#also why is the robot named pluto??? why is the flower named pluto??? is it cause sahad was kinda just saying pluto while out of his mind

[kumomist]

intense insane staring into the distance and still crying over north no2

[nerdywyrds]

So I'm six episodes into Pluto and I have to write down my thoughts. So far my rating is about 6.5/10. There is some really good stuff in here, but I keep being underwhelmed by the execution.

My thoughts are under the cut so Pluto fans can avoid it if they want.

STUFF THAT ANNOYS ME

Things only happen at the speed of the plot, so some really intense scenes end up going on for way too long and I get bored. Like when Hoffman was being threatened by the robot in the elevator. Hella tense! I like Hoffman and don't want him to be murdered! Then everyone and their mother has to have a long conversation while the robot waits politely for everyone to get their shit together and Hoffman is saved.

The plot only cares about the important characters. Remember how Ochanomizu's grandson is threatened by Pluto and Atom has to run over and save him? And the grandson's life is in danger? He might die? That kid? Last time we see him he's dragging his possibly-mortally-injured mother (who doesn't get a name, though the grandson does) to dubious safety. Then Atom is injured and we never see or hear about the grandson again. Next episode Ochanomizu only talks about how worried he is about Atom and completely fails to mention his own daughter or grandson at all. Like, are they okay? Are they safe? Do you care?

Unfortunately I imprinted on Gundam and Eva young, so my standards for fight scenes are high. Pluto's fight scenes suck. They're mostly quick flashes of the protagonist running or shooting, a bunch of swishy smoke, and then a loooong cut to a bystander looking shocked. If I wanted to watch bystanders being shocked during a fight scene, I'd just watch DBZ.

All of the characters that matter are men.

On a related note-- every woman has the exact same personality (supportive but gently exasperated wife, helpful to the men around her, quiet and demure) and all of the children have the exact same personality (sweet and energetic and cheerful). Even Uran is mostly just your Standard Darling Girl Child.

I wish the flashbacks were a different color than current time, because sometimes it is really hard to follow.

I just don't find Hercules or Epsilon interesting.

What is with the teddy bear. We first see it in episode five with absolutely no foreshadowing or lead-up. The way it is presented and the music suggest it is evil, but I'm like. Buddy I don't even know who you are.

STUFF THAT CONFUSES ME

Why are robot children a thing? Do they grow up? Are they eternally children? When adult robots adopt children robots, is this like. a thing that lasts until they all give out from obsolescence or do the robot children become robot teenagers and then robot adults? Are Atom and Uran going to grow up?

STUFF THAT I LIKE

I really, really like Gesicht.

There is an underlying sadness to the entire world that I really like. It's so bleak.

"A robot like you wouldn't understand emotions/beauty." Hard cut to a robot suffering from PTSD or crying because her husband was murdered or dreaming of growing flowers in the desert.

Brau 1589 is my favorite character. He only shows up occasionally but he owns every scene.

All this shit about robots can't kill humans and then we learn about robots that kill humans, and the robots are real fucked up about it. It's so good. SO GOOD.

All this stuff about artificial intelligences and how they learn and if they count as alive, and how much they can be like humans, so good. Also, love the callback about Gesicht's wife refusing to have her memory erased like Robby's wife refused.

The fact that robots marry delights me.

All the talk about grief is good. So many sad characters.

The actual story-- robot serial killer serial killing other robots, now let's follow our plucky detective as he keeps ending up in mortal danger-- is hella interesting.

Every now and then we are forcibly reminded that our most human-looking robots are not human and it's great every time.

Making a robot because your son died and you want to replace him and then being upset that your robot is his own person instead of an exact copy of your son is so fucked up it's great.

So in conclusion, Pluto is an interesting story, but based on how I was equally irritated with what I've seen of Monster, I think that Naoki Urusawa's writing style just is not my jam. Which is a shame because on paper his stories are incredibly up my alley.