Pluto volume 1, by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka, is a sci-fi mystery manga. It is a reimagining of the famous Astro Boy- The Greatest Robot on Earth. We follow Gesicht, a detective robot in the European federation as he works to uncover the mystery behind random killings targeting the 7 greatest robots on earth, of which he is a member of.

If you have ever read Urasawa’s manga, such as Monster and 20^th Century Boys, you will instantly recognize the art here. His characters have incredibly expressive faces and of the manga I’ve reviewed so far, he manages to have some of the most unique character designs. A lot of manga tends to have similarly drawn faces across the medium, but this is completely avoided. Each character’s face stands out massively. Urasawa skilfully conveys the futuristic setting. From dilapidated city districts to a mansion littered with futuristic instruments, the consistency in the setting being conveyed here is excellent. It feels like a lot of thought was put in here in the details making this an excellent example of speculative fiction.

The story being crafted here feels engrossing. We are quickly brought into the depth of the mystery behind the killing of the Swedish robot Mont Blanc. Despite having no interaction with him in the present day, he is expertly characterised by how characters speak of him postmortem.

In stories focusing on robots there is always a theme of if AI can be advanced enough to have humanity, to be truly alive, and this trope is perfectly executed here. We are introduced to Gesicht with him waking up next to his wife after a nightmare. Subtly we are led to think that he is a random middle-aged man intaking the news. It’s so subtle that the reveal of him being a robot asks us to think about the boundary between machine and man. This is a constant here, with another character, Brando, being introduced in a similar way. The theme even extends to robots that are not completely lifelike with North No. 2.

We build empathy and sympathy for the 7 and how they are perceived, making us completely side against the murderer. Seeing how they cope with aspects of existence like loss and desire for children makes us remove our biases for the robots.

The characters are very well written here, Gesicht feels competent and seeing him deal with crime scenes is very entertaining. The other characters such as the composer and the Brando are very well characterised. I’m very interested in seeing how they end up.

The points where this manga shows Astro Boy elements are well done. I’ve watched some Astro Boy as a child so seeing references and how they are applied here is refreshing. If you watched it more religiously than I, I’d expect your enjoyment of this to be great.

I look forward to continuing this story, especially after the cliffhanger of an ending this volume has. Seeing how Astro Boy translates will be very interesting moving forward and I’m looking forward to seeing how the characters develop from here on.

I like the subtle worldbuilding being done here. The brief mentions of the war and the way it integrates into the characters’ pasts is something that has my attention. I’m looking forward to learning more.

If you have enjoyed any of Urusawa’s other works, I see you enjoying this. If you grew up on Astro Boy, this is a must read. There are numerous cyberpunk manga that are in my mind while reading this that I recommend, namely Ghost in the Shell, Akira. Alita Battle Angel and Heavenly Delusion.

This was an excellent first volume, with excellent characters and an intriguing mystery, interesting worldbuilding and stellar art, I have no choice but to give this volume a 5/5.

You can check out this manga on Amazon, via my affiliate link here.