But on that same token, what adaptation could ever live up to such a perfect work?

And Urasawa’s art is gorgeous throughout, so detailed in execution and cinematic in framing that it’s almost surprising that none of the plans to adapt the manga as a live-action film or anime have yet come to fruition. On top of how rich the story is in its addressing of classic science fiction themes, Urasawa also grounds his narrative in more contemporary references the conflict that directly predates the events of the manga is clearly a mirror of the Iraq War. We need to reckon with our love of sexy robots

Urasawa’s adaptation blows those themes out into an entire series, and builds in ideas that have been ever present in robot-centric and sci-fi media. Tezuka’s work has always been unusually thoughtful, with “The Greatest Robot on Earth” questioning why people go to war and what true power means. This more solemn take on a famous comic superhero fits with Pluto’s overall tone. His distinctive hair spikes have been tamed, and he now wears a complete outfit rather than just black underwear and red boots. The twist: Pluto is an adaptation of “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” an arc in Osamu Tezuka’s iconic Astro Boy series, and features Astro Boy himself as a prominent character.īut Pluto’s Astro Boy, called “Atom,” isn’t the same cheery robot found in Tezuka’s comics. As the investigation continues, however, the story unfurls, drawing in the seven great robots of the world (the most technologically advanced, that is) and the preservation of a set of laws that grant robots equal rights. The Europol detective Gesicht, a robot, is investigating a possible serial killer who has been targeting both humans and robots. In fact, it might be the best robot story ever told. His work Pluto, which takes on one of the most famous robots of all time, is no exception to the rule.

20th Century Boys turned the superhero genre on its head when a group of childhood friends discover that the cult threatening to take over the world bears eerie similarities to the story they made up as kids. Monster told the story of a doctor who, while trying to fight back against a hospital’s bias in deciding which patients to treat first, inadvertently saves a serial killer and lets the town mayor die. Naoki Urasawa has a knack for turning simple ideas into sprawling manga epics. Follow along as we deep dive into the great unknown. What does the future hold? In our new series “Imagining the Next Future,” Polygon explores the new era of science fiction - in movies, books, TV, games, and beyond - to see how storytellers and innovators are imagining the next 10, 20, 50, or 100 years during a moment of extreme uncertainty.

Pluto by naoki urasawa