Tag Archives: Koizumi

Book Review: Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 14: A Boy and a Dream by Naoki Urasawa

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Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 14: A Boy and a Dream

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: April 19, 2011

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/232 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The mourners of Friend are many. Griefstricken people wait in line for hours to sign the register and file past his masked body. It seems as if all Friend’s predictions are coming to pass. Manjome is dispirited himself, and confused, and decides to take a trip into Friend Land to find answers to his questions, such as why is this happening.

At the same time, Kanna wants to send Koizumi with Yoshitsune  into Friend Land to find their own answers. Kanna would rather go herself, but he tells her she is too emotionally involved, since Friend is her father and all.  On their arrival, Yoshitsune shows Koizumi around to all the familiar places he remembers from 1971. But when they come to the location that was once their secret headquarters, they find a bowling alley there… one which Koizumi insists wasn’t there when she visited. What’s going on? She’s sure she’s right, but Yoshitsune remembers the place that destroyed their secret clubhouse. How can that be? Yoshitsune is having a difficult time remembering what he was doing that summer. While they are in the bowling alley, he comes face to face with the owner, the man he refers to as the King of Evil. Koizumi is shocked to discover that the man is actually Kamisama!

As they monitor Yoshitsune and Koizumi in the game, Kanna realizes they have been joined by another player, who is quickly headed toward them. They are unaware that it is Manjome, and he wonders if he is going to learn the real truth about 1971. As Manjome “sleeps”, his lover takes control, and she is ruthless.

Yoshitsune thinks the key to what happened lies in what happened at the science lab one particular night, and hinges on what Donkey saw, so he and Koizumi head there. And a fourth player has entered the game, and this person is swiftly descending upon Yoshitsune and Koizumi! Kanna asks to be placed into the game in the spot where they are, but winds up in Kenji’s room instead. She gives him some words of wisdom and heads to the school. And now they are all there…

The more I learn, the less I know. Nothing is what it appears to be, including 1971. Why the deception? Why hide the fact that a bowling alley was built where the boys had their secret headquarters? What is real and what isn’t? As for what Donkey saw that night… how does that even work? And why?

And the fourth player… could it be….

So many questions. Can’t wait to keep going on this crazy rollercoaster ride. Love it!

Book Review: Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 11: List of Ingredients by Naoki Urasawa

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Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 11: List of Ingredients     

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: October 19, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/232 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Kanna is shocked to learn that her father is none other than the Friend himself, leader of the Friend Society which her Uncle Kenji tried to protect the world from.  As if that weren’t bad enough, her Walkman is broken, leaving her unable to hear Kenji’s voice when she needs to hear it the most. Taking her frustration out by playing video games, she afterward accepts a ride with three other gamers who are impressed with her skills. During the drive, a news bulletin tells of the escape of the Friend Museum director, along with student Koizumi Kyoko, in a Toyota 2000GT. Now the guys are on the watch for the old car.

Manjome is Friend’s right-hand man. Apparently, he is thought to have a harem, including one lady in particular, Takasu, director of the Dream Navigators, whom one of his underlings mistakes for a man. She has a meeting with Manjone, in which he reminds her that the upcoming Expo is what is important. That and making their Friend the president of the world. Manjome isn’t surprised to hear about Sadakiyo, and he knows he has a certain memo in his possession. The one left by the man known by his friends as Mon-chan. Takasu fears that with Otcho escaped from prison, Kanna’s powers awakening, and the memo being held in hostile hands, the Kenji faction may just learn about the lie of 1970! Manjome doesn’t seem concerned, and reminds her that she has agreed to carry the Friend’s child!

Meanwhile, at the nursing home, Koizumi and Sadakiyo learn that the home has been surrounded. Sadakiyo surmises that they are there to reject him. Surely that can’t be good? He remembers a meeting he had with Mon-chan years ago, and tells Koizumi how he ended up with the Mon-chan memo. He gives it to Koizumi to hold on to. Kanna’s arrival at the same nursing home can’t be a coincidence, can it? In evacuating the residents to safety, Kanna is mistaken for her mother by a former teacher, and is shocked to learn things about her that she didn’t know. Such as her mother once dreamed of being a famous bacteriologist. The teacher tells Kanna her mother was good, to believe in her.

Kanna ends up at an old cinema, which has old film footage that includes her mother. She won’t give up on looking for her, even though it seems like she may be involved in what is going on now. Koizumi is being pressured to pick out which face in the yearbook belongs to Friend, since she caught a glimpse of him as a child, but she can’t tell one face from another.

I can’t even begin to describe how exciting this is all getting. So much going on, so much new information, and yet so much needs to be learned. Maybe we’ll even find out where Kanna’s mother, Kiriko, has been all these years and what she’s been doing. Is she the good girl her former teacher claims, or is she on the side of the Friends? Only time will tell.

Book Review: Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 10: The Faceless Boy by Naoki Urasawa

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Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 10: Faceless Boy   

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: August 17, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/216 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

The meeting which Kanna has arranged has been interrupted by a man who styles himself a savior, and who dies for his cause. Now the police are outside, demanding the crowd disperse. Has Kanna achieved her goals, or was this gathering a failure? The young detective, Chono, is able to keep the police force at bay, at least for now, by claiming he’s protecting a crime scene. How long can that last?

Koizumi, home from Friend Land, goes to see her favorite band but finds there is something different about them. Turns out they fired their guitarist, Damian Yoshida, because of irreconcilable differences. Koizumi can’t stop dreaming of Friend Land, and the strange boy who tries to take off his mask. She doesn’t want to see his face, though, fearful of what might happen to her if she does.

Koizumi attempts to speak with Kanna at school, but that doesn’t turn out very well. Instead, she’s approached by someone who calls themselves a Dream Navigator. They inform her that she is soon to go to Friend World, like it or not. The very thought is frightening to Koizumi. Her parents, on the other hand, seem thrilled for her and have no clue how dangerous a place it really is. A terrified Koizumi remembers the card she got from Yoshitsune. Can he help her? Things go from bad to worse when she sees the new home room teacher, and recognizes his face…

This series just gets better and better. It seems as though things are gearing up to happen during the Pope’s planned visit to Japan. Obviously, the Friends have an agenda, but what is it? To further ingratiate themselves to the world? Or maybe take it over? Either way, they need to be stopped. Not to mention, they need to be outed as the true perpetrators of Bloody New Year’s Eve, and Kenji needs to be exonerated.

Koizumi is playing a dangerous game, but with the aid of Yoshitsune, she may just turn out all right. And what we think we know turns out to be very wrong, which leaves us back at square one again. Makes you wonder why so many people put their trust in a man who never ever shows his face, based on the alleged actions of some of his followers. And what does Kanna’s mother have to do with anything? More questions than answers here!

Anxiously awaiting the next volume.

Book Review: Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 8: Kenji’s Song by Naoki Urasawa

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Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 8: Kenji’s Song     

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: May 25, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/216 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

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.

Book Review: Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 7: The Truth by Naoki Urasawa

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Twentieth Century Boys, Vol 7: The Truth     

Author: Naoki Urasawa

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: Feb 16, 2010

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/manga/paranormal/216 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Otcho and Kakuta struggle to escape from the island prison of Umihotaru. Kakuta is determined to become a famous manga artist, while Otcho’s desire is to get revenge for a friend. Once they reach the water, Kakuta is sure he can’t possibly swim the distance required to get to freedom, but Otcho tells him the story of his friend who beat him in a swimming competition, and the friend couldn’t even swim! Meanwhile, the warden has learned of the escapes and while he is not concerned with the manga artist, he is upset about Prisoner #3, and wants him back as soon as possible, or else…

Back in 1970, Kenji and his friends are planning to see the Exposition in Osaka. Since time will be at a premium, and lines long, they have to carefully arrange their time to see as much as they can. Donkey confesses to Kenji that his parents can’t afford for him to take the bullet train to Osaka, and asks to borrow Kenji’s bike, to which he agrees. When Otcho and Kakuta reach the mainland,  years later, they find, to Otcho’s amazement, a recreation of that very Expo, with one important exception.

In 2014, a class in a Tokyo high school is given an assignment to write an essay on the Japanese history topic of their choice. Koizumi, caught trying to sneak out of class, chooses to write about Hitler, but her teacher won’t allow that, so she picks up a book at random and points to her “choice” for her subject, which turns out to be Endo Kenji, leader of the Kenji terrorist group that unleashed Bloody New Years Eve in 2000. The teacher objects, but Koizumi insists, claims she always found the official story of that night suspicious, including the iconic photograph of the group who was supposedly controlling the giant monster threatening to destroy Japan. Koizumi isn’t doing well in class because she constantly skips school in order to follow bands that she loves. A classmate of Koizumi’s tells her about another student who went berserk during a discussion of Bloody New Year’s Eve. Her name was Endo Kanna! Koizumi has some research to do!

When Koizumi runs into Kamisama and learns he knew Kenji, she has to learn more!  Back in 2000, Kenji and his friends prepare to save the world from the Friends. They need to find the remote that controls the monster that is destroying Japan!

On top of worrying about Kenji and what has happened to him and the others, we have to deal with Otcho and Kakuta and their ordeal in the current situation, still not knowing exactly what happened in the past. Plus we have a new character, Koizumi, who I feel is going to play a part in revealing the truth about the so-called Kenji terrorist group. I have to hope and believe that Kenji and the others survived whatever put Otcho in prison, and that they will yet emerge to save the day and defeat the evil Friends. Also, Kenji and Yukiji will finally get together!

Another great volume, can’t wait to read the next one!