Netflix's 8-Episode Cyberpunk Masterpiece Is Everything Altered Carbon Should Have Been

Published Sep 25, 2026, 9:00 PM EDT

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Altered Carbon started with almost everything needed for a great cyberpunk series. The idea of human consciousness being transferred into different bodies called “sleeves” was already wild enough, but then Netflix added a hard-boiled murder mystery on top of it. The first season had that perfect mix of detective story, futuristic technology, and a world where death didn't exactly mean the end. Then season 2 moved away from a lot of what made the first season so much fun, and the whole thing never quite felt the same.

Fortunately, Netflix has another sci-fi thriller that nails the part Altered Carbon eventually lost. Pluto is an eight-episode anime based on Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki's manga, which reimagines characters from Osamu Tezuka's Astro Boy as part of a much darker murder mystery. And yes, it's an anime. But writing it off simply because it’s in an animated format means missing out on a genuinely brilliant story.

Pluto takes the detective mystery, the futuristic world, and the questions about humanity that made Altered Carbon's first season so interesting, then builds an entire story around them. It's darker, slower, and far more interested in the people underneath all the sci-fi tech. For anyone still missing the version of Altered Carbon that actually felt like cyberpunk noir, this is pretty much the series to watch.

Pluto Perfectly Captures The Gritty Cyberpunk Energy That Altered Carbon Left Behind

Instead of swapping bodies and chasing criminals through the neon-soaked streets of Bay City, Pluto follows Europol detective Gesicht as he investigates a series of murders targeting the world's seven most advanced robots. It starts with Montblanc, the beloved Swiss robot famous for his peaceful nature, before the case expands to include the humans connected to these machines. The deeper Gesicht digs, the clearer it becomes that the killings are tied to the 39th Central Asian War and the atrocities committed by these robots during the conflict.

Gesicht isn't working alone, either. Atom, better known to classic anime fans as Astro Boy, eventually joins the investigation alongside other powerful robots like the solar-powered Epsilon and the wrestling champion Brando. But the real hook isn't simply figuring out who's killing them. Pluto takes its time with the mystery, giving it that same slow-burn detective feel that made Altered Carbon's first season so addictive, while pushing the idea much further.

The robots aren't just futuristic weapons, either. They can feel grief, fear, hatred, and the psychological scars left by war. That gives Pluto one of its best questions: if a machine can experience all of that, how different is it from a human being?

That's where Pluto feels like the cyberpunk story Altered Carbon eventually moved away from. Altered Carbon had the violence, corruption, explicit scenes, and brutal class divide, but season 2 leaned much harder into action. Pluto barely needs any of that. Watching a machine built for war struggle with grief or desperately learn to play the piano can hit harder than another hundred gunfights.

Pluto Trades Standard Cyberpunk Action For A Deeply Unsettling Robotic Murder Mystery

It’s honestly surprising how quietly Pluto flew under the radar, especially next to Netflix’s other cyberpunk anime hit, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners. Part of that probably comes down to the format. Instead of 20 episodes packed with action, Pluto tells its story across eight movie-length episodes, with most running close to an hour. It plays more like a slow-burn crime thriller than a typical action series, and that definitely asks for more patience.

But that pacing is also what makes the show so good. Pluto takes its time placing every clue, character, and reveal exactly where it needs to go. Once the bigger mystery starts coming together, all that patience pays off in a way that feels earned. It's the same gritty sci-fi detective energy that made Altered Carbon's first season so addictive, only with much more emotional weight behind it.

It’s still frustrating that Altered Carbon lost that edge in season 2. But for anyone looking for another hard-boiled detective story wrapped in a brutal cyberpunk world, Pluto comes remarkably close to filling that gap.