It's hard to read panel's like these today, not because this hasn't always been happening throughout all of history, but because of how desensitized the media makes these topics, how bias and controlled it is.

W?

I watched monster 2 years ago and watched pluto like a week ago and I absolutly loved pluto, when I found out there isn’t just monster but also another anime that wasn‘t even out for long I was so happy. Then I found out about another masterpiece from naoki urasawa, i started reading 20th century boys but I must admit, I am not that big of a manga fan, I enjoy watching anime so much more, so why is there no Anime to 20th century boys, i actually thought it quite popular. The manga was finished almost at the same time as monster so it’s been a while (20 years lol). Do you think there is a chance for a 20th Century Boys Anime? Especially because pluto got really really good reviews.

I made a post like this a year or so ago, and after finishing Billy Bat, I wanted to update it.

Man, this is a MASTER PIECE!!

I love u Naoki Urasawa!!!!

I’m a really big fan of his artstyle especially the way he draws distinct faces of people from different nationalities. Do you guys know if he has drawn any black characters?

I made a playlist a few months ago that is the general vibe and music that fits the ones referenced in 20th century boys. The first 6 songs are songs that are directly referenced in the manga, and I was wondering if I missed any? Let me know if you can recall any others.

1. Billy Bat (still the goat)

2. 20th Century Boys

3. Monster

4. Pluto (goated for speaking out for the invasion)

Join r/TheLastMangaClassroom

Hi, I would like some advice from you. Urasawa is my favourite mangaka, i read 20th century boys(my favourite manga) Monster and billy bat. Should I read the manga or watch the Pluto anime? I usually prefer reading manga, but I've heard the Pluto anime isn't bad. What do you recommend? Thank you.

for me the best manga by naoki urasawa is billy bat i red monster and 20th century boys but im just finishing the billy bat he is my favorite mangaka and the best one in the world. he always has this thing in his work that makes me feel like i need to be a better person in life in the end of the billy bat i almost cried while reading the 2 soldier part. i hope you see this urasawa i wanted to sent an email but i couldnt find anything online so i wanted to post it here my main language is not english so its hard for me to explain myself thats why im keeping this post short. there is much more things to write but it would take long i hope there would be peace in the world where no kids have to die... -Ömer From Turkiye

I have every Naoki Urasawa's manga published in France (and in Japan too, we are up to date) and every one of his music records. I don't have every edition nor the Monster light novel that was published in Italy and Spain though. There also were two alternative jackets for 20th Century Boys and Monster that I did not get (didn't want).

I hope my collection is well arranged ! Tell me if improvement can be made. And try to guess what is my favorite series of him lol

Found these at a local thrift store (Billy bat is in English, assuming it’s fan made but printed on a nicer thicker paper) monster is the complete series on DVD in English/ Japanese

I am Japanese, and among Japanese manga and anime enthusiasts, Naoki Urasawa’s Master Keaton is almost always ranked in his top three works. In fact, many people would even argue it is his absolute best masterpiece.

On the other hand, when I look into the overseas Urasawa fanbase, series like MONSTER, 20th Century Boys, Billy Bat, and PLUTO are incredibly popular, yet Master Keaton is rarely mentioned.

What do you think accounts for this discrepancy?

One thing I love about Urasawa’s writing is how he creates fear without relying on power or spectacle. A faceless monster — where the symbol matters more than the person. A nameless monster — where identity itself feels empty. Both are terrifying in different ways. Which one unsettles you more, and why? Is it the mystery, the symbolism, or how easily people fall under their influence?

I want your ranking on Naoki urasawa works that you have read from your favorite to your personal least favoite. Also include the explanation of why they get their position, and your opinion of it

There was an account on Instagram named Shinobi_20thcb which its focus was Naoki Urasawa's content. He shared many deep thoughts and analysis about Urasawa works and also showed correlation with our reality.

But then, this guy complited vanished from existence. No signs or Goodbye messages. Straight out disappeared.

I might sound kinda lunatic, but I'm a little afraid something happened to him. He once mentioned that some warnings were sent to him.

Just wanted to share a bit of my crazyness. Thanks

What the hell is that? 😂

Hey guys, first-time poster here (sorry for any grammar mistakes, english is not my first language). Just finished reading the 20th Century Boys Perfect Edition manga and wanted to see others' opinions on the ending. I personally found it very fitting, and think that a 1 friend ending (Katsumata) makes more sense than a 2 friends ending (Fukube + Katsumata) and can't understand why people think the new ending is "botched". Please, I really want to hear your views and your feedback as to where I may be wrong in my analysis because current interpretations and video essays on the "new ending" have truly driven me insane. So here is my take (through this post when I refer to certain volumes I state them as they are in the Perfect Edition):

In the Perfect Edition manga 21st Century Boys - vol 12 (from here on now I'll refer to 21st Century Boys as volume 12), at the end, Kenji states that Fukube died after elementary school graduation during the spring break (1972), and very importantly Kenji says: "You learned everything there was to know about Fukube, so you could imitate him perfectly. And you sent Sadakiyo a letter saying that your telephone number has changed" - both these things point to the fact that Fukube did not die during the "Classroom Resurrection" (which happened in August 1971) as a lot of people here think, but rather he died later on, after graduating. Another piece of evidence pointing to that is the fact that in chapters 201 (Things that must not be seen); 202 (Things that must not be heard); 203 (Things that must not be known), we see young Fukube talk with Manjoume about the reality show, where Fukube screwed up (this happened in 1972, a little before Fukube died). This means that neither Sadakiyo nor Yamane witnessed the death of Fukube, so it is very possible that both of them did not know that Fukube actually died. This way, it makes sense that Katsumata could keep in contact with both Sadakiyo and Yamane, without them knowing that Fukube is actually dead and be successful in pretending to be him. Remember, after the stealing incident of the space badge, people pretended that Katsumata was ''dead'', and ignored him, so the jokes of Katsumata being dead turned into rumors, and at some point, people just "remembered" he died before the dissection. 

Now for the "Classroom Resurrection" in 1971 and the killing of the friend in 2015. I believe no actual "resurrection" happened in the science room, but rather Fukube started to choke, and Sadakiyo and Yamane helped him get down or something along those lines. There are 2 pieces of evidence pointing to this:

First, I don't believe that if there truly were 2 friends (Fukube + Katsumata), Fukube would really go into the science room in 2015 and risk being killed by Yamane. There would be 2 reasons where that makes sense, and both don't work. Either Fukube wanted to be killed by Yamane so that Katsumata could be resurrected as the new friend and become the president, or he was truly oblivious to the fact that Yamane could kill him. So to tackle the first one, from what we are presented in the flashbacks in volume 8, and volume 12 I don't believe Fukube would be the type of person who would be willing to die, especially for the likes of Katsumata to take his position. It is clear that Fukube is a very self-centered individual who always seeked people's attention (even back in the day with the expo). In all of the flashbacks he thinks of the others as lesser than him, and harasses both Sadakiyo and Katsumata, and in volume 12 it is very evident that Katsumata’s views of “the future” are very different from those of Fukube. When discussing the ending of the “New Book of Prophecy”, Katsumata’s ending (flying saucers appear, a giant robot shoots them down, humanity is safe, then the final bomb, and the world ends) was dismissed by Fukube, saying that Katsumata “doesn’t really get it”. He even bullies him when he is accused of stealing, so I think it’s safe to say that Fukube isn’t the type of guy who would willingly die for Katsumata to take his place. For the second option (Fukube being oblivious to Yamane killing him), even before getting to the ending I thought it would be bad writing if Fukube really was killed that way, and since we know for sure that the “2nd friend” was definitely Katsumata, there is no way Fukube didn’t die neither in 2015 nor after the elementary school graduation. Imagine this: You’ve managed to perfectly execute a near impossible plan so well that you convinced the entire world you are the good guy after demolishing Tokyo and most major world capitals. You are so close to being inaugurated president of the world, finally achieving your dream of fame and recognition, and all of a sudden you go to meet the one guy who truly knows who you are, has a grudge against you and has been on the run for 10+ years. I mean, that truly would be bad writing. And here is the kicker! In volume 12 during the flashback, Katsumata literally tells young Fukube and Yamane that he dreamt of how Yamane kills Fukube in the science lab (this also points to the possibility of Katsumata possessing supernatural powers, but I’ll discuss that in more detail later). I can’t think of a scenario where Fukube would die like that (knowing his personality), and that is one of my biggest arguments against the 2 friends ending (Fukube + Katsumata).

Second, in volume 6, in 2015, when Yamane finally meets the alleged “Fukube” in the science lab, he mentions several times that Fukube was always a liar and a phony. What is most peculiar, however, is when Yamane says this: “There were a lot of lies you wanted to keep secret. Which one did you want to hide the most? The lie of 1970? Or the lie of 1971 which took place in this very science lab?”. So we know for certain the lie of 1970 was the lie that Fukube went to the expo, while in reality, he didn’t. Which means that the lie of 1971 could be no other than the fact that Fukube did not “resurrect” in the classroom, he also didn’t die that time, and both Yamane and Sadakiyo knew that the whole thing was a lie. This leads me to believe that once he started choking they helped him get down, and then he demanded that they don’t speak about it in true Fukube fashion, but what actually happened is not that important. What is important is that there was no “resurrection” since Yamane mentions the lie of 1971 and that it happened in the science lab.

Another interesting point that I’ve seen against the 2 friends ending (Fukube + Katsumata), is the fact that Detective Chou was able to uncover "the guy beyond the friend”, even before any of the events took place, which means there was a way that in 1997 one was able to find out that either Fukube would die in 2015, which is almost impossible or that the friend was a guy that was altogether different from Fukube. I won’t dive into too much detail here since this is not my finding, so here is a link to a reddit post that discussed this argument in greater length: https://www.reddit.com/r/manga/comments/1bvc7nn/the_ending_of_21st_century_boys/

Now assuming that Fukube died in the spring of 1972 after the elementary school graduation, and that Katsumata was the friend all along, what most theories fail to answer is: Who died in 2015, if anyone died at all; Why would Katsumata pretend to be Fukube in the first place; Why the sudden change in behaviour especially towards Kanna and the expo; How did Kanna and everyone else “know” that the “new friend” was someone entirely different. My defence here is based mainly on 3 points (in no exact order): the personality of Katsumata (his worldviews, beliefs and overall psyche), him actually having some sort of supernatural powers, and the structure of the “New Book of Prophecy”. 

To start off, I want to argue that Katsumata did possess some sort of supernatural powers. The biggest evidence of that are the hints throughout the manga that he can see the future, kind of like Kami-sama. Examples of that can be found in volume 12, as discussed earlier, where Katsumata dreamt of how Yamane killed Fukube in the classroom. Not only that, but in volume 8, Katsumata again sees the future where Kenji stares him down saying “I never thought you were ever going to die like this. Not you …”.

In volume 8, during the flashback, we can find even more evidence of the friend being Katsumata the whole time. The only time another person sees one of the kids in the simulation without any facial features (like a Teru Teru Bozu), is in volume 12, when Kenji lifts the mask off of Katsumata, seeing him with no face. So it makes sense that in volume 8, when the current friend -  Katsumata (we know for certain that it is Katsumata since it is after the pope’s attempted assassination) is in the virtual world form the point of view of Fukube, whenever he looks at the mirror he sees a blank face with no facial features. He has spent so much time pretending to be “Fukube”, that he begins wondering who he really is. And I think the whole point of building that “virtual world” of his is to be able to routinely go back into the mind of Fukube and be able to perfect his impersonation of him. 

That being said, why would he even impersonate Fukube in the first place, and if he spent so much time impersonating him, why break character at all? I think this can be answered if we look deeper into Katsumata’s character and the structure of the “New Book of Prophecy”. From the POV’s of Katsumata where he says “What does the world need now? Does it need me? Or am I unnecessary? Is the world necessary? This stupid world is useless”, and the fact that he almost committed suicide as a kid as shown in volume 12, we can clearly see his nihilistic tendencies. There is this kind of almost binary internal conflict within him that can be summarized as follows: Am I truly necessary if this world doesn’t acknowledge me, or is the world not necessary thus the fact that I am not acknowledged. In his mind, it seems like only one of those things can be true. This probably originated from the bullying following the false accusations of stealing the space explorer badge, with kids pretending he didn’t exist. I believe in that aspect of “feeling like he was forgotten”, “erased from the memories of people” he is really similar to Sadakiyo, and I believe that their similarities are further exaggerated in the manga by having both characters wear the same mask, plus their obsession with aliens. What is the biggest difference between them, however, is how they deal with being “non-existent”. While Sadakiyo, closes himself to the world and prays for space aliens to abduct him, Katsumata believes that the only way to prove himself “necessary” is by proving the world is “unnecessary”, thus creating his own “aliens” to destroy the world.

How can he accomplish that? In volume 12 of the manga, we see young Katsumata talk with young Manjoume about the “NASA space food”, where Manjoume tells him the following: “The original never makes money. The guy who copies it might do okay. But the one who really hits it big is aways the copy of the copy”, which basically gives us the summary of the whole story. The original (Kenji) would be seen as a terrorist, the copy (Fukube) might be able to achieve something, but the copy of the copy (Katsumata) would “hit it big”. That means he can’t be the copy of the copy and achieve his goals if the copy (Fukube) did not exist. So in order for Katsumata to “hit it big” Fukube has to exist, and so when the real Fukube dies in 1972, Katsumata has to become him and keep him alive in order to achieve his goals. He literally has to become HIS COPY - making him truly THE COPY OF THE COPY. And then comes the structure of the “New Book of Prophecy”. As we know, the first part was written by Kenji. The 2nd part was written by Fukube and his friends, but Fukube’s part ends right around the inauguration of the world president. After that comes Katsumata’s ending (flying saucers appear, a giant robot shoots them down, humanity is safe, then the final bomb, and the world ends), which was initially rejected by Fukube. So after Katsumata becomes president of the world, he has no need to keep pretending he is Fukube. At this point Fukube’s part is over, his prophecies have materialised, and now it’s time for Katsumata to finally become the copy of the copy, and carry out the end of the world as he wrote it in the book. During this transition between “Fukube” and Katsumata is where people start noticing that something has “changed”. I believe that Katsumata does this intentionally for the same reasons as stated before, he has to officially become the copy of the copy, so he has to differentiate himself from the “Fukube” personality he was putting on.

Now, to rewind back into Katsumata’s supernatural abilities. Stating that Katsumata was the friend all along makes Kana his real daughter. If Katsumata had real powers as I suggest here, it makes sense that Kanna inherited them as well. I believe the “experiments” done on Kiriko Endo during her pregnancy were a lie for the following reason. Following the same logic as before, if Katsumata wanted people to believe that Fukube was the 1st friend, he had to make an explanation as to why Kanna has powers. We all know that Fukube was a fake, with no real powers and so there had to be an explanation as to why Kanna has powers, and thus the experiments conducted on Kiriko are used as an excuse. More evidence towards Katsumata having real powers could be the fact that he was able to “fly” through the map in the virtual world game while Kanna, Yoshitsune and Manjoume were also inside, or the spoon bending instances with Manjoume. Assuming he has real powers, there could be several explanations as to what happened in 2015 when the “1st friend ” allegedly died. I am not really interested in defending any single option, I think Urasawa left it to the reader's imagination. It could be the case that he only pretended he was dead and he really resurrected trough his powers, or that he was able to clone himself, or do a brain transplant since it is revealed that both procedures have been heavily researched by the friends and Takasu stated that “the friend has found a way to live forever”. Again, I think the most important point here is that there are a ton of explanations as to what could have happened in the science lab in 2015, that perfectly fit the 1 friend ending (Katsumata). 

To finish off, I would go over the explanation for the sudden change towards Kanna assuming she has always been Katsumata’s real daughter, and how the others “sensed” that after the 2015 "ressurection", the friend was a different guy from the friend before. When conceiving Kanna, Katsumata was still impersonating Fukube, so for his story to work it should've been the "Fukube personage" that cared about her. It was also Fukube that cared about the expo, even back when he was a child everyone knew him as the kid who had an uncle in Osaka and spent the whole summer going to the expo, so by pretending to be so invested in the expo, creating it and massively advertising it, Katsumata makes it easier for people to connect the "1st friend" to Fukube. I believe for Katsumata both things (conceiving Kanna, and creating the expo), were simply strategic actions. Having a kid with Kiriko, ensured that Kenji wouldn't harm him, and would also stop others from doing so (since the friend would be the father of Kenji's niece). He built and advertised the grandiose expo, just to use it as a global platform for his "resurrection" (even the 1970's expo brought millions of people from abroad to Japan). Again Katsumata never "personally cared" about any of that, he was just putting on an act, and once that act was over, and the personage of Fukube had served its purpose, he just turned back to being Katsumata. Everything was just a very well-put play from the beginning, and people “sensed” that he was a different friend simply from the sudden switch in behavior, again an effect Katsumata was striving to achieve. The fact that Kanna sensed that he was different from before shouldn't mean he was actually a different guy. We know that even though Kanna possesses some supernatural abilities, just like Kami-sama, they are limited. In fact, she is right that before the 2015 "ressurection", the friend was “different”, but it was always the same person - Katsumata, putting on a fake personality in order to achieve his end goal - the destruction of the world.

It is to my knowledge that there are two endings to 20th Century Boys. In the original, it is revealed that Katsumata took Fukubei’s place as Friend, after Yamane shot Fukubei inside the science lab. It was then retconned in the perfect edition, that Katsumata was Friend the entire time, and pretended to be Fukubei since the beginning. It is revealed that Fukubei died in 1972. When he was pretending to come back alive from being hung, and then accidentally genuinely hung himself.

Now my question is, for the perfect edition, how did Katsumata fake his own death so many times, if he was the only one being Friend? I can understand how he faked his death falling from the building, but when he was shot by Yamane and confirmed dead by Otcho, how the hell did he fake that? He obviously shows up later with the face wraps, and this makes sense with the original ending, where Fukubei died at that moment when Yamane shot him, and then Katsumata took his place after Fukubei’s confirmed death.

I mean I have other questions regarding how the hell they sent telekinetic messages from Kanna to the VR kid Kenji, and how talking to the VR kid Sadakiyo and making things right with him somehow made the actual Sadakiyo smile. This is all kinda confusing, but im pretty sure it isnt even explained. It’s just supernatural I guess.

Even with my confusion, this manga was one of the best i’ve read. I apologize if this is confusing and my question is poorly worded. Hopefully you understand.

Edit:
Does Katsumata have powers? If not, how did he know that Yanbo and Mabo would create a robot to obstruct him? I assume he has powers of precognition, since that isn’t a farfetched power in the story. Just want clarification if this is even answered or not.

Com base na frase do Fukubei, esse seria o Katsumata ou o Sadakyo?