Based on a story by Tezuka, the father of manga, Pluto mixes an almost-Disney-like atmosphere of techno-positivism with great horror twists and a fantastically-executed sense of dread. This is mainly due to the attitude of our main character, detective Gesicht, whose melancholic attitude led me to expect the worst.
The art is also quite good, despite not being a style I'm particularly fond of, it still manages to convey emotions to a degree most can't. It's cleanness also adds to that feeling of optimism and futurism I mentioned earlier.
The story got me hooked right from the start, which is unusual for most of what I've been reading as of late. This is mainly due to the characters and how masterfully the author conveys emotions in general and tragedy in particular. The stories of characters like North #2 or Montblanc felt more real and impactful than anything I've read in months. One page of volume 6 perfectly exemplifies Urasawa's masterful crafting of emotion. I can honestly say that the little robot who was "busted in the war" begging was one of the most heartbreaking scenes in the entire series. A true testament to the author's skill.
As far as themes, the story mostly revolves around AI and the philosophical implications of the artificial intelligence and whether or not it should be given rights or considered human. Personally, I think this is one of the most important debates currently taking place in the world of science and Pluto did a good job questioning the perfection of computer brains and intelligence in general. An aspect that bothered me was the anti-robot organization resembling the KKK in various aspects (which was actually mentioned by one of the characters at one point in the narrative). Personally, I don’t think the connotations it brought to the table were necessary, as I don’t think fictional plights should resemble historical ones so overtly. It also distracts from the story at hand with unnecessary metaphors that could have easily been avoided.
With regards to the mystery subplot, a pretty central part of the narrative, I was slightly disappointing, especially in its resolution, which was more open than I would have otherwise preferred. Furthermore, I think the ending was rushed and should have been given more time to breathe, especially with regards to the aforementioned mystery subplot. Similarly, the conclusion was more upbeat than I’d anticipated, though, looking back, maybe my expectations were way too dark.
Despite its flaws, I still think the story was quite good and the handling of characters and emotions was particularly impressive. While the themes could have been explored a bit further and the art wasn't my favorite, I would highly recommend it, as they are minor nitpicks.
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