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20 Seiki Shounen
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Description
Growing older is pretty rough and Kenji is finding out just how hard it can be as life starts wearing down on him. On top of trying to make ends meet running a convenience store, he has to care for the niece that his missing sister left in his care. Memories of youth make it easier, until those memories come back to haunt you.
Kenji and his old friends are slowly being drawn into a mysterious conspiracy that could threaten the world. Who is the mysterious "friend", and how does he tie into Kenji's youth? Why are there disappearances and deaths tied into Ochanomizu University? The friend's memories hold the keys to the puzzle, but years between cloud the clues.
The strange occurances and the reach of the "friend" conspiracy grow by the day. It will all culminate on New Year's Eve 2000. Will Kenji and the rest of the group be able to put together the puzzle and save the world?
20th Century Boys won the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category, an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival, and the 2003 Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category.
Type
Manga
Related Series
Associated Names
20世紀少年
20세기 소년
20th Century Boys
20thCB
Nijuu Seiki Shounen
Groups Scanlating
Latest Release(s)
v. 22 c. 9-13 (end) by Manga-Heaven (1114d ago)v. 22 c. 8 by Manga-Heaven (1183d ago)v. 22 c. 7 by Manga-Heaven (1201d ago)Search for all releases of this series
Status in Country of Origin
22 Volumes (Completed)
Completely Scanlated?
Yes
Anime Start/End Chapter
N/A
User Reviews
User Rating
Average: 8.8 / 10.0 (629 votes) Bayesian Average: 8.74 / 10.0
| 10 |
43% (272 votes) |
| 9+ |
28% (174 votes) |
| 8+ |
16% (103 votes) |
| 7+ |
5% (34 votes) |
| 6+ |
3% (16 votes) |
| 5+ |
1% (7 votes) |
| 4+ |
0% (1 votes) |
| 3+ |
0% (2 votes) |
| 2+ |
0% (2 votes) |
| 1+ |
3% (18 votes) |
Last Updated
August 28th 2010, 9:57am PST
Genre
Categories
Recommendations
Forum
Author(s)
Artist(s)
Year
1999
Original Publisher
Serialized In (magazine)
Licensed (in English)
Yes
English Publisher
Viz Media (9 Volumes - ongoing)
Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly Pos # 546  (-45) Monthly Pos # 593  (+4) 3 Month Pos # 594 (+77) 6 Month Pos # 597 (-6)
List Stats
On 389 reading lists On 530 wish lists On 1099 completed lists On 57 unfinished lists On 78 custom lists
Sponsored Links
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| User Comments [ Order by usefulness ] | | |
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| What hasn't been said? by brown pillow on June 15th, 2010, 1:46am |
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Turckin. I think that's what it is-- like a turkey chicken. I'm near-positive that that hasn't been said. But other than that, I'd have to pretty much regurgitate what others've been stating below me: it's ****ing brilliant. Well, most of them. As far as an epic (I know, I said it) goes, especially for Urasawa, it's magnificent. Not perfect, but come on - that's gotta be painfully obvious. Who even expects something to be perfect these days, any-who? The sheer quantity of characters would make you expect that, obviously, the quality of them would in turn be downsized, but because this series is so dag-nabbed long he has enough time to flesh them out.
As the characters, to me, aside from the settings, are the most important aspect of this series, I'm not going to comment on anything else-- especially the invisible core of it all: the mystery. So, if you're ever finding yourself bored and thirsty for a good mistree, and you're reading this, then the obvious choice to make is to read this monster. Lolwhogetsit.
Rating: 10 / 10.0
... Last updated on June 15th, 2010, 1:47am |
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| Amazing!!! by Ace-619 on January 9th, 2010, 9:10am |
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wow i dont even know where to start ok i'll just say a few things the plot in this so well done that i couldn't believe what was happening this has to be the best plot i have ever seen there are lots of time skips but never once was i confused and by the end i was just completely satisfied, the art is done well and all the characters are like able if your looking for a serious read then this is definitely the one.
Rating: 10 / 10.0 |
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| starts out strong, but... by wait321 on November 16th, 2009, 7:52am |
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This is a manga that starts out strong, with a lot of promise, but goes downhill as the story progresses. The first arc does an excellent job of developing the heroes and showing how their shared past is linked to the current world crisis. However, there's several problems that drag down this manga.
The most glaring problem is that the villains lack any appropriate motivation. There's hints that they suffered some trauma as children, but no flashback showed any trauma strong enough to cause them to destroy the world decades later. As the villains continuously execute crueler plans, it becomes impossible to ignore why these clearly rational villains would want to destroy the world.
A continuous parade of new characters, like the Italian priest, and subplots, like the Pope's sickness, are introduced to add twists to the story and then disappear completely. Scenes, like the UN introduction, are repeated numerous times to fill space. Major events that affect the world are followed by long jumps into the future with no explanation on the full consequences.
These problems aren't an issue for shorter stories, but they ruin a long series like this one. There's a clear sense that everything is happening purely to shock and entertain the reader for another chapter, with minimal effort to create a logical and coherent story.
Rating: 5 / 10.0
... Last updated on December 20th, 2009, 10:30pm |
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| It was OK, but not great by lozanogo on June 11th, 2009, 11:54pm |
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To start with let me say that this manga has some very strong points, as well as some very weak points, therefore in my opinion it evens out.
I read the manga Monster by Urasawa, which is a masterpiece, and then found people recommending this series, 20th century boys (the series concludes in the manga 21st century boys, which basically are two volumes).
-In terms of artwork, this is a very good manga, although I prefered the art of Monster. Nevertheless the artwork outstands.
-If something else outstand more than the artwork is the storytelling: Urasawa knows how to write and keep hooked the audience, I have to recognize that.
-Character development: quite good but expected since the story takes in 20+ years.
-But, the biggest but, is the story itself: It isn't half bad and it is well convoluted (an non-linear in chronology), but it is so easy to see how Urasawa extended artificially the story by using cheap tricks: namely adding more plots after the 'final plot' and making 'new clues' of how is the supervillian. The problem is that it is so obvious, and in the way he created many loopholes he never took care of closing them (I guess he had no idea of what to do, because it cannot be blamed by length).
So overall this is an OK manga: great artwork and storytelling, fine character development, but bad story development given the how obvious it was extended and the loopholes he created.
Rating: 7 / 10.0 |
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| Urasawa at his finest by AmishSamurai on February 17th, 2009, 4:57pm |
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| For those who want to read this series, I suggest you read Monster first. I'd say that Urasawa easily topped that with 20th Century Boys. There are very similar themes in both (all-encompassing dubious organizations, enigmatic villains who are the focal points of the series and have large cults of personality around them, corrupt police, assassinations of high-profile figures, etc.) 20th Century Boys focuses on a large group of people whereas Monster was just unfolding events around Johan. However, "Friend" wasn't as disturbing of a villain as Johan, though he had his moments. The manga does well at pointing out Friend's Spoiler (highlight to view) rather petty motives, the actual turning point isn't mentioned until 21st Century Boys.
Rating: 10 / 10.0
... Last updated on February 24th, 2009, 5:02pm |
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| Truly great, but not perfect by Telengard on November 17th, 2008, 10:50am |
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This is definitely one of the most compelling works I've ever read. Many plots and sub-plots are woven together so well that the whole is an intricate tapestry of mystery, intrigue, and suspense. Nothing is too confusing to understand, though the story is quite sophisticated.
The mangaka seems to have been heavily influenced by the works of Stephen King. Echoes of The Stand and Stand by Me haunt the reader throughout the series. Although somewhat unoriginal, these story elements are used expertly to keep the reader enthralled by the well paced revelations.
The only real weakness I can find is the lack of closure. As others have said before, it seemed like new plot twists were added only for the sake of extending the life of the series.
Now for a spoiler, something I almost never do.
Spoiler (highlight to view) Sure, some main characters died, but their deaths didn't bring much satisfaction. Killing characters off isn't the same as closure. By the same token, resurrecting characters who have died is a very cheap way to explain a plot that's become hopelessly twisted!
The many flashbacks and flashforwards can be a bit confusing. Scenes from past, present, and future are sometimes depicted on the same page. Read carefully to avoid getting lost in time.
Overall, it's a truly great work, and I strongly recommend it to those who enjoy drama, mystery, and psychological. Fans of sci-fi and supernatural will not likely be satisfied.
Rating: 8.5 / 10.0
... Last updated on November 17th, 2008, 11:06am |
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| Wow! by luzzz on October 16th, 2008, 4:52am |
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This has got to be one of he most riveting manga I have ever read. It had me on the edge of my seat the whole way through. Both the art and storytelling are excellent, which is something I've come to expect from Urasawa. Unfortunately, I think the story was unnecessarily stretched out over the last story arc. I felt that those last chapters could have been used to effectively conclude the story and to explain any mysteries that were left. This might be why I found it strange that Urasawa had to utilise a sequel "21st Century Boys" to finish off the story.
Rating: 9.5 / 10.0 |
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| brilliant by pandaslayer0 on August 12th, 2008, 5:58pm |
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this... has got to be one of the best mangas i have ever read.
allright, i admit, this mangas has its few up and downs. its understandable, when one sets the bar so high in the first few volumes in his manga, its bound to be noticable when some suspense or extreme plot movement is missing from later volumes - but like i said, i get it.
and that is totally what you should not pay attention to.
becuase, my god, there are a couple of volumes that when you read it, you would kill to know what happens after. this guys storytelling is superb.
you find yourself cheering the good guys on. you find yourself thinking "ooooooooh yeah" when one of the original good guys hops back into the main storyline - but most shocking of all, you'll find yourself screaming "NO NO NO", when the BAD guy gets shot.
when that last one happened to me, i knew that this was a good manga. |
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| Just plain awesome by johnisweak on July 31st, 2008, 1:03am |
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| One word describes this series...EPIC! The time leaps, the evolving characters, the unveiling mystery....its like the author was really chronicling the history of a parallel universe. |
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| a must read... by o0James0o on July 25th, 2008, 4:22am |
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i must read!~... even tho i downloaded this manga and its been on my hard drive for like a year... i havnt start readin it yet..... thus i started 2 days ago... its just awesome.... i got hooked onto it and keep on goin for 2 days straight (tho i did skip some time to play some game and for sleepin and eatin and u know... natural stuff what humans do...)
the thing that i do not like about the manga is that (spoiler) "friend" #2 (i forgot his name tho its mentioned in 21st century boy) told the world what hes up to... ummm wtf?.... if only he did do that the manga would pretty much be perfect.... also.... i still didnt see his face yet :/... and the manga is already ended.... also... what did they do to kanna to give her that power... and theres still many mysteries left yet to solve.. but overall... this manga is a must read... one of the best manga out there in the world...
ps. if you like this, i bet you will like dystopian books like Animal Farm, 1984 and Brave New World...
Rating: 10 / 10.0 |
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