Naoki Urasawa is one of the recognized mangaka in Japan and France. The Angoulême Comic Strip Festival and Japan Expo devoted retrospectives to him and his works won numerous awards. But a question arises: which series to advise to a person wishing to enter the universe of this author? The 18 volumes of Monster, the 20 volumes of Billy Bat, the 24 volumes of 20 th Century Boys ? Let us rather guide it towards a lesser-known series, short (8 volumes) but a masterful synthesis of the style and questions of the author, Pluto.
Pluto, A project apart
When Urasawa started writing his Pluto series in 2003, it was to fulfill one of his childhood dreams. Create your own story around the character of Astro Boy (Astro the little robot in English) by Osamu Tezuka. Something rare in his work, it is not an original story that he will write and draw but a reinterpretation of the adventure of Astro The Robot the strong of the world.
In the origin story, Astro is sold by his creator to a circus and is taken in by Professor Ochanomizu who becomes his spiritual father. He will face the threat of Pluto, a robot designed to destroy the 7 strongest robots in the world. After a face-to-face encounter with Astro, Pluto begins to question his master's orders and sacrifices himself to save his former opponent. In his version, Urasawa keeps this father-son bond, this antagonist, the 7 most powerful robots but invents a new plot.
Astro: one robot among others
Urasawa's stroke of genius is not to make Astro the central character of his story but Gesicht, a robot inspector. In a world where humans, machines and artificial intelligences coexist, some robots designated as the seven most powerful robots in the world are admired and participate in the maintenance of peace. But one of them, Mont-Blanc, was discovered dismembered. Horns are the only clue leading to his killer. Inspector Gesicht in charge of the hunt understands that a killer named Pluto has decided to eliminate these 7 robots of which Astro and himself are part. To get his hands on the mysterious criminal, Gesicht will have to dive deep into his nightmares, question the consciousness of robots and discover a truth that disturbs great powers.
With this robot policeman as his hero, Urasawa decides to deliver a much more adult story. Gesicht is an efficient inspector, convinced of the correctness of his mission. Although artificial it often thinks like a human. But behind coldness and logic, hide doubts, buried memories, a conscience. And as the clues progress, Gesicht's confidence crumbles and moral dilemmas prevail. Similarly, the figure of Astro is presented from a completely new angle. Rid of the function of the all-powerful hero, he becomes this little boy in search of family, a weapon in the service of higher interest. His story explores the loneliness of this android, gives him a soul, pain. What hides the smile of the hero of the eponymous series?
Pluto, a representative story of the Urasawa style
The narrative construction is typical of Urasawa's works. Whether in Monster or 20 th Century boy or Billy Bat, the author loves stories of investigations where the hunt of man comes to shake up the certainties of departure. Who is Pluto the mysterious robot assassin? What are his motivations? As in Monster, the quest for identity leads to embarking on the creators of the monster. And finally is this monster/assassin really guilty? The narrative is also as in all of Urasawa's polysemic work. Pluto defines itself as a very beautiful police investigation with its twists and turns, its false leads. But the narrative resonates from two other strong dimensions. It is indeed a philosophical story that questions the figure of the robot. What freedom, what conscience, what control? Without naming them specifically, Urasawa evokes Asimov's famous laws of robotics to question them again. Does the human-machine frontier resist the progress of cybernetics and artificial intelligence? The narrative is moreover as in many works of political Ursawa. Without revealing a central element of the story, it should be remembered that the series begins in 2003 at the time of the Iraq War and the invasion of the country by the E.U.Has. The opportunity for the author to come and question the concepts of collective security, preventive war, war against terrorism and to deliver his vision of contemporary history. He also likes to denounce the notion of state lies. 
The drawing is finally a beautiful illustration of the style of Urasawa and his teams. Decorations first very worked in a photo-realistic style. Atmospheres that give pride of place to architecture, rain, wide plan and light. Very recognizable faces, very European especially in the style of the noses.
Pluto, more than a tribute to the original work
By moving away from the original story, Urasawa manages to transcend the original material. The 7 most powerful robots, Uran, Professor Tenma, Pluto, are all from the Tezuka universe. Urasawa respects their design by modernizing it, rewriting their origin story while retaining their power/ability/character. The references, quotations to the original work do not weigh down the story. A reader who does not know Tezuka's series is not likely to miss the story. More than a tribute, Urasawa decided to write an anticipatory thriller using these iconic characters. 
So, if you like Blade Runner, Ghost In the Shell or Asimov, get the Pluto series from Kana urgently. 8 volumes that are devoured in one go. An ideal introduction to discover the universe and style of one of the greatest manga authors. And if you are curious about Tezuka's work, take a look at the muscular revisit of Dororo at Delcourt or the collective tribute Tezucomi still at Delcourt.
