Urasawa Naoki - 20th Century Boys, vol. 07-11
Tue, Mar. 27th, 2007 12:27 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterFor once, I am actually posting these manga write-ups in real time; aka, this is not a couple of days or weeks after I finished the volumes.
Sadly, this means that everyone can tell that I have read 11 volumes of this series in just two days, and five of those were read in a frenzied rush yesterday night after I got home from work.
It's a good thing school is not starting until April!
Urasawa does plot incredibly well, unlike many other shounen series (*cough*Bleach*cough*). I get a sense that he knows where the story is going, and he has no problem dropping huge plot twists in every chapter, which makes everything move very quickly. But he's not just good at plot. I love his characters as well, and he does a very good job of fleshing out supporting characters in just a few pages so that I actually care about what happens to them. And I already adore the main characters.
The other thing I like is that while the story is about saving the world from an evil cult, it's also about normal people finding the courage in themselves to be heroes and to fight back.
Urasawa is also doing very well with the multiple flashbacks and skip-forwards in time; part of this is because of how well he ages his characters. I had a little difficulty telling Kenji's friends apart in the first few volumes, but I figured them out fairly quickly. The more amazing thing is, I also managed to figure out what they looked like at separate ages, just because of Urasawa's character designs.
Giant spoilers
Sigh. So Kenji really is dead? I kept not wanting to believe it, but after two or three volumes where the character intros in the beginning say, "Kenji: died in the Bloody New Year's Even of 2000," it seems to be pretty set in stone.
But I want Kenji to meet teenage Kanna! I think he'd be proud of her.
Finally, we learn what happened that night! Oh Kenji... stupid blimp robot that killed him. And oh, Fukubei. I love how much the past informs the present (or the not-as-past?), how Sadakiyo is touched by how many of his former classmates remember him, despite being the boy with no face.
And Yoshitsune! Doubting his ability to be captain but doing it nonetheless!
I'm still amazed by how Urasawa managed to take the story from 1997 to 2014 and make me reminisce about 2000 and 2002, but all the reunions in 2014 made me go, "Awwww." I'm so glad that at least some of them have survived, and that they're all still fighting in their own separate ways.
I wanted to cheer for Kanna when she managed to broker a ceasefire between the Thai and Chinese gangs, along with her finding strength again after despair, leaning against the window, closing her eyes and hearing Kenji's song even without her headphones.
I'm rather creeped out by all the "Holy Mother" references, though thankfully the mystical pregnancy isn't the focus, as it is with many series (*cough*Alias*cough*XF*cough*). And I like that Kanna, despite being the prophesied chosen one, does things and is active as opposed to passively sitting back and being all holy.
Tomodachi Land is creepy as hell, and although Kyoko starts out as a bit of a ditz, she quickly grows up. I don't blame her about completely freaking out about Tomodachi World, given her previous experiences. And I love that she manages to get Sadakiyo back on Kanna's side, despite her not really knowing Kanna at all. I hope she stays in the series; I am still angling for more female characters.
Another thing that I've really been liking about the series is its empowerment of normally disenfranchised people. The ordinary people vs. politicians and police and etc. could be anvilly, but it's not for me, just because of how many different alternatives to protest are shown, and because Urasawa has characters from all walks of life acting against Friend, even those like Sadakiyo, who were there from the start.
I like that Kanna's base of power consists of ethnic minorities in Japan (the Thai and Chinese gangs), of newhalfs and homeless people. And I like how Kenji's base of power consisted of these normal, usually-seen-as-powerless people, such as Yukiji, Yoshitsune the hapless salaryman, and several lower-middle-class shop owners (like Kenji himself). It works especially well with the background theme of rock and roll saving the world in my head, since I tend to associated rock and roll with disenfranchised people speaking out.
Sadly, this means that everyone can tell that I have read 11 volumes of this series in just two days, and five of those were read in a frenzied rush yesterday night after I got home from work.
It's a good thing school is not starting until April!
Urasawa does plot incredibly well, unlike many other shounen series (*cough*Bleach*cough*). I get a sense that he knows where the story is going, and he has no problem dropping huge plot twists in every chapter, which makes everything move very quickly. But he's not just good at plot. I love his characters as well, and he does a very good job of fleshing out supporting characters in just a few pages so that I actually care about what happens to them. And I already adore the main characters.
The other thing I like is that while the story is about saving the world from an evil cult, it's also about normal people finding the courage in themselves to be heroes and to fight back.
Urasawa is also doing very well with the multiple flashbacks and skip-forwards in time; part of this is because of how well he ages his characters. I had a little difficulty telling Kenji's friends apart in the first few volumes, but I figured them out fairly quickly. The more amazing thing is, I also managed to figure out what they looked like at separate ages, just because of Urasawa's character designs.
Giant spoilers
Sigh. So Kenji really is dead? I kept not wanting to believe it, but after two or three volumes where the character intros in the beginning say, "Kenji: died in the Bloody New Year's Even of 2000," it seems to be pretty set in stone.
But I want Kenji to meet teenage Kanna! I think he'd be proud of her.
Finally, we learn what happened that night! Oh Kenji... stupid blimp robot that killed him. And oh, Fukubei. I love how much the past informs the present (or the not-as-past?), how Sadakiyo is touched by how many of his former classmates remember him, despite being the boy with no face.
And Yoshitsune! Doubting his ability to be captain but doing it nonetheless!
I'm still amazed by how Urasawa managed to take the story from 1997 to 2014 and make me reminisce about 2000 and 2002, but all the reunions in 2014 made me go, "Awwww." I'm so glad that at least some of them have survived, and that they're all still fighting in their own separate ways.
I wanted to cheer for Kanna when she managed to broker a ceasefire between the Thai and Chinese gangs, along with her finding strength again after despair, leaning against the window, closing her eyes and hearing Kenji's song even without her headphones.
I'm rather creeped out by all the "Holy Mother" references, though thankfully the mystical pregnancy isn't the focus, as it is with many series (*cough*Alias*cough*XF*cough*). And I like that Kanna, despite being the prophesied chosen one, does things and is active as opposed to passively sitting back and being all holy.
Tomodachi Land is creepy as hell, and although Kyoko starts out as a bit of a ditz, she quickly grows up. I don't blame her about completely freaking out about Tomodachi World, given her previous experiences. And I love that she manages to get Sadakiyo back on Kanna's side, despite her not really knowing Kanna at all. I hope she stays in the series; I am still angling for more female characters.
Another thing that I've really been liking about the series is its empowerment of normally disenfranchised people. The ordinary people vs. politicians and police and etc. could be anvilly, but it's not for me, just because of how many different alternatives to protest are shown, and because Urasawa has characters from all walks of life acting against Friend, even those like Sadakiyo, who were there from the start.
I like that Kanna's base of power consists of ethnic minorities in Japan (the Thai and Chinese gangs), of newhalfs and homeless people. And I like how Kenji's base of power consisted of these normal, usually-seen-as-powerless people, such as Yukiji, Yoshitsune the hapless salaryman, and several lower-middle-class shop owners (like Kenji himself). It works especially well with the background theme of rock and roll saving the world in my head, since I tend to associated rock and roll with disenfranchised people speaking out.
(no subject)
Tue, Mar. 27th, 2007 10:53 pm (UTC)Also, you still ain't seen nothing' yet. :)
(no subject)
Wed, Mar. 28th, 2007 04:03 am (UTC)You have no idea how much this series has eaten my brain.