Pluto (Netflix)

There is so much intelligent and engaging science fiction animation available right now but it all seems to be hiding under the pop-culture radar. The most extreme example was Pantheon but I hadn’t heard much about the anime series Pluto on Netflix either. If you are looking for some thoughtful character-driven science fiction with occasional giant robot battles, Pluto is an exceptional choice.

Imagine if Alan Moore when originally considering developing Watchmen based on DC’s recently acquired set of Charlton Comics superheroes had instead decided to develop his meditation on power and vulnerability on the beloved Japanese series Astro Boy. That’s still not a good description of Pluto but it gets you into the general territory. I’ve seen it described as a gritty retelling of Astro Boy and that is literally true (there are multiple characters and backstories which are the same) but also absolutely misses what the show is like. I haven’t read the original manga series this was based on and I wasn’t aware of the Astro Boy connection going into it and if you know nothing about Astro Boy you won’t be at a disadvantage — it might even be an advantage.

It is the future (and arguably an alternative history) and humanity lives side by side with intelligent robots. Some robots are big machines, others very human-like and some shift bodies (giant mech at work and human-like body at home). Robots have only recently acquired civil rights, including the right to have families and bring up robot children. The world in general is just getting over the trauma of a recent (three years prior) war in central Asia between the nation of Persia (which is depicted more like Iraq than Iran) and the United States of Thracia (basically the USA).

Inspector Gesicht is a very human-like detective with Europol and is given the task of investigating two recent murders: a famous and popular Swiss robot and a human who was instrumental in securing civil rights for robots. In both cases the killer left the victims heads adorned with horns…

There are eight one-hour episodes in which we meet the set of the most powerful robots in the world. The story is happy to take breaks from the main plot line to introduce characters and explore the lives and regrets of each of these beings.

The bigger theme of the Iraq-war-like conflict that underpins the story is less well done when taken as a whole and there is this odd aspect where European countries and Japan have their real names whereas the USA & Iraq get fictionalised names (and the obvious awkwardness of making the Iraq-like nation have the name Persia). It’s not a fatal mistake though and the underlying idea of a war that achieved nothing but the perpetuation of hatred and regret is well done.

At times sentimental and at times horrific, there is a lot going on in each episode but carried forward by the central mystery of a series of murders. Well worth a watch.