Movie Review - 20th Century Boys
20th Century Boys (20世紀少年, Nijusseiki Shōnen) is based on a science fiction mystery manga created by Naoki Urasawa who draws allusions mostly from rock and roll with its title taken off T. Rex's famous song. In the hands of director, Yukihiko Tsutsumi, the trilogy of "20th Century Boys" live-action films is told in four different time arcs from The '60s and '70s, late '90s, year 2014 to 3FE aka the Third Year of the Friend Era. It is set to be one of the biggest undertakings ever in the Japanese movie industry with not only a huge budget of 6 billion yen featuring a mammoth cast of 300 people including A-listers like Karasawa Toshiaki and Tokiwa Takako. The last chapter of the story is to be serialized under the name 21st Century Boys.
The beginning of the series takes place during the late 1990s, where Kenji Endo is a convenience store owner, making ends meet while taking care of his niece, Kanna who was left in his care by his older sister, Kiriko. He also has to take care of his old mother, who constantly nags him of what he had done to their family liquor store. Without any knowledge of the dark conspiracy that surrounds him until he learns at a class reunion that Donkey, an old friend of his had recently committed suicide. Hence, he begins a whirlwind adventure to figure out Donkey's sudden death, when he learns of a large cult organization under a mysterious man only known as "Friend" who seeks to destroy the world on New Year's Eve of 2000. Realizing that this madman is drawing his plan from a story he and his old friends came up, he decides to round them all up in a bid to jolt his memory. Kenji realizes that his only hope is to find the "Book of Prophecy", where he wrote scenarios in which he and his friends would save the day. Nine heroes were mentioned at the last paragraph but only 7 answered the call, who are the other 2? One would be Kanna and the final person might play a huge role in the final outcome.
Kenji confronted 'Friend' during a cult's concert meeting to kill him but backed down when he learns that 'Friend' is the father of his beloved niece and husband of his sister. It becomes evident later that Friend is also interested in Kanna, who possesses latent powers which in the mange attributes to a special pill that Kenji's sister took during pregnancy. He sends several members to kidnap her but was thwarted by Kenji's timely intervention. The angry mob turned on one of their own and burn down their family convenience store in the process. Residing over the ashes, Kanna's hidden powers shine through and points out to Kenji a hidden container protruding from the ground. In it was the book of prophecy that he had once buried. Kenji's family must now live in secrecy in order to escape Friend's grasp.
It is now the year 2000. We follow Otcho, another old friend of Kenji, now living in Bangkok and he is being hunted down by a local drug lord. When he receives a call from Kenji, Otcho is at first skeptical about his plan to save the world but later agrees to return to Japan. Kenji is now a wanted terrorist and he leads Otcho to an unused subway station where he and his supporters have been staying for some time. They begin to formulate a plan to stop the end of the world. Based on the Book of Prophecy, they learn that an unnamed building must explode to herald the beginning of the end. Before Otcho can find it on time, the Japanese National Diet Building explodes, confirming the prophecy and reaffirms "Friend" commitment towards World domination.
On December 31, 2000, as Tokyo begins to sleep, a giant robot appears out of nowhere and begins rampaging across the city, spreading the lethal virus which has been plaguing the world over the past few years. Kenji and his crew take off and head to the machine, unsure of whether they'll be able to stop it, but knowing full well they are the world's last hope. Our valiant hero reaches the control pod of the machine, activated his timer explosives and comes face to face with his nemesis as the seconds ticks away......
At the end of the first movie, we have a deeper understanding of all the central characters and whet our appetite of what’s to come in the following two features. The central protagonist of the first half of the story, Kenji Endo disappears after the events of the "Bloody New Year's Eve" but is rumored to be alive and I wont' be surprise if he rises once again to face his 'Friend'. In the final scene, we see Kanna, all grown up and ready to continue where his uncle left off in the next movie. Meanwhile in a prison cell, Otcho is digging his way out and vowed to keep on fighting for his friend, Kenji.
However, many answers still remained untold, who is the mysterious "Friend" (ともだち, Tomodachi) and how does he tie into Kenji's youth? Why are there disappearances and deaths tied into Ochanomizu University? Their memories hold the keys to the puzzle, but time and age have clouded their minds. The strange occurrences and the reach of the "Friend" conspiracy grow by the day. Will Kenji and the others be able to put together the puzzle and save the world?
