoorBleach, but it is one of the best stories ever told by one of the best manga artists ever. The story follows the titular protagonist, Gesicht, as he tries to solve a string of murders worldwide, which all follow a specific pattern: the killer shoves objects into the side of the victims' heads, robots and humans alike, to appear like horns. Set to release this year, in time to celebrate the anniversary ofAstro Boy, here are some things to expect fromPlutoaccording to the manga.
RELATED:Best Mystery Manga With No Anime Adaptations
A Reimagined Classic
Naoki Urasawa initially came up with the idea forPlutowhile reading his favorite arc ofAstro Boyand realizing that it wasn’t the same way he remembered it. Unknown to him, he had accidentally created his own version in his head. He initially wanted to pitch the idea to someone else to write it before Nagasaki Takashi convinced him to take on the task himself. So they came together to adaptPlutoas a re-imagination of the story arc called “The Greatest Robot on Earth” inOsamu Tezuka’s masterpieceand named it after the arc’s antagonist, which is a humongous and powerful robot like the arc name suggests.
This reimagination shifts the focus from the protagonist ofAstro Boy,Atom, to his supporting character, Gesicht, telling his story through the Seinen medium. However, Urasawa transforms Tezuka’s work into a familiar and unique narrative with fully fleshed characters and darker themes, which are present in most of his works, so fans who may have seenAstro Boyneed not worry about the storyline being repetitive. Tezuka is considered one of the greatest manga artists ever and had a lot of mainstreamShonen work in the 60s, which inspired a lot of other manga artists. For that reason, he is hailed as the godfather of modern-day manga, and likeAstro Boy, the protagonist ofPlutois a humanoid robot that uses his abilities to fight crime and solve mysteries.
A Futuristic Detective’s Trials
Plutois set in a futuristic societywhere humans and robots live together. Like any other society with diversity, there is always the oppressor and the oppressed, and in this situation, the victims are the robots, ostracized despite having some humanoids in their ranks. One of these humanoids, a German Europol detective and war veteran named Gesicht, tries to solve a highly unsettling series of murder cases involving a serial killer who likes to impale his victims, robots and humans alike, in the skull with objects so that they look like horns.
RELATED:Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto Almost Looks Too Good To Be True
One of such victims is a legendary robot well-known for his heroics during the 39th Asian War and an old comrade of Gesicht’s. While conducting his investigation, he discovers that the perpetrator might turn out to be a robot, which is extremely rare, considering there has only been one case where a robot killed a human in the last eight years. He also discovers that all the targets are either the “Seven Great Robots of the World” or humans who support the International Robot Laws that preach equalitybetween man and machine. The plot ofPlutois a tapestry of interconnected mysteries, conspiracies, and unexpected revelations that have fans eagerly guessing every step of the way.
A Realistic And Imperfect World
The world depicted in Urasawa’sPlutois far from perfect, exploring real-life themes of oppression and racism between humans and robots despite the robotsbeing the more powerfulof the two. There are a lot of robot-hating humans who prefer the robots spend their time serving them instead of living fulfilled lives, and because of that, the International Robot Laws were established.
As the story goes on, Gesicht must confront his blurry past and morality as he tries to solve the mystery behind the murders in a world filledwith hate and discriminationwhile also trying to maintain the already fragile bond of coexistence that exists between human and robotkind. The thought-provoking narrative raises numerous questions about the humanity of robots and their role in a futuristic society where they are regarded as second-class citizens, which can not easily be answered without agitating either side. The characters are also multi-dimensional, grappling with their own traumas and motivations, allowing fans to empathize and relate to their struggles and dilemmas.
