Pluto (2023) - REVIEW
“Whether our killer is human or robot - there’s a devil inside them, and it must be stopped.”
Pluto is an 8 episode ONA series that was directed by Toshio Kawaguchi, who has previously a key animator for several Gundam and Neon Genesis Evangelion projects. It was based on the manga by Naoki Urasawa (the author of 20th Century Boys and Monster, both incredible works by themselves), which in itself was based on an arc of Astro Boy, by Osamu Tezuka, the legendary manga and mangaka that shaped the foundation of manga, and especially Shonen manga, going forward.
It’s an intense sci-fi thriller in which a humanoid robot detective is trying to solve a mystery involving multiple robots being brutally murdered, with a bit of a wrinkle in the mystery - the killer needs to be powerful enough to destroy a robot, which indicates it being another powerful robot, BUT the killer is also seemingly capable of killing humans - which goes against the primary coding of a robot, which in itself is heavily inspired by Isaac Asimov, the writer of titles like Foundation and I, Robot. It comes from his, “Three Rules of Robotics”, written in 1942.
Pluto is a series thats primary focus is that of the human condition, the balancing act of love and hatred. It goes to great lengths to show the consequences of the cycle of hatred, and how seemingly endless it really is - but that, in SPITE of that cycle, humanity must do everything it can to combat it with love and compassion, even when it seems hopeless. It’s a story that shows the complexity of humans through a narrative around humans, emphasizing that someone is more than just their coding: a human full of love can feel hatred, and a human full of hatred can feel love. We’re not binary.
Pluto is an anime that isn’t just about the themes of humanity and the cycle of violence, but it’s also a cat-and-mouse mystery that elevates the genre. Of course, it’s clear from the beginning that the main character is a detective - but the story lulls you into a false sense of security, pointing you in the direction it wants you to think the story is going, before pulling the rug from beneath you as the real narrative unfolds, showing you layers of the mystery you wouldn’t have even considered.
It showcases all of these thematic and narrative intricacies with the production firing on all pistons - the director of the anime, and also one of the key animators on it, Toshio Kawaguchi, worked as the key animator for productions like Akira, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Princess Mononoke, and so many more. With that expertise as a key animator, he brought all of those fluid movements and expert camera angles into the modern era. It brings together the best of both worlds, with modern day lighting and compositing colliding with the animated movements of all the best 80s-90s era anime, all circling around the writing of Urasawa, one of the greatest manga writers working, and the core idea from Tezuka - the godfather of manga as a whole. It even features work from mechanical designer Yutaka Izubuchi, who did the mechanical designs for Patlabor and a few early Gundam projects like Char’s Counterattack and War in the Pocket. It’s no wonder at all why this has a solid place on the Top 100 Greatest Anime of All Time.
My Current MAL Rating: 9/10
Top 100 Contender: Yes
Current Top 100 Ranking: 11/100