I applaud Urasawa for writing something as ambitious as this. Billy Bat tells the story of humanity and its struggle throughout the history.

While the story's execution feels bad at times, I really like the overall theme and message. I think the whole Billy Bat thing is an allegory about

Plot: Welcome to BILLY BAT Amusement Park! Wall Dismay, whossat? *poof* I'll make him disappear! Ehehehehe!/10

To summarize it in a spoiler-free manner: A normal guy gets trapped into a weird, bizarre sequence of events. However, the world is as grounded and real as we know it. What is real? What is fake? WTF IS GOING ON? That's the plot, sergeant! You figure it out yourself what the effin fck is going on! That'll be your duty for this assignment!

Vibes: ~I wanna embrace the 1950s American Blues~ OOPSY DOOPSY HERE COMES A LOONEY TUNES AD BREAK!/10

Just like many noir series before it, this series is rife with dangerous individuals prowling at every corner of the street: It plays the serious tension really well in moments of dangers, leading up coldly to some random unsettling events... then gives you whiplash by adding sequences of some wacky cartoon strip SFX like
　⦧ᨈᨈᨈᨈᨈ⦦
⧼　 BOOM ! 　⧽
　⦦ᨈᨈᨈᨈᨈ⦧
(Think of CUPHEAD to have a rough idea)...

What's going on? Well, all I can say that it can be fun if you are into reading through the lines... And sometimes, it really goes off-tangent by jumping you with some RANDOM JAPANESE NINJA DUDE (wtf!?!?!) but somehow tries to make sense of it... like lmao!? It's so BS, but if you don't let the suspension of belief get to you it can be a blast! ---otherwise you'll be like "WTF is this?" Your challenge to not get lost: Consider these weird tangents relevant to the plot and BE STRAIGHT LACED ABOUT IT LMAO.

Personally, it gave me some 0o0 feel when the cliffhanger hits while the serialization was still ongoing. Decoding and tying the parallel of the allegorical comic strips can be fun!

Craziness: O H 　S H I T /10 (when it happens)

It's "crazy" in the sense it'll make you feel "whu-who-whuuuuut"! I wouldn't say that it's super trippy. Just has this uncanny valley vibes at times when the pieces and reality hits, which can add to some slightly scary/unsettling vibes to it... Hm, how do I explain this? The series with the closest vibes I can think of as writing this review is probably "The Man in the High Castle (TV series), an alternative history periodic drama.

However, unlike series that are "always crazy". This one is only crazy when the climax hits, and so don't expect craziness every single chapter... Like for the majority of the chapters, think of it constantly brewing a budding "calm before the storm" vibe.

Characters: Human Actors/10
The way the characters are portrayed here feel more "plot-centric" than character-driven stories. So... it's not really about the "developments" but how much they can match the vibes this series try to go for. Vibes-wise, they feel like TV dramas characters, like they exist to advance the plot, rather than making you feel extremely attach to them. Not sure if it's typical of this author, but it certainly makes it stands out from the many other manga out there. It definitely has a distinct and grounded style that makes it closer to a "mature" style. In a way that they behave "closer to normal everyday people" than typical manga archetypes. But if pitted against other "mature" works like published novels, it will probably pale in writing quality.

Should you read this?
While I personally enjoyed it due to having a soft spot for crazy developments (the hyperlink is just a list of series I enjoyed for being crazy enough for my taste; viewing requires being signed in), it might not be the case for you! Tempt your expectations, and use the following checklist to see whether it'll be a good fit or not!

- If you want some comfy read to chill after a long day -> This series won't do it.
- If you want to see some braindead action -> This series ain't it.
- If you want a big world building series where everything is tied properly --> This ain't it; if the author improved on this point, I could perhaps give it a higher score; it can still be fun, but might also be a dealbreaker for many
- If you are looking for a deeper meaning; there ain't. See below.
- - It's a series about the journey, not the end.
- - - BILLY BAT WAS THE FRIENDS WE MADE ALONG THE WAY <-> If you can accept such a gag ending; YOU CAN MAKE IT; otherwise, you'll be like WTF I WASTED MY TIME FOR THIS---
- If you are in need for your monthly mindf*ck because you are running out of true crime threads/discussions/podcasts. THIS IS THE SERIES.
- - Recommendation: This series is slightly slow to digest and all the fun lies in coming up the theories for it. So, in return, reading it all at once will make it boring! Wouldn't having all the clues laid bare right after the hints are given is the same as getting all the fun spoiled?
- If you don't mind going back a few chapters to catch up "foreshadowing" because hunting for clues is so fun. -> Ey yey, go for it.
- If you are looking for something that will rival actual investigative true crime stories and detective stories -> No it won't; it's just a little mystery manga with one hell of a wacky vibe, not some grand 9000 IQ mindf*ck philosophical lecture/intricately planned story.


In short, it's a nerdy love letter for casual history fans who won't mind seeing certain scenarios being "re-enacted" in manga form. It was my first Urasawa Naoki work so I went in without bias or knowledge of his previous works (I read this while it was getting serialized when I was 15 a little more than a decade ago, and this series was best enjoyed when speculating what's going to happen next). But if I were to be asked to reread it now, I wouldn't all read in one-go. It is best to read it as if it's a serialized publication, like comic strips in the back of olde newspaper. I would say that it also doesn't have that much of a re-read value (if I were to start reading it over again after finishing the whole series). But I do admit having reread it while it was still an on-going series to catch up on the missed hints! BTW, I didn't bother rereading this series after I was done with it (even though I read it eons ago) and mostly came up with the review from what I could remember on top of my head. Well, for one it's surely memorable even if flawed!

tl;dr: This isn't really a series that will change your life or anything. It's just a cool little read if you are a history/mystery/true crime nerd interested to see the attempt of an author trying to reconcile different facets of recorded history. I certainly enjoyed it mostly for the unique vibes that no other series ever provided me with. (maybe with some exceptions like those dark humours Fujiko strips)


Further Ramblings

Only go through it if you have time to kill! It's just me bullshitting mindlessly!

Be mindful that it probably has a 99.999% chance of spoil the fun of reading the series though! So only read the following sections once you're "done" with the series however you see it:

Review of the Ending



... Last updated on March 1st, 2024, 11:26pm

Really wanted this to be masterpiece tier like 20th and 21st century but unfortunately it fell short. Still enjoyable but not as satisfying

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.

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.

The kid in the middle of a minefield, or the soldier tasked with helping the kid? maybe we are both.

Yes this is a serious question that's how meta and how real this manga gets at the end, you see our times are not that different from the ones depicted in the story.

I tried to read this manga a couple of years ago and it didn't catch my attention initially. The summary for this series didn't sound interesting and I didn't think the author could be able to write another manga like "Monster" and "20th Century Boy" so I'm glad I was wrong. I liked that this series has a blend of both of them.

People have to remember that Urasawa Naoki's manga's needs to build up for it to be amazing. You need to see the bigger picture rather than reading a couple of chapters only. An example would be the first 15-30 chapters of this manga because it was boring for me. At that point of the manga I wanted to quit, but I knew that things would pick up at some point so kept reading, and I'm glad I did.

I recommend that keep reading after the Shinobi arc because that was the point where things started to pick up for me. Luckily I started reading this when 118 chapters have been translated because I don't think I would have remembered all the things that happened in this manga by reading one chapter each week/biweekly/month.

... Last updated on August 8th, 2014, 11:43am

I always thought that Monster was Naoki Urasawas Magnum Opus. His Maus or Watchmen if you will but apparently this could be the ONE. I further consider Urasawa to be japan´s best living (Osamu Tezuka can´t be beaten) comic author as he never stops and just goes on from one high point to the next with his Astro Boy "remake" Pluto being the next best thing to Monster and Billy in level of writing and art quality. Happy is the "worst" for reference but still a 7,5/10 as he can do no wrong it seems.
The amount of well defined characters here is awe inspiring, the multicultural touches are a breath of fresh air and the century spanning conspiracy is coming together nicely. The series is further exceptionally well researched with his Walt Disney and Kubrick stand-ins being the best examples. The current arc is even about 9/11 and that isn´t a topic the average mangaka would be willing to touch or would be even allowed by his editors.
Why aren´t animation houses and TV-networks fighting over the rights to his mangas as this could be a killer HBO series or Madhouse anime. Berserk is the best thing on japanese the market right now, then comes Vinland Saga and then we arrive here so expect perfection like nowhere else.
Read it now and remember: The Bat is always watching!

... Last updated on March 28th, 2015, 11:58am

this series level of insanity is frighting
if you are into real life Urban legends, UFOs and Global Conspiracies
then you ain't seen anytin yet!
beware of the Bat!

... Last updated on January 6th, 2013, 5:36am

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.