20th Century Boys 6

Naoki Urasawa – Viz – 2009 – 22 volumes

It seems like the story has finally stabilized and calmed down enough that I can see a volume into the future.  This is both good and bad, since I enjoyed the way it was constantly coming up with new ways to baffle, but even without the constant questions and mysteries flying around, it’s still a pretty enjoyable read.  And the fact that this is still a pretty action-packed volume and still managed to be the most quiet in the series so far bodes well for the future.

Two major storylines are going on here.  One involves Kanna trying to shelter a transvestite from the police after seeing an officer shoot a civilian, and the other involves a manga artist trying to escape from prison with the help of the inmate that has been there since the prison was created 14 years ago, after the battle on New Years.  Things are more normal here only because we are not given the larger picture, nor are we given hints about it as we were in the early volumes.  We know that the government is corrupt, and that an organization (possibly the Friends, though a hint is dropped that the characters don’t pick up on) still controls the police and what people can say and do, but aside from the general problems this creates for the characters, there is no larger picture of an enemy as of yet.  I’m sure it’s coming, and that it’ll be spectacular.

I’m a little leery that a manga artist seems to be stepping in as a regular character.  While I get a kick out of stuff like this when used infrequently, it can wear on me a little when a character is constantly talking about how much he likes manga and continually makes blatant manga references.  I also don’t like it when writers use writers as characters in their stories all the time, Stephen King.

The prison parts are my favorite so far, only because the situation is so much more restricted and dire than the police problems that Kanna deals with, and also because one of the old characters is re-introduced in a clever way.  It is courtesy of this storyline that we get another one of those flashbacks to the 1970s, where the boys discuss Charles Bronson, Steve McQueen, and The Great Escape, and one of the characters in prison applies the conversation to their current situation.  Again, I love the kid logic used in this series, and the way it takes itself totally seriously when all these situations from childhood wind up being useful in rather dire problems they have as adults.

Also, the kids keep calling Charles Bronson Mandom, after a brand of Japanese men’s… cologne or something from the 70s that Bronson was a spokeman for.  Not only is Mandom the best nickname ever, but it leaves the story open to more fond Charles Bronson memories, which means someone could go “Death Wish” at any time.

Even with all the action and fun stuff going on, I think this volume was mostly exposition.  It’s good that it’s pausing to take a breath, though, because it’ll be nice to get back into the crazy plot with at least a little insight into what’s happening and how it will affect the characters.

This was a review copy provided by Viz.