Reviews for Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 2

The average rating for Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 2 based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-12-13 00:00:00 Gretchen Aubry WHAT IS IT ABOUT? "Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 002" by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki is the second book in an eight-book science fiction manga series Pluto. The whole series is based on "The Greatest Robot on Earth," the most popular story arc in Astro Boy series by a legendary manga master Osamu Tezuka. After realizing that the mysterious killer is after the seven great robots of the world, detective Gesicht sets on a mission to warn each of the targets personally. When Gesicht meets Atom, a.k.a. Astro Boy, Atom reads through Gesicht's memory chip in order to help move the case forward. Meanwhile, another one of the seven great robots of the world, Brando, decides to face the villain on his own. THUMBS UP: 1) It's getting interesting… "Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 002" is as quick and entertaining as the first book in the series; plus, the speed of the story is picking up as the puzzle pieces slowly start coming together. 2) Background information. In my review of "Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 001," I complained that the protagonist, detective Gesicht, is rather boring. Although in the second volume he is still quite passive, it looks like there is more to his story than it seems at the beginning. In "Pluto, Volume 002" the authors also reveal some background details about the political climate in Pluto world, making the story more plausible and much more engaging. 3) More realistic. While reading the first volume, I had a hard time wrapping my head around the premise of humanlike robots. Well, I might have gotten used to the idea, but I also think that in the second book it is presented more realistically, and the authors even offer some explanation (robots mimic people in hopes of becoming more humanlike, and in most successful cases the line between man and robot starts to blur). COULD BE BETTER: 1) Static and colorless illustrations. No matter how gorgeous Urasawa's artwork is, I still find it too static for a comic book (see my previous review for a more detailed comment). Plus, the ten first pages with colored illustrations look SO MUCH better than the rest of book, which is in black and white… VERDICT: 3.5 out of 5 "Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 002" by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki is more realistic and even more engaging than the first volume, though I really wish the illustrations were colorful and more dynamic. Anyways, on to the next volume, woot woot!

Review # 2 was written on 2017-01-16 00:00:00 Arthur Black Any doubts I had after the first volume have been blown away. More info about the mystery, more heroic sacrifice, quality time with Atom (LOVE HIM), and a creepy teddy bear that I may have nightmares about tonight. Yay for manga that totally suck me in.