#greatest robot on earth

[siflshonen]

The greatest robots in the world are like a group of 90s high school girls because tHEY NEVER HANG UP ON THE GROUP CALL

[intexda]

Highly recommend Pluto. It's a fantastic reimagining of Astro Boy's "Greatest robot on earth" as a tragic murder mystery that explores a lot of the astro boy universe in a really fascinating way.

It's also entirely contained to a single season so you don't have to worry about any form of cancellation. Which is the best news I can give for a netflix series.

[dweamofsweep]

Pluto Finale Manga VS Anime! (Vol/Ep. 8)

this was making my brain itch so I just had to do it ;w; Spoilers for the end of Naoki Urasawa’s Pluto! And by the way, I would love if any of you who have seen both versions add your own thoughts.

This is mostly focusing on how scenes are ordered in both versions — the overall content is about the same. A problem that comes up when adapting manga into anime is the temporal nature of video mediums. In manga when the scene shifts suddenly between time and space, a reader can take their own time to re-orient themselves, but in anime this can lead to people becoming confused or being taken out of the moment since (ideally) the video is being played without stopping, and the timing is determined by the creators. i made a very messy outline of the manga and anime episode side by side to compare where the scenes end up, and most of what got altered in terms of order come down to flashback scenes. (Sorry for the terrible handwriting lol but I will explain in text too)

A lot of the major story beats end up in the same or similar places, but the anime seems to try to streamline the flow of scenes in time as much as possible.

The Nanabu legend heads to the beginning of the anime version (probably to avoid interrupting everything that happens with Atom).

Atom’s explanation scene with Ochanomizu, Arnold and Nakamura is originally a “three days ago” flashback that happens AFTER he goes to see Brau and Helena and while he is visiting Gesicht’s gravesite. In the anime it’s placed before those scenes, and I think either alongside or right before/after Tenma confronts the robot Abullah. Honestly I think this makes a bit more sense than the original and I’m not complaining LOL!

What does bother me though, is the shuffling around of the Gesicht flashbacks to all be during Atom’s scene holding the snail. The original placements of these scenes were spread out in the last half of the manga:

The flashbacks in the anime are squished together in said scene and also adds in two more (marked in blue and blue-green):

They’re arranged in chronological order in the anime, starting with the hostage/junkyard scene and ending with Gesicht’s death and the “nothing comes of hatred” line. I definitely understand the reason why they thought to do this; Gesicht’s memories are the reason Atom woke up, so this is an opportune time to explore some new ones. The flashbacks also might interrupt the pacing of the battle with Pluto and the final confrontation of Bora/Goji/Abullah in anime format. It just bothers me though, because I feel like these flashbacks placed within the snail scene kind of knock the wind out of that scene’s impact… the manga version basically wraps it up in a page:

This is the moment when Atom recovers his personality and (mostly) goes back to his usual self. The snail calls back to how he found one before meeting Gesicht, expressing curiosity/wonder for life and also his thoughtfulness, gently returning the snail to the bushes where it belonged. I think this suggests that his resilience against hatred is thanks to his intrinsic character; at his core, he loves the world and life despite all the terrible stuff he’s been through. The act of picking up and examining the snail brought him back to that. The way the anime structured it made it seem more like it was Gesicht’s memories convincing him to… idk, “stop hating”? And the snail was just a potential victim of that hatred.

I also think Gesicht’s last moments were better reserved for stopping Atom from killing Pluto/Sahad. Atom doesn’t want to let go of the hatred inherited from Gesicht, but it is Gesicht’s own final revelation that makes Atom realize he is about to become part of the cycle of hate. This might be up to personal taste, but I found everyone’s ghosts yelling at Atom from beyond the grave to be kind of sappy… Thematically, I think it was nicer to have the Junkyard and Robita flashbacks towards the end as well — they make references to “the end of the world” and the love and connections humanity hopes for/holds onto that are worth protecting (essentially, the reason why the world shouldn’t have to end, and the other side to the coin of hatred). Again though, I get why the anime switched this stuff around and it’s not like I’m “mad” at the creators for changing it. Just find it really interesting how sequence can alter meaning (the content of the scenes is basically identical, it’s just the relationship to one another that has been changed and affects how it’s read).

What do you guys think, do you feel the same way? Or do you think it doesn’t really make a difference, or that it actually improved the story for you?

[ferdifz]

Pluto (2023 limited animated series)

I think "Pluto" is a series we need right now, with all the grandstanding-fuelled violence we're having all over the globe… Debuting at Netflix within the next 24 hours…

[wormed-woman]

the pacing in the 1980 astro boy was something else

[emzycore]

My favourites from the greatest robot on earth arc

[500zeusabody]

Osamu Tezuka's "The Greatest Robot on Earth" & Noaki Urasawa's "Pluto" parallels (edit)

[coritokajisaki]

North No2 playing music game

[st0machii]

My favourite Australian geezer,,,epsilon,,,

[guideaus]

dr. tenma's a little but irresponsible i think

[robotshowtunes]

ROBOTS MUST NOT BECOME ANY MORE HUMAN …

Spotlight effect from TopPNG

[astroboyanalysis]

6. White Planet

I thought I'd be done for the night but actually, this one's extremely short.

Anyone in this outfit might as well be wearing a propeller cap and holding an oversized lollipop to be honest. Also I was pretty sure this was Rock on first glance but apparently he's a boy name Koichi. Sad!

Well I thought he was your best friend but I guess that hinges on winning th-ARE YOU HITTING YOUR SISTER WHAT THE HELL

I mean you don't love it enough to fix it if it isn't going to continue to be the world champion so it can't be that much.

(wakes up from heart surgery) "wheres my sister" who do you think donated the heart

Yea I dunno after he slapped her for trying to make him feel better and made it clear his love for the car his dead father created hinged on it winning a race this just doesn't really feel like that much of a win.

[intexda]

I'm only 1 episode into Pluto and it's already taken the first part of astro boy's "Greatest robot on earth" and made it emotionally devastating.

I am in for one helluva ride.

[kevynthedevylman]

PLUTO

The noir remake of Osamu Tezuka's legendary Astro Boy story, "The Greatest Robot on Earth", is finally an anime! This sci-fi thriller reimagines one of the most famous battles in his character's history as an epic mystery and deep tragedy. The tragic heroes of this tale are thoughtfully expanded upon and shown in a much deeper light than before. It's an Astro Boy series for those who love the original that doesn't compromise the core of his character and fleshes out the fantastic future world Tezuka envisioned. A must see for all fans of science fiction, noir mystery and classic anime.

[lunar-comic]

I love this story, in all it's many forms. As soon as I can get the 1960's version subbed, I'm sure that I'll enjoy that one too.

[diafriend]

I just finished reading Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, the Naoki Urasawa-written retelling of the famous Astro Boy story “The Greatest Robot on Earth” and it is easily one of my favorite manga now. A solid 10/10. Please give it a shot.

As a big Astro Boy fan (which my shelves full of Osamu Tezuka books would prove) who’s read The Greatest Robot on Earth, it’s a story that not only respects the original work but expands the story in such a way that it almost supersedes it. With an intriguing mystery, intense political drama, and a climactic finale, it really delivers on every front.

It’s amazing for fans of Astro Boy, but it works so well on its own that nobody needs to have read a single chapter of Osamu Tezuka’s original work to enjoy every last bit of this story. I would really recommend Pluto to any fan of manga.