I’m not usually a big fan of Manga. I know several people who are into it and, despite their recommendations, I had never bit the bullet and jumped in. Finally I decided to do so, but with a short series (and by short, I mean 8 volumes where each volume is about 200 pages) by one of the premier manga creators Naoki Urasawa. Pluto is Naoki Urasawa’s homage to Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy and a retelling of Tezuka’s Astro Boy story The Greatest Robot on Earth. Not having read the original story, I couldn’t tell you who did it better, by Urasawa’s take is amazing and wonderful. Let’s see what happens in the story.

The basic story is pretty simple. Years ago, there was a war in the United States of Thracia and several of the greatest robots in the world were involved. One by one, these great robots are being killed. One of the great robots is a Europol detective named Gesicht, who leads the story through the first half as we learn the characters and the setting. As Gesicht does his investigation, we learn about all the other great robots and also about the war in Thracia. One major clue that is being investigated is that after the robots are killed, they are left with horns on their head. It’s not known why, but it is assumed to be a signature of the killing robot.

We also are introduced to several of the great robot inventors who are responsible for the great robots. Dr. Hoffman is Gesicht’s creator. Professor Ochanomizu is the head of the Japanese Ministry of Science and is the person overseeing Atom (Astro Boy). Doctor Tenma is the genius who created Atom as a replacement for his lost son, but rejects him when Tenma realizes that there is no replacement for a lost son. Here Tenma is a bit of a renegade who is willing to work with almost anyone, regardless of their side. Dr. Abullah is the head of the Thracian Ministry of Science whose body has been partially replaced with robotic parts.

As there gets to be some human deaths in addition to the robot deaths, the war in Thracia is suspected as being a cause and the various robot specialists and robots must determine who is responsible and stop them. A large subplot also follows whether or not Gesicht killed a human previously (and had his memory wiped). If he did, he would be the second robot to kill a person, the first is tied up deep in prison.

The art is wonderful as shown in this example with Gesicht and Atom.

Urasawa shows the sadness and weariness in Gesicht’s face as well as the optimism and energy in Atom very easily. The art is very expressive and contributes a great deal to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed the story, it was well told and well drawn. It kept my interest even though I was mostly unfamiliar with the characters and story previously. It was good enough and interesting enough that I’m looking to check out other Urasawa stories. Looking at other manga at the library, I’m not interested in the high school girl magic stories that a great deal of them are about. So, I’ll probably keep the manga reading to a minimum for now. Anyone have any other recommendations? Recommended.