Pluto

This might be a stretch, but this show to me was like if True Detective and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners had a baby. The elements of mystery aligned with the chaos that is ensued by these robotic inhuman like beings is incredible yet saddening to watch play out. There are other elements of shows that I think can be compared, and from what I've heard this anime was created by the creator of Monster, but for me those two shows I mentioned were the first to come to mind for me.

Pluto is a sci-fi, mystery, action thriller that brings together so many elements and pretty much knocks all of them out of the park. Every one of the 7 advanced robots have so much life to them that makes you root for them from the get-go. Gesicht, the inspector/detective who is the main protagonist brings so much to the story with his fury and compassion. Epsilon shows the care and love for others in the show. North No.2 gives you hope that you can pursue dreams despite a dark, hard to ignore past. Hercules shows the passion in fighting, while Brando shows how fighting can be put aside for family. And Atom and his sister show you hope, and a glimmer of light in a dark tunnel.

The supporting cast does a great job to further express these feeling at times as well, but this show does a tremendous job of throwing you into a cruel world with robotic figures with artificial intelligence, yet the beings that are supposed to be emotionless make you feel the most, and show you real tears.

Pluto is a brilliant 8 episode mini-series that gives you so much and creates a mysterious and interesting experience that you can't look away from. And with some of the current heavy hitters airing as of recent in the anime world like JJK, Bleach TYBW, One Piece, and the much anticipated final chapter of Attack On Titan that airs this weekend to name a few, it's great to see a mini series pop in and steal the shine every once in a while, and show that anime isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

Thank you Netflix, for adapting this story and that too so perfectly. I've missed this feeling. There are only a few anime I was able to binge non-stop (like Steins Gate or AOT). Pluto is no different. It's right up there with some of the best mystery/suspense anime.

There are many reasons why Pluto might be one of the best anime we've gotten in years. Let me explore those reasons one by one.

The storytelling and pacing is just perfect. A mystery is told perfectly, when a viewer is curious, but never confused. That's what this anime did. The story is shown to be complex, but still doesn't seem that way. The pace is never too fast. I never struggled to keep track of the information given so far. It's also never too slow. I just don't know where those 8 hours went. I was so involved in the story. It gave brief amounts of information, at perfect intervals in the story in order to complete the puzzle in our brain.

This isn't just a thriller. It's a story about humanity, about emotions, hatred in particular. Because of how concise the story is, every plot point leads to this theme. Each character plays a huge role in communicating the story's message. And I cared for each of them. The second half brought me to tears. The conclusion is very emotionally satisfying too.

I love how this story used AI in order to explore humanity, and to enhance its emotions as well as its theme. It's just brilliant writing. Such a story, seems impactful now more than ever.

The character that stole the show, was Gesicht. A flawlessly written character, with a very emotional arc. He deserved being the protagonist of this wonderful story.

Another thing I loved was that this was sort of a mix of a futuristic sci-fi mystery, a dark psychological mystery, as well as a detective story.

There's just one tiny problem I had. During the final episodes, they introduced some new plot points, that felt a bit out of place to me.

But overall, this is an emotionally heavy story, memorable mystery and it's brilliantly told. Please, watch it on Netflix. We need more anime like these.

First of all, I have to say that I'm an anime only and I haven't read the manga. I've only seen one other series by Naoki Urasawa and that is the anime of Monster.

So going into this blindly, I expected something similar like a realistic psychological crime story. But what I got was something completely different and it's honestly hard to believe that these are two mangas written by the same author. It's a science fiction that takes place in the future with a lot of fantasy elements, such as extremely advanced technology like robots and artificial intelligence on the level of or even more developed than humans. That was definitely a nice change and just proves that Urasawa is a genius of a mangaka who can write very diverse stories. The only thing halfway similar is the murder mystery aspect of the story, but I definitely loved that.

This anime had some interesting themes like the never-ending cycle of hatred. It's also very emotional with hard hitting deaths that almost made me cry for literal robots. Every episode is interesting and has some nice moments, but no episode is even close to the level of the masterpiece that is the last one.

That final episode is one of the greatest TV episodes I've ever seen. It has a plot twist on the same level of Attack on Titan, which absolutely shocked me. And that final fight had me on the edge of my seat the whole time as it's just pure craziness and emotion. It's genuinely the greatest finale that I've ever seen in any anime and this is not an exaggeration. I'm just so glad to finally see another very well executed ending. Most endings that I've seen felt kind of unsatisfying.

Overall, I really enjoyed this fairly short show and it was an incredible experience. The only thing I disliked was the animation of environmental elements like tornados and explosions. The studio used too realistic CGI for this that just looks a bit odd compared to the 2D animation.

This is a great sci-fi mystery series. It's a true sci-fi series in that it takes current conflicting situations (AI, war conflicts) and extrapolates the good and bad possibilities into the future based on the current issues they're facing. The story telling is very good, humanizing robots who develop emotions and hopes and dreams, just as much as humans do. Character development is equally as good, especially learning the ups and downs that Gesicht faces in his job as a detective and in his personal relationships. I only noticed a couple of small plot bandaids to smooth things over, but otherwise, it's a really well told story and warning of the consequences of the greed that causes war and the ensuing escalation that develops from the pain and hatred of wars.

As soon as Netflix releases a new celebrated anime I'm a sceptic. The reviews look bought, the reviewers dumb. But still, I had my eyes on Pluto and it didn't disappoint.

Other reviews will tell you what the story is about. For me the anime is fascinating due to its in-depth analysis of AI and the meaning of being alive, to feel and being a person.

I loved the characters, the twists and turns of the plot, the dialogue, the score, the style. It's excellent, like a mix between Monster and Neon Genesis Evangelion.

This is what anime can give you that other video formats lack. The ability to explore ideas within a story, in the same way literature can.

A must-watch.