20th Century Boys, Volume 16

20th Century Boys [20世紀少年] #16

by Naoki Urasawa

Contrary to what his actions as an adult have led Kenji and his pals to believe, back when they were children, Fukube really wanted to be their friend. Fukube even went so far as to let them read all the latest manga magazines he diligently purchased in the hope of winning their friendship. Yet despite all this, Fukube still felt like an outsider. Fostering a sense of superiority toward all the other children around him, how did Fukube's actions as a little boy serve as an indication of the kind of man he would eventually become?

Next, the clock is rolled forward to the third year of the Friendship Era, a frightening time in which the virus has decimated most of the world's population, and the vaccine is available only to a lucky few. Tokyo has been quarantined behind a giant wall that is patrolled by both the Global Defense Forces and the Friend's secret police, and yet while life on the inside is made to resemble Kenji's childhood from the 1960s, the world beyond the wall is a desolate wasteland. Two young siblings come to the aid of an injured man who has managed to break through the barricade, and his name is Otcho!

Genres: Manga, Comics, Science Fiction, Mystery, Seinen, Graphic Novels, Fiction

216 pages, Paperback

First published April 30, 2004

About the author

Urasawa Naoki (浦沢直樹) is a Japanese mangaka. He is perhaps best known for Monster (which drew praise from Junot Díaz, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize winner) and 20th Century Boys.

Urasawa's work often concentrates on intricate plotting, interweaving narratives, a deep focus on character development and psychological complexity. Urasawa has won the Shogakukan Manga Award, the Japan Media Arts Festival excellence award, the Kodansha Manga Award and the Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize. In 2008 Urasawa accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University.

Series list (not including short stories collections):
- Pineapple ARMY (パイナップルARMY) 1985-1988, written by Kazuya Kudo;
- YAWARA! 1986-1993;
- Master Keaton (MASTERキートン) 1988-1994, written by Hokusei Katsushika;
- Happy! 1993-1999
- MONSTER 1994-2001
- 20th Century Boys (20世紀少年) 1999-2006
- 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年) 2007
- PLUTO 2003-2009, based on Tezuka Osamu's Tetsuwan Atom
- BILLY BAT 2008-2016
- Master Keaton Remaster (MASTERキートン Reマスター) 2012-2014
- Mujirushi (夢印-MUJIRUSHI-) 2017-2018, collaboration with Musée du Louvre
- Asadora! (連続漫画小説 あさドラ!) 2018-ongoing

Reviews

[Tawfek · Rating 5 out of 5]

i remember when i was just a kid our TV had only the national channels there were two of them, and after 2 am they would cease broadcast, and just show this image of white and black dots making a sound of shhhhhhhhhhhhh, while we did have a tyrant back then, we didn't have a Kanna broadcasting for resistance...
It's brilliant of Kanna's group to send their broadcast this way.
Friend made an ugly world, Urasawa made a brilliantly sad, and terrifying future, and i love it, love reading about it of course, i don't want that to be our reality.
We also get to learn the real history of friend, what exactly happened when they were young.
I get the feeling that he is really sick, i am not sure what is his illness though, he sees a blank face in mirrors, and he lives in his own mind too much (this last one i do a lot lol)
Though in his younger years according to this volume, we didn't really see him use any special abilities except the spoon bending one, which is weird considering how vast his abilities might be.
Glad to see God and Otcho still with us, and it seems like Yushitsune is still around as well.

[Rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This colume gave a lot of answer to the question of the past.I don't know where the change is transcending to. I find this volume less exciting probably because of transition of story but I am assured that something unimaginable is waiting.

[নাজমুল হাসান · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume was the most creepy one. We get to see the true childhood of the "Friend". His mental struggle to have a normal childhood, be accepted by the cool gang, identity crisis and then the breakdown. All portrayed masterfully. How a child's game can make the earth reach its final day, end the modern civilization- its really fascinating to read. Specially the final chapter "Toybox" highlighted this exceptionally well. When a child gets all the toys he wanted and gets bored playing with them, what does he do? That's when doomsday comes for the child's Toybox.

[Kesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

We found a few answers of the past and the story is developing into a new era.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like other books this volume of 20th Century Boys hops around, first focusing on the summer of 1970 and giving up some background on the Friend and his motivation.

Then we jump ahead to year 3 of the Friendship Era, farther into the future than the story has gone before. Tokyo is isolated from the plague-ravaged world outside the wall. Inside the Friend has recreated late-60s early-70s Japan. A new theme emerges, the trap of nostalgia. It's a trap that Urasawa, as a manga artist, is well aware of. And one that has crippled the American comic industry for decades. But anyway... As usual we don't know who is still around after the time jump, or where they are, but Urasawa keeps the story going at a good pace and I never feel left behind.

This is such a great series, more people should read it.

[riley ♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems that Fukubei's obsession with main character thingy has existed since his childhood days. We were dived into their childhood days once again but from Fukubei's perspective this time! We now knew the truth about Science Room and Hanging Hill events. This part reminded me so much of Monster considering the amount of creeps I got and the humanizing retelling for the antagonist's story!

Urasawa Sensei is gonna confuse me forming another timeline! We were brought back even further to the future which is later than when Friend saved Pope. Otcho is still alive! Yoshitsune seems so. But this future is just retro-ish. We still don't have a clue about what's happening with ugly walls Friend built for and who that Ice Queen they were talking about. Friend is still brainwashing and manipulating the whole world but in the last chapter, God asked what a kid was gonna do after playing with all the new toys and getting bored of them? That's when he will close the box- in another sense, Friend is gonna end the world for real this time!

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh my what a volume! In the previous book "Expo Hurray" we were left hanging after one helluva cliffhanger, a climax that again came and completely changed the status quo for the saga. Urasawa does the exact right thing and begins "Beyond the Looking Glass" with a narrative set in the characters' childhood during the late 1960's and early 70's. He has used this method before and left us hanging on a cliffhanger by shifting the narrative to a completely different time frame- of which this series has several- and always he has done it in a way that works. This time the shift is especially successful as the flashback is so extremely well written and filled with revelations.

We spend the whole first half of the book within the childhood experiences of the Friend himself. This is chilling and nuanced storytelling, illuminating a previously completely mysterious character in a radical manner. His experience is filled with detailed impressions of his reality as Urasawa build the character layer by layer.

The second half of the volume takes us once more further ahead in time than we've been yet. Time has lapsed since the dramatic event of the cliffhanger in the previous volume. Society has collapsed, humanity is struggling and the Friend cult is still controlling everything, feeding fantastic lies to an uneducated public who don't realize they are living under absolute dictatorship. The "Friendship Era" has risen. This world is revealed to us by two children who are housing a mysterious stranger in their family's shed. A stranger who has been to the other side of a great wall keeping the siblings' community isolated.

All in all "Beyond the Looking Glass" might be the best volume in this ridiculously good series so far. It's perfectly balanced, filled with revelations and psychological insights. It's still a wonder how much substance Urasawa can within one single volume. Masterful, compelling, thought-provoking and completely addictive.

[Fredrik Strömberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, so this was a drastic development. Well two actually. First we get to see the crucial moments of Kenji's childhood from the point of view of Fukube, and how he developed to the Friend. And then we're thrown further into the future than ever before, into the Friends Era, but it's a retro, 1969-ish future. This is all getting a bit too weird...

Oh well, I'm sticking to this series but by now I am sort of looking forward to the ending.

[Thikrayat Al-aradi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very confusing

[Andria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm interested to see where things go with the Friend's back story because as it stands it just reminds me of Monster in a way that makes me wish I was rereading Monster instead.

[Estibaliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This actually started pretty different than what I had been expecting, based on that previous volume's teaser, and it doesn't go back to the new Friendship Era (third year), till we are more than half way through. But, honestly, it didn't matter at all, and actually that first part was amazing.

We go back to 1970, back to our loved characters childhood years, but this time we witness the story from the point of view of... THE FRIEND! And it was everything you could hope for, and more, with a pretty creepy approach to the psyche of the future President of the World, that is guaranteed to give you the goosebumps, and more than one shiver along with them.

Back in 2018, we get to meet some new characters and the new society that developed in Japan after the shocking events of the previous volume... Things are getting pretty crazy and a bit '1984', rumors are so appealing to the reader with promises of getting reacquainted to old friends, and the expectations are riding high here...

So quickly into the next one...

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half, focalized through Fukube, was interesting, but it tended to run a little slow. Plus, I wonder about the uses of giving Fukube's perspective. It does humanize him more, which is fine. But does that add to the power of the narrative? I'm not sure yet...

The last (not quite) half with Otcho in hiding was much more compelling, and perhaps it's good that this volume ended with that trajectory.

[yel ᰔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars

[Julie Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fukube has always wanted to be a part of Kenji and his group, but has always been passed over and overlooked. In an attempt to get an in with them, he collects a great deal of manga. When Kenji’s new issue of Shonen Sunday turns up ruined, Fukube invites the guys over to his house to read his collection. Things seem to go well, but even so, he is devastated when they leave him to work on their secret clubhouse, and never invite him. Waiting for a time when the guys aren’t there, Fukube breaks into their clubhouse, where he is discovered by Sadakiyo, the creepy kid in the mask who has nothing to say. Finding Kenji’s Book of Prophecy, Fukube boasts that he can make better prophecies, and his are all going to come true. Fukube offers to be Sadakiyo’s friend, but on one condition. The other boy is not to call him by his given name at all… just call him his Friend.

The boys are all excited about the Expo in Osaka, Fukube boasting that he would be there all summer and would go to the Expo every day. But things don’t work out, and he not only can’t go, he doesn’t dare show himself around town, since that would mark him as being a liar. It’s a long hot summer for him, until he borrows Sadakiyo’s mask so he can get out of the house for a little bit. When Sadakiyo suggests they play at the haunted house on the hill, where no one will see them, Fukube gets an idea of how to frighten Kenji and the other boys.

Yamane approaches Fukube, trying to get back in his good graces, wondering if he is still rejected. The two boys run across a street vendor, who really has nothing to offer them that they are interested in. But they discuss Fukube’s idea of a man with a briefcase who travels around spreading a virus, to the shock of the salesman. It’s not until the strange kid bends one of his spoons, using just his mind, that the man becomes interested and gives the kid his card, telling him to look him up. And this man turns out to be none other than Manjome.

Meanwhile, in year 3 of the Friendship Era, Otcho is being hidden and taken care of by a young boy, whose sister quickly learns his secret. Funny thing, but everyone who owns a TV is ordered, by law, to turn the TV set off at the end of the broadcast day. When Otcho and the kids don’t do that, they hear a lady’s voice with an important message.

This volume differs from the others in that now, finally, we are inside the mind of Fukube, otherwise known as Friend, watching the development of the Friend persona. While it’s very easy to say that Kenji and the boys are at fault for being mean and not befriending him, I think it’s not that simple. There is something seriously not right about that boy, and when he lets his guard down, you can see glimpses of something evil. After all, how normal is it for someone to wish to destroy an entire world, and how egotistical to even think he can do so?

What I was excited about in the last volume hasn’t come to pass yet, but that’s because we shifted gears in this volume. I still believe it’s going to happen, so I’ll be patient. I can’t tell if we’re getting closer to the truth or not, but it seems that way. I’m waiting to see Kanna’s mother make her anticipated entrance. At least we know now she is one of the good guys, rather than the flake we assumed she was after dumping baby Kanna on Kenji’s doorstep. Another great volume, can’t wait for more.

[Scott Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

1970 flashback's galore in this one, mostly from the perspective of Fukube himself. He's pretty dark pretty darned early on apparently. While he's humanized a touch in that we see him having feelings, he's definitely not explained away or justified to the slightest degree.

In the main storyline we get the final jump to the future. The "present" timeline is now several years past the Friend's resurrection in Japan in front of the Pope as the second plague was just beginning to spread. It appears to have been successful, wiping the vast majority of people. We're not given much of a big picture of what's happening here, except that the Friend's New Book of Prophecy seems to be continuing to come true...

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was nice reading from Friend's PoV for once. It may not be revealing too much at this point, but it was sure smooth going down. Even the plot progression of 3 years into Friend's rule seemed right and dystopian. Ocho as the Hulk seemed very right, and God eating corned beef seemed just as right.

What a strange series this has become.

It's still one of the best out there, in terms of plotting and character development. The momentum seems unstoppable, so why do I get the feeling that the bad guy is going to self-destruct? Because he's planning on closing his toybox, of course.

[Villain E · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book opens with a trip to the past. We see Fukube as a troubled child. We find out what really happened the night Donkey jumped out the window. Then we get our first real look at year 3 of the Friendhip Era, where there's a wall around the town. A pair of kids help Otcho hide out from the police.

[Cel Red · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me encanta cómo empieza, con un pov en primera persona. Se sabe más de cuando eran niños y vemos qué pasó luego de la Exposición. Otcho sigue siendo mu badass.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started out as an intriguing sci-fi plot that inteweaved two eras in the characters' lives (the 1960s/70s when they were children) and the late 90s lead up to the millenium change. It was fun, there was a mystery that I mostly didn't care about but was well-written, some great characters, and a seemingly distinct endpoint.

At this point, we've added several more eras, a video-game based dreamworld, another generation of characters, we've seen the mystery solved which changed absolutely nothing about the direction of the book, and we keep moving from apocalyptic scenario to apocalyptic scenario.

I'm ready for this to be over.

My biggest pet peeve is that we keep going back to the 1960s/70s to learn more things, but none of them are especially interesting. I'm ready to see precisely what happened in 2000, and either have some of the remaining characters put an end to the apocalyptic scenarios or just see everyone die.

I still like the dialogue, and Urasawa has a strong sense of these characters, it's just dragging on too long. More new characters weren't what I needed for the story at this point. Particularly more children who don't understand what's happening. The technological aspect inroduced in this volume was neither clever nor original, and, again, it didn't add anything to the story. And the character return near the end was similarly exhausting as I imagined we'd progessed far enough on the timeline that he would be long dead. I don't care why he's still alive.

I'm hoping the next volume or two will redeem this for me. I'm closing in on the end, and was really enjoying it for most of the run.

[Lili Ormeño · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sadakiyo es el niño que más ha llegado a mi corazón. Lo sentía apretado al leer sus viñetas. Sin duda está en mi top de personajes favoritos.

Me ha encantado leer la perspectiva de Amigo (pues antes de eso aún no tenía los hechos muy claros) y conocer más a fondo sus intenciones y esa espeluznante personalidad.

Detrás de un niño cruel y cínico está el fuerte deseo de querer encajar y formar una identidad. Creo que eso es algo que puedo entender bien, pero al leer la forma en que se relaciona con el resto, no puedo sentir más que rechazo. Es Sadakiyo quien se merecía un lugar en la gang y una parte de mí cree que, de no haber sido por Amigo, se hubiese ganado un lugar al igual que Donkey.

El salto temporal, nuevamente, me ha tomado por sorpresa y me ha costado acostumbrarme. Más que nada, creo que como lectora estoy cometiendo el error de aferrarme al pasado y no querer que el tiempo transcurra. Los personajes ya han pasado por mucho y el mundo va cada vez peor. Sin embargo, muy a mi pesar, la historia debe continuar. Aún faltan varios capítulos, pero como me lo estoy devorando, temo que acabe demasiado rápido. Me estoy forzando a leer un poco más lento.

No lo quiero terminar!

[Zare · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story shifts up three years. Friend is back to power and world he created is creepy one. Dividing people between those who are granted the vaccine and those on the other side of the wall who are deemed as unclean is so reminiscent of the last few years.... I guess this is universal human behavior.

We follow young Sanae and her brother as they try repairing their TV (highly valuable in this third year of the Friend epoch) and soon cross path with the Kanna, so called Ice Queen, one of the resistance fractions fighting against Friend.

In parallel we follow young Friend and finally we see what exactly happened that night in school and in House on the Hill. Friend seems to be little bit off kilter and it shows how when he was very young he saw the world in very very weird and disturbing way.

With this story enters the third cycle and as such it starts [again] little bit slow. It feels but then again author manages to keep the momentum. I have a feeling this is final part of the story and it is worth the wait.

Art as always is great.

Highly recommended.

[Lucas Yahiko Madley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Actual rating ★★★★½, We get a look Fukubei back story and seeing friend wake up from a machine after Fukubei hanging as a kid to present day year 3 of friend (3F) From the after effects from the Virus friend launched on the world. During the time period of the time skip we see otcho surviving and meeting sanae (girl who actively protests against and hates the world friend created) and her brother Kastuo and their family as well. We also see the character God for the first time in a few volumes previously who's foresight has stopped to where she can't see anything stating that it possibly could be she could be losing it or the end of the world is near. Otcho and God speaking upon the last chapter in the volume "toy box" that when a child gets what they want what happens, and friend is closing his toy box (cleaning the world).

[Norman Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this one a week ago. I wanted to let it breathe so my thoughts on it cooled down. Well, here they are:

After many very good chapters the story gets boring because it focuses on the shocking value from the plot twists, adding nothing to the strong points of this work, but giving away what made it good.

The characters are the most affected by this. And in a series where the strong point is that one, you have little left.

This is the one where the story points to coming to a conclusion, but it's already too late. Four or five inexplicable plot twists too late.

The story has never been feasible by any standards, but at least it was interesting enough for a while. It jumped the shark long ago.

[Noninuna · Rating 4 out of 5]

After the incident with the pope, we get another time jump which is a way the author choose yet again. Now, we're following two kids, a boy and his older sister living 3 years after the event. Things had change significantly to the people in Tokyo. Expect more back story & mysteries of how things get where they're now.

I'm guessing that the boy is going to be the 21st Century Boys, next series main character. However, seeing how we have more than 5 volumes to get there, it seems impossible. I wonder what happened to Kanna and the rest of the gang?

[JNuclear Rodriguez Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Algunos cabos que se han dejado a lo largo de los anteriores tomos, van respondiéndose y tomando una mejor forma en esta historia de amigo, al cual sabemos su catalizador en su juventud, así mismo, su personalidad tan creíble para un villano manipulador.
Otcho vuelve a la carga, dentro de aquella ciudad amurallada, y conociendo aun mas de AMIGO y sus futuros planes. Y muchas viñetas parecen indiciar el regreso de alguien muy importante.
Me ha parecido un tomo muy importante en este arco del clímax de esta gran serie.

[kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

(mild, but not direct, spoilers incoming)

probably my least favorite volume of the series so far. It took a hot second to figure out if "year 3 of the friendship era" meant 2003 (3 years after bloody new years eve) or 2018ish (3 years after the events of 2015). Regardless, tbh I don't love the time jump. That said, I felt the same way about the time jump to 2014 until I felt settled in it, so hopefully this ends up the same way, because so far... not a fan.

[Greg D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m amazed how Urasawa is able to consistently reinvent this series. As soon as you’re used to a status quo, it morphs into something else. As soon as you think you know everything about a character, you see them from a different perspective.

What’s more amazing is that the series doesn’t lose step along the way. The tension builds, more layers of mystery are added on each volume. I don’t know if I’ve ever read a series with as dense a plot as this one.

[ej · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5 but not feelin a four star roundup rn damn i feel bad for young fukube n how the others treated him - he’s doin the same to sadakiyo, lmso nevermind fukube’s such a dick - you’d think gettin beaten up while “bein” sadakiyo would change his behavior n outlook, said it a million times but urasawa at his best is urasawa writin children n this vol greatly benefited from the flashbacks, i like the “put his toys away” line

[Emiliano · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Friend was a fucking dick

Really enjoyed this volume as it provided a lot of background on The Friend and wow jesus he’s just not right in the head. It solved a lot of the mysteries of the book so far and really just made me go wow o wow I see it. Also, HE’S THE PRESIDENT????? The world is fucked and we’re back to everyone in the crew separated like damn.

[Peter Barr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story changed a little and new characters are introduced. There is almost no action but the story is pretty interesting nonetheless. The story takes place in a post apocalyptic world after a virus has changed the world. I'm looking forward to Volume 17.