20th Century Boys, Manga Recommendation of the Week!

Article at a glance:

• 20th Century Boys is a must-read manga by Urasawa Naoki, packed with mysteries, plot twists, and a unique villain, “Friend,” that keeps you guessing and never lets you relax.
• Kenji and his friends face a mysterious cult led by “Friend,” tied to their childhood, with each chapter raising new questions and delivering brilliant twists.
• Character growth, especially for Kenji’s group, is tightly woven into the plot, while Urasawa’s art amplifies key moments, making “Friend” an iconic villain.

I think it is not a stretch to say that 20th Century Boys is one of the best mangas out there. I know it is not as popular as something like Chainsaw Man or Berserk, but if you are into manga, you have surely heard of 20th CB. The plot is full of mysteries and plot twists, and the villain is iconic. 20th CB offers the kind of story where you can never let your guard down. And not just that, the manga has some incredible character writing as well. There’s so much in this manga that this article won’t even do it justice but I will try my best lol.

So yeah, welcome back to another edition of our manga recommendation series. This week we are talking about 20th Century Boys. There is a lot to go over so let’s just get right into it.

Introduction

20th Century Boys is written and illustrated by Urasawa Naoki. The manga was originally serialized in the Big Comic Spirits magazine from September 1999 to April 2006. It has 249 chapters compiled into 22 volumes. 20th CB also has a short sequel manga, 21st Century Boys. 21st CB is quite short coming in at just 16 chapters or 2 volumes. It is more like an epilog rather than a full-on sequel. There is no anime adaptation of the series to speak of.

Plot

Kenji Endo is just an average convenience store worker trying to make ends meet. Some weird stuff has been going on in the world though. There is this mysterious guy called “Friend” rising to power and he has a whole cult behind him. But what could all this have to do with Kenji? Well, one of Kenji’s childhood friends, “Donkey” recently committed suicide. Some clues left behind by him tell Kenji that he and his other childhood friends are being targetted by the cult,

“Friend” and the cult seem intimately familiar with Kenji’s childhood. It is now up to him and his other friends to try and recall their childhood and try to stop “Friend”. The plot immediately draws you in by setting up multiple mysteries off the rip. And instead of getting resolved, these questions only grow deeper as the plot progresses. The story is incredibly well-written. It has some amazing plot twists and the setting is interesting.

Characters

The true identity of “Friend” is one of the central mysteries of the plot and he is a great villain on top of that. He is charismatic and manipulative. He manages to get out of trouble no matter what. I like how much the character development of Kenji and his other friends like Kanna, Choji, Kiyoshi, etc. is tied to the plot. The past of all our main characters is central to the plot, after all. I can’t get into more details without going into spoilers. So I will stop here for now.

Art

Man, the art for 20th CB is really something. Friend’s character design is perfect for a story like this. And I like how his design shifts based on the events of the plot. Yes, the art is great in general but more than that, Urasawa uses it really creatively to emphasize certain plot moments and I find that fascinating.

Summing Up

Here’s why you should read 20th Century Boys:

• Incredible writing
• Awesome story
• Great characters
• Good art

That is all for now. This manga is nothing short of a masterpiece, you should check it out. Let me know what you guys think in the comments. I will take my leave here. I am off to play Genshin, see ya!