Scan barcode
lilio's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
nataliestorozhenko's review against another edition
5.0
"Nothing good comes of hate."
Naoki Urasawa is an exceptional writer (and artist) who always manages to create deep characters despite their large numbers within a plot. In this manga, I was moved to tears. Urasawa's signature details, such as references to Tenma and the creation of a monster, were a nice detail. The plot was intriguingly scattered around numerous main characters, offering fresh perspectives. I was especially drawn to Gesicht's backstory, and Epsilon, who bears a striking resemblance to a certain nameless blonde character and has an entirely opposing life goal, was a pleasure to read about.
The story takes place in what seems to be a utopian world where robots and humans coexist and have equal rights. However, there is a problem: while robots have evolved to possess compassion and process complex emotions, humans have not. This manga delves into how the dangerous feeling of hate conveyed by humankind can poison everything to the point of destruction. Urasawa's message is powerful and will stay with you long after you read it.
*Did not really care that this was some kind of tribute to Astro Boy, because Naoki Urasawa's powerful storytelling makes it his own masterpiece for sure.
** Definitely gotta read "20th Century Boys" now.
Naoki Urasawa is an exceptional writer (and artist) who always manages to create deep characters despite their large numbers within a plot. In this manga, I was moved to tears. Urasawa's signature details, such as references to Tenma and the creation of a monster, were a nice detail. The plot was intriguingly scattered around numerous main characters, offering fresh perspectives. I was especially drawn to Gesicht's backstory, and Epsilon, who bears a striking resemblance to a certain nameless blonde character and has an entirely opposing life goal, was a pleasure to read about.
The story takes place in what seems to be a utopian world where robots and humans coexist and have equal rights. However, there is a problem: while robots have evolved to possess compassion and process complex emotions, humans have not. This manga delves into how the dangerous feeling of hate conveyed by humankind can poison everything to the point of destruction. Urasawa's message is powerful and will stay with you long after you read it.
*Did not really care that this was some kind of tribute to Astro Boy, because Naoki Urasawa's powerful storytelling makes it his own masterpiece for sure.
** Definitely gotta read "20th Century Boys" now.
mamthew42's review against another edition
5.0
It's hard to overstate just how good Naoki Urasawa's "Monster" is. I've not read the manga, just watched the animated adaptation a few times, but I absolutely count that show among my favorite pieces of art ever. It's such a beautiful story with dynamic characters, and its treatment of the political situation in post-soviet East Germany is tender and detailed. It's a "dark" story and the elevator pitch makes it sound like an edgy thriller, but it's such an empathetic and hopeful piece that I always walk away from it feeling uplifted and refreshed, despite the story's grisly murders, neo-nazis, child abuse, eugenics, etc.
It takes a deft hand to pull off that kind of balancing act, and since Urasawa is, as is traditional in manga, both writer and artist, the feat is even more impressive. The man wrote and drew Monster bi-monthly and simultaneously did the same WEEKLY for his other masterpiece, 20th Century Boys, and that level of protracted quality work put him in the hospital, because of course it did. He's a celebrated artist in Japan and, I feel, woefully ignored outside his home country. Pulitzer prize-winning author (and accused sex-pest) Junot Diaz called Urasawa Japan's National Treasure, and while Diaz may be a bad person, he still obviously can be trusted to recognize good storytelling when he sees it. But despite that acclaim, I barely hear his works mentioned besides from a really particular kind of anime nerd. I think some of that is due to how difficult it is to get at his stuff legitimately and some of it is how dark Monster can get, especially for the time-sink of a 70+ episode show.
So imagine my surprise when I see a volume of an Urasawa manga I'd never even heard of in our library's too-small adult graphic novel section. It's an adaptation of an old story from Astro Boy, a manga I've literally never been interested in, but it's by Naoki Urasawa and I have access to it, so I give it a shot. And it's so damn good that I'm considering obtaining the rest of it and also even reading Astro Boy.
Pluto, at least as far as volume 1 is concerned, is a noir murder mystery set in the future years after the end of a war in which nations used robots as proxy soldiers. The surviving robots have since been granted rights and carved out new lives for themselves. When robot veterans start turning up dead, the protagonist, an Android detective, begins the hunt for their killer. As a single volume of a manga, none of these setups get any closure, but just as with Monster, the story switches narrators often, presenting pieces of the story through mini-arcs that are satisfying on their own.
One such story follows a robot war veteran who now works as a butler to a blind composer trying to overcome writer's block and finally write another symphony. Over the course of the three chapters (of eight total in the volume) that make up this story, we see the characters meet, eventually build up a trust for each other, and reach an emotional crescendo. It's a testament to Urasawa's storytelling capabilities that he's able to elicit the emotional response I felt in just 3/8ths of a single volume.
After reading this volume, I googled the series and learned that serendipitously, an animated adaptation had been announced and a trailer had dropped literally a week before I read it, set to hit Netflix this fall. And it's absolutely breathtaking. I foolishly thought it an impressive enough trailer to attract some eyes to this manga that hadn't been checked out in four years, so I put it on my Staff Picks display. It's sat there since March, with that little blurb I wrote taped to it. I moved it to my AAPI display when that was up, I moved it to my Netflix display when that was up. I'd put the rest of the series on our order request list, but when faced with months of evidence as to just how little anyone wants to read it, I took them off. Now I put it up, with that same taped label, whenever I'm desperate to fill a spot on my Staff Picks display, because I know it'll never get checked off of it.
A sad little ending to a review of art by a writer I hold in higher regard than almost anyone else I've read this year, but I guess sometimes that's just how things shake out.
It takes a deft hand to pull off that kind of balancing act, and since Urasawa is, as is traditional in manga, both writer and artist, the feat is even more impressive. The man wrote and drew Monster bi-monthly and simultaneously did the same WEEKLY for his other masterpiece, 20th Century Boys, and that level of protracted quality work put him in the hospital, because of course it did. He's a celebrated artist in Japan and, I feel, woefully ignored outside his home country. Pulitzer prize-winning author (and accused sex-pest) Junot Diaz called Urasawa Japan's National Treasure, and while Diaz may be a bad person, he still obviously can be trusted to recognize good storytelling when he sees it. But despite that acclaim, I barely hear his works mentioned besides from a really particular kind of anime nerd. I think some of that is due to how difficult it is to get at his stuff legitimately and some of it is how dark Monster can get, especially for the time-sink of a 70+ episode show.
So imagine my surprise when I see a volume of an Urasawa manga I'd never even heard of in our library's too-small adult graphic novel section. It's an adaptation of an old story from Astro Boy, a manga I've literally never been interested in, but it's by Naoki Urasawa and I have access to it, so I give it a shot. And it's so damn good that I'm considering obtaining the rest of it and also even reading Astro Boy.
Pluto, at least as far as volume 1 is concerned, is a noir murder mystery set in the future years after the end of a war in which nations used robots as proxy soldiers. The surviving robots have since been granted rights and carved out new lives for themselves. When robot veterans start turning up dead, the protagonist, an Android detective, begins the hunt for their killer. As a single volume of a manga, none of these setups get any closure, but just as with Monster, the story switches narrators often, presenting pieces of the story through mini-arcs that are satisfying on their own.
One such story follows a robot war veteran who now works as a butler to a blind composer trying to overcome writer's block and finally write another symphony. Over the course of the three chapters (of eight total in the volume) that make up this story, we see the characters meet, eventually build up a trust for each other, and reach an emotional crescendo. It's a testament to Urasawa's storytelling capabilities that he's able to elicit the emotional response I felt in just 3/8ths of a single volume.
After reading this volume, I googled the series and learned that serendipitously, an animated adaptation had been announced and a trailer had dropped literally a week before I read it, set to hit Netflix this fall. And it's absolutely breathtaking. I foolishly thought it an impressive enough trailer to attract some eyes to this manga that hadn't been checked out in four years, so I put it on my Staff Picks display. It's sat there since March, with that little blurb I wrote taped to it. I moved it to my AAPI display when that was up, I moved it to my Netflix display when that was up. I'd put the rest of the series on our order request list, but when faced with months of evidence as to just how little anyone wants to read it, I took them off. Now I put it up, with that same taped label, whenever I'm desperate to fill a spot on my Staff Picks display, because I know it'll never get checked off of it.
A sad little ending to a review of art by a writer I hold in higher regard than almost anyone else I've read this year, but I guess sometimes that's just how things shake out.
glecharles's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A fascinating take on the original Astro Boy story arc — shifting perspective and fleshing out side characters to give the underlying plot a lot more emotional weight. An excellent start!
jenny_d's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
bantwalkers's review against another edition
5.0
Urasawa, N, & Tezuka, O. (2009). Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka. San Francisco, CA: VIZ Media LLC.
When one of the most beloved robots on earth, Mont Blanc, is murdered under strange circumstances, a detective named Gesicht most solve the crime. He must also keep 6 more of the world's most powerful robots from meeting the same end as Mont Blanc. Based on a story arc from Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy series, Pluto is a bold re-imagining. It's grim and beautiful, filled with great, complicated characters (many of them robots). It also has a strong suspense, mystery element that keeps the reader guessing. The art is also deep and beautiful.
Similar titles (read-a-likes);
Watchmen by Alan Moore, Maxwell Strangewell by the Fillbach Brothers, and Runaways by Brian K. Vaughan
itshassan's review against another edition
5.0
Judging by the story and its tone, one would expect this to be an adaptation to the good old AstroBoy but here we are. And a mighty great adaptation it is. Naoki Urasawa doesn't miss, hopefully the anime adaptation does this justice
gabriel_sakoda's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
bookishlynostalgicwithshi's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
sea_su's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it! The art is amazing and I love the storyline, definitely going to continue.
Read for JAPA 310
Read for JAPA 310