Pluto
	 Volume 5
	  Postscript : Why "The Greatest Robot on Earth"?
	   by Tomohiko Murakami : Manga Critic & Lecturer, Kobe Shoin Women's University

	When I read Pluto, I almost think of it as Naoki Urasawa's version of the Osamu Tezuka
doctrine. Of course, aside from this being a tribute to Tetsuwan Atom, all the classic Tezuka
characters such as Atom, Uran, Ochanomizu and such are naturally depicted in a critical light,
as perfect Urasawa characters.
	In addition, as Fusanosuke Natsume already pointed out, Urasawa takes not only "The
Greatest Robot on Earth," but also weaves in pieces of "The Red Cat," "Frankenstein,"
"Robotting," "Atlas," "The Blue Knight," and several more Tetsuwan Atom stories to touch on the
many themes that Atom encompasses. And with references to other works such as "Blackjack,"
"Jungle Emperor Leo," and "Phoenix," it becomes apparent that Urasawa is trying to work all of
the many symbols of Tezuka's career into the structure of this one story.
	Particularly startling to me was the scene in Volume 4 when Dr. Tenma tells Dr. 
Ochanomizu that "Atom was a failure." It is as if Osamu Tezuka himself spoke the words.
	In Tezuka's essay, "Be a Lone Wolf," for the June 1966 issue of Collected Writings, he
wrote "I consider Atom to be one of my most stunning failures, which I drew for nothing but fame
and money," setting off considerable debate among fans. Even now, in the first volume of
Kodansha's bunko edition, you can read a reprinted version of an afterword he wrote for
Shogakukan's collected works in 1969, saying, "As it happens, I enjoyed drawing Atom for the
first two or three years. The rest was a product of inertia. In fact, once Mushi Pro started
animating the show, drawing the monster that Atom had become was very painful to me." He repeated
this sentiment multiple times over the years. These statements have been widely interpreted to
mean that he felt resistance to the way the story's nature was misunderstood through the animated
version, but I believe the truth may be a bit more complex than that. At the very least, the fans
of the story at the time, particularly young fans, must have been terribly hurt by this claim.
	Pluto's base, "The Greatest Robot on Earth," was originally run in "Shonen," from June of
'64 to January '65, as "The Greatest Robot in History," and the animated version was aired in two
pieces on April 25th and May 1st of 1965. Based on the "Tetsuwan Atom World" (Pia) mook's claim
that the story was criticized for the uncharacteristic (for a Tezuka work) structure of multiple
robot battles, we can probably assume that Tezuka's mention of a "monstrous" Atom was referring
to Dr. Tenma's upgrade of Atom to one million horsepower in this story.
	So, why choose "The Greatest Robot on Earth"? According to the "birth of Pluto" as
written by Makoto Tezuka in Volume 2, it was because that story was Urasawa's very first
experience with Osamu Tezuka manga. Choosing to tackle an undoubtedly difficult remake of
"Tetsuwan Atom," and in particular a story that Tezuka described as "monstrous" makes me feel
that Naoki Urasawa must have felt some particular fixation on that statement.
	The Tenma and Ochanomizu characters that Naoki Urasawa draws must be the two sides of
Osamu Tezuka that Urasawa sees. Urasawa himself, a child of manga (rather than a child of
science) with Tezuka as a father figure, splits the story between the poles of Atom and Pluto.
Robot and scientist. A.I. and human. Warnings to keep the two from becoming too alike are
littered throughout the manga.
	The first strong signs of Osamu Tezuka's influence in Urasawa manga began in "Monster."
The story is of a Japanese surgeon, Dr. Tenma, who extends the life of a terrible, murdering boy,
and must then track him down to restore his karma. In Pluto, Urasawa appears to be trying to save
this "monstrous Atom," unbeloved by its own creator, from its tragic fate.
	How would Osamu Tezuka react to Pluto, if he was still alive? Perhaps the greater Urasawa
perfected his own version of the story, the more Tezuka would refuse to endorse it, out of
antagonism. I recall the time that Tezuka wrote about the magazine he ran, "COM," and sharply
criticized Shotaro Ishinomori's popular "Jun" and "Cyborg 009" series. The words stuck with
Ishinomori for the rest of his life.
	Perhaps Naoki Urasawa, while drawing Pluto, is wracked with nightmares of Tezuka's
sudden, unexpected wrath, like the Gesicht he draws. I imagine that drawing the Atom he sees deep
within him while fighting off the imaginary criticism of the late Tezuka must be a daunting and
tiresome task. Dr. Tenma refers to Atom as a failure. How does this abandoned Atom find peace
with his "father"? Maybe Pluto is the first story by Naoki Urasawa for himself, after a long
career of stories orchestrated carefully for his readers.