20th Century Boys

[Rogozhin]

How many of you have seen this movie? It's a trilogy and so far the first two parts have been released and the third is set to hit the cinemas sometime next month.

I saw part 1 recently and I have to say that I was pretty pleased with how faithful it was to the original plot of the manga and with how well the actors resemble their manga counterparts. It might be good to supplement your understanding of the movie by reading the manga series because the movie does take a fair few shortcuts.

Synopsis from wikipedia:

In 1969, young boys Kenji, Otcho, Yoshitsune and Maruo build, in an empty field, a hideout they name their secret base, in which they and their friends can get together to share manga, stolen porn magazines and listen to a radio. To celebrate the event, Otcho draws a symbol for the base, that would represent their friendship. After their friends Yukiji and Donkey join the gang, they imagine a future scenario where villains would try to destroy the world, and in which the boys would stand up and fight; this scenario is transcribed and labeled "Book of Prophecy".

The series itself opens in the late 1990s, where Kenji is a convenience store owner, finding solace in his childhood adventures as he takes care of his niece Kanna and his mother. After Donkey is reported to have committed suicide, Kenji stumbles upon a large cult led by a man known only as "Friend". The cult has a plan to destroy the world on New Year's Eve of 2000, (referred to in the latter half of the story as the Bloody New Year's Eve,) and the events that are currently unfolding are suspiciously close to the plan documented in the "Book of Prophecy". Kenji begins to recruit some of his older friends, including Otcho and Yoshitsune, in an attempt to stop "Friend".

The series spans several decades, from 1969 to 2017, which in the chronology of the series, becomes 3FE (3rd Year of the Friend Era.) The series makes two distinct timeline cuts during the story; one from 2000 to 2014, and one from 2014 to 3FE. Several parts of the series are also told in flashbacks to previous events as the characters attempt to unravel the mystery of who "Friend" is and how to stop his plans of world destruction; most of the children's backstories through the 70s and 80s are told in this fashion.

The trailer for Part 1:

[kyo_9]

yeah.. can't wait for the last series to hit cinemas next month..
I've been a fan of naoki urazawa for quite a while now..
after this, I do hope there'll be another movie from his artwork too..

[edopeno]

How fortunate am I?!? On my trip to Japan this summer, I was fortunate to watch the first 2, 20th Century Boys' Films. I was a little sad that they weren't playing the finale when I was in Japan. But I can *le sigh no more!

They will be playing the Final movie at New People World. YES! And guess what? I was able to meet Takako Tokiwa when they first opened up the shopping centre and held the movie premiere! It was an awesome event!

Check out the pics: J-Pop Summit and Takako Tokiwa

[ThuMpeR]

I watched the first movie. Haven't gotten around to watching the second film yet.

[GTJ]

kennnnnji kun!

Yeah they won't shut up about it on TV. They play the first one like every week after talking about it for what seems like hours. it's making a huge media buzz and the actors are all now top-notch celebrities. I don't really get it, but I do enjoy the movies so far. Haven't seen the second one, I'll wait for the third to show up on TV.