skygiants

I JUST GOT MY COPY OF VOLUME 7 TODAY AND HAVE BEEN REREADING IT IN SNATCHES OF TIME STOLEN FROM SCHOOLWORK. 8D

AND I AM GLAD YOU LOVE KYOKO, I just think she's a great idea for a character, and she gets some pretty damn awesome stuff. And she just makes me grin. I mean, of course that famous picture of the fearsome Kenji Faction just looks, like, totally fake. Duh.

The whole thing with the guys wanting Yukiji to stay back does bother me, but not all that much, since I just assume they're all acting on the same reasoning which stopped Kenji from contacting her initially- if things go to hell, the only person who could possibly protect Kanna and see that she gets raised properly is Yukiji. The guys just aren't that good!

God, I cannot wait for volume 8. It has some of the absolute best scenes in the series. (And yes, Kanna and Cho will be joining Kyoko, God, Otcho, and Otcho's manga-ka fanboy for volume 8.)

AS FOR PLUTO. Man, I think too much about that series.

I only really hit a problem with Pluto's character designs in two cases that turn up later on- Epsilon (who looks like Johan wearing a Nina wig, but who is actually good!) and Principle Ban (who looks exactly like Dr. Reichwein, since Urasawa had already used Tezuka's character design of Ban as the basis for Reichwein). The rest of the important cast feels individual enough to me. Though I do admit that I found it hilarious that of the supporting characters he had to choose from do base the perspective flip around, of course Urasawa chose the German cop.

My favorite thing about Pluto is probably the detail that Urasawa lavishes on it. He may only need to draw it for one particular scene in which two characters have a highly significant conversation, but he has fun with and puts thought into what the Bathroom of the Future is like. And then there are details like Gesicht's body language.

I agree that the North No. 2 arc is pretty heavy-handed, but I more than forgive it for that since it introduces a lot of pretty important themes (the 39th Central Asian conflict, how robot emotion is perceived and reacted to, work vs. what a robot might want, deconstructing an unsympathetic human) strongly and in a contained space so as not to drag the pacing down.

I am also amused by the fact that you're getting reminded of Fullmetal Alchemist, since FMA keeps reminding me of things in Pluto. XD

...I also feel obliged to mention kadath's summation of Pluto, because it is masterful. "Pluto is one long process of having your heart ripped out over and over. ...ilu Urasawa."

...I have tl;dr'd enough now. >.>