Tuesday, March 9, 2010

I Reads You Review: PLUTO: URASAWA × TEZUKA, VOL. 6

Creators: Naoki Urasawa (writer/artist), Osamu Tezuka (writer), Takashi Nagasaki (writer) with Jared Cook and Frederick, L. Schodt (translators)
Publishing Information: VIZ Media, paperback, 200 pages, $12.99 (US), $16.99 CAN, £8.99 UK
Ordering Numbers: ISBN: 978-1-4215-2721-5 (ISBN-13)

Pluto: Urasawa × Tezuka is a science fiction and conspiracy manga from Naoki Urasawa. Pluto is also a reworking or re-imagination of The Greatest Robot on Earth. First published in 1964, this is the most famous story arc of Astro Boy (Tetsuwan Atom), the late Osamu Tezuka’s beloved manga.

Pluto: Urasawa × Tezuka focuses on a supporting character from the original story, a very human-like, German robot detective named Gesicht. Gesicht investigates a series of murders in which someone or something is targeting the world’s seven most powerful and advanced robots for destruction. Gesicht is one of those robots, and he discovers that the killer may be another robot, an indestructible monstrosity called “Pluto.”

In Pluto: Urasawa × Tezuka, Vol. 6, Gesicht has a meeting with Abullah, hears more about Goji, and searches for Sahad. How are they connected to Pluto? Well, Gesicht finally meets Pluto, and also faces his own fate.

Pluto: Urasawa × Tezuka is a mystery and psychological thriller in the vein of Naoki Urasawa’s Monster, but Pluto is science fiction like Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys. Like Urasawa’s other work, Pluto is a grand puzzle, but Pluto is a joy to read, even if the reader cannot solve the mysteries. Urasawa introduces a multitude of characters and subplots in a slow and deliberate fashion. If reading can be described as delicious, these characters’ motivations, secrets, conflicts, and personalities form a complex meal of complementary savory flavors.

Plus, with all the big reveals, Vol. 6 is a must have for fans of the series.

A

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