By ATSUSHI OHARA/ Staff Writer
May 1, 2023 at 07:00 JST
Netflix will stream an animated adaptation of the “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka” manga series this year.
The manga is based on “The Greatest Robot on Earth,” a popular arc from Osamu Tezuka’s "Astro Boy” manga series.
Produced by Takashi Nagasaki and supervised by Tezuka’s son Makoto, the original “Pluto” manga series ran between 2003 and 2009 with the assistance of Tezuka Productions Co.
In 2005, the title won the top Manga Grand Prix award at the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, founded in honor of the creator known as “the god of manga.”
The story opens as the world’s great robots are destroyed one after another, and Atom, one of the targets, pursues the case with robot detective Gesicht.
“‘The Greatest Robot on Earth’ has always had a special place in my heart, sitting at the center of all manga works ever since I read it when I was 5,” Urasawa said during an event held in Tokyo on March 25. “I even feel like I have been trying to understand the inexplicable bittersweet sensation that I felt at the time.”
He continued, “I was in anguish when I was working on ‘Pluto,’ so I want the production crew to go through the same thing when they work on the anime. They must be prepared because their goal is Master Tezuka.”
The event was also attended by voice actors Yoko Hikasa, who plays Atom, and Minori Suzuki, who is cast as Atom’s robot sister Uran, as well as Makoto.
“This story is meant for our time riddled with war, division and discrimination. I hope the audience can connect with the feelings of my father who depicted such issues about 60 years ago,” he said.
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