Leave it to PET! is an imaginative comic book series (manga) for children that features a recycled PET bottle as its lovable and somewhat bumbling super-robot hero.
Written and illustrated by graphic artist Kenji Sonishi, Leave it to PET! begins when nine-year-old Noboru Yamada recycles his PET bottle.
The bottle is reborn as "PET" -- a super robot programmed to protect and help Noboru. Whenever his young master is in trouble, PET jets to the rescue, or at least tries to. More often than not, things don't work out quite the way Noboru envisioned.
PET continues on his amusing misadventures in each subsequent volume, joined at times by a group of other recycled robot pals, who are also identified by their recycling symbols. Although Japan uses the #1 "chasing arrows" recycling code for PET, it utilizes its own symbols for recyclable plastics other than PET. In addition, Japan has unique recycling symbols for aluminum and steel items.
Throughout the series, Sonishi is able to maintain a sense of fun and gentle humor amid the action, while imparting a subtle environmental message that young children are likely to embrace.
Leave it to PET!: the Misadventures of a Recycled Super Robot is published in the United States by VIZ Media. The books, translated into English but formatted in traditional manga style, are available at many major booksellers.