If you don't know who the Teddy bear is
who I believe is named Mr. Roosevelt
than you're probably not very far in the
manga or haven't read it carefully enough.
If you don't know who the Teddy bear is
who I believe is named Mr. Roosevelt
than you're probably not very far in the
manga or haven't read it carefully enough.
I do know that the teddy bear is call Roosevelt but i still do not know who the teddy bear is.
i have just read quite a lot of it and just read about
Spoiler for plot:
Atom's death. that was so sad. the professor choosing between his childern and atom who he though of as a grandchild. his death was espically sad. and i like that scene when Montblank(can't spell), hercules and the other one who was a fighter as well, chatting on how many they have killed. and atom getting to go to the cameras and the parades. that was a good moment, made bassically human. a child not seeing and dealing death and is insted a sort of poster child robot. that was a very human sort of position they were in.
Pluto is a very hard to judge manga. On one hand it’s very mature in themes, on the other it’s full of convenient events and magic resolutions is a setting that is supposed to be a lot logic-based. But compared to the usual formula of most manga out there, it does a fine job leaving you with good impressions to the most part.
First of all, the story is a far more mature and dark version of Astro Boy, made by Osamu Tezuka in the 60’s and which so happens to be THE title that defined anime characteristics for all others to follow. In turn, Astro Boy is a far more dark version of the fairy tale of Pinocchio, a thing that Pluto does not forget to point out. The artwork is done by the same mangaka who did Monster and 20th Century Boys, so it will feel very familiar in pacing to those who know of his work.
Art: 10
The general artwork is in fact a work based on antithesis. Most robots and vehicles for example are drawn to resemble those in the original manga, thus they have a very retro feel to them. They sure don’t look as modern sci-fi like Ghost in the Shell usually depicts and instead have a very simplistic structure or anatomy. This is done purely to keep up with the retro feeling of the original and do not damage the overall. Human figures and most nature sceneries are otherwise quite realistic and very familiar in style of the mangaka. Many characters are in fact found in the original Astro Boy manga and were simply given far more anthropomorphic looks to make the drama easier to kick in.
Another antithesis are the characters themselves who are almost entirely children or adults. I’d be damned if there were more than 5 panels showing teenagers and those were just mooks. This is again done to show the tragic legacy the previous generation left for the next, a theme very vivid in most of Tezuka’s works. It sure creates a weird feeling, as manga are 99% overrun with teens.
In all, the art is splendid in being both detailed and retro at the same time, with the movements and the facial expressions being really vivid and emotional. The use of various cinamatics like shadowing someone’s face or using static noise during flashbacks also manages to build a constant feeling of mystery and uneasiness. I find no reason to not give this a full mark.
Story: 8
The story is again another weird antithesis. The themes it’s using are very mature and mind-blowing but at the same time the actual plot is full of magic resolutions and convenient events that simply do not allow you to really take things too seriously. Once again, it is done to maintain the naïve feeling all old stories had without forgetting to pass on various important life lessons to the reader. It works all right but sometimes you may facepalm at the way something is unfolded.
The story is rather too complicating to describe. It reminded me of various classics, such as The Watchmen (Pluto taking on the Seven Super Robots), Bladerunner (how robots and humans become harder and harder to tell apart), and even Neon Genesis (well, dr. Tenma is way too much like Gendo Ikari in personality). The whole Persian war was also a smart reference to the latest war in Iraq (Thracia is America, Darius is Sadam and there are imaginary robots of mass destruction thrown in somewhere). None of its elements felt original to me but as a whole the story is indeed interesting to follow through. It has many side stories going on at the same time and things are lokked upon through different points of view, creating a world that doesn’t feel like it’s revolving around just a few main characters.
The pacing of the story on the other hand is what may feel slow or childish at times, as there is a lot of mystery going around based on fringe science that nobody could figure out before it’s too late to prevent it. Also, many characters are killed or resurrected in quite convenient ways and that does feel like they are fooling with your intelligence. But if your suspension of disbelief is high enough, you can enjoy the thematics and the drama and leave the convenience aside.
The ending of the story will probably feel weak to most as it will unfold way too fast and dried up at some points, with most problems being resolved in just a few panels. Plus, the story will end without telling you everything. You are never told how that robot escaped, who was that teddy bear or how on Earth does a terraforming robot turn magma to ice in half a second. It’s just magic resolutions to get a somewhat happy ending.
Characters: 8
Plagued by those semi-realistic plot devices, the cast itself is somewhat bogged down, despite being quite interesting as far as backgrounds go. Each one of them has a backdrop that has shaped his or her personality and nobody feels like he or she is defined by some quirk or signature attack. Plus the way they interact with one another is plain gorgeous and there are no out of place changes of heart. Another interesting thing to notice is how most of the events are shown though the eyes of robots. Although there is a lot of death in the story, almost all of them are robotic. And yes, robots are treated as alive as long as they are sentient. The mangaka made a wonderful work at making you stare at a junkpile as if it’s a hill of corpses.
As it usually goes with mystery and sci-fi, most development occurs only through memory loss or memory manipulation. Although such plot devices are usually seen as weak, the way the story unfolds did a rather good work at excusing them though a lot of fringe science. It still feels weak but not as much as usual.
Enjoyment and Overall: 7
The blending of retro with modern storytelling is done very good and there are many interesting themes and characters to keep you interesting. The actual mystery of the story takes up a big part of whole and to be honest it ain’t done more seriously than in Monster or 20th Century Boys (you know, you read a thousand pages just to be told everything was magic nobody could do anything about in the first place). Plus, some poor plot devices and the rushed ending really damage the whole and prevent you from being eager to reread the whole deal. But it’s still amongst the better manga out there and really worths reading it for various reasons other than orthological storytelling.
i honestly planned on reading up to chapter 3 either to drop it or continue the next day, but im on chapter 30 now lmao this is so dark and such a good read
2009-04-22, 00:26
