Pluto is an anime based on the manga Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki based on the story arc The Greatest Robot on earth from Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy. The show centres around an inspector in danger for his life when trying to solve the mystery of the world’s seven most advanced robot and their human allies being murdered one by one. Pluto is an interesting dark gritty sci-fi anime that fans of the anime adaption of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster would love.
The direction in the show is good. The show has a close tight nit group of character making for a great ensemble. They way these characters weight in the story and their relationships with each other is great and having a small cast means each character as depth and ids distinct and unique. The mood of the show is good. The show has a dark and oppressive feeling set in the backdrop of a sci-fi world; however, the show does have a positive message and contains some of the light-heartedness of the original. The style of the show is a mix of gritty realism and sci-fi surrealism as the show battles with bizarre surreal moments, but the show is always grounded and has a sense of reality to it.
The voice acting in the show is good. Jason Vande Brake does a god job as Gesicht a robot detective instigating the case. Laura Stahl does a good job as Atom an advanced peace robot that tasked as a peace ambassador. Keith Silverstein does a good job Epsilon a pacifist robot. Richard Epcar does a god job as Hercules a robot wrestler who has honour and bravery. Adrian Pasdar does a good job as Brando a wrestler robot devoted to his wife and children. Patrick Seitz does a good job as North no 2 one of the most opow4rufl robots that is now a butler to a blind composer. Keythe Falrey does a good job as Mont Blanc the greatest robot that is killed at the begging of the story. Lisa Reimold does a good job as Uran atoms younger siter that can sense emotions. Keith David does a good job as Professor Tenma the genius scientist that created Atom. Fred Tatasciore does a good job as Pluto a powerful robot created to destroy the seven other robots.
The writing in the show is good. The plot of the show is genuinely interesting and engaging. The murder mystery centring around the greatest robots is interesting and the show takes twists and turns throughout the story that work very well all the characters are interesting and full of depth their individual motives and wants are unique and fuel the show. The show takes the core story of Astro boy and expands upon it giving it depth and creating a very interesting and unique work of fiction. The film contains themes of what it means to be human, the fears of technological dominance and the blur between man and machine and that both to need to co-exist to create a better world. The cinematography in the film is good, the show looks good with clear looking frames and a good use of lighting to create a good-looking show. The animation in the show is good. The animation is like that of monster were the style of the show looks hand drawn and possibly a little bit rough, but it really works with the gritty realism of the show.
Pluto is a great gritty dark sci-fi anime that any fan of anime like Monster would love.
