Pluto is an eight volume manga based on the Astro Boy series with a dramatic, mature, and mystery aspects to appeal to older fans. It’s a master piece put together by legendary mangaka Osamu Tazuka and Naoki Urasawa with Viz as it’s English publisher.
First volumes start off as a crime story that jumps into humanity and what humanity is. It’s post-war and robots have been given rights so they may live normal lives among people. Suddenly the greatest robots and the great human minds that made them are one by one taken down by a mysterious foe, but the story develops in such a crafty way that you have no clue what could happen next or that the cruel acts are much more serious.
Characters are drawn in a much less typical way to allow more emotional attachment to what the characters are feeling. European or Western looking people are actually just that. No lolicon here or perversion here, sir (or ma’am?).
One creepy and personally impactful moment in this manga was with Atom the Tobio appearing robot and his creator Dr. Tenma. They’re comfortablely sitting together with a meal and the genius father asks him a load of awkward questions. All of the questions Atom answered were those of a good boy, not the real Tobio.
Laon is a Korean manwha with a single volume out now from a set of six in English by Yen Press. A human like being sent to earth after a lost bet with a lady of an unknown relationship with the main character Laon. It’s name Laon may happy in Korean, but the the character lives with a low wage guy who is using the gifted creature. So Loan? Laon?
Art wise this manga changes quite a bit with how thick lines are, how clueless ‘n cute Laon can be, and the mood. One may say it’s inconstant, but to me that’s always been a strength when quality isn’t going down hill the further you go.
This creature has some neat powers that include turning parts of pictures to real objects, going through walls, and some less clique tricks that are hinted by what Laon is (a Korean fairy tale creature known as a gumiho). That last part about powers really had to be mentioned due to the couple very arguably minor mature pages, especially the part that suggest the act of rape. With that said, I don’t see this manwha a smut, but I am a bit confused to who the original target readership was upon it’s original release.
The potential of depth is fairly high. You will wonder who the cruel lady who made the bet is, what the bet was, and how Laon earned nine tails that were lost because of the bet.
One Fine Day has one volume currently out by Yen Press and has been in their manga magazine since the very first issue. The first thing you’ll notice is how insanely cute the magical world that’s in this story. A young man named No-Ah is living with and care taking of a kiddy dog (Nanai), mouse (Pritz Rang), and cat (Guru). The story is day to day like and… Screw it. The main thing to tell is how so damn cute they are and nothing the naughty bunch of cuteness can do makes No-Ah mad. The gang are drawn mostly as human kids with animal parts, but that’s basically what they are. Kids. Just so cute and not a single page goes without it.
To stir some more light hearted fun while keeping things interesting, the story does introduce a villain from No-Ah’s past. The fact that One Fine Day is so playful and continuously interesting at the same time makes it a neat read.