Pluto: Naoki Urasawa's Dark Reimagining of Astro Boy

Pluto is one of Naoki Urasawa's lesser known works, but arguably one of his most notable at the same time. Based on Tezuka Osamu's Astro Boy, Urasawa's dark take on one of the world's most beloved childhood heroes is both interesting and thought-provoking. Join me as I try to understand Pluto, which has joined the ranks of Monster and 20th Century Boys for me as one of my favorite manga ever.
Check out my socials!!
► Discord: / discord
► Twitter: / animecultureco
► MyAnimeList: myanimelist.ne...
If you enjoyed the video, make sure to like, comment, and subscribe to support the growing channel!
pls
► Tags:
#pluto #manga #naokiurasawa
► Music:
Dry Lake (Shiki OST)
Original Sin Strings Remix
Than One (Monster OST)
Requiem (Shiki OST)
History Of Sorrow (Shinsekai Yori OST)
Master Keaton マスターキートン BGM Licht 光り
Last Letter (Shinsekai Yori OST)
Echo (Shiki OST)
► Thumbnail Design & Visuals:
/ cerealwbananas
► Text Card Font Designs:
Jaz Ho @jazzyboos
► "Copyright Disclaimer, Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for 'fair use' for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."

[@nafeeahnaf6296]

I AM SOO HAPPY PLUTO IS FINALLY GETTING AN ANIMEEE

[@rajyavardhansingh4491]

The anime was amazing

[@memendezlorenzo2605]

@@rajyavardhansingh4491 it was truly amazing

[@djstanley1300]

Literally peak

[@munchiehan5237]

Very peak

[@joefixitwilliams2397]

Just watched and can confirm it was beautiful.

[@DrCoeloCephalo]

I read the original Astro Boy manga arc as a teen and to this day I love the story. I just watched the Pluto Netflix anime and I was blown away and cried so many times. Urusawa especially deserves credit for worldbuilding, storytelling and character depth by making Gesicht so amazingly tragic and relatable considering the original manga only had him alive for like 6 manga pages lol.

[@cherie..cherry]

Wait really 😂?? I was so shook at his death in episode 6, having already spent nearly 5 hours with his character in the show. Can’t wait to read the manga

[@romarioibarra4063]

If you read Metropolis from Osamu Tezuka, you can see how many themes addressed by Urasawa are actually expanded ideas from Tezuka.

[@joadarium9605]

As if Astro Boy wasn’t dark enough with his whole origin being a robot based off a scientist’s tragically deceased son 😭 but as an Astro Boy fan since childhood, I’ll check it out!

[@thedayofnewage]

Atom's backstory is also same

[@freakytostadacartoon]

​@@thedayofnewagethey are the same character.

[@justincholos.balisang6884]

I love how world building was used in Pluto. One part of it that's really interesting for me is that the Central Asian War was depicted similar to how the War on Terror started.

[@painxYGO]

In terms of writing Urasawa is my favourite mangaka. Next in line for you to read and review is Billy Bat

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

will do good sir

[@darthaust20]

Where can I read that?

[@TheANSONATOR]

The world building, tension of the mystery and unravelling of story threads he does in his series makes me fall in love everytime.

[@painxYGO]

@@TheANSONATOR Urasawa is just incredible

[@painxYGO]

@@darthaust20 Any manga site in the net

[@georgeliquor1236]

This is coming from someone who read Astro Boy BEFORE Pluto, but Pluto is genuinely one of the best mangas out there. I was always on the edge on my seat to see how Urasawa remixes and retells the events of The Greatest Robot on Earth. It always lead me guessing what's gonna happen next, I love when stories do that. It's ironic too since I already know what's gonna happen in Pluto but I still was wondering how it was gonna turn out in the end. Great video and analysis, this and Astro Boy needs more love in the states.

[@turbonicflaws]

I LOVE when I see people covering stories such as Pluto. Im a massive Astro Boy fan and by extension Pluto has become one of my all time favourite mangas for it’s darker twist and deeper themes regarding Tezuka’s original work. You’ve done such an amazing job on this video and I LOVE seeing how much thought and effort you’ve put into this. Great work !! Thank you for the lovely vid

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

much loveee

[@dingdongchingchong2957]

I'm sorry but Pluto doesnt have a deeper theme or even darker than its original work. All the theme and meaning that Pluto conveys are already in Astro Boy! Naoki himself said that Astro Boy is in fact a more darker version despite the majority of readers think the opposite

[@giulyanoviniciussanssilva2947]

​@@dingdongchingchong2957They look at Tezuka's art and underestimate him, if they took the best panels of his manga, they would see that at that time he was already dethroned.

[@fluffywarhampster]

The second episode with no.2 and the musician was one of the most emotional episodes in anime I've ever scene. It was a perfect tragedy of a character going against their base nature and trying to grow and develope only to have the cruelly of that world snuff it out. The musician crying at the end perfectly drew the viewer into the emotional Rollercoaster that they were witnessing.

[@muic4880]

One scene I like from the manga was one of seven greatest robots telling the other about seeing a robot washing its hands continuously after a battle in the war as if trying to wash away the blood which there were none as the enemy was also robot.

[@kevo300]

That scene was amazing in the manga and anime

[@quinnfletcher3906]

It could have been oil or something.

[@gilgamesh0233]

Reminded me of macbeth

[@badfoody]

thing is, Astroboy was always Dark. Pluto just focused on it

[@quinnfletcher3906]

I agree, beneath that cute and cuddly picture are stories about, death, prejudice, gore and racism.

[@zrovro]

This video is incredibly well-made, i was shocked when i saw it only had 900 views. wow, this video is criminally underrated this deserves a couple hundred thousand views at least in my opinion. great vid dude, i absolutely love Pluto and all of Urasawa's works.

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

it’s for peeps like you that i make these videos; thanks for the love! your comment made my day haha

[@KegOfMeat]

It’s at 7927 atm

[@zainiikhwan9405]

Props to Urasawa for making me bawl my eyes for cartoonish robot...

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

for real

[@yorakirro7628]

I've been meaning to read Pluto for so long, it was on the MAL manga suggestion panel ages ago for me and caught my eye, but I just kept pushing off reading it. Maybe this is a sign that I should finally read it lol. Great video!

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

absolutely give it a read! i finished it in less than a day lol

[@metalgear0945]

Boys, the anime is finally here That aside, I think I can't say anything about Pluto better myself. Even better, I discovered new things about Pluto from your video essay. Amazing work! Subscribed and liked 👍👍👍

[@iamkeithheart]

I think everyone should look at Pluto, who is a fan of manga and anime. The story of Pluto is more relevant today than it was when it was initially released, and I’m not just speaking about the AI portions of the manga, but also the war aspect of it as well. It felt very VERY close to home.

[@greenth-mac2550]

Having to think robots have emotions in mangas, tv series/movies and video games make me love to see this in real life sometimes. I mean, thinking of the idea that a machine can think and react in their own way, it both amazing and terrifying at the same time.

[@poisonsnivy6439]

Coming back from finally watching the anime. They did such an amazing job at bringing the manga to life, it’s a story I’ll never forget.

[@alchemistofsteel8099]

This manga kinda feels like the manga version of Arkham Asylum a serious place on a serious in the semse that it takes a typically light hearted and cartoonish world and twists it into horror hyper-reality

[@RavenV2]

one thing that perplexed me in the original story is why pluto repeatedly showed to want a fair and honorable duel only to ambush epsilon at night while he knew his opponent would be weaker. this came after epsilon saved his life too.

[@Peter-re7tn]

Very well made video! Just fiished Pluto and really loved it.

[@MrBronze1445]

I wouldn't consider it to be a dark take on Astro Boy because Tezuka's work is already dark. But otherwise good video.

[@giulyanoviniciussanssilva2947]

I liked the video, but I think it was already dark, Urasawa just reimagined it with its visuals and a narrative from another perspective.

[@saladbartubing]

an incredibly well-made video about my all-time favorite manga?! i excitedly await your next upload

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

much lovee

[@raptorskilltor4554]

Pluto does more on the genre when addressing the themes of humanity better than Detroit became human ever did

[@guilhermecosta7938]

Watching this after seen Netflix's Pluto. Thanks for this video! Cheers from 🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@LuigiTheMetal64]

Any anime that gets the Netflix label will never be available on DVD in the U.S.. That happened to Sailor Moon Eternal. Japanese anime studios somehow failed to understand that anime fans buy and collect hard copies. Fans do not subscribe to Netflix since any content can be censored at any time, and you can never collect digital content to store nor sell.

[@KegOfMeat]

The original story is really good so I’m very excited to see the Pluto anime. I am assuming that both the 1980 and 2003 anime’s adapted Tezuka’s idea of mounting tension in the human/robot relationship, which is done decently well in both series but never fully realized. It is a clever way to allude to racial discrimination though. The 1980 series has the tenuous relationship play a part in some of the stories, like Frankenstein, The Death Balloon and most notably, the Atlas episodes, but never has it come to a proper conclusion. The 2003 series does have it come to a conclusion but it is far too short for what has been built up over the course of the series. It sounds as though the Pluto manga at least touches on this subject if not explores it outright.

[@destinymunchkin5301]

Omg yes i needed more pluto content im glad to find your channel

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

aye glad you're here!

[@shyutokun9364]

Urasawa sensei is a legend and one of the greatest Mangaka, I am currently reading 20th Century Boys , 150+ chapters in and it's already in my Top 10 mangas

[@inkreydible]

underrated video, im here after netflix's sneak peak for pluto finally dropped :D

[@lostintheark5728]

I just watched the Netflix series, wondering if there was a continuation of it because it was an amazing story, darker than I expected and I still feel there's more to the ASTRO Boy that could be updated and rebooted. I remember watching ASTRO boy as a kid and glad they are giving him some love nowadays. I can't wait for more. Maybe there's more older manga and anime that could use a refresher.

[@vipminouns3043]

I actually learned a lot about Astro boy in this video. Also great editing

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

glad you learned a lot!! much love

[@oziaus]

Another great one~ You'd really like Jin Roh; I know I know, I've said this before. But if you like deep stories such as Pluto, Jin Roh The Wolf Brigade is a MUST watch.

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

yes sir

[@user_a-i1u]

I've got more than I expected, After watching your video on how Pluto reflects the mirror on, how we humans will treat robots if they have existed in our world. I really appreciate both osamu tezuka for astro boy, naoki urusawa for Pluto, and you, for this great explanation. This is a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐. +(I'm moving forward to read Pluto )

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

much love!!

[@PuppyLuvU2]

Found the anime trailer and had to look up more about it. This seems like a amazing story. I'm looking forward to it coming out.

[@youknowho4378]

Great analysis

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

tank u

[@nathanielyoung7418]

Astro Boy was sad af. I just finished Pluto, as bleak as it was the ending was satisfying. I read Astro Boy in middle school and I still can find time or space to read it.

[@colby_247]

Your video deserves more views.

[@Mo_2077]

The greatest manga I have ever read

[@jhevonturner2591]

And people say that dragon Ball is the father of anime sure maybe of shounen anime but not of anime in general that goes to Astro boy dragon balls gotten so popular that people seem to forget that the first anime was Astro boy and it doesn't get as much credit as Dragonball does I really don't even see many people talking about it anymore but that's just me.

[@angeloromualdez9957]

“Let’s practice the piano, North Number 2” 🥲🥲🥲

[@christophermoltasanti227]

im glad someone made a vid on this! Great one🎉🎉

[@Fishnberg]

Is this basically Naoki Urasawa trying to warn our future events or something Why do I have a feeling that its kind of a reflection of what we are facing today...

[@BigB70]

A MegamanX story/game with this tone would be so 🔥 Nice vid 💪

[@paperstacksfilms]

The anime was amazing. One of the best I've ever seen

[@stevenwongso66]

The Strongest Robot arc in Tetsuwan Atom manga is one of the darkest arc, in my opinion. Even darker than Nuka's death and Naoki Urasawa made my favorite arc even more darker and deep. Btw, for Pluto manga, Naoki Urasawa used a similar technique to Tezuka's Star System. 1. Epsilon is Johann Liebert 2. Uran / Zoran is Yawara from Yawara A Fashionable Judo Girl in her children year 3. Dr Abullah / Bora is Roberto / Adolf Reinhart 4. Gesicht is basically Inspector Lunge 5. Principal Ban is Doctor Reichwein 6. Atom is basically Kenji Endo when he is still a child. Anyone who recognized more, please reply this

[@raharodriguezOBJ]

jumped here after watching all 8 episodes of the netflix series. ITS A FUCKIN MASTERPIECE and i want more

[@quinnfletcher3906]

What I love about Pluto is that it doesn't add anything NEW to Astro Boy it just focuses on the things that were already there. All the themes and concepts that Pluto explores are the same ones that the original Astro boy explores.

[@zam6877]

It is hard to ignore the significant parallels of the Japanese soldiers who fought for Japan Those especially who witness, forced, or actively to participated in atrocities in in Asia Those silent witnesses are like "the 7 heroes"

[@het2shah]

Pluto is just brilliantly written creates suspense plot mystery conflicts in first episode itself All deaths are just brutal, what it means to be alive, death , ur motive, hate, life everything such dark complex divided ideas still dealt with such perfection Yes story is slow complex, extremely complex n hard to digest but still keeps u awake at night Ghetsis story is just devastating Damn is this a great show

[@Oku_yappin]

Just watched it. Amazing stuff

[@nafeeahnaf6296]

The new anime trailer is looking incredible I'm very excited

[@jeanlucknowles7644]

The Anime was incredible!

[@alucardvalentine6418]

Ese momento dónde ves las últimas memorias de Gesicht "El odio no engendra nada" Hermoso

[@psychiotic0319]

I'm here after after finishing Pluto in Netflix

[@KidGreeD14]

Same

[@bezoznaught5261]

anime of the year, I've never experienced this kind of storytelling

[@Deva_Bhardwaj_2001]

I am enjoying every ounce of this anime Pluto and i will do it slowly, like a slow pill. Cause i think pluto deserve a slow watch and my complete attention till the very end!

[@vlFrozen]

ACC is the best animanga reviewer/essay ytber ong

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

ayee frozen

[@docbaker3333]

One of my favorite manga I recently read the North segment of the story heartbroke me especially with it's ending.

[@Violinrocker12]

Just watched it. The show is an absolute banger holy crap what an experience

[@potatofarmergyro1720]

This is such a good video

[@Vinsternator40]

There’s an Astro Boy chapter where it turns out robots took over the earth and only raised humans to slaughter and kill each other in arenas. I forgot what it’s called because it’s been years, but I remember one of the twists being the kid was responsible for his bestfriend dying as a child, so she was replaced with a robot. When her “mom” was out trying to bury the human body he shot her and it started the whole plot. Edit: Astro Boy Vol.22 Chapter 82 : The End Of Astro Boy

[@rango962]

Fun fact. Gesicht is German For face. Im Sure there is some meaning to that.

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

oh there most certainly is i'm sure

[@Jay-pu4mf]

Im waytching pluto at the moment. What mature verson of astro boy. Very artistic with the storyline and art.

[@shabopshebop131]

Just finished the anime adaptation absolutely amazing! I'm on my way to read 20th century boys!

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

well how was 20th century boys?

[@ondreibazant-fabre2164]

Great work! I had never read the manga but recently watched the anime adaptation on Netflix and was blown away. Now I must read the manga. Have you watched it and if so, do you think it's a good adaptation? I think it captures all the themes you mentioned.

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

I haven’t watched yet- I’m excited to!

[@darianstarfrog]

Man, the Netflix show did this well💖

[@emekaamerican863]

I was watching episode 2 of the anime and I was thinking he looks like Astro Boy

[@GoatedJoyBoy]

This show really reminds me of Monster

[@nafeeahnaf6296]

Please buy the original manga volumes of Pluto to support the manga even if it’s just one volume of the series

[@hartantoanggoro]

7 strongest robot, 7 earth's guardian, 7 separated souls.

[@theater_fan_channel_artislife]

Is this anime going out or not? I really wanna see it, because Astro Boy looks more human here, even if they say it's a dark version of him.

[@Lantern2]

Yo man the anime is coming! Trailer came

[@theater_fan_channel_artislife]

@@Lantern2 Really?! Oh my Gosh, I'm so excited! What trailer did you found?

[@Lantern2]

@@theater_fan_channel_artislife just search up Pluto trailer it will come. It's official

[@Lantern2]

@@theater_fan_channel_artislife I'll paste link

[@Lantern2]

@@theater_fan_channel_artislife kzbin.info/www/bejne/gaa4mYyFrq-hbZo this is it. I'm not joking

[@Kannadiga2301]

Nice 👌 review ACC

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

ayeee much love

[@Hunteronix]

fInAlLy NeW ViDeO, yAyYy!

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

WOOOO

[@devinmcintyre3227]

Ong

[@WhiteBocah]

I just watch the anime, its Masterpiece, 9.5/10 for me, so complex, yet good, so much thing in story yet its simple.

[@kevo300]

1 hour long episodes and the pacing was good

[@ilovewritingessays2017]

Dark reimagining? Nah, Astroboy was always pretty dark. The first chapter starts off with a child being killed and that being used as Astro Boy's origin.

[@tokamohlala7225]

I wish I had seen this before watching the anime

[@mohammedsuliman8072]

It’s not a dark re-imagining Astro Boy itself was dark ,you just all haven’t read so you assume that it wasn’t

[@skylerdoesstuffiguess1254]

Where do i read pluto and astro boy online?

[@micg8103]

This is like the synths from fallout

[@edwardevans7219]

I KNOW PERFECTION AND FOLLOW MY PROGRAMMING, GIVING ME A CONSCIENCE, FORGIVING ALL WHO HAVE DONE EVIL TO ME FOR MY GOD AVENGES ME !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@harutyunyan93]

Atom aka Flying Dieter

[@Tonba1]

0:49 blud it was second grader magazine this story was made for kids

[@Shiberuno]

thasjnks you urasaw fro azumannoaga

[@animejourney-l8090]

1st comment

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

yessir

[@animejourney-l8090]

@@AnimeCultureCorner 🙇🏻

[@nafeeahnaf6296]

I hope this video receives more views with the new anime trailer

[@High.xofficials]

I wana talk please reply i have a best story

[@stoicheincat1090]

Ngl a good video but the multiple times saying that the original work didn't have darker themes is misguided and unfounded.

[@jaehojeong5036]

We hope there will be new remake 'Astro Boy' animation by the production of Walt Disney Animation Studio in the far future since the 2030s or 2040s. Astro Boy series truly looks like and might fit to Walt Disney Animation.

[@TwinCitiesOxygen]

Disney will make it woke trash

[@devinmcintyre3227]

13th comment

[@AnimeCultureCorner]

lol

[@iRetroAlt]

There is so many characters in recent anime’s that could of became villains like atom from Pluto

[@RavenV2]

i wish all of urasawa's works had a 70 chapter cap. 100 max. dude just can't get out of his own way when it comes to ending his stories

[@sunilnarine6313]

boring anime.

[@jamesbrick250]

Imagine making a video based manga scans from pirated site while slapping a FAIR USE tag in it. Damn a hypocrite. 🚶

[@kaineskeptic6484]

I do not understand the love people have for Pluto at all. It was dull as hell, none of the themes or characters were thought provoking and the lack of action made the tedious 10 hours worth of series a real drag. It's hard enough for me to invest in robot characters without making them all bored depressives who mope around for 10 hours. It's a story about a robot smashing other robots, not bloody shawshank redemption.

[@DragonD_Dojima]

Nice bait

[@_Amit_Sunil]

Sorry about your trash taste

[@ozloop69]

This is what you get when you try to do Astro boy and you mixing it with some ghost in the shell but you’re keeping the philosophy and existential question of what makes life and generates a soul with child like mentality as every intelligent individual robot evolves its intelligence to gain a souland then it’s destroyed. Does this ask us the question? Do we know what intelligence is?