Pluto

Gesicht, an android police detective of Europol, is tasked with finding the murderer of Montblanc, a retired war hero robot. Although it appears that only a robot could have committed this crime, the murder of a renowned robot rights activist casts doubts on the criminal's identity. Indeed, outside of an isolated and unexplained incident that occurred eight years ago, robots are programmed to be unable to kill human beings. However, the lack of human evidence on the crime scene and the similarity of modus operandi lead Gesicht to suspect that the two murderers might be the same being—be they man or robot.

Shortly after Montblanc's passing, another retired elite war robot is mysteriously eliminated. Gesicht notices a pattern in the choice of murder victim: both dead robots belonged to a group of the seven most powerful war machines ever designed. Determined to stop the murderer from eliminating the five remaining veterans, Gesicht seeks help from Atom, a cutting-edge android who resembles a human boy. The duo must now hunt down the rogue killer before the series of murders is carried on, lest the very fabric of society suffer irremediable damage.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Gesicht Main

Fuji, Shinshuu Japanese

Atom Main

Hikasa, Youko Japanese

Epsilon Supporting

Miyano, Mamoru Japanese

North #2 Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Brau-1589 Supporting

Tanaka, Hideyuki Japanese

Tenma, Umatarou Supporting

Tsuda, Eizou Japanese

Pluto Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Dr. Ochanomizu Supporting

Furukawa, Toshio Japanese

Ali, Muhammad Supporting

Minami, Wakana Japanese

Duncan, Paul Supporting

Hazama, Michio Japanese

Nagasaki, Takashi Producer

Noda, Fuko Producer

Ikou, Yuushi Producer

Udagawa, Sumio Producer

Reviews

Sep 9, 2025

Deash

Recommended

Rapid development of artificial intelligence always comes with difficult questions. Can robots develop a heart and feel emotions like humans? What is the correct way to evaluate the life of a robot? Do robots deserve equality? Will they inevitably lead humanity to extinction? All of these themes and ideas have been tackled by many different authors and presented to us through media. Karel Čapek's Rossum's Universal Robots is a classic example, while Detroit: Become Human is one of my favorite games relevant to this topic. However, one individual that was far ahead of his time in presenting his ideas about artificial intelligence was Osamu Tezuka, ... the God of Manga.

Tezuka's most recognized work, Astro Boy, can appear one-dimensional at first. A superhero-like robot boy with a funny hairstyle that saves the day from villains- Japan's very own Superman. However, every chapter of Astro Boy was heartbreaking to read. Continuous mistreatment of robots, Atom's journey to identify and build his character- to shed away from being just a clone of a deceased human boy, and the desire of Atlas to be free of control against humans with his free will. Tezuka presented possible dilemmas that we might see in the future, a world where humans and robots co-exist. Every story in Astro Boy had a philosophical lesson. Quite unfitting for a kids show.

To talk about Pluto and connect it to my prior thoughts, I view Pluto as a celebration of Tezuka's mind, yet also a wonderfully dramatized attempt by Urasawa to showcase Tezuka's universe. Pluto is a murder-mystery drama show that takes place in Osamu Tezuka's playbox. Urasawa picks up and takes elements of Tezuka, whether it is directly its characters or themes, and places them around to present his own story. If Tezuka's stories were philosophical lessons, episodes of Pluto were less educational, but a great utilization of Tezuka's themes to create a scenario that is deep, realistic, and most importantly, relevant. To be watched as a Netflix show, Pluto nailed all of the required points.

One thing I greatly appreciate about Pluto is its complexity. While I talked about appreciating Detroit: Become Human, one of its flaws was how one-sided the story was. Every robot was a victim, all of their actions justified. The story forces you to feel bad for the robots and side with them, no real dilemmas in a game with hundreds of choices. The game is perhaps less complex than it appears to be. Pluto diverges from falling for that trap. Throughout the show, you witness situations that are complicated, emotional, and confusing. Just like the game, you meet robots that are misled, corrupted, and seemingly justified. But those same AIs are responsible for actions that cannot be simply forgiven. This show will make the audience question what really differentiates between humans and robots in the world of Pluto, when both are now able to feel sadness, happiness, and hatred. How you condemn each action depends on your own moral, which could change with every episode of the show.

I would also recommend checking out Hi no Tori (Phoenix) by Osamu Tezuka, especially the 'future' chapters. Doesn't matter if it's before or after watching Pluto. I think it will elevate certain revelations in Pluto and make your experience more vibrant.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 18, 2025

zeta1

Mixed Feelings

Pluto is a show I really wanted to like but despite having a compelling mystery, it is ultimately disappointing on too many key aspects to be considered truly great. It adapts the eponymous manga by Naoki Urasawa - who gave us the amazing manga Monster (the great anime adaptation of which I highly recommend) - who significantly reimagines an arc from Astro Boy. The show presents itself as a tense, dark and suspenseful mystery in its trailers but the experience of watching it often doesn't live up to that promise. The story is often predictable and the pace is slow and meandering, making it frequently ... boring. The latter at least improves in the later episodes. The visual designs pay homage to the original Astro Boy (which is well over 50 years old now) but unlike the modernised 2003 Astro Boy anime which felt fresh, Pluto has mixed results and some designs really look very dated as a result although overall the show is fine in this regard. The sound and music are a high point although the musical highlights could have been used more.

The biggest issue however is the world and several parts of the plot. The robots here have basically magic powers and their limits are only defined by whatever human aspect the writer wants to use for the plot without rhyme or reason. For example, robots supposedly cannot hurt humans but are active in war zones and act as bodyguards where hurting humans is almost guaranteed. The robots pretend to eat and mimic other plot-central human behaviours without actually understanding why and waste resources while expecting the audience to cheer for them. The supposedly emotional plot points which depend on the rules often fall flat as a result as there's no limit or logic to what the robots can and cannot do although that improves later on. Even worse though is that at several points the characters do illogical things just to keep the plot going. The world is nonsensical to the point that you can't really suspend disbelief and enjoy the show sometimes. The pacing issues, especially early on, really don't help the show when combined with this but the core mystery is compelling enough to at least try and keep going.

The finale thankfully is worth watching even with the occasional issue as everything comes together although some aspects could be better explained. If this show was half the length or less and more realistic it could easily have been a masterpiece but unfortunately I really can't fully recommend it because of its glaring persistent issues. If you want to watch Astro Boy, check out the 2003 TV anime instead, that's true to the spirit of the original and modernises things nicely although it won't be as dark.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Sep 27, 2025

PAIN-69

Not Recommended

PLUTO IS FAILURE OF URASAWA
Pluto 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
Though the premise is great and you have urasawa sounds like a masterpiece but no its so boring you will fall sleep multiple time the mystery done here a so so bad It includes so many irrelevant garbage characters that dont matter in long term there are literally low hyped momments and I knew that because he made it based on astro ... boy corny robot manga but still I gave it chance but no its not good. Just watch masterpiece like monster or 20 th century boys and drop pluto

Reviewer’s Rating: 5

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	Poll: Pluto Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ) deg - Oct 26, 2023	214 replies	by ezraaaaaaaaaaaa »» Nov 3, 1:17 PM
	Poll: Pluto Episode 7 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ryzxgum - Oct 27, 2023	58 replies	by Jinx_Araragi »» Aug 17, 10:25 AM
	Poll: Pluto Episode 5 Discussion ( 1 2 ) ScarRufus - Oct 26, 2023	53 replies	by Jinx_Araragi »» Aug 17, 1:00 AM
	Poll: Pluto Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 ) King_KK - Oct 26, 2023	51 replies	by Jinx_Araragi »» Aug 17, 12:59 AM
	Poll: Pluto Episode 8 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 ) MegamiRem - Oct 26, 2023	152 replies	by BlufaceBaby »» Jul 20, 5:55 PM