I so admire Naoki Urasawa’s skill. Just when my interest in this series was starting to wane a bit — I loved the original idea of contrasting kid friends with adults trying to save the world, but I was less involved with the Buffy-like tough future girl and the self-indulgent manga artist in prison storylines — he reels me back in in volume 7, both with flashbacks to the characters I missed and by ramping up the action on the […]

Review by Ed Sizemore The Kana storyline from volume 5 continues. Britney, one of the regulars at the restaurant where Kana works, has witnessed a murder and is being sought by the police and hunted down by the killer. Kana makes arrangements for Britney to get out of town and to stay with her grandmother. However, things get complicated fast as it turns out that Britney has stumbled upon something much bigger. Volume 6 also introduces us to Kakuta, a […]

After the time jump shown in the previous book, I shouldn’t be surprised with the major twist in this volume, but I was still stunned when it happened. Being left shocked and confused, though, just puts me in the same place as many of the characters in this sprawling story by Naoki Urasawa. Kenji and his friends have sent their loved ones away from Tokyo and banded together to battle the evil group of Friends. They’re convinced something will happen […]

Review by Ed Sizemore **Warning: This review contains spoilers.** With this volume, the narrative jumps ahead three years to the summer of 2000. We finally discover what happened to Otcho since he disappeared twelve years ago in 1988. We also discover what happened to Professor Sikishima and his family. Remember, volume 1 opened with police investigating the Sikishima family’s disappearance. On a structural level, 20th Century Boys volume 4 is really about tying up some loose ends and reintroducing Otcho […]

This is a bit of a departure for the site. Usually, when it comes to manga series, we leave them up to one reviewer or the other instead of switching off. Although Ed’s previously reviewed the first two volumes, I wanted to get in on recommending this astoundingly good series by by Naoki Urasawa. 20th Century Boys volume 3 is where Kenji reaches his turning point. He now understands what’s going on — someone who knew about their childhood games […]

Review by Ed Sizemore Kenji is still investigating the mysterious symbol from his childhood in Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys volume 2. However, things aren’t going well at the family convenience store. The franchise’s district manager is threatening to end Kenji’s contract if sales don’t pick up. He’s also unhappy with the way Kenji runs the store and demands that baby girl Kanna be put into daycare instead of being carted around on Kenji’s back. A law firm, hired by […]