Pluto – Season 1 Episode 8 Recap & Review

Episode 8

Episode 8 of Pluto begins with a brief historical overview of the Nanabu tribe. It goes over how their lust for gold caused them to lose everything and led to their demise. A tourist guide says their souls culminated into a giant who slumbers inside a volcano and will one day arise from Eden National Park. Meanwhile, we cut to the teddy bear and Thracia President Alexander. The bear says all the robots have been killed and Alexander’s delighted since he deemed them a threat to his country. 

The tourist guide introduces people to Tse Tse Mar, the tribal elder. She says his role is to ward off evil things. Tse Tse Mar says something will rise from the Earth and confirms its anger shall end the world. Meanwhile, Ochanomizu observes Atom and wonders what Tenma did to him. Uran informs Ochanomizu about what Tenma told her and the grave sadness she felt somewhere in the world. A scientist tells Ochanomizu that Atom’s writing weird scientific calculations on the wall with a pen. 

Scientists escort Uran outside and Ochanomizu tells a scientist Atom’s writing a plan for an Antiproton Bomb, a formula to destroy Earth. Tenma visits Brau and he says his AI is the only one that’s comparable to Atom. Brau knows Atom’s awakened and says he’ll discuss things with Tenma if he fixes his body. Ochanomizu plans to fix Atom without Tenma’s help but a scientist informs him that Atom escaped by smashing a hole in his room. Ochanomizu tracks Atom and learns he’s in Kudanshita. 

Ochanomizu realizes Tenma must have inserted unbalanced emotions inside Atom as Brau confirms Tenma put Gesicht’s memory chip in Atom, specifically the data containing the memory of Gesicht’s final moments. Ochanomizu wonders if the last memory Gesicht recalled was hatred, meaning Atom’s mind is now full of it. Atom wanders outside as the teddy bear picks up Atom’s essence and tells Alexander that he’s alive. Ochanomizu notices Atom as he picks up a snail, similar to his first appearance in the anime.

Atom recalls a memory from Gesicht’s database. He’s currently solving a crime involving a woman’s son named Kurt. After saving Kurt and pondering a quote shared by his father, Gesicht meets a garbage man. Gesicht notices a living robot in a pile of rubble the man’s about to crush and asks him to stop for a moment. Gesicht refers to the robot as a child and the man offers to give it to Gesicht for 500 Zeus, paying off the vision we’ve seen countless times throughout this anime. 

While observing his son’s steps, Gesicht says he understands what it means to be alive. Gesicht and Helena call the robot child, Robita, as Gesicht restates Kurt’s father’s line about never letting their child go even if the world ends. We transition to several flashbacks involving Robita’s murder, Gesicht asking Adolf about hatred disappearing, and to final words he shared about nothing good coming from hatred. After seeing it all unfold, Atom puts the snail down and tells Ochanomizu that he’s okay now. 

Meanwhile, Tenma argues hatred and sorrow will never cease. He asks Brau about Abullah’s whereabouts because he wants to stop him. Brau tells Tenma Abullag will find him. Tenma enters a taxi and gets knocked out by Abullah’s henchman. Meanwhile, Atom explains everything Gesicht gathered from his investigation to Tawashi, Ochanomizu, and another gentleman. He explains how when Darius XIV was the King of Persia he asked Abullaf to create an earth-altering robot. He called the plan the Bora Project. 

He says Abullah developed many failures for the project and stashed them away in a graveyard in Persia. This is the same one Ochanomizu and the other Bora members found and one Epsilon was tasked with destroying. Abullah sought assistance from a robot with the most advanced AI. To achieve this goal, he sought Tenma’s help. Meanwhile, Abullah shows Tenma a new robot called Bora, created by Dr. Goji. Abullah plans to inject his brain into Bora to create the world’s most sophisticated cyborg. 

He says he’ll force Tenma to assist him with achieving this goal. Meanwhile, Atom tells the men that Abullah lost most of his family during the war, kickstarting his hatred toward the world. Atom reveals Abullah was killed during the war, confusing Tawashi and his partner. At the same time, Abullah confirms he’s somewhat of a cyborg. However, Tenma argues he’s a robot since he’s the one who created him out of the original Abullah’s wishes, the “perfect robot.”

Tenma says this Abullah was too advanced and failed to wake up at first. We receive a flashback of two robots trying to escort Tenma to a new location. One of them confirms Abullah died in a bombing accident in the Timur region. The robot shows him Abullah’s final message. Abullah shows him a memory chip that contains a certain part of his brain. The robot hands him the chip. We cut to Tenma in his lab, telling the Abullah (we know) that his real self wanted Tenma to install the chip in him. 

While Tenma works on the fake Abullah, the bombs start causing several devices to malfunction. The fake Abullah doesn’t believe Tenma but Tenma tells him the most advanced AI can lie to others and itself. Tenma says Goji doesn’t exist because the fake Abullah himself is Dr. Goji as Atom relays this intel to Ochanomizu and the others. He says the Abullah developed a dual personality. As for Tenma, he tells Abullah his AI has been transferred to other robots, so he doesn’t need him to transplant his mind. 

The fake Abullah can’t believe this intel as he starts malfunctioning and switching his appearance between several robots like Epsilon and Gesicht. He turns into Goji’s clay form, similar to the mini figure the homeless man showed Gesicht after his first meeting with Abullah at the Bazar. Atom continues and says the fake Abullah created Pluto while his alternate personality Goji made Bora. Atom says Pluto inherited Abullah’s hatred toward Atom and the others. 

Atom says Bora is no longer a robot meant to produce plant life because he’s become a weapon of mass destruction. He argues it’s futile to alert the masses as Bora will succeed in destroying the Earth. As this occurs, Bora makes his move as Tenma watches. Meanwhile, the 108th Military Tribunal occurs and Darius says the world will end soon because of hatred. In a flashback, Darius attempts to take his life but Abullah stops him and shows him, Pluto. 

Darius orders Abullah to order Pluto to kill all seven advanced robots. Abullah promises Darius that he’ll kill them and the Bora commission members. Darius mentions wanting Thracia to fall too, but is unsure if Pluto can do it. Abullah promises he can make it happen. Meanwhile, Arnold informs the president that a huge eruption capable of destroying the world will occur at Eden National Park. He explains how this will cycle into an inevitable demise for all life on Earth to the president and his colleagues. 

Alexander says that there’s a target on the level of an AntiProton Bomb heading toward the direction that could lead to mankind’s end. Meanwhile, the tribunal members inform the president of the horrible things that are occurring there. Darius says the bomb will reach its destination and all life will cease. Alexander meets with the teddy bear and asks him why he didn’t inform him of the AntiProton Bomb despite the bear knowing of its existence. 

The bear says that only biological life will die but AI, like itself, will survive. However, he confirms that 10% of Earth’s population will live. Atom confirms Earth will explode and Ochanomizu believes if Bora reaches its destination, it can happen in 72 hours. Arnold researches the collision and realizes in 72 hours, it’ll be three years since Abullah lost his family. Arnold says Atom is the only one who can stop Bora but he must do so when Bora approaches the surface to cause the eruption. 

Before Atom stops Bora, he visits Brau. Brau asks him what he plans to do with the formula. Atom explains he scribbled the formula when he succumbed to the world’s hatred. Atom asks Brau for intel on the teddy bear robot. Brau says he’ll try his best to gather information on it. Atom meets Helena and shares some words Gesicht wanted her to hear. Helena asks Atom about her missing memories since she has a hunch Gesicht remembered what happened. 

Atom refuses to tell Helena about her son and departs. Atom says he promises to see Helena again. As he flies away, Helena knows Atom lied to her. Atom visits Gesicht’s grave and says he has one more mission to take care of. Atom finds and fights Pluto at Eden National Park. While Atom tears Pluto apart, he reflects on his fallen robotic comrades’ lives and what they sought to achieve in life. Uran fights with her principal because she fears Atom’s going to succumb to hatred and kill Pluto.

Her principal believes he’ll overcome his anger and tells Uran to believe in him. After recalling Gesicht’s words about hatred, Atom stops himself from murdering Pluto. He and Pluto cry and Atom questions their reason for crying. At night, Pluto and Atom look at the shooting stars. Atom tells Sahad/Pluto that he has to stop Bora and heads for him. Tenma tells Ochanomizu he doesn’t feel Atom’s powerful enough to stop Bora. Ochanomizu acknowledges Tenma’s brilliance but believes Earth still has a chance. 

Alexander asks the teddy bear if he’ll be safe with him in this room. The teddy bear says he will but he’ll be his slave for the rest of his life. Atom tries reasoning with Bora, but that doesn’t work. Sahad arrives and promises to protect Atom from melting so he can deactivate Bora for good. Atom sends Sahad blueprints for the Antiproton Bomb. Sahad sends Atom to the surface but asks Atom if he can tell Uran that he enjoys taking pictures with her. 

Sahad uses the Peltier effect to wipe Bora out with himself. Atom saves Ochanomizu and a co-worker as they observe the event taking place before their eyes. Atom and the two view the auroras forming in the sky as Atom says Sahad saved humanity. We cut to Alexander and the teddy bear. The bear is shocked that Atom succeeded but plans to find another way of causing problems. Suddenly, Brau arrives and chokes Alexander to death. The bear proposes they work together to create a new world but Brau refuses and kills the bear. 

While standing next to Pluto’s horn, Atom asks Ochanomizu if there will ever be a world that’s not filled with hate. Ochanomizu believes it might be possible but he’s unsure. Atom looks into the auroras and reflects on his fallen comrades. The episode closes with him and the other gazing into the sky. 

The Episode Review

What a way to wrap up a story. While the final episode leaves some things up to interpretation to much dismay, it delivers enough compelling action scenarios, intense drama, and solid closure for a reoccurring character that fans may classify it as one of the best anime finales by a landslide. But as mentioned earlier, this finale isn’t without its flaws. 

There were many things that it doesn’t touch upon well that may bug viewers. From several characters not getting explored to their fullest potential to forgetting previous sub-plots established in past chapters, this one mainly focused on the show’s consistent themes of hatred, sorrow, and vengeance. However, that’s not to say those aspects ruined the finale. 

This episode still managed to pull off a satisfying final act that’ll leave viewers satisfied. From Atom’s emotional fight with Sahad/Pluto to the charming moment he shares with Helena, many touching segments will make viewers think or feel some type of way. This episode showcases why people adore Urasawa’s excellent understanding and utilization of foreshadowing, symbolism, and plot twists. 

By and large, this was a phenomenal finale of Pluto. It has its flaws and doesn’t wrap everything up under a neat bow. However, it has enough thrilling action sequences, delightful turns, and memorable character moments that will make viewers crave more from this world.