Remaking Tezuka is a tall order. Urasawa's execution was flawless.

Dr. Tezuka himself introduced "The Greatest Robot on Earth" as being one of the more popular chapters from the Tetsuwan Atom series. The robot Pluto was a more complex character. Tezuka went on to say how upset readers were when it was all said and done; they wanted more - and fortunately Urasawa gave us more and then some.

The characters in the original work, the seven strongest robots in the world, had very simple substance and short existences within the original 180 page story (aside from Atom of course). Urasawa takes the blinks of life they had within Tezuka's work and stretches them out giving them so much more depth. Especially evident in his portrayal of Gesicht, who he reframes as the main character.

Some might say an "unfortunate flaw" in this remake is that it is a remake. The thought being that those who read the original story wouldn't enjoy the suspense of Pluto as much because they would already know the outcome. In spite of having read the original first, however, and with Urasawa being a master of suspense, Pluto still left me without a clue of what would happen next.

In order to truly appreciate Urasawa's take on Pluto, you should read the original Astro Boy chapter "The Greatest Robot on Earth." You must see for yourself how he was able to take Tezuka's work and, not necessarily make it better, but make it an amazingly good and different thing all on it's own, just as Doctor Tenma revived his Tobio.

(P.S. You might also want to read the "Blue Knight" arc from Astro Boy too. Our Tezuka fan-boy managed to weave that one in as well with his Brau-1589.)