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

Uran Supporting

Suzuki, Minori Japanese

Nagasaki, Takashi Producer

Noda, Fuko Producer

Ge, Yangqian Producer

Udagawa, Sumio Producer

Reviews

Apr 18, 2025

Shypstar

Recommended

I went into this series blind—although I had experience with this author, having both read 20th Century Boys and watched Monster. So maybe not that blind, since I had high expectations for this anime—and let’s just say it did not disappoint.

Urasawa’s works tend to have a similar vibe, and Pluto is no exception. If you love his iconic characters like Johan and Tenma, get ready to meet familiar types again—just drawn a little differently.

Pluto keeps the viewer entertained by staying short and focused, unlike some of his longer works. It’s a great show whether you’re new to Urasawa’s stories or to anime in general. Compared ... to a lot of other shows out there, Pluto was a genuinely pleasant watch.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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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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Apr 10, 2025

Questl

Not Recommended

The most remarkable thing about Pluto is how it so arduously sets up its many mysteries, only to answer them in the least spectacular way. No foreshadowing, no possibility for the audience to guess, the collective cast has to spend the entire finale exposition dumping to tie up all the wasted plot threads, and what's worse, introduce more that are "only explained in the manga". Seriously, the two primary antagonists have no ties to the broader mystery whatsoever, and go almost completely unexplained. All this just leaves you wondering, why did you put up with such awful pacing, such caricatures acting out the blandest, most ... predictable tropes? For EIGHT HOURS. Save your time and watch literally anything else.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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