The past is revealed, the truth….WTF???
Creative Staff
Story: Naoki Urasawa
Art: Naoki Urasawa
Translation/Adaptation: Akemi Wegmüller
What They Say
As the entire planet grieves over the death of their beloved Friend, the remaining members of his inner circle continue to silence any and all dissenters. Dream Navigator Takasu believes that once they locate Kiriko – Kanna’s mother and Kenji’s older sister – Manjome Inshu will finally be in a position to control the entire world. However, Manjome hasn’t been the same since their Friend’s passing. Will he be able to set his doubts aside and continue with the Friend’s grand scheme?
Meanwhile, Kanna and company take advantage of the lax security following the Friend’s passing and break into Friend Land. Their objective: to reenter the Virtual World. Feeling that Kanna’s too emotionally involved, though, Yoshitsune decides to enter the game with Koizumi Kyoko instead – a decision that doesn’t sit too well with Koizumi. With Kanna prepared to terminate the game should things go bad, Yoshitsune and Koizumi journey back to the summer of 1971, but is it the real 1971 or just another one of the Friend’s fabrications?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This volume begins with the Friend’s memorial service. Practically the entire population of Japan is lined up to say their final goodbyes to their Friend and similar memorial services are being held all over the world with people turning up en mass. Throughout the series so far we, the readers, know that the Friend is a bad guy. We know that the things he has been doing are evil and that he is not a sympathetic character by any means. However, during this chapter Urasawa somehow made me feel sympathetic towards Manjome, the Friend’s right-hand man. Manjome is just as rotten as the Friend, just as evil, and similarly is not one to be trusted. But Urasawa’s careful pacing and depiction of how Manjome is reacting to the death of the Friend was able to create sympathy. These scenes have an emotional power to them that is similar to when Kenji died and everyone was mourning his loss many volumes ago. Whole pages are left to slow still frames of anguish upon Manjome’s face that really resonate and add to our involvement as readers in all the characters, good or bad.
The entirety of the rest of the volume deals with Yoshitsune and Co. as they navigate Friend Land’s Virtual World. The world they have stepped into appears to be the real 1971, not a lie developed by the Friend to push his propaganda upon the players of the Virtual game. The children’s secret base is no more as a bowling alley has been built on the field they used to play in. This was a really interesting scene here. Inside the bowling alley, Yoshitusune is trying to remember what everyone was doing that summer and Koizumi gets picked up by a groovy disco guy and starts bowling with him. But two things happen in this scene that was very good in my opinion. First, Yoshitsune and Koizumi have a run in with the owner of the bowling alley, the person the kids referred to as the King of Evil because he took away their base….Kamisama!? This small interaction with Kamisama added a whole lot of depth to his character because we start to get a more full understanding of his history as well as becoming curious as to how his life fell to ruin since he can apparently see the future. Can Kamisama see the future? What does this mean to all the predictions he has made previously? Very interesting and I look forward to more fleshing out of his character. The second is that Yoshitsune sees Mon-chan and learns that they are in the Virtual World during the day that the incident in the Science Lab occurs.
Finally! We get to see what happened to Donkey in the Science Lab, why he jumped out of the window, and why that event changed Donkey’s life and caused him to be rejected early on. Yoshitsune and Koizumi follow Donkey and Mon-chan to the Science Lab and witness the event first hand. Wow! I would never have seen this coming a million miles away! The event adds some heading turning revelations that might disinterest some people from the series. Or, it will add more intrigue and fervor for seeing more of the Friend’s history and what exactly everything all means. For me, of course, it was the latter. I don’t want to spoil the surprise so I will simply say…the legacy of the Friend all began here!
To add suspense on top of the mystery, Manjome and a mysterious fourth party have entered the Virtual game and are closing in on Yoshitsune and Koizumi. To assist and warn them, Kanna enters the game as well. Urasawa’s pacing is sublime here again (or maybe it’s just me and how I react to drama) as the tension is maintained at a high level for us as readers. Kanna gains more resolve to be a hero and Yoshitsune realizes how he spent the summer of 1971. These small events close out the volume and add to my appreciation and love for these characters even more than before. The only character that suffers in this volume is Koizumi. While her resistance to events and general aloofness added to her charm previously; in this volume she just comes across as plot fodder. I’m waiting for her involvement to really kick back into high gear and/or for her to step up to the plate and embrace her fate. As a simple side character, she just seems pointless.
In Summary
This volume is paired with volume 13 as a good transition volume. The plot points and story motivations are still undergoing change to lead into the third act. What this volume gives that 13 didn’t is the fast paced ramp up to new events. This seems like the end of the transition and the new story will start next volume. I am thankful for this not because I didn’t like the last couple of books but because the stakes are raised here. The revelations and possible what-ifs created in this book leave me with a renewed sense of excitement for the series. This is why I keep reading. Not once so far has Urasawa left me sour, not once has he broached the ridiculous too quickly that I cannot suspend disbelief, and not once does he present his characters in a negative light that would kill all affection. If you lost your way with 20th Century Boys previously now is a great time to jump back in. The story is rebooting to allow for the final act in the Friend’s plans and our heroes’ struggle. We are still learning of the mysteries of the past but moving forward more now than backward. Highly recommended.
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: T+
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: April 19th, 2011
MSRP: $12.99
