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Manga Info
Billy Bat ![]()
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Description
Billy Bat is a comic-in-a-comic and the real protagonist is a Japanese-American artist named Kevin Yamagata who draws Billy Bat for "Marble Comics".
Shortly after they transition to the artist in his studio with his assistant, two actual detectives, who look like Laurel and Hardy in Dick Tracy era suits and trench coats, knock on the door and appropriate Kevin's room for the purpose of conducting surveillance on a room in an adjacent building. One of the detectives, the skinny “Laurel”, sees Kevin's work and it turns out he's a Billy Bat fan. The other chubby "Hardy" detective picks up a... More...
Shortly after they transition to the artist in his studio with his assistant, two actual detectives, who look like Laurel and Hardy in Dick Tracy era suits and trench coats, knock on the door and appropriate Kevin's room for the purpose of conducting surveillance on a room in an adjacent building. One of the detectives, the skinny “Laurel”, sees Kevin's work and it turns out he's a Billy Bat fan. The other chubby "Hardy" detective picks up a... More...
Type
Manga
Related Series
N/A
Associated Names
Билли Бэт
بيلي بات
บิลลี่ แบ็ท
ビリーバット
蝙蝠比利
빌리 배트
بيلي بات
บิลลี่ แบ็ท
ビリーバット
蝙蝠比利
빌리 배트
Groups Scanlating
Latest Release(s)
c.165 (end) by MangaStream over 7 years ago
c.164 by MangaStream over 7 years ago
c.162-163 by MangaStream over 7 years ago
Search for all releases of this series
c.164 by MangaStream over 7 years ago
c.162-163 by MangaStream over 7 years ago
Search for all releases of this series
Status
in Country of Origin
20 Volumes (Complete)
Completely Scanlated?
Yes
Anime Start/End Chapter
N/A
User Reviews
N/A
Forum
2 topics, 9 posts
Click here to view the forum
Click here to view the forum
User Rating
Average: 8.4 / 10.0 (416 votes)
Bayesian Average: 8.26 / 10.0
Bayesian Average: 8.26 / 10.0
10
22%
9+
30%
8+
25%
7+
13%
6+
5%
5+
2%
4+
1%
3+
1%
2+
0%
1+
1%
Last Updated
November 17th 2023, 9:47am
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Genre
Drama Historical Mature Mystery Psychological Seinen Supernatural Tragedy
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Categories
Category Recommendations
Recommendations
Author(s)
Artist(s)
Year
2008
Original Publisher
Serialized In (magazine)
Morning (Kodansha)
Licensed (in English)
No
English Publisher
N/A
Activity Stats (vs. other series)
Weekly Pos #678 
(+18)
Monthly Pos #1562(+73)
3 Month Pos #2508(+272)
6 Month Pos #3447(+143)
Year Pos #4458(+192)
(+18)Monthly Pos #1562
(+73)3 Month Pos #2508
(+272)6 Month Pos #3447
(+143)Year Pos #4458
(+192)List Stats
On 1058 reading lists
On 1022 wish lists
On 520 completed lists
On 51 unfinished lists
On 336 custom lists
On 1022 wish lists
On 520 completed lists
On 51 unfinished lists
On 336 custom lists
User Comments
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Take everything that made 20th Century Boy interesting - the time skips, the many changes of scenes and characters, the foreshadowing - take all of that, execute everything about it badly, and also remove all the payoffs, and you end up with Billy Bat.
The ending is terrible, feels like a total non-sequitur, and suggests that nothing in the preceding story was even remotely relevant.
Some more things that prove irrelevant:
It's outright bizarre to me that the creator of Monster could create such a terrible story. To me, the non-ending felt like an ultimate insult, and I consider the resulting story worse than any random isekai or harem nonsense. I wonder if something went wrong with having a co-author? In any case, I can't recommend this story to anyone.
The ending is terrible, feels like a total non-sequitur, and suggests that nothing in the preceding story was even remotely relevant.
Some more things that prove irrelevant:
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
Some characters can see the eponymous Bat while others can't. The Bat even communicates with some people, ordering them to do stuff. All ultimately entirely irrelevant.
Spoiler (mouse over to view)
The comics are occasionally prophetic, foretelling the future. Sounds like a great setup for a gripping tale of trying to prevent stuff like the Kennedy assassination or 9/11, doesn't it? But no, either the entire cast is entirely incompetent, or the story universe entirely deterministic, but they never manage to change the future in any way that matters.
It's outright bizarre to me that the creator of Monster could create such a terrible story. To me, the non-ending felt like an ultimate insult, and I consider the resulting story worse than any random isekai or harem nonsense. I wonder if something went wrong with having a co-author? In any case, I can't recommend this story to anyone.
A gripping tale that spans several countries, time periods and characters. You thought a story about mangaka would be boring or uneventful? Think again. As Urasawa uses his trademark thriller style to spin this tale you won't be able to stop reading. The way the characters and plot threads come together is once again a testament to Urasawa's talent.
This manga is simply awesome. The mangaka has kept me into this manga because every chapter I'm wanting to know who and/or what the bat is. They have done their research on history and tied the bat to everything in a great fashion.
If the mangaka keeps this up it will only get better and better, there is still so much that can be done.
If the mangaka keeps this up it will only get better and better, there is still so much that can be done.
All these plot threads, all these theories of what really happened in history appropriated for this manga. It draws on events from all over the place, Jesus, JFK, the rise of Nobunaga, the moon landing (even Einstein!). And it's tying them together perfectly. Furthermore all these characters are introduced and eventually tie in, even if it takes decades. And then there's the mystery of the black vs white bat.
Wow. Simply wow.
... Last updated on September 3rd, 2012, 3:27am
Wow. Simply wow.
... Last updated on September 3rd, 2012, 3:27am
Coming from a manga-ka, He's clearly mixing how comics are made in the U.S and Japan up(especially given the time period its taking place). It's just clearly inaccurate in terms of ideas. At least interesting enough, the anthropomorphized bat makes sense since this takes place in the late golden age or post golden age, when the superhero was dying or dead for about a decade.
The story like someone said, it seems out of sync at times. The jumps from one point in the story to the next action are nonsensical. I'm early in, so this might all be explained and this isn't a review yet. It does create a certain kind of mood but more than anything it just seems wrong, because the understanding of comics is wrong.
The story like someone said, it seems out of sync at times. The jumps from one point in the story to the next action are nonsensical. I'm early in, so this might all be explained and this isn't a review yet. It does create a certain kind of mood but more than anything it just seems wrong, because the understanding of comics is wrong.
I got blind-sighted when I saw "Naoki Urasawa" on the cover and tried my best to like this manga.
Perhaps I've come to expect a certain level of realism when it comes to an Urasawa series, and even when it blends elements of fantasy I always found how he incorporates it into the story to be tastefully done. With Billy Bat, he threw all subtlety out the window and dove right into the thickets of mysticism and curses.
Each chapter of this manga does not seem to fall into place with any of the other chapters, and therefore the pacing sometimes seems off. Not to mention some events are just wholly unbelievable, even when they incorporate tidbits of historical fact. Urasawa's token cliffhangers are still present, but they do not grab me like with previous works, and sometimes I just find myself wishing for the chapter to end.
Overall, I am disappointed.
Perhaps I've come to expect a certain level of realism when it comes to an Urasawa series, and even when it blends elements of fantasy I always found how he incorporates it into the story to be tastefully done. With Billy Bat, he threw all subtlety out the window and dove right into the thickets of mysticism and curses.
Each chapter of this manga does not seem to fall into place with any of the other chapters, and therefore the pacing sometimes seems off. Not to mention some events are just wholly unbelievable, even when they incorporate tidbits of historical fact. Urasawa's token cliffhangers are still present, but they do not grab me like with previous works, and sometimes I just find myself wishing for the chapter to end.
Overall, I am disappointed.
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