Pluto (Manga): A Review (8/6/2020)

Review for MAL.

Quick story summary: There is a robot(?) that is killing the 7 strongest robots in the world, as well as select human robot experts. Gesicht, a renowned detective, is in charge of finding out who, or what, is causing all the murders.

Naoki Urasawa is often called one of the best storytellers to ever exist, throughout any medium. His most notable works include Monster, 20th Century Boys, and Pluto, which are all seen as some of the best stories ever to be created in manga if not in any medium, including cinema or literature.

But personally, having read all of the aftermentioned three series, I have to admit that although I didn't really enjoy Monster or 20th Century Boys as much as everyone else seems to, I believe that Pluto deserves all of the hype it gets.

I have a lot of problems with Monster and 20th Century Boys. They both seem to share similar faults: while the beginning is great, the middle starts to get drawn out far too long and the ending, for some reason, gets rushed and doesn't feel satisfying. (Huge spoilers for 20th Century Boys: How the HELL did Kenji survive? It literally makes no sense, and it also the makes no sense for him to just be fucking around for years after magically surviving Bloody New Year's Eve)

That isn't to say that I can't understand why Urasawa's works are so often praised, however. He is very good at making every chapter suspenseful, and also keeping crucial details hidden from you until the last minute. All of his manga that I have consumed so far (Pluto, Monster, and 20th Century), are prime examples of manga that you physically can't put down. In Pluto, I think this aspect of his storytelling really shines through. It is 60 chapters, but it'll be over before you know it.

I believe the biggest asset of this manga is it's length. Pluto is only 60 chapters long, which is good because unlike his other series, Pluto doesn't feel stretched out at all, and the ending actually makes sense and is satisfying. It is also a remake of another existing series, so the world makes more sense because many things already feel established. (Spoilers for 20th Century Boys: unlike, for example, in 20th Century where the dream world thing is randomly added, and never properly explained).

Another reason why Urasawa is praised so often is because of the attention to detail. I can't give too many examples out because of spoilers, but I'll say that this is a series definitely worth re-reading, if not just because of all the details you'll notice.

If you love suspenseful, mystery-driven stories that will be impossible to put down, then Pluto is definitely a great choice. If you want to check out Urasawa, then Pluto is a great choice. If you just want a masterpiece of a manga to read, then Pluto is a great choice. If you really love this, then it might be worth to also go read Monster and 20th Century Boys, although, in my humble opinion, I do think that they are overrated. (Only slightly in Monster's case, but very very overrated in 20th Century's case.)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ranking all of John Mayer's Albums (9/1/2021)

 This post started out almost two years ago, but with the release of John's newest album, Sob Rock, I've decided to finally finish things up. Like in my top 10 albums of 2020 post, I'll be using normal text for all the songs I recommend, and bold for the songs I love. However, in this post I'll also include a "review in five words or less" (RIFWOL) section for easy reading. It's actually pretty funny to look back on my choices those two years ago and see how much things have changed. For reference, my rankings back then were: Room for Squares Battle Studies The Search For Everything Continuum Heavier Things Born and Raised Paradise Valley I'll be writing about the albums in chronological order, so scroll to the bottom to see my list today. 1. Room for Squares Honestly, very little can beat early John Mayer for me. Pretty much every song from this album I love and recognize. I really enjoy this early pop rock sound, and this album is one of those few al...
Read more

Reflections on the Dark Tower series (spoilers) (1/11/2019)

I've finally finished the series. It's been a wild ride. From the surreal first book to the twist at the end of the final book, it's been quite the journey. And it feels extensive too. The series took me around a year to finish, and it feels like the books have lasted forever. The Dark Tower series acts as one long story split over the entire seven (technically 8, plus WTK). The characters also travel through expansive settings, going across worlds and dimensions, from a desert to a forest, across a radioactive wasteland, and ending finally at the Dark Tower. If you want to read this, be prepared for a long ride. The Dark Tower series can be seen as a sort of hub for all of Stephen King's other works. For example, one of King's first novels,  Salem's Lot , tells the story of a man named Callahan, a character who also appears in the Dark Tower series. The characters also travel through a part of the decimated world that is featured in King's novel  Th...
Read more

Golden Boy (11/17/2022)

 Golden Boy is the worst manga I've ever read. While I wouldn't really want to recommend it in general, I think that reading at least some part of this could still be entertaining because of just how weird it is. And this manga is very, very weird. I personally did not love the anime, so I started reading the manga with no prior information hoping that it would get better. Instead, the manga only gets worse the more you read it. It reached a point where I was physically cringing during almost every chapter, and I had to take multiple breaks from reading because it was just too much. I think Golden Boy works best if you just show out of context screenshots to people. Some insane (and I mean insane as in I seriously think the author has some kind of mental illness) things happen in the manga, and those things are pretty funny if you just take them out of context. Over the course of the series, however, I found that the antics of the manga just got tiring. At some point in the man...
Read more