M2 Founder Masao Maruyama On His Studio’s ‘Pluto’ Adaptation: “I Couldn’t Kick The Bucket Until I Created This”

Correction: An earlier version of this article listed Masao Maruyama’s MAPPA as the producer of Pluto which was incorrect. The show was produced by M2.

M2’s new series Pluto was one of the most exciting anime debuts of 2023 and was adored by audiences when it was released by Netflix in October. The series has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a “Universal Acclaim” rating of 88 on Metacritic.

This month, Netflix has released several interviews with artists and technicians who worked on the series, as well as M2 and MAPPA founder and Pluto executive producer Masao Maruyama, who explained why the show means so much to him:

I felt like I didn’t want to let anyone else do it. Knowing that this was based on Mr. Urasawa’s and Mr. Tezuka’s work definitely influenced my decision… The content was difficult to animate, and the sheer volume of the series made it impossible for Japanese studios to take it on [at that time]. After a while, we thought maybe we could create an animated pilot. When I was making the pilot, Mr. Urasawa told me the quality was unsatisfactory, and he didn’t approve. That set a fire in me to prove him wrong. Once the pilot was made, it was surprisingly a huge success.

Based on Naoki Urasawa’s award-winning manga of the same name, itself a reinterpretation of Osamu Tezuka’s seminal Astro Boy story The Greatest Robot on Earth, the series unspools in a neo-futuristic world where humans and robots live in harmony and are often superficially indistinguishable.

Pluto has all the aesthetic qualities audiences would expect from a high-profile anime release in 2023 but maintains some of the classic aesthetic charm of the Astro Boy franchise, which dates back to the 1950s. It also does a fantastic job of blending narrative elements that will feel fresh to modern viewers, while staying true to the timeless themes that made Tezuka’s books so special.

Maruyama, who is 82 years old but still very involved at M2, says that the desire to finish Pluto vitalized him and gave him the energy to keep working:

I thought I would die before the series was complete, but I’m still here. Maybe this is because I felt I couldn’t kick the bucket until I created this. That’s probably what’s fueling my energy and drive that I have now. So, I feel like I owe a lot to the series Pluto.

In an interview of his own, Pluto creator Urasawa joked that Maruyama used his mortality as a bargaining chip to get the show made:

We had no idea when or where it would be aired. Maruyama-san just insisted on making it anyhow. His enthusiasm was remarkable, really. He said, “I can’t die until I create Pluto. I don’t have that much time left, so I have to hurry.” He’s been fit as a fiddle, so I used to call it a scam.

According to Maruyama, one of the most appealing aspects of the Pluto manga and series is that its universal themes can easily be adapted to the modern age. Existential questions about AI are asked in the new series, while the franchise’s anti-war sentiment remains. In his opinion:

We don’t have to stick to the original materials. A new team can succeed the old one. If this tradition carries on, it will be thrilling, charming, and just great all around. The profession of anime will become more rewarding and fulfilling.

Urasawa echoed that sentiment, adding that if they’ve done their job right, Pluto could help introduce future generations to the iconic work done by Tezuka 70 years ago:

Passing the baton to the next generation is our duty, I think. If Pluto makes people interested in the original work by Tezuka Sensei, we would be very happy.