The case becomes more puzzling when evidence suggests a robot is responsible for the murders, which would make it the first time a robot has killed a human in eight years. Pluto follows the Europol robot detective Gesicht in his attempts to solve the case of a string of robot and human deaths around the world where all the victims have objects shoved into or positioned by their heads, imitating horns. Pluto was a critical and commercial success, winning several awards, including the ninth Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and selling over 8.5 million copies. An original net anime series, produced by Genco and Tezuka Productions, and animated by Studio M2, is set to premiere on Netflix in 2023. The series was licensed and released in English in North America by Viz Media under the name Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka. Macoto Tezka, Osamu Tezuka's son, supervised the series, and Tezuka Productions is listed as having given cooperation. Takashi Nagasaki is credited as the series' co-author.

Urasawa reinterprets the story as a suspenseful murder mystery starring Gesicht, a Europol robot detective trying to solve the case of a string of robot and human deaths. The series is based on Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy, specifically 'The Greatest Robot on Earth' ( 地上最大のロボット, Chijō Saidai no Robotto) story arc, and named after the arc's chief villain. It was serialized in Shogakukan's seinen manga magazine Big Comic Original from September 2003 to April 2009, with its chapters collected into eight tankōbon volumes. Pluto (stylized in all caps) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa.

Pluto urasawa x tezuka manga