Pluto - anime

 Pluto is an 8 episode adaptation of the manga by the same name created by Urasawa Naoki.  The anime was originally released by Netflix in October of 2023.

    The push for equal rights for AI seems to be in peril following a series of murders and apparently terrorist attacks on prominent AI and humans directly connect with laws enacted giving AI more rights and freedoms.  Following the devastating murder of a robot hero from the recent 39th Central Asian Conflict, a beloved and symbolic robot named Mont Blanc.  Europol assigns its top robot agent, Gesicht, another veteran of the war, to head up the investigation.  When a similar murder of a human who was a key to the legislation granting AI rights dies in a similar manner troubling possibilities come to the surface.  The only way that Mont Blanc could have been destroyed in the manner he was, would be from the hands of another robot.  Evidence at the scene of the humans murder as well as similarities liking it to Mont Blanc's death point to the perpetrator being a robot as well.  The implications of this send a ripple through the investigation as by design robots are incapable of harming humans.  There is only one known case of it happening and the robot perpetrator has been in solitary confinement ever since.

    As more murders of humans and robots appear across the globe, Gesicht begins to suspect everything is tied to events from the war.  A war that was unilaterally fought against a despotic radical who was building a massive robot army and threatened to destabilize the region.  A group of the most advanced robots were brought together to fight against the rogue nations robot army, laying it to waste in no time, but causing great strife following the capture and imprisonment of he countries leaders.  It appears that something is exacting revenge on everyone involved in the war, particularly the robot heroes and members of a commission who investigated the illegal use of advanced AI by the shattered country.  Time is short for the detective as more and more of his war companions are being targeted and destroyed.  At the same time he finds himself the target of a powerful and hidden human supremacist group.  As the investigation into both problems continue in-continuities in himself begin to point to his own problems, problems that are being purposely suppressed by the agency he works for.  Can this lone representative of his kind overcome multiple existential threats to protect a future of unity and freedom for all?

    Since reading 20th Century Boys almost twenty years ago, I have been an avid fan of Urasawa's work.  I feel he is the best story teller in the medium of manga and his handling of this story helps support my opinion.  Pluto is derived from a story arc in the original manga for Tetsuwon Atom called The Greatest Robot On Earth...of which I still know little about.  All I can say for sure, if Urasawa took the ground work laid by the legendary Tezuka and crafted a fantastic modern detective story.  One that leans heavily on long established narrative tropes around artificial intelligence and its relation to humanity.  Another aspect, that could be heavily influenced by the unrest in the Mideast at the turn of the century is expressed in the narrative around war and its futility.  That ties into the overall anti war sentiment shared by Tezuka himself.

    The story its self is a by the book detective story with heavy classic sci-fi tropes.  Its not new territory, but it's done with the hand of a craftsman, much like Neil Gaiman's ability to breath new and interesting life into preexisting fairy tales.  The artwork is very particular to Urasawa's style as well.  He has a realistic and somewhat ugly approach to his character design, which is translated quite faithfully in the anime.  The animation in general is of a higher quality than you would find in a generic TV series, but it was not intended to broadcast.  My word as a fan boy is shallow though, so it's best for you to watch it for yourself and make your own conclusions.  I loved it and hope we get another project soon.

    The series is currently available on Netflix.