20th Century Boys, Volume 5: Reunion

20th Century Boys [20世紀少年] #5

by Naoki Urasawa

This is the story of a gang of boys who try to save the world!; As boys, Kenji and his friends came up with a bunch of stories about an evil organization bent on world destruction. As adults, someone is now turning their fantasies into reality!

The giant robot has already been built and now awaits the Great Awakening... With the Friend's identity still a mystery, the countdown to the apocalypse continues, day by day, minute by minute--for on December 31, 2000, humanity will meet its final hour. Hoping to get as many people who knew about their group's emblem involved in their clandestine efforts, Kenji's crew reaches out to their childhood antagonists: the twins Mabo and Yanbo. Back when they were kids, Yanbo and Mabo terrorized Kenji and company to no end. As adults, and with a crisis looming, will the evilest brothers in history now fight on the side of good? Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a gang of boys who try to save the world.

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

212 pages, Paperback

First published April 26, 2001

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]

Wow so they actually didn't succeed in taking down friend, and now he controls japan or even the world!
Now i understand why would this take 22 volumes lol
I love Kanna she is just so beautiful no matter the age, and looks like the new group to take down friend will be led by her, and am guessing the two mangakas will join that group.
Even though i loved his style, i was confused why the prolonged look at kanna's future, but now its all evident this doesn't end in the year 2000!
I feel kenji is not dead, they are hinting at that possibility actually, so there might be hope for him.
Looking at yukiji it feels like the group lost their spirits its just gone, and what about the celebration of them saving the world, now that we know friend is alive that can't be true right?
I feel like i came out of this volume with more questions than i had last volume! and this is a good thing for a manga this big and me being at the beginning of it.

[Anthony Chavez · Rating 3 out of 5]

For 4 books 20th Century Boys has teased and built towards the final battle to save world on December 31, 2000, there have been flashbacks and flash-forwards to hint at would happen.

In book 5 the day they have been prepping for finally arrives and Kenji and his band come together for the final battle against the friends. You turn the page and... BADABOOM! It's 14-15 years later.
We have a new status quo, new characters and newer conflicts. The results of that battle are hinted at and teased some more but nothing is confirmed. We'll just have to keep reading to find out.

It's a bold move that could have gone very wrong but Urasawa pulls it off in grand style. And it's one that's sure to keep me on the hook for a good long time. I find I like it when creators shift things and mix up everything in a serious way, upsetting what had become the serial formula of the story, bringing the new & unknown and instilling a new spark of life. Jumping straight into the thick of where you thought things might go without boring you with telling you every inch of the route to getting there.

I'm not sure where things are going but jumping from 1999 to 2014 in the middle, right over a climactic event IS A HUGE transition, I'm eager to see how it plays out. Still loving the series.

[library ghost (farheen) · Rating 4 out of 5]

(3.75) ok so WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ONNN

[yel ᰔ · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 of 5 stars

[Totoro · Rating 3 out of 5]

دیگه الانا باید یه گره گشایی هایی بشه
🫠🥱

[RG · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing even with a crazy time period jump. The first half deals with the ending of the world or doomsday. The 2nd half jumps years to deal with newer characters some from the previous time period. This time jump is done really well. I feel like the different stories wouldn't work normally but somehow Urasawa pulls it off.

[Kesa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpected time jump. We are in the year of 2014 now. Very exciting and I love the symbolism of certain scenes or actions.

[Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is so good! It's ridiculous! D;

[Derek Royal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting...but taking quite a different turn in the last half. Unexpected. I’ll have to see how development plays out, both narratively and emotionally.

[Thikrayat Al-aradi · Rating 2 out of 5]

when I thought things started to make some sense.. a time jump and you got no idea what's going on.. this manga is inconsistent :/

[Andria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time jump!

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

What? What? What just happened here? We get the full setup and the opening of the final battle... and then...

Dab in the middle of the volume, 14 years passed. Wow. Didn't expect that. Guess that's why I considered this a mystery. It's not so much a who-done-it as a what the hell just happened.

Did I mention that it worked for me? It takes one hell of a writer to pull this kind of stunt off, and he did, gloriously, and now that chubby little baby has turned into one hell of a spitfire. Even the short detective sequence early in the manga feeds brilliantly into his grandson taking the stage. I'm left reeling and giddy at all the turns. The writing is fantastic.

[Jamil · Rating 3 out of 5]

I find I like it when creators shift the playing field in a dramatic way, upsetting what had become the serial formula (drag) of the story, throwing out old central characters and focusing on new & unknown, leaping past exposition, jumping straight into the thick of where you thought things might go without boring you with telling you every inch of the route to getting there.

It's why "Epitaph One" is the best episode of Dollhouse. & It's why this volume of 20th Century Boys has me reinvigorated to see what else is to come.

[Ludwig Aczel · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/10
So, when we get to the final gundown, Urasawa pulls another of his cut move, the biggest so far: we jump 14 years in the future and discover that all this time we were actually reading the story of Kanna! I presume, at least. With 17 volumes to go, I guess that she is here to stay as the main protagonist and eventually save the day. Of course, if that is not the case, be my guest, Urasawa: I am happy to be surprised again and again and again!
I liked this volume slightly less than the previous ones only because it is basically a double set-up volume. The first half sets a fight that is eventually off-screened. The second half starts from zero a brand new arc. Beside that, this remains a constantly well-thought addictive story.

[M. Ashraf · Rating 4 out of 5]

20th Century Boys
Volume #05
Naoki Urasawa

The signal for the end of the world is fired, a mysterious shape is appearing and people are falling dead all over the world...
Time jump to 2014 after the events at the turn of the century and the world was saved!
With a grown-up Kana and new characters with some old ones what happened? how ? who ? many questions!!!
Great storytelling and the time jump does not look forced even with not knowing anything:'D still like the direction of the story.

[Estibaliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So what the heck happened on December 31st, 2000?

Sure that was an evil genius twist right there, enough to keep us anxiously reading, and dying to get our hands on the next volume.

Well done, Urasawa... even if that wasn't exactly nice, so many new questions to ask, with all the previous ones mostly unanswered...

5/5

[Iman Danial Hakim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manga marathon.

[Lonlilon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kanna 💙

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm enjoying how we're getting reintroduced as adults some of the original friend group. Lots of new threads are introduced into the mystery. Reading on...

[Shenniferr · Rating 4 out of 5]

10 mayo

[Armin safa · Rating 5 out of 5]

همش در این فکر بودم که کنجی و دوستاش دنیا رو نجات دادن و وقتی داستان رفت به سال۲۰۱۴هم همین فکر رو میکردم تا اینکه آخرین صفحه مانگا کلا همه چیز رو زیر و رو کرد

[Rahul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best volume so far with the commencement of the final battle there is big leap in the timeline. Can't wait to read further.

[Mikael Kuoppala · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the fifth volume of his saga, Naoki Urasawa reaches the same dizzying storytelling momentum he kickstarted the "20th Century Boys" in its first two volumes. And he manages to surprise us once again.

The volume starts in highly charged tones. D-day is at hand. The Friend cult that bases its dogma on a story thought up by a group of friends when they were kids is gaining power in the parliament. The organization has been otherwise quiet for a number of years after a few deadly attacks of bioterror in the final years of the 20th Century. But the people who made up the story know that humanity is about to end at the end of the century, bacause that was spelled out in their childhood "Book of Prophecy".

The last volume saw the friends begin regrouping again, and now they have come together. In their secret base they are preparing for a confrontation that is immediately at hand. Urasawa evokes a sharp sense of dread through his determined but terrified charecters. The tension builts, the stakes are at their highest. Terrorist attacks start again and our protagonists are accused of them. A political game filled with terror and death explodes. In its fith volume this series gives us the day we were assuming would be the dramatic climax of it all. Will the conflict last over several voluymes? Will the uniqueness of the storytelling hold or are we expecting a traditional battle story from now on?

None of the above.

At the midpoint of "Reunion," just as the set-up is about to be released into a direct confrontation, Urasawa shifts the story four years into the future. Again- as in between volumes three and four- we are faced with the mystery of what has happened in between. Slowly, the world we are now presented begins to gain shape. Humanity didn't end, but there was certainly a battle at the end of the 20th Century. Our main character Kenji has disappeared, the center of the stage is now occupied by Kanno, Kenji's niece who has grown from a baby into a 17 year old young woman during this saga.

Gradually we realize that all the other people from Kenji's group- now referred to as members of a terrorist cell lead by Kenji, still blamed for the unspecified destruction from years before- are keeping low-profile, hiding or otherwise gone. We also begin to understand that Kanno lives in a totalitarian society; censorship thrives, people are afraid.

The decision to shift the tale again is a gutsy one, but damn does it work. Urasawa has already created a sence of hyper reality with this series; the world he has created feels real and we are aware that anything might happen at any moment. Can't wait to see him explore this new dystopia he introduces more deeply; I sense some of his trademark political insight on its way. I might be completely wrong, of course, and the tale of 20th century boys might go somewhere completely different. And that's the beauty of it.

[Adam Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the most divisive tropes in modern storytelling is the Time Jump. When executed well, it can be a cool way to continue telling a story after the presumed ending. Or it can be a wonderful epilogue that lets you see the characters well after the climax of their stories.

In 20th Century boys, the time jump occurs just before the climactic battle that the series has been leading up to. The major characters have gathered together, the foreshadowed Event that will determine the course of history begins and when you turn the page, fourteen years has passed. We're now following a minor character from the previous volumes, and seeing how she fits into this future.

It was a let down for me.

I loved the first three quarters of this book, and was admittedly surprised that we were so close to the climax, given that this is volume five, and there are sixteen more volumes. I think I would have been fine if the story shifted to flashbacks for a bit, but this future story isn't as intriguing to me. We've gone from fighting an apocalyptic scenario to the post-apocalyptic political dystopia, which isn't what I wanted out of the story.

I'm going to keep reading, and hope volume six has more time jumps but I'm signifcantly less interested than I was while reading the first four volumes.

[J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a big story shift about 3/4 of the way through that I didn't know was coming, and to be honest, really upset me as a reader. So the low stars is because of the shift, and the fact that I'm kind of not all that interested in the "new" story, but up to that point the "old" story is fantastic still. I'll stick with the series, but I have to be honest, I'm not sure that the shift is a good thing.

[Michael Sorbello · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a review of the entire series.

Synopsis: Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a gang of boys who try to save the world. Failed rock musician Kenji's memories of his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all.

Review: This is basically the manga equivalent of a Stephen King novel, channeling themes and plot devices from the likes of It, Dreamcatcher, The Running Man and quite a few others. A young group of friends that make an innocent promise which ends up creating the most dangerous cult in the world, a 'friend' turned into the world's greatest evil, a strange suicide that reunites a group of adults to solve a mystery from their childhood which ended up leading to an apocalyptic police state, clever use of cultural references, rock songs and historical allegories to tell the full story, extremely small actions resulting in extremely massive consequences, an eerie threat lurking in the shadows that may or may not be of supernatural origins, kids overthrowing a totalitarian regime and rebelling against society while fighting against a sinister threat that no one else knows about; sound King enough for ya?

Though I don't think it's quite as good as Monster by the same author, it's definitely very close. It's a masterpiece of intricate plotting, interweaving narratives, deep character development and psychological complexity. The villain's presence is suffocating from the very beginning while remaining mysterious and terrifying until the final chapter. It's intense, it's relatable, it's horrifying and it's an emotional rollercoaster. Be careful who you call your friend and be careful of the promises you make. You might just end up causing the end of the world.

[Dani Wladdimiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este volumen me dejó muy descolocado, no sabía la verdad como tomármelo, porque tenemos dos mitades, la primera con todo el climax de Kenji, y por otra parte la misma historia muchos años después desde el punto de vista de Kanna. Todo esto no sería problemático si tan solo no nos quedáramos sin ningún relato sobre lo ocurrido el 20 de diciembre, donde se supone que iba a terminar la humanidad. En vez de contar todo lo ocurrido en esa fecha, prefiere el autor hacer un salto temporal varios años después.

¿Buena o mala decisión? Sinceramente no lo sé, porque en cuanto a intriga, claramente es una buena decisión, pero en cuanto a narrativa me cortó el entusiasmo, porque debo volver a conectarme con todo este Tokyo post-evento. Tampoco es que la nueva narrativa me quitó la frustración generada. Incluso en un momento dije: "Me equivoqué de volumen, estoy leyendo otro", no sería primera vez que me ocurre, pero no, realmente era así y sinceramente quedé consternado. Vuelvo a insistir, me gusta la idea, pero no me lo esperaba para nada, porque en el futuro nos irán contando lo que pasó en ese momento, dejándonos la duda sobre lo que había ocurrido.

Kenji debía reunir a 9 integrantes de la banda, todo esto con el fin de cumplir los deseos de Amigo, quién todavía no conocemos su identidad. Luego de eso, vemos que Kanna se escapa para encontrarse con Kenji, por lo que pueden decirse esas últimas palabras para dejarla marca en esta segunda mitad.

Es aquí cuando cortamos, y vemos a una joven Kanna, universitaria, quién debe lidiar con muchísimas cosas, pero principalmente con el dolor de perder a su ídolo: su tío Kenji. Pero esta historia no solo se trata de ella, sino en paralelo vamos conociendo un joven detective, quién es el nieto del legendario detective Cho, personaje que ya conocemos porque antes de jubilarse, quiso resolver su último caso que le costó la vida. La verdad todo esto es interesante, en especial la caracterización de Kanna, pero dejar tantas dudas me deja un poco molesto.

[Fany Mo · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Es un poco difícil para mi hablar de este tomo porque hay muuucho que decir, aunque, en resumen, lo disfruté mucho.

Empecemos; está dividido en dos líneas temporales con contextos y personajes distintos, y a pesar de que el cambio me resultó brusco y hasta me fastidió un poco, enseguida me metí en ambiente. De la parte de Kenji me encanta como sus amigos están tan decididos a ayudarlo, en especial me gusta como Yukiji se une al grupo como la reina que es. Lo de los gemelos más malos del mundo sigue siendo tan sorpresivo y gracioso como la primera vez, se los juro, aunque ya sabía que iba a pasar solté un grito ahogado.

Me gustó mucho ver al grupo de amigos junto, como se van preparando para el momento decisivo, como Otcho les explica el diseño del símbolo. Es una lástima el cortón que le dan a esa parte cuando una ya está re hypeada.

De la segunda parte, es muy interesante todo el asunto de las mafias y la religión, también me encanta la critica que se le da a la creencia de que la policía es la justicia absoluta, poniendo como algo perjudicial el no poder concebir que un policía cometa un acto delictivo.

Me gusta como el mangaka expone la personalidad de Kanna, como cuando Yukiji la regaña y se ve un panel con ella de espaldas y los puños en las caderas. Cada acción de Kanna y la manera en la que es dibujada demuestran lo bien definido que está el personaje, aunque me pareció bastante gratuito mostrarla en calzones. Igual me encanta esa escena en la que acaba comiendo fideos con los jefes de las mafias china y tailandesa, y también esa en la que dice “yo no soy un pulpo”, que podrá parecer una tontería, pero es que hay tanta gente que usa metáforas pendejas para joder a los demás que fue bastante gratificante verla enojada por eso.

Por último, debo decir que una de las escenas que más recuerdo de Yukiji es la del final del tomo, y me sigue gustando tanto como la primera vez. Es genial.

[Geo · Rating 3 out of 5]

“In every person’s life, there is always one thing they simply have to do.”

I’m mixed on this one. The past few volumes had been building up to this, the confrontation on New Year’s Eve at the dawn of the new millennium, and after slowly gathering the main cast and having them assemble and go out to face their destiny, we get a massive time skip. It’s bold, and I like the new direction, and we’re obviously going to learn more about everything that was skipped over, but I feel like everything I had just gotten used to and comfortable with was pulled out from under me. Then again, maybe that’s the intention. It would fit with the themes of this story. I’m very interested in learning more about this time jump, and even more curious about where the story will go from here now that we’re so far into the future and past what I thought would be the climax. It’s even stranger knowing that there’s so many volumes left, I feel like I cannot predict at all where this story will go from here with so many volumes left to cover.

[Adam Spanos · Rating 3 out of 5]

20th Century Boys, Vol. 5 introduces two new timelines. So far, the series has mostly taken place in 1967 and 1997, but this volume takes place in 2000, leading up to the crisis of December 31, 2000, and in a perhaps alternate timeline, 2014. The 2014 timeline features a gang-ridden Japan and Kanna, now 17. The Friends have taken over Japan and perhaps the world, the story suggests. It's all very subtle, much like a nice bowl of ramen with herbs.

It took me a while to finish Vol. 5, and I got a little bored by much of it. Still, by the end, I really liked it and wanted to read more. The strength in the volume is the way the two surviving characters' faces have aged. The artwork, like usual, is above average, and a nice side story involves two manga artists who want to draw a romantic comedy by hand, an alternative to all the computer-animated manga out there.