Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Vol. 7 (7) Paperback – January 19, 2010

The authors amazing.

Great series.. Own every single one of them.. they are all amazing. Number 7 is especially good because its the second last one.. and if you bought it as it cam out like I did.. you remember what it was like waiting for it to come out!Amazing Manga series.. probably my favorite of all time - and its only 8 books.. great for anyone getting into the hobby of collecting Manga (its astroboy!).

This entire run of PLUTO is simply amazing. I am a huge fan of Astro and this storyline but the way they put it all together is simply awesome. Well done. I cannot recommend this enough.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?“Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 007” by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki is the seventh 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 written by a legendary manga master Osamu Tezuka.Epsilon, a pacifist robot powered by photon energy, is the last one of the seven great robots of the world. Although Epsilon is extremely powerful, he refuses to fight. However, when his children, a group of war orphans, are in danger, Epsilon has no choice but to face the murderous villain, who, in fact, might not even be the main danger.THUMBS UP:1) Continuously good.“Pluto, Volume 007,” just like the previous volumes, is action-packed, suspenseful, thrilling, thought-provoking and touching. However, this book feels like a slight step-down from the sixth volume, which is so far my favorite in the whole series.COULD BE BETTER:1) Early wrap-up.Although still good, the seventh volume is slower-paced and feels like a prolonged wrap-up rather than an adventure by itself. Also, there are so many revelations that some of them seem a little bit rushed and too convenient. Finally, the ending of “Pluto, Volume 007” is kind of depressing, but there is still one more volume to fix that.2) Protagonist.This volume centers around Epsilon, who, unfortunately, is not my favorite character. I love the idea of loving pacifist robot, but there is something about Epsilon that just doesn’t sit well with me. Maybe it is the fact that he is just too perfect, unnaturally heroic, annoyingly passive, rather boring and thus hard to relate to. Or maybe it is the fact that until the seventh volume I barely knew anything about this robot, and now suddenly he is the center of attention. Finally, it might also be the fact that up until this volume I thought that Epsilon is a female as he clearly looks and acts like one. In any case, I didn’t care enough about Epsilon, and it made the story less captivating.3) Lack of color.Urasawa’s artwork is very realistic, detailed and breathtakingly beautiful, but, except for the ten first pages, the illustrations are black and white.VERDICT: 3.5 out of 5Although still action-packed, suspenseful, thrilling, thought-provoking and touching, “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 006” by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki is slower-paced than the previous volume and is centered around Epsilon, who, unfortunately, is not my favorite character.POST SCRIPTUM:Check out my reviews of the previous six volumes:1) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 001”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R39D2RIEIAPZRO/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm2) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 002”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3PJZDE2SFGRI6/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm3) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 003”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R39D7281G5TKZQ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm4) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 004”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R5LDPO6IH4KUW/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm5) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 005”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2142JT7QBOFIZ/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm6) “Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, Volume 006”: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2KID8Z4LSG4R9/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

Professors Tenma and Abdullah keep watch over the sleeping robot as it tries to assimilate the billions of personalities that have been programmed into it, unsure if it will ever awaken. Professor Tenma receives a request to meet with Gesicht’s widow before she returns home. She gives him something of her late husband and asks Tenma to ensure Gesicht did not die in vain. Tenma still hopes he can bring Atom back to life.Epsilon, disturbed by Gesicht’s death, receives a surprise visit from Hogan, who has been assigned to protect him, under the assumption that he will be the next target. He wants to take Epsilon to a safe house, but Epsilon says he can’t go. It’s his birthday and the children have organized a party, complete with gifts. Hogan tells him to make it short then. Epsilon learns that the non-verbal Wassily has drawn something for him. The child shows him the drawing, saying “Bora” and then he begins to speak. And then something sinister unexpectedly appears…Uran is discovered by her principal in the library after hours. She tells him she has felt two enormous sources of grief, but isn’t sure where they come from. She is reading Pinocchio, and has her theories about both Pinocchio and Geppetto and about being manipulated, like a puppet. While Epsilon is away on business, authorities come to the orphanage in order to take Wassily and have him adopted by humans in Norway. By the time Epsilon returns, the child is gone and the robot is upset. Wassily is turned over to none other than Professor Abdullah. When he sees him, Wassily screams out “Bora!”And not only that, but Pluto is there, and Abdullah refers to himself as Pluto’s father! Epsilon goes to rescue Wassily and finds himself in combat with Pluto. “Who is inside you?” Epsilon asks.Professor Tenma encounters Uran at Atom’s grave and takes her to where Atom is. Epsilon is able to get through to Pluto, but the other robot warns him that something bigger is coming… Bora…And just then Atom awakens!So much grief and sorrow, how much more can we take? I can’t believe Gesicht is gone. Seriously? And now another robot? When will the madness end? Only two volumes left. Dreading what might come in the next one. Fantastic series, sheer genius.