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Tuesday, February 14, 2023, saw Shogakukan’s website list the anime adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto manga to be streamed exclusively on Netflix when it finally arrives. While there is no confirmed release date as of this article’s writing, the announcement of streaming availability could imply that one is coming sometime soon.
The Pluto manga is Urasawa’s reimagining of Osamu Tezuka’s world-famous Astro Boy manga series. More specifically, it reimagines The Greatest Robot on Earth story arc. Urasawa reinterprets the arc as a murder-mystery thriller rather than Tezuka’s original action-adventure battle shonen style.
Pluto anime series continues to show signs of life following leaker tease
Earlier in February, reputable general anime and manga news source and leaker @SugoiLITE (Sugoi) claimed that news on the Pluto anime would soon come. While fans didn’t doubt this claim initially, many were skeptical due to the fact that nothing had been heard about the project since its initial announcement.
Then, on Valentine’s Day, the official website for the publisher of Urasawa’s manga, Shogakukan had some news for fans about Pluto. As mentioned above, the manga publisher began listing that the anime adaptation of the manga series would stream exclusively on Netflix.
The adaptation was first announced at the GENCO Studio booth at the MIFA film market at the 2017 Annecy International Animation Film Festival. However, the anime was never officially announced, with GENCO claiming at the time that Studio M2 would be producing the anime. Masao Murayama, M2’s representative director, served as the producer for the anime adaptations of Urasawa’s Monster and several other works during his time at Madhouse Studios.
Also mentioned above is the fact that the series is a retelling of an arc from Osamu Tezuka’s original Astro Boy manga series. Urasawa’s retelling takes a seinen approach, mixing in murder-mystery thriller elements while still retaining the original series’ adventurous tones. The retelling follows top Europol detective Gesicht, who is assigned to investigate the mysterious robot serial murders of the seven great robots of the world.
However, he is one of the seven targets, beginning the game of cat and mouse between Gesicht and someone or something in a world where humans and robots are nigh indiscernible. The manga series is incredibly beloved by both young and old readers alike, bridging the gap between generations thanks to its inherent identity as an Astro Boy retelling. The apparently on-the-way anime adaptation is expected to do the same.
Be sure to keep up with all anime, manga, film, and live-action news as 2023 progresses.
