20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

From AsianMediaWiki

(Redirected from Twentieth Century Boys)
Jump to: navigation, search
20thcenturyboy.jpg
Twentieth Century Boys2.jpg

User Rating

Current user rating: 82/100 (25 votes)

 You need to enable JavaScript to vote


Profile

Plot

In the summer of 1969, Kenji was an elementary schoolboy. He built a secret base in a vacant lot with his friends Otcho, Maruo, Yoshitsune, Mon-chan, Donkey, Yukiji and Fukubee. One of their secret activities included writing in the ‘Book of Prophecy’. In their ‘Prophecy’, the children fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world, bringing about doomsday.

Years later in 1997, Kenji is the manager of a convenience store. He's given up his dream to be a rock star and has chosen to live a regular life, looking after his sister's baby girl Kanna after his sister has disappeared for an undisclosed reason. His boring life is turned upside down one day when his old classmate, Donkey dies mysteriously and then an entire family in the neighborhood disappears.

At the same time, there's a lot of talk about a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend. A strange chain of events follow, which exactly duplicate the events described in the ‘Book of Prophecy.’ Kenji and his former classmates are shocked to learn this horrible truth. If things are happening exactly as described in the ‘Book of Prophecy,’ then Friend's intention is to fulfill the doomsday prophecy. And Friend is most likely one of the kids they used to play with...

As the events in the ‘Book of Prophecy’ unfold in their lives, Kenji and his former classmates decide to take on the villain.

Time passes and now it's December 31st, 2000. This is the day described in the ‘Book of Prophecy’ as the day of mankind's demise.

Notes

  1. “20th Century Boys” was originally serialized in a manga magazine, ‘Shogakukan Big Spirits Comics,’ between 1999 and 2007.
  2. The manga series has been translated and published in 11 countries, and received many awards both domestically and internationally, including the ‘Best Prize for a Series’ at Angoulême International Comics Festival in France.
  3. Related titles:
    1. 20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End | 20-seiki shonen (2008)
    2. 20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope | 20-seiki shonen: dai-2-sho (2009)
    3. 20th Century Boys 3: Redemption | 20-seiki shonen: Saishu-sho - Bokura no hata (2009)

Cast

Trailer

The media player is loading...

Image Gallery

Film Festivals

Comments

  • Comment #1
    Ki Says:

    “Twentieth Century Boys” is the first chapter of an ambitious trilogy based on Naoki Urasawa’s 22 volume sci-fi manga of the same name. The story covers a lengthy period of 35 years and deals with nothing less than the impending destruction of planet Earth. The trilogy also features a massive budget of 6 billion yen ($65 million USD) and an equally massive cast of over 300 performers. The movie is also helmed by well known television and movie director Yukihiko Tsutsumi (Trick the Movie / Happily Ever After / The Bandage Club) and produced by Nippon Television. As you can tell, there’s a lot of hype & expectation behind “Twentieth Century Boys.”

    In “Twentieth Century Boys,” Kenji Endo (Toshiaki Karasawa) is a mild-mannered mid 30′ish guy, still single & works in his family owned convenience store. While many of his friends opted for careers in business, Kenji first pursued his dreams of becoming a rock musician. Those plans were put on hold when his sister mysteriously disappeared and left her infant baby under the care of Kenji and his mother.

    One day, Kenji learns from his pal Maruo of an upcoming elementary school reunion. When Kenji learns that his childhood crush Yukijii will be attending the reunion he decides to go.

    At the reunion talk quickly turns to the mysterious cult group led by a man known as Friend. The cult group uses as its symbol a logo that Kenji & his friends created as childhood friends. Furthermore, the man known as Friend makes prophesies in the exact manner as the story Kenji & friends wrote in a comic book as children. Since only a handful of people ever knew about the comic, suspicions arise between the friends about the true identity of the man known as Friend.

    Because of the expansive manga that the movie is based on, Twentieth Century Boys runs for 142 minutes and frequently jumps between the 1960’s, 1999-2000, and 2015. For some, they may find the non-linear story telling to be disconcerting, but I found the narrative style to be one of the better aspects of the film. With the story telling style employed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi the viewer usually discovers information in real time with the main characters, enhancing the mystery aspects of the film. This is especially so in the film’s stronger first half.

    Once the backdrop is completely laid out, the film then tackles the meat of the story: the battle between Kenji & friends against the cult group led by Friend. During this time, the filmmakers glosses over some details making certain scenes stick out like a sore thumb. As an example, after Kenji discovers the comic book he drew as a child (under his just destroyed convenience store), Kenji runs over to Maruo’s house to play his old guitar like a man possessed by the spirit of Jimi Hendrix. If that sounds weird to you, it looked even weirder on film. Shortly afterwards, Kenji turns from innocent victim to the most wanted terrorist in the world, without any details given (hunh?).

    The climax of the film revolves around an epic battle between between Kenji & friends against a giant robot loaded with biological weapons. Presumably, this is where a significant portion of the film's budget went into, but you really wouldn't know from watching those scenes. F/X are underwhelming to say the least and choreography is just as underwhelming. One of the more frustrating aspects of the climatic battle scene was watching bad-ass Otcho (Etsushi Toyokawa) watch the entire battle behind a locked iron gate door ("C'mon man, get your ass out there and do something! This is a freaking movie!)".

    Finally, for a film inspired by the music of T. Rex, “Twentieth Century Boys” features a noticeably weak soundtrack. Rock music is used only sparingly and when it is, there’s a heavy factor of cheese to it. Like its counterpart, “Death Note,” western rock music used in a manga inspired Japanese film still has an odd feel to it.

    “Twentieth Century Boys” isn’t a film that will be loved by all. For instance, people who rarely watch Japanese films may find the constant introduction of different characters to be disconcerting. Couple this with the non-linear story telling and I’m guessing a good portion of movie goers may find themselves lost. As stated before, I found the non-linear story-telling to be effective and there’s always the inter-titles stating the year for anyone that finds themselves confused. For myself, the weaker aspects occurred in the movie’s second half. Specifically, battle scenes were underwhelming & a level cheesiness was introduced not found in the extremely entertaining first half. Come to think of it, “Twentieth Century Boys” comes across a lot like a more commercial version of Sion Sono’s “The Suicide Club.” Fans of manga inspired films like “Death Note” should enjoy “Twentieth Century Boys,” as well as fans of blockbuster films in general. For others, it's a toss up.

Leave a Comment

Latest News Latest Trailers
* Uhm Tae-Woong in KBS2 drama "The Equator Man" (literal title).
* Masami Nagasawa & Junpei Mizobata cast in TV Asahi drama "Toshi Densetsu no Onna".
* Joe Odagiri, Yusuke Santamaria, Shihori Kanjiya, Nene Otsuka cast in Fuji TV drama "Kazoku no Uta".
* Kengo Kora & Yuriko Yoshitaka cast in movie "Yokomichi Yonosuke" directed by Shuichi Okita.
* Kim Ha-Neul cast opposite Jang Dong-Gun in SBS drama "Gentleman's Dignity" (literal title).
* Park Hae-Jin, Lee Young-Ah & Song Jae-Hee cast in "Snow Sea" (literal title).
* Kasumi Arimura & Yumiko Shaku cast in movie "Little Maestro".
* actress Jin Se-Yun cast opposite actor Joo Won in KBS2 drama ""The Bride Mask".
* Satoshi Tsumabuki, Tadanobu Asano, Toshiyuki Nishida, Mirei Kiritani, Junpei Mizobata & TVXQ's Shim Chang-Min cast in movie "Ogon O Daite Tobe".
* see list of winners at 2011 (3rd) Film of the Year Awards.
* Jang Dong-Gun cast in SBS drama series "Gentleman's Dignity".
* Azusa Mine & Takahiro Nishijima cast in movie "Sigunaru ~ Getsuyobi no Ruka".
* Kim Hyun-Joo cast in SBS drama "Foolish Older Sister" (literal title).
* see list of winners at 2011 (54th) Blue Ribbon Awards.
* Kazunari Ninomiya & Etsushi Toyokawa cast in "Platina Data".
* read Q&A for award winning film "Jesus Hospital" with co-director Shin A-Ga.
* Masato Sakai & Takayuki Yamada stars in revenge film "Sono Yoru no Samurai".
* Sion Sono to direct film "The Land Of Hope".
* see list of winners at the 2011 (66th) Mainichi Film Awards.
* Lee Seung-Gi cast opposite Ha Ji-Won in MBC drama "The King".
* Joo Ji-Hoon cast in movie "I am a King" (literal title).
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
SPEC: The Movie
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Twelve Men in a Year *tvN drama
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Operation Proposal *ep1&2
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
The Moon Embracing The Sun *ep.11
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Syndrome *jTBC drama
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Dear *teaser
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Romance Joe
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Dream High 2 *ep.4
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Doomsday Book *teaser
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Space Brothers
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Insight Into the Universe *teaser
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Kono Sora no Hana
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
L et M The Reason I Love You, Other Stories *BeeTV drama
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Wild Romance *ep.10
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Shut Up Flower Boy Band *ep.3 trailer
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Dream High 2 *ep.3
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Home: Itoshi no Zashiki Warashi *teaser
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
Feast of the Gods *ep.1
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Potechi
*
Amw-Japan-flag.jpg
Utahime
*
Amw-South Korea-flag.jpg
The Moon Embracing The Sun *ep.10

External Links


Personal tools
Social Networks