Imagine starting the first episode of "Pluto," the new original anime released on Netflix. We start with a mysterious, sci-fi world that looks like our own, with murderous detective robots looking to find a mysterious unnatural killer of robots and people. He starts grilling you and getting into the plot. And then, somewhere in the half-hour mark of the episode, the scenery changes. You go to a tower and see a cranky old man playing the piano, and a towering robot visiting him. And they start talking about something unrelated. "What the hell happened here, is the series making fun of us?". And within another half-hour, this unrelated story has broken you and made you cry. Because "people forget, but robots remember everything."
Because this is the great conductor Urasawa. "Pluto" is the work of Naoki Urasawa, the master of seinen adult manga (Monster, 20th Century Boys, Billy Bat) with philosophical and existential themes around human nature, brutality, and peaceful retirement. He is undoubtedly one of the most brilliant manga creators, far from the limelight of more mainstream fighting, muscle, and fan service manga. Of his manga, only Monster has been made into an anime.
The fact that Pluto is the second manga to be made into an anime is a big deal for all anime fans, especially because of the selection of this particular series. Because in itself, it is a tribute to Astro Boy, the famous anime/manga of the 50s-60s by the "father of manga" Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy, Kimba the White Lion, Buddha, and many, many more). Pluto takes the core concept and heroes of Astro Boy's "The Greatest Robot on Earth" arc and makes it much darker, modern, and pessimistic. So Pluto is also a very personal work of Urasawa because it refers to Tezuka's teacher and one of his favorite manga as a child. Think of it as a dark and adult remake of Fruitopia .
What I'm trying to say is that you should see Pluto. If you want to see something heavy, contemporary, and deeply human.
Undoubtedly one of the best original content to hit Netflix this year.
