Pluto is a Japanese eight-episode original net animation (ONA) produced by Genco with animation by Studio M2.Written by Heisuke Yamashita and Tatsurou Inamoto, it is based on the Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka manga series by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, in turn based on the story arc "The Greatest Robot on Earth" from Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy.The series was released in full on Netflix on October 26, 2023.
Premise
The series follows the Europol robot detective Gesicht in his attempts to solve the case of a string of robot and human deaths around the world where all the victims have objects shoved into or positioned by their heads, imitating horns. The case becomes more puzzling when evidence suggests a robot is responsible for the murders, which would make it the first time a robot has killed a human in eight years. All seven of the great robots of the world (the most scientifically advanced, which have the potential to become weapons of mass destruction) seem to be the killer's targets, and the murdered humans are connected to preserving the International Robot Laws, which grant robots equal rights.
Characters
Gesicht (ゲジヒト)
A German robot inspector working for Europol. His body is made out of an
alloy
called "zeronium", and he is capable of firing a devastating blast using the alloy as shell. He and his wife, Helena, both have a human appearance.
Atom (アトム)
A Japanese boy robot who was formerly the peace ambassador toward the end of the 39th Central Asian War. His artificial intelligence and sensors are more advanced than the other seven great robots of the world.
Epsilon (エプシロン)
An Australian photon-powered gentle and sensitive robot with a pacifist outlook. He runs an orphanage to take care of war orphans. Epsilon chose not to fight during the 39th Central Asian War.
Hercules (ヘラクレス)
A Greek robot pankration wrestler with a high sense of honor and bravery. He and Brando have been rivals and friends since the 39th Central Asian War.
Brando (ブランド)
A Turkish robot pankration wrestler with a great devotion to his robot wife and his five human children. He fought alongside Mont Blanc and Hercules in the 39th Central Asian War.
North No. 2 (ノース2号)
A Scottish robot with six mechanical armed arms, formerly one of the most powerful fighting robots during the 39th Central Asian War. He prefers not to fight, choosing instead to work as the butler of Paul Duncan, a blind renowned composer.
Mont Blanc (モンブラン)
A Swiss mountain guide robot that is killed at the beginning of the story. He fought in the 39th Central Asian War. Loved by humans, many mourned for him.
Uran (ウラン)
Ochanomizu's masterpiece and Atom's robot younger sister who can sense human, animal, and robot emotions.
Brau 1589 (ブラウ1589)
The robot that killed a human eight years prior to the story. He is imprisoned in an artificial intelligence correctional facility, where Gesicht visits him to get an idea of the killer he is trying to track down.
Helena (ヘレナ)
Gesicht's wife; like him, she is also a human-presenting robot.
Professor Tenma (天馬博士)
A genius robotics scientist and former head of Japan's Ministry of Science. He created Atom and is the authority on artificial intelligence.
Professor Ochanomizu (お茶の水博士)
A Japanese robotics scientist and current head of Japan's Ministry of Science. He is the creator of Uran and also looks after Atom. He was a member of the Bora Survey Group, a UN-dispatched group of inspectors sent to Persia to look for robots of mass destruction.
Paul Duncan (ポール・ダンカン)
The blind musician who North No. 2 serves as his butler.
Professor Hoffman (ホフマン博士)
The creator of zeronium and Gesicht.
Professor Abullah (アブラー博士)
The head of the Persian Ministry of Science, who lost most of his body and his family in the 39th Central Asian War, with most of his body now being robotic replacements.
Dr. Roosevelt (Dr. ルーズベルト)
A powerful sentient supercomputer, belonging to the United States of Thracia, whose only avatar to the outside world is a teddy bear.
Adolf Haas (アドルフ・ハース)
A German trader who is a member of the anti-robot group, KR, and suspects that Gesicht killed his brother.
President Alexander (アレクサンダー大統領)
The president of the United States of Thracia.
Pluto (プルートウ)
An extremely powerful robot created to destroy the seven robots classified as weapons of mass destruction.
Inspector Tawashi (田鷲警部)
A bald Japanese inspector who works with Atom.
Inspector Nakamura (中村警部)
A Japanese inspector who works with Atom.
Schelling (シュリング)
Hoffman's boss and by proxy, Gesicht's.
Wassily (ワシリー)
A child orphaned by the 39th Central Asian War, who is taken in by Epsilon.
Mine (ミネ)
Brando's wife.
Becker (ベッカー)
A German police captain and Gesicht's supervisor on the field.
Ilsa Haas (イルサ・ハス)
Adolf's wife who despised her brother in-law for being serial killer of robot children.
Hans Haas (ハンス・ハス)
Adolf's son who is fascinated with robots.
Principal Ban (伴校長先生)
The principal at Uran's school and confidant to her.
Arnold (アーノルド)
A robot working as a meteorologist and an acquaintance to Epsilon.
Sahad (サハド)
A robot created by Professor Abullah and treated as his own son after the death of his whole family.
Darius XIV (ダリウス14世)
The last king of Persia who is charged with war crimes in 39th Central Asian war.
Inspector Wallace (ワラス警部)
A senior inspector who works with Atom.
Professor Reinhardt (ラインハルト教授)
Mont Blanc's kind hearted elderly creator.
Dr. Schiller (シラー博士)
Fersen (フェルゼン)
Goji (ゴジ)
A Persian genius scientist, whose entire existence is questionable.
Yujiro (裕次郎)
A police officer robot assigned to guard Ochanomizu.
Detective Lieman (リーマン刑事)
Takashi (たかし)
Ochanomizu's grandson who had robot dog named Bobby.
Yamagishi (山岸)
Colonel Armstrong (アームストロング大佐)
A colonel in charge of the top-security prison where Darius XIV is incarcerated.
Meyer (マイヤー)
Muhammed Ali (モハメド・アリ)
A low level robot in Persia who sells flowers and follows Gesicht.
Hogan (ホーガン)
A robot assigned to be Epsilon's bodyguard.
General Scott (スコット将軍)
An army general who worked with Epsilon to cleanse the remains of robots felled in the war.
Kurt (カート)
A young child rescued by Gesicht during a case.
Simon (サイモン)
A board member at Epsilon's orphanage.
Johansen (ヨハンセン)
A man ordered by Professor Abullah to retrieve Wassily from foster care.
Production
An anime adaptation of the Japanese manga series Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka was announced to be in production by Studio M2 at the 2017 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in June.[5] In May 2022, the adaptation was confirmed to still be in production by Studio M2 founder Masao Maruyama.[6] Toshio Kawaguchi is the series' director, with Urasawa as creative advisor, Shigeru Fujita designed the characters and serves as supervising animation director, and Yugo Kanno composing the music.The series made its premiere exclusively on Netflix on October 26, 2023, and consisted of eight episodes.[7] Each episode was produced with assistance from another studio and adapts one of the manga volumes.
Episodes
Reception
Critical response
The series received positive reviews from critics. Ali Griffiths of Digital Spy said, "Pluto sets a new gold standard for Netflix original anime."[8] Devin Meenan of Slashfilm compared the complexity and characters to the graphic novel Watchmen.[9] Elijah Gonzalez of Paste magazine applauded the story's fresh takes on themes first introduced in Isaac Asimov's laws of robotics.[10] Joshua Rivera of Polygon called Pluto "one of the best sci-fi murder mysteries you can watch this year".[11]
