This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world! As boys, Kenji and his friends came up with a bunch of stories about an evil organization bent on world destruction. As adults, someone is now turning their fantasies into reality!
Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for audiences rated teen plus.
Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world.
The time has come. The Friend reveals all about his conspiracy and declares
that he shall destroy the world within seven days. Kanna plans a music festival
to evacuate people to the Expo venue, which is the only place the dictator holds
sacred and the only place safe from destruction. While the 20th Century Boys
race toward the final battle, Kenji is coming back to Tokyo!!
Author Biography
Naoki Urasawa's career as a manga artist spans more than twenty years and has
firmly established him as one of the true manga masters of Japan. Born in Tokyo
in 1960, Urasawa debuted with BETA! in 1983 and hasn't stopped his impressive
output since. Well-versed in a variety of genres, Urasawa's oeuvre encompasses
a multitude of different subjects, such as a romantic comedy (Yawara!
A Fashionable Judo Girl), a suspenseful human drama about a former mercenary
(Pineapple ARMY; story by Kazuya Kudo), a captivating psychological suspense
story (Monster), a sci-fi adventure manga (20th Century Boys), and a modern
reinterpretation of the work of the God of Manga, Osamu Tezuka (Pluto: Urasawa x
Tezuka; coauthored with Takashi Nagasaki, supervised by Macoto Tezka, and with
the cooperation of Tezuka Productions). Many of his books have spawned popular
animated and live-action TV programs and films, and 2008 saw the theatrical
release of the first of three live-action Japanese films based on 20th Century
Boys. No stranger to accolades and awards, Urasawa is a three-time recipient of
the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award, a two-time recipient of the Osamu Tezuka
Cultural Prize, and has received the Kodansha Manga Award. Similarly, Monster
has been nominated three times for the Eisner Award in America. Urasawa has also
become involved in the world of academia, and in 2008 accepted a guest teaching
post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he teaches courses in, of
course, manga.