I have read Pluto twice, the first time was many years ago, and I do think it was a confusing read then, I knew a tiny bit about Astro Boy but I didn't initially realize it was based on it. I think your recommendation to watch some of the old Astro Boy is a good idea, and would make it a lot easier to get into this story. Glad you enjoyed Pluto, it's a great manga, and I expect the anime will be good as well when I get around to it.
I went into Pluto because I really enjoyed Urasawa's work, but I had zero knowledge/background about Astroboy. Did I like it? Hell yeah, I absolutely loved it! So, based on my experience, I really think this is a great story that can be truly appreciated even if you don't know Astroboy at all.
Leave it to Bob to be the first one I know on RU-vid to cover Pluto. As a huge fan of Monster, I was so excited for this one. 2 episodes in and I am loving it immensely. 😁
Lol. Ok. I'm gonna test it out by just watching Pluto first. If I really feel like I'm missing that little something that would actually have hindered my enjoyment of the show, then sure I will check out those Astro Boy episodes you suggested. No wonder there was an Atom character in the anime. I thought it was just a cameo. 😁
Urasawa's ability to create fleshed out, emotional and nuanced characters in just a few pages is really incredible. It's a little like what Leonard Bernstein said about Beethoven's 7th. There's nothing complex about the notes, it's just that each note is the right one.
I loved pluto and I think its probably my favorite anime. The way that small tiny plotlines tie into the bigger picture made me like it alot. The way the cities look and how different they all are so nice. The buildup was jus so goodd. The small buildup for North #2 made me rrally feel for him. Gesichts quote about hatred made me tear up Edit: Oh and I dont have any prior knowledge of Astro boy, I went in thinking it was its own thing and then I searched up Atom and then i was like o shi this is based off astro boy
I was one of those guys who thought Astro Boy was just goofy robot fun time so I was expecting a much different tone from the show, but I saw the little preview of Gesicht talking to Brau1589 for the first time, and I was intrigued. I'm on episode 6 and absolutely loving it. So much intrigue, incredible dialogue, thought-provoking ideas, the action is not overused, and to top it off every character is great. Makes me want to watch all the old stuff too.
so happy it finally got an adaptation after so many years, it was phenomenal!! It was perfect as a manga and it's perfect as an anime now! I loved how it felt like an early 2000's anime like Monster (duh it's the same creator but it feels so much more that lol) We NEED 20th Century Boys by the same exact studio. My personal favorite anime of the year! :]
Well Studio M2 founder Masao Maruyama wanted to create a new studio to produce two projects before he retired/passed away and Pluto was obviously the first. 20th Century Boys could be the next.
Long-time Astro boy fan and I absolutely LOVED the Pluto manga once I found out it existed. But the anime absolutely blew me away. I was so excited for it that I binged it the day it came out lol
I have watched Monster and read 20th Century Boys so i am a fan of Urasawa's work so i was really excited for Pluto till now i am 4 episodes in and i am really enjoying it.
I have never watched astro boy but I like a lot of anime and clicked on Pluto out of a whim, and from the first episode I was hooked. I absolutely loved it and I think having no experience with the source material actually made it more enjoyable for me. I was genuinely invested in how they only showed parts of Pluto's character design each episode as the show went on until the final reveal. I think that's the best thing going into it completely blind I had no idea what he would look like or what the horns symbolized in the beginning. I had no idea that he was going after specific super robots in the beginning. I had no idea that Atom was a robot and super powerful until it was explainded and showed or who Dr. Tenma was until he was introduced. And I actually enjoyed being completely surprised by these things. I also loved the use of weapons of mass destruction as a way to justify a genocide and occupation and how doing so created more terrorists. It was an on the nose reflection of what happens in real life, but it was done so well. Also, the art design of being a good balance of cutesy realistic and gory was very interesting. 9.5/10 for me.
1:16 Yeah, from what I've researched & seen myself, the closest Japan ever really got in terms of faithfulness (both in spirit & accuracy) with their Adaptations to the Original 1592 Xiyouji Novel, were 2003's "Boku no Son Goku" & Koei's "Saiyuki" RPG and even those took PLENTLY of Liberties from the Original Text!
from what I've seen, Japan has yet to make a faithful Journey to the West adaptation in any medium, and I've tried everything available. Perhaps the 2003 Goku movie is their closest attempt, but it's still far off. Not to say that only faithful versions can be good though. The JRPG is also far off too, and starts like halfway through the story. Liked the gameplay and art though. However, there have been plenty of more faithful anime adaptations but Pluto really takes the cake
That dialogue change happens in anime quite a bit. It's just not something you'd normally notice unless you're following line by line. Vinland Saga had some small dialogue changes i preferred in the manga too
I think Pluto stands on its own and I havent seen any Astro Boy (I tried reading Astro Boy a couple years ago but couldnt get into it even when I consider myself a Tezuka fan). It was really interesting to see the tragedy unfold with a bunch of smaller stories connecting more and more throughout the story. I watched first episode and took a break because of how emotionally heavy it felt but I finished the rest on a second day. I didnt even think about any "filters" as you say because everything looked so good in my eyes that all I could say in the end that it was Kino. As for confusing part the only things that were a little bit confusing are some scene changes that turned out to be flashbacks, but you could understand it soon enough.
I know very little about astro boy but I still found Pluto to be one of my favorite shows of the year! I thought everything was explained and presented very well for those who didn't know the world of astro boy.
I saw a little bit of Astro boy over a decade ago, and with that tiny bit of undsrstanding, i really really enjoyed Pluto. Not knowing who was meant to be a villain or a good guy, left me guessing. Was Atom Pluto and behind the murders? Was Gesicht? Was it a human, one of the professors? The worldbuildong is so unbelievably strong in this show that you pick up on the details really fast.
I think Urasawa's craftsmanship makes Pluto a good watch even if you know nothing about Astroboy, while I agree that you can get a lot more out of it if you read the original manga Pluto happens to also be the most concise and somewhat accessible work by Urasawa so it's a bit of a conendrum for me 'cause Urasawa is such a good story-teller than you kind of want to take the 8 episodes anime to your friends as a gateway drug.
It's weird, I knew a little history, not much, but I was starstruck seeing Atom in this version, and somehow knew it wasn't going to end well for him, when he arrived to rescue his sister; can't explain how intense that scene makes me feel, this anime pulled no punches.
I know nothing of Astro Boy at all While watching Pluto I didn't even know it was based on Astro Boy Pluto is such a beautiful, powerful, thoughtful, thought provoking just plain absolutely amazing story I loved the first 30min and liked it, then North number 2 and Sir Duncan.... Pluto is my favourite anime hands down
I agree … you need some knowledge. Some things you can even get from the recent movie. You need to know at least something about the existing father/son relations to understand why some characters behave the way they do, or why Astro was exists. I didn’t know anything about the other robots but I felt I should have. It would have probably made me care more about each one.
I watched Astro Boy when I was little, but what I remember is just Astro Boy was a robot created to replace someone's son, and that the world is full with robots. I don't remember anything else, and I enjoyed Pluto. I guess it's because I'm used to and expected Urasawa's style of storytelling.
I really don't know much about Astroboy but I enjoy the anime Pluto and I don't think you have to read or watch Astroboy to understand it, if you enjoy movies of scify like I robot, Blade Runner or Terminator you will enjoy Pluto.
I had only a cursory knowledge of astro boy (who he is, not the strongest robot in thd world arc) and i loved the Pluto manga. Am i just built different?
I went into Pluto knowing nothing about Astro Boy. The only thing I knew was that the main character is a small robot boy. Hell, I thought that Atom’s name was Astro Boy. That’s how out of the loop I was That said, I loved Pluto. It’s fantastic and I never knew where it was going next. Lacking knowledge of the source material actually enhanced my experience I think
I didnt watch any of the Astro Boy stuff before going into Pluto, I did have some cultural osmosis knowledge about Astro Boy and general knowledge of sci-fi robot stories. Pluto to me is one of the best anime and manga I ever experienced. The art style felt retro, but also updated with modern animation conveniences, and I love when anime do that. I wish more animation does that. The story made me tear up several times.
Thanks for the info on the recent Pluto. I knew it was based off the manga made by the same man who made Monster. But I didn’t know that was based off of a 2 episode mini arc. I think I will watch the 80s Astro Boy anime now. I feel like I’m slowly becoming you, as I seem to be going further and further back into time and appreciated anime. I’m in the 80s and early 70s now. Don’t think I’m ready for the 60s and 50s but maybe I will be one day soon.
I know nothing about Manga, have never read or seen any Astro Boy and only came to Pluto from a Netflix recommendation after watching Blue Eye Samurai but nevertheless thought it was great. I realised there was a back story but this didn't affect my understanding or enjoyment of the series.
i've never read or watched astro boy but i loved the pluto manga. i have the volumes and i think i've read it three times now. looking forward to watching the anime
Did you know that this plot must have been influenced by Astro Boy, the episode titled "the greatest robot of all time", its a story about how a robot (yep, named Pluto) goes around murdering other robots around the world. Coincidence, I don't think so because there are many similarities. Watch it and you'll see.
I was confused at first because Pluto seems to focus a lot on Gesicht while Atom almost becomes a side character. I had actually forgotten about Gesicht and thought he was a new character made just for Pluto.
I am half way through the anime and I'm loving it. I never read the manga cause I knew it was only a matter of time when it gets and anime adapt and im so glad I did so I didn't have the same problem that you mentioned with not being as invested. I do agree Astro boy context is really needed. Luckily I watched most of every astro boy anime series with only 2003 anime fully watched. Without that knowledge it does dampen the experience to an extent. I will comment again on this vid when I finish it with my end thoughts. You should also watch EDEN17 its another tezuka anime that involves his phoneix character.
The series shows to me that a live-action HBO show of Monster (and Pluto) is possible. I need it now! *Spoilers ep 6* I read Pluto years ago. I was excited to watch the anime, but hugely suprised because I had forgotten literally 99% of the story. TBH the only thing I remembered was the death of Gesicht. I remember being really depressed and shocked at that moment in the manga. When continuing the serie I even started to doubt if I had finished the manga and not quit after Gesichts death. I loved every minute and watch everything in 3 sittings. I could have done it in two, but needed a break after the emotional damage in EP 6
I hope not, i found pretty sad people wanting live-action adaptations when the medium by itself doesn't need to and has proven again and again that is impossible to translate it on real actors and cgi, anime works because is basically the same like manga but better incorporating movement and sound but still respecting all the rest of elements. I would hope that instead of that the money could go to others adaptations like 20th century boys or so many others amazing mangas or even series that haven't received an proper conclusion with an secuel.
Aye cool I was hoping you’d do a video after your Astro Boy retrospective. I thought Pluto was absolutely incredible. It’s a masterpiece. It definitely should win Anime of the Year Awards, it’s just a shame it’s seemed to go under the radar. Not a single reaction or review of it has hit 10K on RU-vid yet. I guess that’s the trap of a batch release. It doesn’t have time to build momentum. I’m still glad it came out as a batch release so I could watch it all at once. Having prior knowledge of The Greatest Robot in the World story did not affect my viewing experience because it still had enough twists and was still very interesting. Having watched the 1980 Astro Boy animes version of Pluto multiple times and the 2003 version only once for certain, it was so great to get to know the other great robots. Urasawa did a fantastic job with the world building, character depth and development, the plot and continuity with the source material. I may actually decide to read his manga 20th Century Boys and I will most definitely start Monster soon to see if those series live up to their hype and the lofty expectations I will have after seeing Pluto. Pluto is now right up there with my favourite animes of all time and I hold it in the same regard in terms of quality as Attack on Titan and JoJos Bizarre Adventure. Pretty much everything about Pluto is perfect. I will say, most people have really enjoyed Pluto despite not knowing anything about Astro Boy. I think the most accurate anime adaptation of The Greatest Robot on Earth is the 1963 anime because Tenma is in that version. I'd recommend people watch the 1980 animes Greatest Robot in the World Arc as well but people are either too lazy, ignorant, arrogant, stupid or have some other reason for not watching it prior to Pluto.
I haven't read the Pluto manga in years, the last time I read it was probably 2017 or 2018 so the anime being faithful might be a good thing since my memory is so hazey and it's nice to know that story with the robot and the blind guy seems to be very faithful since that was my favorite part of the manga from what I remember. All though if I ever get back to reading manga again this might be a double edged sword since if I ever decide to re read the manga, it's going to be hard to give a shit since I already know what is going to happen next. I am still relatively undecided if manga and anime adaptations should be different or faithful. Also, going into this show with the lowest expectations imaginable like with everything I consume, it probably won't be as good as Monster and expecting it to be as good as that is just a bad idea. Not surprised anime reviewers and the idiots on MAL don't like it, I gave up on reading reviews on that site when they decided to bring in the thumb up system and had a section for "positive", "negative", and "mixed" to counteract this. Thanks to this, I want to read the mixed and negative reviews like watching some parkour fails and those reviews are always full of smug overly emotional idiots who think they are smarter than they actually are. Thanks to this, I am never reading MAL reviews again. It's better to watch the show for yourself and come to your own conclusions.
Huh, I disagree with that type of viewpoint. You should be hyped about something but also ready if it fails. Having low expectations with something is disrespectful sometimes. Because it feels like you like it even if something is not to the appropriate standard. Pluto is great and this anime is great too.
It's currently in the top 30 highest rated on MAL so saying people there didn't like isn't accurate. Honestly surprising that so many people could appreciate something other than an isekai and a fighting shounen. As for the comparisons with Monster... if you've already read the manga of Pluto then you should know how it fares. You don't have to worry about how well it was adapted.
@@enagah Honestly, I just wanted to throw a jab at MAL since the community there sucks. I left out some details. I recall not like the manga that much. I remember the stuff with the blind guy having the best writing and I got confused later on. This might be what Bob meant by watching Astro Boy first.
@@civilwarfare101 Ah the composer. I mean he knew about music before he lost his eyesight. And he doesn't appear after episode 1 so I doubt you need Astro Boy for that.
that's fine of course, I don't mind watching other stuff first, but exactly which episodes and how do I go about it? there's just too much to sort through now content wise. I think for me it's like when someone says the Trails games are good but you can't play the sixth one without going through hundreds of hours of the originals and I don't have access to some of them. i end up never playing or watching. just an example. im sorry if this doesn't make sense. i was pretty excited to watch this Pluto anime but now it seems like I need to research content beforehand. it's hard to find time for all this stuff as much as I love it.
Me and my girlfriend just watched 2 of Pluto episodes she’s likes astro and I’ve never really watched anything related to it so I read some chapters of the manga and watched a couple videos on it. Super great show so far she really likes it.
I watched pluto, never watched astro boy. Absolutely loved it. Just showed my girlfriend who doesn't like most anime it and she was close to tears after the first episode. I think our opinions are valid, it's so so strong as a standalone show and I feel not knowing astro boy made it a lot more suspenseful and impactful with the mystery regarding pluto.
Episode two was incredible. The rest of the show was passable in my opinion. Wanted to like the show more. I’ll def check out your channel for more recommendations
I say it again animation its the best of both words you have the drawings by itself actually coming to life with movement and at the same time sound with the voices, effects, etc those two things improve always the experience. Also im just have one episode left of pluto to see though i really do not understand those people who find it confusing or hard to understand to being honest the general plot of the series is not so complicated and is more than self.explanatory in how everything unfolds at least so far until now didn't had much problem with it, again beside knowing by name astro boy i haven't see any anime adaptation of it so might be some little details that i could miss along the series although if that was the case still feel that is not so necessary to see previous works to enjoy this one. I feel for those who finish pluto and gain some interest on getting an more depth picture on the work in which is basing off might be really good recommendation seeing some of the series but until episode 7 i feel is not that must-see thing to me at least.
I knew nothing about it being related or inspired by astro boy so the whole time I was just thinking it was going to be an I robot type situation. Robot kills a dude and now we have to find out how it was possible. I really enjoyed it, couldn't really understand that ending but it also makes sense I guess. Pretty solid.
I'm in the middle of watching Pluto and I'm enjoying it so far, even though I haven't seen Astro Boy. If you plan to make a video about Journey to the West, I recommend the 1986 live action Chinese adaptation. It's by far the best adaptation, and faithful to the novel. A Chinese Odyssey (1995) is great too, but it's not a faithful adaptation, it's more like a parody. Even if none of the anime are faithful, it might still be an interesting video. You can talk about anime like Dragon Ball, Saiyuki, and Alakazam the Great, and compare them to the novel and more accurate adaptations, and explain what was changed.
What did you think of 2010? I’ve started on several series and some are more accurate than others, but so far this one feels the most enjoyable. It’s not 100% accurate so far but I feel it really captures the feeling and is the best produced
I haven't watched the whole series, but I watched the first episode of the 2010 version. The first episode is good, but I prefer the 1986 version. In the 1986 version, I think Sun Wukong has better acting and better character design, and I think it has a better theme song. The 2010 version has higher budget special effects, but I think it overuses the special effects, and in some parts it felt unnecessary. I also felt like a few scenes in the 2010 version dragged on for too long, for example the scene where he's waiting to meet the sage. In terms of story they're similar to each other, with only some small differences.
I go over it and it’s problems more in my Astro Boy Beginners Guide, but basically the official western release was incomplete and altered for localization and there was no reliable english version until the 2023 fan translation
For starters, you'd be walking blindly into a dark suspenseful sci-fi mystery where the "last hope" is considered to be some robot who looks like a 10 year old boy.
@@bobsamurai In Pluto there are reasons given for why Atom is important, he's a more advanced robot, he's half-human (?). Although you must accept them abruptly, does it really take you more out of the experience than having had to watch/read Astro Boy?
Did you say they fixed the dub for the 2003? i watched the 2003 astro boy when i was a teenager, i didnt know the dub was botched, i actually just learned that watching your beginners guide. However, i remember a lot of the same themes that pluto had in the 2003 version. Im glad i watched it because i had a good understanding of the world in pluto. Pluto is easily top 3 anime for me.
Some of the characters in Pluto have the exact same faces as characters in Monster. I know they are from the same creator but what was the reason for reusing faces?
Haven’t read enough of his other manga to know, but Tezuka used his characters to play different roles in all his anime. Kinda like actors. Maybe it’s similar?
Really. I only knew astro boy by name and i Saw the shitty movie from the 2000s with Nic cage. But i still it a 10/10. It is one of the only anime, where it hits really hard, that i have ever seen.
hmm, i wonder how lost im gonna be when i watch it. Something similar happened when i watched gundam hathaway without knowing anything about gundam XD, even so i still enjoyed the amazing animation
Every time I try to watch this I end up falling asleep 😂. I never watched Astro so I just get bored. The anime is too slow, it’s clearly a love letter for the fans.
I watched through Pluto with basically no knowledge of Astro Boy aside from having read one or two chapters of the original manga online and having seen the 2009 movie, and what little I did know I felt was enough to ruin it for me. If I knew LESS I would have been happier. And I'm trying to watch through Atom: The Beginning, but I just find it boring and the characters unlikable.
Ill be honest I don't like astro boy and I don't think you need to watch it before Pluto. I think that bigger thing is to know what kind of author Urosawa is. I also found some reviews that complained how there wasn't a lot of fighting among robots and that synopsis/trailer lied to them. Knowing the author's style I fully knew what sort of a show I would watch and it didn't disappointed me. The only thing where I would agree with you woth regards to Astro Boy would be for people that aren't big into anime and why does the focus shifts on the boy so heavy at certain point in the story. And Pluto is an anime that can appeal to a lot of non anime watchers. Also I hope that the recent success of One Piece's live action and the quality of Pluto's adaptation would compelled Netflix to not botch anime adaptations like they usually do. I'm especially mad at how they totally destroyed JoJo part 6 with bafflingly atrocious release order and I hope that that didn't completley destroyed the chances for adaptation of part 7.
hey man if you need a break to get your health back in order, please don’t burn yourself out for some arbitrary youtube schedule ❤ stay safe and take care of your self
I don't read manga and I rarely watch Anime...never really knew anything about Astro Boy except that terrible animated movie they made... I LOVED Pluto. Honestly it has created an interrest for the manga...maybe I should at least learn how you are supposed to read those lol
*SPOILERS UNDER THE READ MORE* The only exposure I had to Astro Boy was the 2009 American movie, so effectively nothing, and I have to say you do NOT need Astro Boy knowledge to properly understand Pluto. Anyone who didn't understand what was going on just has terrible media literacy. The only thing I didn't understand and had to look up after had nothing to do with the original astro boy. *SPOILERS* It was unclear to me that Mr. Roosevelt (I think the anime doesn't even give us his name) was around since before the Central Asian War, and thus was the one who orchestrated it.
*SPOILERS UNDER THE READ MORE* Also, not knowing how the original Astro Boy arc went really upped the tension and made certain moments hit harder because I genuinely did not see them coming. *SPOILERS* I did not think Astro Boy would become our final protagonist. I assumed we'd follow Gesicht the whole time, and Astro boy would be in the background. His death actually caught me off guard.
I am watching it now and in the fourth episode and... I dont know. Its just ok. Its very slow and nothing really makes sense. Why smart roboter and stuff? Dont know. Why arent there more? Dont know. Why why why why? Its... I dont know. Just... ok.
Hey, watched this mess, can someone please explain to me why you consider this a masterpiece ? It was beautifully animated and during the first 2 episodes i was curious where it was heading, but the pacing was just so slow and everything was so predictable, and the world's best AI's were complete dumbasses :D Gesicht had every piece of evidence literally handed to him on a platter, the dialogue varied from decent to abysmal, i've seen much better interpretations of the philosophical aspects of this show - Detroit: Become Human, Bladerunner, SOMA, Deus Ex series. Im just curious why people think it is a masterpiece, when in reality it is very mediocre.
Pluto is the worst anime I've seen in a long time. I never give up on an anime after starting it, but this is the closest I have come to abandoning one. Halfway through and every episode is more boring than the last. I enjoy slow burn anime, but there wasn't any burn here... it was just slow.
In no way should you watch astro boy before watching this. You do not need the knowledge from the astro boy series to enjoy this or understand it in the slightest. I cannot stress this enough. You will literally ruin much of the experience by doing this. I'm legit shocked he recommended doing this.
I disagree. If it matters who wins the fights, then maybe, but that's not the point. To me, it makes Pluto better for appreciating the liberties Urasawa took. Otherwise, people will wonder why the fights aren't shown, the identity of the bear, why the little boy is so important, probably some questions relating to Tenma and Atom, why Uran was significant. With the foreknowledge of the source material, I remember casually reading the manga and enjoying it, then realizing that certain things are lining up with the manga (in vastly different ways) and became so excited to see what Urasawa did with it.
A lot of Pluto is just waiting for the inevitable tragedy of these characters who were barely one-dimensional before. It's worth taking the15 minutes to read the manga arc or watch the 2 episodes of the 80s version to get it.
@Idunnoyouguessit yea in the World's Strongest Robot, they were basically foil characters. Their personality and death had little emotional value and seeing how Urasawa elevated that to make them characters you truly cared about, It made me appreciate them more. Sure you know the vague inevitabilities, but when and how were more important than knowing that they happen
If any piece of work is "ruined" by spoilers, then it is unlikely that it is a good piece of work. If the surprise is the only reason to recommend something, then there isn't any substance to it.
There’s some truth to this but I generally don’t want to be spoiled for anything but Pluto is a rare case because it’s connected to other works. Without Astro knowledge it would be like watching Logan despite not knowing what super hero stories are like, it would be really confusing
Yeah i hated it, didn’t understand anything. But now I understand why. And everyone single person who likes it can’t possibly have seen astro boy.. So it makes me wonder if people just like stuff for likes sake
