21st
Century Boys, Vol 1: Death of the Friend
Author: Naoki Urasawa
Publisher: Viz Media
American
release date: January 15, 2013
Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Manga/Mystery/Sci-fi/200 pages
Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★
Kenji’s arrived at the Expo Center
and the crowd goes wild. They want to hear him play their song… but he refuses,
tells the band to play instead. A helicopter explodes above them and crash lands
inside the arena. Not everyone makes it, including Sadakiyo and Friend. When
Kenji removes the Friend’s mask at last, he sees… Fukube! How can that be? He died a long time ago.
Nothing is making any sense.
Back in the past, an old woman in
a convenience mart broods over which of the children has stolen a badge from
her store and angrily scans every child who walks by, seeking the thief. A boy
in a mask reveals his strange dream to a few of his friends, who aren’t
particularly interested until he tells them they were in it, and one of them
killed the other. They are not amused and walk away. The boy debates telling
them the ending… about the final bomb. The one that will really kill all of
mankind. Or at least those who remain on the planet.
Maruo and Yoshitsune tell Kenji
they saw a ghost at a Shinto shrine, but Kenji doesn’t believe them and decides
to find out for himself… only to come face to face with himself!
In the present, the UN forces have
assumed control of Tokyo after the destruction of the Friend regime. A profiler
interviews Kenji, to learn what he knows about the Friend. Most particularly he
is interested in learning what Kenji knows about the last page of the New Book
of Prophecy, the one that speaks of an anti-proton bomb that will destroy the
world. The UN is taking this threat very seriously. They plan to send forces
into Friend World, into the virtual reality game, but Kenji tells them that won’t work. He has
to be the one to go there.
So much of the past is finally
being exposed as present, past, and future reveal themselves in an elaborate
tapestry, one woven by a master. Things
that didn’t make sense before become clear.
I really enjoyed watching the relationship of Kenji and Yukiji from the
beginning. Gosh, Kenji was… is… so dense.
At the same time, the more we learn, the less we know. So much to grasp.
A copy of a copy? Fukube? Sadakiyo?
Someone else? Kenji runs into Manjome in Friend World. He’s lost his way and is
seeking a way out, but Kenji has to tell him that won’t work because in the
real world he is dead. We see more and more of Manjome in the past, and the
part he played in what happened.
Detective Chono seeks answers
regarding his grandfather, the legendary Cho-san. And Kenji wants to know why he
was called evil. What did he do in the past that would warrant such an
accusation? The story isn’t over yet, one more book to go. Is there an
anti-proton bomb? And can they find it before it takes out the world? On pins
and needles waiting to find out!
