Review of Pluto By Viz Media
-== What is it? ==-
Pluto is a science fiction manga that weaves a tale of what happens when human emotions collide with robotic artificial intelligence. The collection was written by Naoki Urasawa and Osamu Tezuka and is published by Viz Media in their Viz Signature line of manga. Pluto was released in eight volumes from February 2009 through March 2010.
The story of Pluto is inspired by the classic Astro Boy story “The Greatest Robot On Earth”. This story was written by Osamu Tezuka in 1951. You read that right…1951. 😉 The Astro Boy manga became so popular that in 1963 it was turned into the first weekly animated series in Japan. Both the manga and TV series are iconic. Naoki Urasawa, the co-author and artist of Pluto, is considered a modern manga master so his take on such a classic story adds to the importance of the collaboration.
The eight volumes have color covers with intricate portrait spines. Each book is 5.75? x 8.25? and is roughly 200 pages in length. Volume 8 of Pluto is actually a bit longer at 256 pages. The first 10 pages of each volume are in color and the rest are black and white. At the end of each book is an editorial by a noted manga artist or author. I am reviewing print copies that I purchased.
-== What I Like ==-
Pluto is visionary storytelling. It is science fiction at its very best. It asks very difficult questions then answers them from several perspectives. Some of the tough questions that Pluto addresses include what it means to be human, what means to “feel”, how far hatred can go, and when does it end?
Characters are beautifully detailed and real in Pluto. Gesicht, the robot artificial intelligence detective, is so well crafted that his story will make you cheer, hate, then cry. (Gesicht is on the cover of the first volume.)
Pluto is filled with fantastic artwork that is detailed, full of action, and not cluttered. Urasawa’s work is off the charts beautiful. The cover and spine artwork on the eight volumes depict different faces of the various main players. The picture wraps around the spine to the back of the volume. On the spine itself the face is lined up with the right eye of the character. It looks very dramatic on a bookshelf.
-== What I Don’t Like ==-
There is very little not to like about the story in Pluto. My only complaint on the story, and it is minor, is that is can be a bit slow at times. For the most part it is done to make an impact later on in the chapter.
The cost for each volumes feels a bit high but I am not a frequent manga buyer. Each volume of Pluto has a cover price of $12.99. I would recommend waiting for a sale at RightStuf.com. Just add yourself to their newsletter then watch for a sale on Viz products. 😉
-== Summary ==-
I have read various manga over the years and I can categorically state that Pluto is my all time favorite. Even if you are not a manga or comic book fan I encourage looking this one up. It had such a big impact on me that after reading the last two volumes I had to sit quietly pondering what I had read. Pluto is storytelling at a high level.
You can get the books at RightStuf.com for at this URL for $9.74. Here
I give it 10 out of 10 paws.
