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After years of delay and hype, Pluto episode 1 was released on October 26, 2023. The entire eight-episode series is available to stream on Netflix, and all episodes are at least one hour in length. The first episode laid the groundwork for the rest of the story in this adaptation of the Astro Boy story, The Greatest Robot in the World.
Following the discovery of the beloved environmentalist Swiss robot Mont Blanc torn apart in the middle of a huge forest fire and the subsequent murder of robot rights activist Bernard Lanke, Europol detective Gesicht gets involved in a manhunt for the killer.
Several twists and turns are made as Pluto episode 1 continues along from there.
Disclaimer: This review will contain spoilers for Pluto episode 1.
Pluto episode 1: A murder mystery involving robots begins
Connections to Astro Boy
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Astro Boy was one of the first anime to make it big overseas. Since its debut in 1963, a full 11 years after the manga started, Astro Boy has had several series and spin-offs from the 1960s to 2003. Pluto is one of them, having started as a manga written by Osamu Tezuka that ran from 2003 to 2009.
The story of Pluto is to Astro Boy what Wicked is to The Wizard of Oz: a telling of the same story from a different perspective and different context. In this case, Pluto is adapting The Greatest Robot in the World, itself an adaptation of The Greatest Robot on Earth from 1964. That story follows the killer and Astro's efforts to stop and fight them, where Gesicht is a side character.
This means that Astro, keeping the localized name Atom, is in the series. He shows up at the end of Pluto episode 1 as Gesicht meets with him in Japan. Detective Gesicht is the main protagonist for now, but audiences should consider Astro/Atom a deuteragonist.
Pluto episode 1 nails this not just by having Atom appear at the end, but the murder investigation that starts the series is of well-known and well-beloved environmentalist Mont Blanc, and various perspectives are given, including a butler and his charge and a serial killer.
Two murders, two investigations
Pluto episode 1's first big investigation that Gesicht, the best investigator android, finds himself on is Mont Blanc and Richard Lanke's murders. The former was a beloved environmentalist, well-beloved across Asia to the point where plenty of volunteers set up a memorial and called him "The Guardian Angel of the Alps". The latter, while advocating for robot rights, was very harsh and had plenty of enemies.
The only thing linking the murders was the victims' heads having metal attached to them resembling devil horns. Gesicht suspects that Mont Blanc wasn't killed by human beings, natural disasters, or accidents, owing to witness testimony from Mont Blanc's creator and experts. Lanke was killed without a trace left behind by his killer.
While on a related case busting a drug addict that attacked a cop and a constable robot named Robby, Robby's wife helps scan the memory chip of her deceased husband and captures a fuzzy image of something or someone leaping from apartment to apartment during the time of Lanke's murder. The only thing they could discern from the footage was that it wasn't a robot.
Pluto episode 1 features several themes: PTSD and trauma, transhumanist themes of what makes a human vs. a robot, the nature of crime scenes and evidence, and artificial intelligence having sentience and dreams beyond what they were initially programmed and built to function as. Case in point: Brau 1589 and North No. II.
An interview with a killer
In a scene reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs, Pluto episode 1 featured a robot killer designated Brau 1589 interviewed by Gesicht. The imprisoned killer was in shambles, and a large spear struck through him. He is the first robot to kill a human being despite being compliant with the equivalent of Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics: The International Laws of Robotics, article 13, specifically.
Brau (1589) gives Gesicht some cryptic insight regarding the possible identity of the killer. This included the meaning behind the horns on the head. The horns on the heads were usually made to refer to devils. Brau 1589 specifically referred to Herne the Hunter, aka The Horned King, Hades, the Grecian god of the underworld, and his Roman counterpart Pluto. It fits with Gesicht saying there's "a devil" inside the killer earlier.
Not only is the whole scene a well-done homage to a lot of different films that feature consulting with serial killers, but it also namedrops the title and foreshadows the killer. Brau1589 also gives Geischt the warning that if Mont Blanc could be ripped apart like a kid's toy, then the other seven great robots, including Geischt and Atom, are targets.
The terrifying truth of Brau1589 is that his AI was scanned for any defects, and no flaw or defect was found. The same appears to hold true for the killer, who goes on to his next victim: a butler robot named North No. II and his charge, Paul Duncan.
North No. II and Paul Duncan
Pluto is more intimate with showing the life and times of the various robots that are targeted by the killer than the original Astro Boy story, which only had them there as fodder for the killer. Pluto episode 1 showcases this best with the neatly self-contained tale of North No. II, butler to the blind composer Paul Duncan.
North No. II is a veteran of the 39th Central Asian Conflict and constantly has the memories of all the combat he's been through on a loop in his memory. This short story revolves around both North No. II's desire to be more than just a killing machine and Paul Duncan's bitter feelings about his mother, his lack of eyesight, and his increasing reliance on technology for music and movement.
The tragedy aspect is emphasized in this relationship's dynamic and improvement, from Paul Duncan being bitter about the world to North No. II accepting him. North No. II gets Paul to reassess his relationship with his mother, learns to sing and play the piano, and genuinely makes a positive impact on Duncan's life.
Then a massive storm shows up over the private mansion. North No. II races to protect Paul and is subsequently killed fighting the killer in the storm. The last thing heard of North No. II in Pluto episode 1 is the beautiful and haunting song from Duncan's dreams, a soft lullaby his mother used to help calm him down before an explosion cleared the stormy skies, signaling North No. II's death.
Atom
The ending of Pluto episode 1 features Gesicht encountering Atom in Tokyo, wherein he gets to see the boy examining a snail in the rain. There's no hostility toward each other, just the two meeting on a rainy day. Atom resembles a normal-looking child, looking a tad bit older than the more boyish face Astro is usually remembered for.
Two characters meeting in the rain to discuss a case is typical of noir and detective stories. In most cases, it's the lead detective meeting contacts, which takes place at night. Not so much here, where it seems to take place on a very rainy afternoon, and it's two people meeting to compare notes.
While this note is what Pluto episode 1 ends on, it's a good one to lure people in for the next episode. It shows that Detective Gesicht is not the only person involved in the case, nor is he the only target. If North No. II's story didn't clinch that fact for the audience, this should.
After all, if a robot butler and conservationist, along with a pro-robot human advocate, can be targeted, then nobody is off limits, not even a child hero or a detective.
Final Thoughts
Pluto episode 1 doesn't feel like an episode of anime, but like the first part of a movie. Running in at around 70 minutes on the first episode alone, everything is set up well to draw the viewer in. While there are still a few tantalizing mysteries, such as what the 39th Central Asian Conflict involved and what Gesicht's flashbacks mean, it does a good job of opening the mystery.
There are some theories that can be made on aspects introduced in this episode: Gesicht's memories obviously involve something traumatic attempting to claw its way to the surface, hence the blood on the ground. Atom's role is obviously going to be similar to the original story: trying to track down and stop the killer as much as Gesicht is.
Pluto episode 1 is available to stream on Netflix. The mystery of who's killing robots and pro-robot people is only just beginning in this Astro Boy spinoff.
