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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Review posted on Women Write About Comics

Since there is an anime adaptation now and this series has on my TBR for a while now i decided to read it and watch the anime after and so far I am really enjoying it…I really like Urasawa’s art work and the story is entertaining..I can’t wait for things to really pick up.

Probably the best start of the three Urasawa mangas I've read... while Monster and 20th Century Boys are slow-burn openers, Pluto jumps right into the action, in a futuristic world where robots are common, and someone is murdering them. It starts with the murder of a beloved environmental protection robot in Switzerland and moves on from there, and a robot detective (who is quite reminiscent of the inspector from Monster) is on the case.

It's all based on a classic Astro Boy story, of course, but Urasawa swerves the point-of-view, basing it on the detective (a supporting character in the original) and expanding it greatly into a murder mystery, rather than mostly an excuse to throw Astro Boy up against a more powerful robot that he requires an update to defeat. The original is good, arguably one of the best Astro Boy stories, and it's balls-y of Urasawa to tackle it, but based on volume one, it looks like his ambition will pay off.
adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No

The show is such a perfect adaptation, this I'd just like watching it again, but the writing and art are so good, I don't mind at all. 
dark emotional mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: N/A
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I mean on the one hand, it's a little weird, because main characters look (intentionally) different, and the plotting / context is different, but it's the classic Astro story in a new guise. A lot of onomatopoeias keep it pretty vivid.

So I found out there was an anime about this series this year and just wanted to check it out, it’s not bad but I just thought it was meh like it was draggy for me unfortunately…

4 ⭐
dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes