20th Century Boys summaries v.18+

Posted: Sun Apr 24, 2005 7:42 pm

Summer Soldier wrote:

Dude, that's my tax money you're spending on the streets of Susukino. Give it back to me, goddamnit!

Nah, Susukino is too far from where I live. I don't hang out there much at all. I went to eat and then go for drinks there a few times over the winter (it may be scummy, but there's a slew of amazing restaurants there), and got caught in snowstorms on the way back...I gave up on going there after getting caught over three times (missed the last train). It's getting warmer now, and I can ride my bike though...so maybe I'll give it another chance.

Well, look at it this way, at least I'm not blowing your tax money on Spirits every week!

Summer_Soldier, where in Tokyo do you live?

Posted: Mon May 02, 2005 1:03 am

mattblue wrote:

Summer_Soldier, where in Tokyo do you live?

I live in Kunitachi, a quaint town in western Tokyo populated by annoying college students who can always be found drunk in any given night.

Favorite record store: Disc Union
Favorite book store: Tozai Shoten
Favorite bar: Kyouwakoku
Favorite ramen restaurant: Manshou
Favorite soba restaurant: Sarashina Jingorou

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 10:07 am

Volume 19 summaries have been written, directly below the v18 summaries.

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 4:28 pm

I just got v19 yesterday and read it -- it was a little disappointing especially since I've been tachiyomi'ing past v19 and I'm eager to see some of the stuff that won't show up until v20.

But hopefully the story really is moving into the final stages. He brought Kenji back, but without Fukubei, how can the confrontation be real? Does anyone have any credible theories on who this Friend is?

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 5:30 pm

I agree that overall it was disappointing. Kenji's "return" was good, although unsurprising (we all knew it was him), but everything up to the part where the brown-haired "evil" man comes back into the story was pretty much the worst stretch of the manga yet. Since Urasawa's gone to such lengths to hide his name, I'm really hoping that he turns out to be relevent in a more meaningful way than just "maniacal follower."

And as for the last question, it seems apparent that based on the scene between Friend and the croney where he is given the mission to kill Kiriko's boyfriend, that Friend has always been played by more than one person. Manjoume was simply too inobservant to figure it out. I've always wondered what happened to Konchi.

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2005 8:24 pm

stephen wrote:

I agree that overall it was disappointing. Kenji's "return" was good, although unsurprising (we all knew it was him),

However, amnesia is almost always a hackneyed story device. I was somewhat disappointed to see that as the explanation for Kenji's absence from the story.

Quote:

but everything up to the part where the brown-haired "evil" man comes back into the story was pretty much the worst stretch of the manga yet. Since Urasawa's gone to such lengths to hide his name, I'm really hoping that he turns out to be relevent in a more meaningful way than just "maniacal follower."

Must be Johan.

Quote:

And as for the last question, it seems apparent that based on the scene between Friend and the croney where he is given the mission to kill Kiriko's boyfriend, that Friend has always been played by more than one person. Manjoume was simply too inobservant to figure it out. I've always wondered what happened to Konchi.

Hmm! Yeah, there's still a lot unexplained about everything; I hope Urasawa pulls it together well in the end.

Fan Boy Joined: 02 Apr 2005 Posts: 7

Yudan Taiteki wrote:

Yeah, there's still a lot unexplained about everything; I hope Urasawa pulls it together well in the end.

One of major advance hint in my mind which unexplained is
fifth person on the hells of Donkey, Mon-chan, Keyoron and Konchi who
went to science room in night.

Fan Boy Joined: 31 Mar 2005 Posts: 2

Hi guys, my first post here! Smile

After a very good v.18, I'm a bit disappointed too by this tankobon. Of course I will recheck my opinion after reading the real thing.

Anyway, I never believed Friend has been played by many people. I mean, after Friend was shoot in Science Room in 2015, Manjoume, Otcho and others who knew Friend's face saw him, Fukubei, alive. Not someone wearing Friend's mask, but Fukubei.
Then, for me it's obvious that he has got some kind of power. He can use tricks some times but Kanna, his daughter, doesn't use tricks and sure has got powers.
Take these things, and mix them with the fact Fukubei has got major identity problems since his childhood ("who are you" looking into the mirror), and there comes my theory. He was just swiching personality throug time (this explains why brown-haired boy asks if he is the same person as before) and when he got killed only one of his personalities actually dies. So, Hattori, intended as one of Friend's personalities, is actually dead. But Friend is alive and has always been the same person or, at least, the same body.

That was my 2 cents, opinions?

PS: I just would like to take this chance to give my compliments to Stephen, who always makes a suberb job in traslating manga. I'd really like to have you here in Italy working for the company which pulishes 20cb, italian adaptator/translator is very poor...

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:25 am

NoFace wrote:

I'd really like to have [stephen] here in Italy working for the company which pulishes 20cb, italian adaptator/translator is very poor...

That may be so, but I get the feeling that stephen would suck even worse at translating anything into Italian.

Posted: Mon Jul 04, 2005 3:52 am

Linguine, spaghetti, alfredo, cacciatore, parmigiana, pizza... o sole mio.

Fan Boy Joined: 31 Mar 2005 Posts: 2

stephen wrote:

Linguine, spaghetti, alfredo, cacciatore, parmigiana, pizza... o sole mio.

Hey, you forgot Mafia!

Roadie Joined: 31 Jan 2004 Posts: 51

NoFace wrote:

stephen wrote:

Linguine, spaghetti, alfredo, cacciatore, parmigiana, pizza... o sole mio.

Hey, you forgot Mafia!

And "Fugghettabouttit" (all one word).

Amateur Musician Joined: 08 Feb 2004 Posts: 197

also 'shuddupayafayss'

Posted: Fri Jul 08, 2005 2:38 am

tenraikaen wrote:

NoFace wrote:

stephen wrote:

Linguine, spaghetti, alfredo, cacciatore, parmigiana, pizza... o sole mio.

Hey, you forgot Mafia!

And "Fugghettabouttit" (all one word).

nah, that's NY-speak. i'm fluent in that, maybe i could translate manga into south brooklyn-english...you never know.

the chapter from 2 weeks ago was disappointing. i kinda want the story to MOVE already. it's at a perfect point where anything can happen...and nothing does. i'm wondering how this monday's chapter'll be.

Fan Boy Joined: 08 Jul 2005 Posts: 37

First thanks to Stephen for the summaries.

Then I spotted that too in the early volumes. I'm wondering if there's really something behind it or if it's just a mistake.

Emil Scherbe wrote:

One of major advance hint in my mind which unexplained is
fifth person on the hells of Donkey, Mon-chan, Keyoron and Konchi who
went to science room in night.

For the identity of friend, maybe Sadakiyo picked up the role after Fukubei's death. He's supposed to have died burnt in his car but I wouldn't take that for granted. He has always been following Fukubei and I think the sentence "I wonder what Fukubei would have done" fits him well.