20th Century Boys, vol. 2

20th Century Boys Kanzenban #2

by Naoki Urasawa, Marc Bernabé (Translator), Verònica Calafell (Translator)

Ataques bacterológicos se ciernen sobre San Francisco y Londres. ¿Qué sucederá a continuación? La única persona que lo sabe, la única persona que puede salvar el mundo es...Kenji. Amigo le espera.

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

414 pages, Paperback

First published February 29, 2016

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

[͙͘͡★ Ancuta✨🌙 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gonna start the next volume tomorrow, I’m so excited !!🦦🎊

[Artemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

20th Century Boys continues jumping between timelines, flipping the story on its head, misleading its readers into thinking it’s going one way while actually going into a completely different direction. With all its mysteries, new character introductions and foreshadowing, the second volume didn’t remind me of Stephen King’s IT as much as it did Lost, which I don’t think is a bad thing. However, the tone of the book is walking a very thin line between an exciting thriller and ridiculous, making-it-up-on-the-fly nonsense. I really can’t tell if Urasawa knows where he’s going with this book at this point, but it’s an interesting ride so far that also looks stunningly good thanks to his unique art style, so I’m on board for now.

[Sarah Aubert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still trying to keep my thoughts brief, but I like this SO MUCH. It's getting harder and harder to stop reading!

[Whitney Jamimah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, this volume was AMAZING! 4.5 stars!

I felt way more grounded in the story for this installment. Though I had a bit of a hard time getting into a good groove with the first installment I appreciate the set-up and the slightly jerky intro that Urasawa created for us in the beginning because there was none of that in this second volume, the stage was set in its entirety and it was full speed ahead. We got a few answers and many many more questions in this volume. I am in love with the mystery that Urasawa is crafting, all I want is more of this story and world!

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story! More of a mystery manga, we're a bit more in the «present» in this one and less in the childhood part. Slower than what I usually read as manga but a very intriguing and thrilling story! I was a bit unsure with this series and just pick it because a lot of people I respect the opinion were saying it was really worth it, but they were right! Totally worth it!

[Maro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Things are really starting to pick up. It's gonna be troublesome to put this series down.

[Aradeea · Rating 5 out of 5]

El resumen del principio hace milagritos jeje 👌 Con ganas de saber más sobre AMIGO

[Des Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved the first perfect volume, but this one is where I begin to understand Urasawa as an artist. He's a master, that much is already evident. Sometimes I struggle with manga over western comics because of the translation factor. But that just isn't much of an issue here. These characters are humans. The core of that humanity is captured and on display no matter the language spoken. Otcho makes a wonderful addition to the cast, and I am very excited to watch him and Kenji roll through the rest of this series.

[Ame-lit D’Arroult · Rating 4 out of 5]

Encore une fois une très bonne lecture. Cette histoire est vraiment intrigante et semble très bien ficelée. On a quelques révélations qui font plaisir mais on a toujours plus de mystère. Notre personnage principal évolue et les enjeux auxquels il fait face sont de taille. On a aussi de nouveaux personnages qui semblent très intéressants. Je passe un très bon moment de lecture avec cette saga.

[Damián · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todo funciona a la perfección acá. Dudo que siga así hasta el final, pero hasta ahora es una obra maestra absoluta.

[francesca · Rating 4 out of 5]

fortunatamente per una volta ho ascoltato i suggerimenti di alice…😁

[Jagoda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chciałabym zostać „przyjacielem”

[Maëlys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toujours autant banger
Urasawa ce génie

[Oliver Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Urasawa’s big sci fi mystery deepens. Rich, evocative art, and it’s a wonder how the uniquely structured plot fits together. Can he stick the landing across 10 more books? We shall see, but highly recommended thus far.

[Sheila López · Rating 4 out of 5]

El segundo volumen de '20th Century Boys' continúa con la intrigante trama de misterio y conspiración que Naoki Urasawa ha tejido magistralmente. Los personajes siguen siendo cautivadores y la narrativa mantiene un ritmo envolvente. Las revelaciones y giros inesperados mantienen al lector ansioso por descubrir más. Sin duda, una lectura imprescindible para los amantes del thriller y el manga de calidad.

Parece ser, que empieza ya la acción...

[Sarah Schanze · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm so amazed Urasawa can make a seemingly silly story premise into something so believable (especially these days, hah hah) and suspenseful. I've been checking these out from the library but I should just buy them.

[Loay Mohammed · Rating 4 out of 5]

20th Century Boys Second Volume, Continues To Build Upon What Have Been Set in The First Volume, it Expands The World a Bit More & Flesh Out More About The Cast & a Few New Ones. The Point That Made me a bit Frustrated is That It Still Remains Overly Mysterious That You Sometimes Feel Like Urasawa is Holding The Information From You Until He Wants To Reveal it & We Haven’t Seen The “Friend” as a Character.

[Nelliamoci · Rating 5 out of 5]

È incredibile il ritmo di questo secondo volume che, forse addirittura più del primo, trascina il lettore in questa storia pazzesca. I personaggi sono studiati in ogni dettaglio, le storie si incrociano perfettamente: viene voglia di divorarlo in un secondo. Bellissimo!

[the_deepest_black]

"Silny wie, co to słabość. Słabość to tchórzostwo; tchórzostwo to posiadanie czegoś, na czym ci zależy; osiadanie czegoś, na czym ci zależy to bycie silnym" (255-256).

"-Jesteśmy przyjaciółmi, nie? - Oczywiście, Mei [...]. - I widzisz? Masz jeszcze jedną ważną rzecz" (258).

[Felippe · Rating 4 out of 5]

O desenvolvimento dos personagens continua bom e os pulos temporais também. Parece ter fôlego para manter a história interessante mesmo parecendo que o desfecho está próximo.

Um dos detalhes que mais gostei deste e do primeiro são as referências aos heróis japoneses de mangá e tokusatsu.

[Blanca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Woooow! It was a minute since something caught me this way!! I couldn't put it down!!! I'll have to suffer from curiosity till I get the next volume, though *already dies from desperation*.

[Emilie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow.

[Elettra Petricola · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arrivato ieri e letto oggi tutto d'un fiato, veramente bello non vedo l'ora di leggere il terzo volume.

[antho.cqlr · Rating 4 out of 5]

L’auteur a vraiment un pouvoir grâce au quel il nous mets l’eau à la bouche et nous fait tourner les pages à vitesse V

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would take an entire series of Shogun in Bangkok.

[Taylor Rabbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Things are definitely happening now and it all makes a little more sense

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Tony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still sick, 🤧. SLEEPY 🥱

[Nico Decri · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.75...
e siamo solo al 2 volume!!!

[Anom Parikesit · Rating 5 out of 5]

Shogun/Occhoa has made an impressive introduction in this volume. Where Kenji goes after his supermarket collapse is also getting clear. The meeting between Kenji and Occhoa reinforce the squad vs “Sahabat”. Next volume must be more intense 😎