The highly-anticipated anime adaptation of the manga Pluto by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki has been picked up by Netflix for exclusive worldwide distribution on its streaming platform.

Pluto is a reimagining of the pioneering superhero/sci-fi manga Astro Boy by Osamu Tezuka, transposing the all-ages kid robot adventures into a more nuanced down-to-earth sci-fi story closer to cyberpunk than kidlit.

"I applaud the courage of everyone that has taken on the challenge of making an anime based on Pluto," Urasawa says in a statement. "I am excited about the birth of this new series to win over people’s hearts. I hope that now more than ever, Osamu Tezuka's message reaches the world."

The Japanese language voice cast is led by Shinshu Fuji as Gesicht, Yoko Hikasa as Atom, and Minori Suzuki as Uran. Netflix hasn't specified if the English-language version would be dubbed, or simply subtitled.

Here is the first look at Pluto:

In 2017, the anime company M2STUDIO announced plans to adapt Pluto into an anime, and after six years Netflix has acquired the exclusive rights for worldwide distribution.

Macoto Tezuka, the son of the late Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka, will be supverising the project.

"The animated Pluto is the real deal, and in addition to this being Urasawa’s latest work, this is also a new Tezuka anime," says Tezuka. "I can hardly wait to see how this new generation of anime turns out.”

Pluto is set to be released in mid- to late 2023 on Netflix across the world.

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