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A review by thisotherbookaccount
Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Vol. 6 by Osamu Tezuka, Takashi Nagasaki, Naoki Urasawa
4.0
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[I’ve decided to post the reviews of the final three books at the same time]
3.5 stars, rounded up.
It’s been a hot minute since the last volume of the manga series. In the last review, I expressed my growing concerns for the series. Alarms were sounding in the back of my head, with repetitive robot battles and pseudo-intellectual debates about the nature of humanity abound, my interest in the series was losing steam.
I am happy to report that many of the holes have been plugged in this follow-up volume. We are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel in the form of answers. We find out who/what Pluto is, the real people pulling the strings and Gesicht’s character arc comes to full circle. Even though it comes completely out of the left field, it feels emotionally satisfying after all is said and done. One criticism that I often have for anime/manga series is that characters often have plot armour on. No one ever dies and nothing is ever at stake — but not here. I applaud Urasawa’s courage to pull the plug when a story demands to come to a logical conclusion.
The purpose of certain plot lines are also coagulating in satisfying ways. Violence begets violence, and hatred begets hatred. Now, six volumes in, I begin to see what Urasawa has been alluding to all along. What if the ability to hate is what separates robots from humans? If so, is it worth embodying hatred to become ‘more alive’? These are interesting philosophical questions to consider.
With that said, where do we go from here? The list of superpowers robots is growing short, and we still have two more volumes to go. The central mystery has been mostly resolved as well, so is it going to be all-out action from here on out? More importantly, is that how I want the series to end? We shall see.
[I’ve decided to post the reviews of the final three books at the same time]
3.5 stars, rounded up.
It’s been a hot minute since the last volume of the manga series. In the last review, I expressed my growing concerns for the series. Alarms were sounding in the back of my head, with repetitive robot battles and pseudo-intellectual debates about the nature of humanity abound, my interest in the series was losing steam.
I am happy to report that many of the holes have been plugged in this follow-up volume. We are beginning to see light at the end of the tunnel in the form of answers. We find out who/what Pluto is, the real people pulling the strings and Gesicht’s character arc comes to full circle. Even though it comes completely out of the left field, it feels emotionally satisfying after all is said and done. One criticism that I often have for anime/manga series is that characters often have plot armour on. No one ever dies and nothing is ever at stake — but not here. I applaud Urasawa’s courage to pull the plug when a story demands to come to a logical conclusion.
The purpose of certain plot lines are also coagulating in satisfying ways. Violence begets violence, and hatred begets hatred. Now, six volumes in, I begin to see what Urasawa has been alluding to all along. What if the ability to hate is what separates robots from humans? If so, is it worth embodying hatred to become ‘more alive’? These are interesting philosophical questions to consider.
With that said, where do we go from here? The list of superpowers robots is growing short, and we still have two more volumes to go. The central mystery has been mostly resolved as well, so is it going to be all-out action from here on out? More importantly, is that how I want the series to end? We shall see.