Comments on: 20th Century Boys 5

By: Sara K.

Sara K. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:19:36 +0000

The more I come back to 20th Century Boys, the more I see how different the true natures of the events are from their surface appearance. The robot showdown is like that. In the movies it was a bit jarring, but at least by messing with the timeline in the manga the reader is prepared for things being different from how they seem.

The surface story of 20th Century Boys is that it’s a tale of epic heroism. Seeing the deeper story makes things read very differently.

And since you said this yourself -

“I was at least expecting to see him fight after all that buildup. It was pretty funny when not even that happened.”

I first read this remark before I realized that this volume skipped the showdown. While I thought it was an odd way of putting it and an exaggeration, it’s not completely inaccurate.

By: Connie

Connie — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:33:42 +0000

Great! I may go ahead and watch the first movie after volume 8 comes out. I wonder if the direction of the story will be more clear by then, too.

By: Sara K.

Sara K. — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 05:10:14 +0000

The first movie reveals what happens at the robot-showdown, so it would spoil that much, as well as some Volume 6. I can see how, from the perspective of the whole story, holding off that showdown sort of improves the overall storytelling structure, though they pretty much had to show the showdown in the first movie so that the movie would have a climax. I peeked ahead (because I don’t have to worry about spoilers) and it looks like they show what happens to Kenji and the robot in Volume 8.

And hurray for Basara :D

By: Connie

Connie — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 07:32:02 +0000

I like Pluto, but the more I read of 20th Century Boys, it’s like every new volume is a disappointment simply because it isn’t 20th Century Boys. It’s also series like Pluto that make me hesitate a bit in spoiling myself on 20th Century Boys. I think I read most of Pluto after I read the corresponding story in Astro Boy and just followed it to the end, but the story didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me until I read the Viz version, and Pluto is probably one of the better scanslations I’ve read. I’d hate for all the major things in 20th Century Boys to be spoiled, and then be hazy on the details due to an unclear translation or something.

I’m also waiting for my roommate to start reading 20th Century Boys so I can talk the new volumes over with him (he’s read Banana Fish just behind me, and he’s going through Basara now, which pleases me to no end). He wants to wait until a few more volumes come out so that he can digest a whole lot at once, but I wish he’d start soon since I have a hard time not feeding him details anyway. It’s sort of the same situation too, where he would never read it online, and reading the new volumes along with him should be good fun.

By: Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 07:00:41 +0000

I’m holding off so far because I send my copies to a friend who’s also reading them (and has now managed to hook his little sister on the series – I’ve just sent her up the first volume of Banana Fish, as well) and I really enjoy discussing each one with him. I’m not sure he’d read on-line manga, and if I read ahead I then have to remember what’s happened when and so on. Hmm. However, I’m not sure I can keep on being that noble!

My understanding is that the first movie covers the first 5 volumes, so possibly I could watch that now… Or will that just increase the tension? Arggh.

(and I’d forgotten that I had Pluto! Hmm. Less time to wait on that one, but maybe I could use it as a substitute if the cravings for 20th century boys threaten to overwhelm me…)

By: Connie

Connie — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:38:09 +0000

Yeah, I have to admit, it’s really, really hard not to look this one up and just read ahead in the story. I don’t think I’ve ever been so tempted, and I would absolutely love to make sense of things. But I’ve held off this long only because each volume is always such a complete surprise as far as the story goes that I can’t bring myself to spoil it before I get it. That’s pretty much the only reason I’m going to hold off on the movies too, because they sound pretty awesome.

I’ll freely admit to reading Pluto all the way through, though. I think I was most of the way through that one before it was licensed, and finished it up right before it started coming out in English. I wish it had been 20th Century Boys instead, so I could just know already.

By: Cyphomandra

Cyphomandra — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 09:33:01 +0000

Oh man, I just read this and would like to say a massive ditto to your above bafflement. What the hell? And yes, despite this – well, possibly because of this – it’s all amazingly good. Kanna and the manga guys look fascinating, plus Yukiji’s gotten more interesting… And I can’t even begin to think about Kenji.

(and I am now torn, because I do have access to translations of subsequent volumes, and even tho’ I’ll buy the Viz versions anyway I really, really want to know what happens next…)

By: Connie

Connie — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 07:46:38 +0000

I know! I couldn’t figure that out, either. I was pretty upset when that was taken away, after everything that led up to it. Hopefully it’ll be that much better when it’s finally unveiled later.

By: Sara K.

Sara K. — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 02:41:06 +0000

What the hell? They just leave things hanging there in the middle. I was looking forward to getting the drama-candy all over again. Oh well, I suppose not revealing what happens when heroes confront the robot makes things more mysterious.

By: Sara K.

Sara K. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 15:09:51 +0000

By the third movie, there is some predictability because by then some themes have developed. There were a couple plot reiterations which I found annoying, but there were also plot reiterations which I found surprising.

Even though I have some quibbles about the (movie) ending, it really was not something I would have predicted.

Based on your reviews, I think you have a little more insight than you realize, but I won’t point out which remark you made that was particularly clairvoyant.