Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 8 (8)

With the latest volume 8 of "20th Century Boys", the reader is given insight of what took place when Kenji and friends tried to enter the Friend's giant robot. But the primary storyline centers around student Kyoko Koizumi who is brought to Friend Land and is paranoid that something bad will happen to her.Fortunately, she finds the aging Yoshitsune who works at Friend Land but happens to have his faction staying underneath the park to monitor Friend activities. But hoping to use Kyoko in order to find out the identity of the Friend, while the other story arc features Kyoko reaching the bonus stage and going to the virtual world and find Kenji and friends.Which makes people wonder, how can someone know so much about what had taken place with Kenji and friends at the time? Is the Friend, someone they know and hung out with?As always, Naoki Urasawa knows how to grab the attention of the reader. His artwork and how he is able to capture the sense of action and emotion through the pages is magnificent and so far, this series has been engrossing and highly enjoyable thus far.Needless to say, readers are being setup for something huge and I definitely can't wait for the next volume. Overall, a wonderful eighth of Naoki Urasawa's "20th CENTURY BOYS". If you haven't started already and you are looking for a deep, well-drawn, well-written manga series, Naoki Urasawa's "20th CENTURY BOYS" is highly recommended!

Otcho continues telling Kakuta, the manga artist, what actually happened on the night of Bloody New Year’s Eve. When the Kenji Faction reached the giant robot that was wreaking such havoc and spreading disease, they discovered how crude and haphazard it really was, nothing like what they had envisioned as children. With only three minutes remaining until the next chemical spray was to release, Kenji decides to go up into the mechanism himself, despite the objections of his friends. But when does Kenji ever really listen to advice? Meanwhile, the Friends, led by Manjome Inshu, offer the government the vaccine which they just happen to have on hand for just such an occasion, and they will also destroy the beast which is spreading it, thus saving everyone. Such good Samaritans, eh?As the twentieth century comes to an end, Kenji confronts Friend, who reveals his identity. Years later, Kanna visits the site where Kenji died with Chono, the detective, and plays the tape of Kenji’s last song for him. And the group of saviors, whose arrival has been foreshadowed since the series began, turns out to be… none other than the Friends, who “saved” the world from the evil Kenji Faction. Koizumi, the student who has decided to do her paper on the events of Bloody New Years Eve, learns to her amazement, from Kamisma, that what is being taught in the schools about that day is all wrong. Kamisama tells her that he has been looking for Kenji’s niece Kanna ever since, and Koizumi has an idea where she might be.When Koizumi tells her teacher she’s changed her mind about the subject of her paper and wishes to change it, he tells her it’s too late, she’s already been chosen to go to Friend Land, and such an honor that is. The question is, can she survive such an honor?The tension is rising to unbearable levels as we continue to learn what actually happened on that fateful New Year’s Eve. Having assumed that Kenji and his friends successfully saved the world, it’s both shocking and appalling to learn that quite the opposite has happened, and the Friends have taken the upper hand all the way. When Koizumi finds herself at Friend Land, she discovers that it’s far from being a friendly place, and if she doesn’t watch her step, she might be sent to Friend World! She meets someone long thought dead and joins a group determined to right the wrongs of the past.I still find it hard to believe Kenji died that night, and I hold out the hope that he will turn up at some point, and that he will be reunited with Kanna, with his friends, and with Yukiji. Another great volume, looking forward to the next.

WARNING THE PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ABOVE HAS SPOILERS!20th Century Boys is the story of a group of friends who grew up in 70s Japan dreaming of a final battle that would end the world in the year 2000. Then as middle aged men in the year 2000 they found someone was making their old kid's game come true! Volume 5 got up to the final battle but then jumped ahead to 2014 leaving us with only vague clues what happened.In this book we finally get some information on what happened in 2000, what was the secret of the Friend's robot, and starts to build the next chapter of the plot. Unfortunately the Amazon product description spoils some of this, so if you've not seen it LOOK AWAY!I was starting to worry for a bit but this book hooked me right back in.

Loved this series up until about book 15 or 16.. It became to drawn out..The Story is great but takes wayyy too long to develop (in my opinion).

Nicht ohne Grund ist Urusawa in Japan ein Manga-Heiliger. Künstlerisch, stilistisch, graphisch eine völlig andere Liga als der Manga von der Stange

Great Urasawa series. Fantastic twisting complex mystery.

Après qu'il donne quelques informations sur cette mystérieuse catastrophe terroriste de la fin du siècle dernier, et sur le comportement héroïque à cette occasion de Kenji, Otcho et autres camarades d'enfance, ce volume se centre sur le personnage actuel (nous sommes en 2014 mais cela ressemble beaucoup au 1984 d'Orwell) de l'élève Koizumi Kyoko, que son intérêt pour Kenji conduit au camp de redressement de Friend Land. Là, elle va approcher plus près encore du mystère qui se trouve au centre de ce manga... Mais que va-t-elle découvrir ? Et pourra-t-elle jamais témoigner de cette découverte ? La série, bien entendu, rebondit à nouveau, à la manière à laquelle l'auteur Naoki URASAWA nous a habitués (Monster, Pluto).