Netflix announced an animated series based on the manga Pluto, produced by GENCO which is set for release later this year. Praised by many as a masterpiece, the manga Pluto is based on Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy The Greatest Robot on Earth arc from 1964 and created by Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys, Yawara!, Master Keaton) and his long-time co-creator Takashi Nagasaki.
The suspense drama takes place in a neo-futuristic world where humans and high-functioning robots live in complete harmony. The globally acclaimed manga has won numerous awards, including the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. The 2015 stage adaptation of Pluto returned in 2018 by popular demand and toured Japan and Europe.
“I applaud the courage of everyone that has taken on the challenge of making an anime based on Pluto. I am excited about the birth of this new series to win over people’s hearts. I hope that now more than ever, Osamu Tezuka’s message reaches the world,” said author Naoki Urasawa.
“Pluto inherits the philosophy of Tezuka and does not merely convey a message of anti-war, but reminds us that there is suffering on both sides… but still, the only remaining answer is peace,” said co-author Takashi Nagasaki.
“The animated Pluto is the real deal, and in addition to this being Urasawa’s latest work, this is also a new Tezuka anime. I can hardly wait to see how this new generation of anime turns out,” said supervisor Macoto Tezka, son of the late Osamu Tezuka.
Based on the manga of the same name by Naoki Urasawa & Osamu Tezuka, the anime Pluto is co-authored with Takashi Nagasaki and supervised by Macoto Tezka, with the cooperation of Tezuka Productions. The animation production is done by Studio M2.
The Japanese voice cast includes Gesicht (Shinshu Fuji), Atom (Yoko Hikasa) and Uran (Minori Suzuki).