With Gesicht destroyed by Pluto, there is only one of the 7 great robots left. Epsilon is the last remaining great robot, and he is possibly the strongest of them all with his photon energy. The one major fact about Epsilon is that he is a pacifist and has managed to stay out of battles and conflicts. He has focused his life on running an orphanage for children of war, but this may be his one real weakness.
Urasawa brings out the big guns in this volume. He pushes the envelope with the struggle between war and peace. The pure pacifist versus the ultimate in killers. The cat and mouse game is played out when Epsilon leaves his orphanage to help protect the children there. This is a tactic that Pluto expects and is looking for.
The real twist that is brought out in this volume is a greater understanding of what Gesicht found out before he died. There is someone behind Pluto pulling the strings and Urasawa uses the analogy of Pinocchio to reveal the mystery behind the mystery. He also uses the battle between Epsilon and Pluto to add another layer to the dual personality that is conflicting Pluto’s true nature. It has become very clear that Pluto is the AI of another robot who was believed to have been destroyed in the war. This adds to the layering of the sub-plots in the complex story.
Overall
I came late to this series and had very high hopes for Urasawa bringing a new perspective to the Grandfather of the Manga world, Astro Boy. I can see that Urasawa has a great reverence for Tezuka and the Astro Boy franchise, but he did not bring his A game to this series. I have found it very easy to empathize and even connect with the majority of Urasawa’s protagonists. In the case of Pluto I have found it very hard to identify with any of the protagonists or even the mysterious antagonist. Urasawa does provide plenty of drama and action to keep the reader involved, I just feel less than interested in the outcome or even rooting for one of the opposing sides to win in this struggle. I get the dramatic “end of the world” theme and also enjoy the added discovery of a few of the Astro Boy characters that were nothing but props in Tezuka’s original series.
Pluto volume 7, does have the quality that befits the lofty ideals that Urasawa is trying to accomplish. The weakness is that the legacy of the story appears to hamper the possibility of creativity that is a trait that Urasawa typically brings to his stories. For those of you that are into this series or a diehard Astro Boy fan, this series is for you. If you are not familiar with the Astro Boy franchise and are looking for a quality action series, you just might find what you are looking for. It is important to start at the beginning, do not begin with this volume.
ComicsOnline gives Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, volume 7 2.5 out of 5 sleeping giants.
