20th Century Boys
20th Century Boys is a science fiction thriller manga written by Naoki Urasawa, the author of the popular manga Monster. Urasawa borrowed themes from Stephen King’s It and the Stand almost to the point of pure plagiarism but at least he copied the style of a legendary author. Themes from the Old and New Testament of the Bible as well as Paradise Lost are also explored in this manga. 20th Century Boys is a classic by default because most 21st century manga lack any integrity, character development, and/or exploration of the creative possibilities of the human mind. And also the manga is evil.
Creation, sacrifice, betrayal, jealousy, and redemption are probably the main themes of 20th Century’s story. The main protagonist is a representation of both God and Jesus. He creates the world and then takes a long extended break. While he allows fire and brimstone to destroy most of the sinners, he slacks off deciding to run away and play his horrible guitar songs. Finally the savior returns, gathers his remaining apostles, and saves the day. Even though he sacrifices his life, he resurrects himself just like Jesus after he died on the cross. No matter if you like the Bible or not, this tale never gets old. I ate it up…yes I loved it…..which scares the hell outta me.
The manga has some glaring problems though. Urasawa is infamous for writing multiple plots that drag on forever or vanish into thin air. Did I really care about anything Kanna did throughout the story? No but I had to read through that crap for more than half the manga series. And what do I get for patiently following Kanna? Nothing. She doesn’t really do anything and takes the ultimate back seat to even two dimensional characters like Number 13 who get barely any character development. The worst part is that Kanna has the tools to be the best character in 20th Century besides “tomodachi” Unfortunately, Urasawa screwed up her plot allowing her to become just another damsel in distress…..how boring.
Tomodachi also degenerated into little more than a half baked Satan. Once you read the whole manga and discover the truth, you will probably curse yourself for not just reading 21st Century Boys only. Everything that “tomodachi” does is worthless. His actions do nothing to influence anybody at all. He is an outsider and probably the most pitiful character ever created. And you have absolutely no sympathy for him whatsoever unlike Satan from Milton’s Paradise Lost because you barely learn anything interesting about him. His motivations are juvenile at best. You know a villain or antagonist is lame when the main character can end his whole game plan by simply saying “play time is over”
I am afraid of 20th Century Boys and not because it is supposed to be a mystery/suspense manga. You won’t be surprised at any of the plot twists. The manga is terrifying because people blindly love it despite the fact that it is pretty mediocre. It is almost a cult response to say you like this manga. The symbology, religious overtones, and good/evil bullshit will easily brainwash weak minds. I am not sure if this manga is supposed to be satire or not. Is Urasawa trying to be some kind of cult leader? If he is then he succeeded. I saw the movie and I felt like it was trying to brainwash me like Clockwork Orange. Some of the scenes from the 20th Century Boy movie resemble the flashing movie clips played in order to brainwash Alex. Why did the director need to do that if nothing from the manga suggests a scene like that is necessary?
The truth is in the manga. The only reasonable character, Manjoume, is a con artist trickster. He is the only character in the entire story to realize that no one cares about the truth as long as they believe in something. He is terrified when even the dude helping him perform the obvious trick believes that what he is seeing is real despite the fact that he knows it is false! He tells this to the “good guys” and they don’t even care. Manjoume eventually catches a bullet to the head because he isn’t a believer. The message is crystal clear to me. Believe in this shit or catch a hot slug.
There aren’t many manga that terrify because the actual comic is evil. 20th Century Boys is a classic because it is too fucked up for weak minds to touch. Don’t read this manga unless you have a very strong will. Monster was pretty sick and disgusting but it doesn’t cross the line like this manga does. I won’t be reading this shit again and I definitely won’t be seeing anymore of the movies. What do you think of 20th Century Boys? How did this manga make you feel?
Overpowered Special Finishing Moves 奥義
What do the most popular anime have in common besides a heroine and female characters with really large cartoon breasts? Overpowered special finishing moves dude! When anime still had some integrity left, almost every main character bad ass had a special ultra finishing move. Nowadays, most special moves are weak or just look plain stupid (Line Barrells comes to mind…) The best overpowered finishing move takes a long time to charge and can only be done like once or twice during the whole series. And there is no way for the bad guy to block or counter it. If you get hit by these special moves, you are going to either get seriously injured or die.
Spirit Bomb
Goku’s spirit bomb is the most lethal finishing move evar. First of all, the spirit bomb always takes 2-3 episodes before Goku can even use it. Goku has to gather ki from every living being on the planet or the galaxy. Piccolo or Vegita have to get their asses kicked protecting Goku so he can get it off. Once the spirit bomb is complete and Goku throws it, bad guys can’t dodge or block it. The spirit bomb is like a homing missle that locks on to bad guy energy.
If the spirit bomb is so over powered why didn’t it kill Vegita or Freeza?
Vegita only got hit with a small portion of the spirit bomb. I don’t know how Freeza survived the spirit bomb but my theory is that since most of the Nameks were dead or gone, there wasn’t enough ki for Goku to gather. The spirit bomb has no limits. As long as you can gather enough ki, you can destroy any bad guy with it which makes it the perfect deus ex machina. When the going gets rough, stupid decisions reign, and you gotta save the day, pop some senzus, gather some easily found Dragonballs, and finish the bad guy with a spirit bomb.
Twin Buster Rifle
Wing Zero’s twin buster rifle can destroy entire space colonies……Can any SEED mobile suit do that? I don’t think so. Whenever Hero pulled out the special twin buster rifle move, you knew that the whole series or movie is almost over……This special move is so powerful that it isn’t even used on bad guys which makes it a little less cooler than the spirit bomb.
Tsukiyomi
Tsukiyomi traps the target in an illusion that is completely controlled by the user. While it only takes a few seconds to complete in the real world, the user can make it seem as if days have passed for the target. Depending on the user’s whim, they can either torture their target for days on end, or make them relive a traumatic event over and over. When the jutsu ends the resultant psychological trauma will render the target unable to fight for a while, and possibly suffer a complete mental breakdown.
If Itachi makes eye contact with you, it’s a wrap. You are getting tortured for years in the Tsukiyomi world where Itachi is god and there is no way you can counterattack or escape. Everyone who eats this move ends up hospitilized for weeks (Kakashi wasn’t around for a while due to his Tsukiyomi injuries)
What about Rasengan? Isn’t that overpowered too?
No it isn’t. A skillful enemy can easily dodge it and Naruto can do as many as he wants. Rasengan is the a cheap but very useful move like the Kamehameha and Sasuke’s breathing fire attack (Chidori sucks and so does Kakashi)
The best, most popular manga have the most over the top special finishing moves in the anime genre. People watch anime because they want to be entertained. Bleach and One Piece are cool, but the characters and the special moves are quite realistic despite a few fantasy elements. Fantastic entertainment is creative. There is a time and a place for real, adult stories and themes. Anything scifi or fantasy should push the limits of our imagination. So what is your favorite finshing move and why?
Sasuke: Kishimoto’s Decision
Dune, Jo Jo’s Bizarre Adventures, Star Trek, Star Wars, and Ghost in the Shell (to a certain extent..) are the popular epic myths of modern times. Useful thoughts and values can be taught using these amazing stories. I never thought I would say this but Naruto has become a new myth because Kishimoto decided to make Sasuke the new main character.
Sasuke becoming the new main character of Naruto shows that Kishimoto is interested in contributing to a new system of thoughts and values. Naruto’s philosophy is slightly based on objectivism. Uzamki Naruto wants to become a hokage because he feels like it. Sasuke wants revenge on his old brother Itachi. Unlike most manga heroes who want to protect innocent people for no apparent reason Naruto and Sasuke work for their own selfish goals.
When Naruto decided to dedicate his life to save Sasuke Kishimoto’s philosophy was in jeopardy. Naruto struggling to save someone else when he should be focusing on becoming a hokage just doesn’t make any sense. Kishimoto must have realized this early on. Instead of following Naruto’s stagnant quest to save someone who doesn’t need his help Kishimoto switched his focus to Sasuke. Kishimoto’s decision allows us to view his philosophy from the perspective of the real main hero. While Naruto is just a tool for different factions Sasuke must defy the world in order to achieve his own personal goals.
Few manga can achieve myth status but Naruto pulls it off. I am interested in seeing how long it will last and if Kishimoto will remain dedicated to the integrity of his manga. Vagabond, Naruto, Freesia, Sun-Ken-Rock, and Mirai No Nikki are probably the only manga I can stomach right now because all the other stuff is crap (yes including Bleach) It is nice to see that Naruto still has integrity in an industry where it has no value. What do you think of the main character change? Did you learn anything from reading Naruto? If so what did you learn?
Sun-Ken Rock サンケンロック
Sun-Ken Rock is a manga created by Boichi (must be the dude’s pen name) about a young Japanese dude named Ken who goes to Korea to find his ex-girlfriend but accidentally becomes the boss of a Korean mafia clan. The art is ten times better than Crows or Worst, the two most popular manga about young gangsters.
No, I haven’t read Crows or Worst but I know that Sun-Ken Rock is better because ethnic Koreans compose 10% of the top yakuza clan members. 18 of the 90 to bosses in one important yakuza gang are Korean. I can picture some Japanese dude going to Korea and developing connections there. Pussy high school boys beating each other up is some type of weird Japanese male fantasy.
If Crows or Worst were based on high schools in the U.S. or Britain I would be interested. Japanese boys are coddled and protected from harm (except for the psycho sick murder killers who are just crazy). Japanese girls are ten times more vicious. A group of girls killed one poor girl who disrespected their gang and an 11 year old girl slashed another girl to ribbons a few years ago. Crows or Worst should be based on Japanese girls because they are tougher.
I got off topic there for a second but seriously check out Sun-Ken Rock. The rags to riches theme, beautiful women, pride, respect, honor, and brotherhood are definitely refreshing for a manga industry that lacks integrity. The story is about Ken and Yumin (his Korean ex-girlfriend) and the other characters are merely plot devices (thank god!) Of course there is a Vegita type character, Tes, but he and Ken aren’t rivals.
The only problem with Sun-Ken Rock is that it is new and too original. I am scared that people will overlook it in favor of Crows or Worst, longer series with tons of fans and movies. Hopefully it will survive long enough for a good ending and then fade away peacefully. What do you think of Sun-Ken Rock? How do you think it compares to Crows or Worst?
Freesia フリージア
Freesia is a manga created by Jiro Matsumoto about the a world so fucked by war and violence that it needs special revenge ops in order to uphold the law. Wikipedia fucks up the translation by saying Vengeance Proxy Enforcer firms (the people who write on wikipedia are tools). Vengeance sounds way too self righteous for the subject matter of this manga. Special Revenge Ops is more appropriate because the revenge laws are usually broken intentionally or totally ignored by both the revenge ops sweepers and their targets. Basically, you can think of Freesia as a technologically watered down version of Ghost in a Shell with way more rapes, brooding, and horrific violence.
The main character of Freesia is Kano Hiroshi (the dude in the picture above) He looks like any regular guy but he is really a former nut job black ops assassin. Little is known about his past so you don’t even know if that is true. He is constantly talking to himself and seeing illusions that he thinks are real. Kano can camouflage himself by becoming invisible anywhere. He can also create illusions of himself to use as a decoy. His gun aim is highly accurate. And he almost never gets excited during the missions unlike his partners.
Kano is recruited into the Special Revenge Ops by a woman named Higuchi. Kano is suspicious of Higuchi’s motives because of a secret from their past that they both share……Mizoguchi is a burnt out veteran ops sweeper who thinks he has to hunt everyone and everything that invades his territory. He is a wife beater and schemes on killing Kano. Yamada Ichiro is a rookie sweeper who failed the revenge ops test 3 times before he finally passed. At first he is optimistic about making a change in the world but as the story progresses he gets increasingly jaded, violent, and careless.
I like Freesia because it just doesn’t give a fuck. Women are constantly getting raped or about to get raped. The revenge laws never work right usually causing the deaths of both decent and innocent people. All of the revenge sweepers besides Kano (he’s just crazy) are bent, burnt out, or plain evil. When you read Freesia you are always wondering which will collapse first, the world or Kano’s mind. Considering how totally crappy the world is portrayed I’m betting on the former…..What do you think of Freesia? Do you like it and if so why?
Anime/Manga Has No Integrity
Dr. Osamu Tezuka was a medical doctor, producer, animator, and, of course, the best manga artist who ever lived. This is a man who had integrity. Astro Boy, Black Jack, MW, and Dororo are just a few of his masterpieces. Dr. T invented the large eyes style current manga artists use today. His works span 700 volumes….dude was a beast. Dr. T obviously loved his work. I know he would be sad if he picked up Bleach and had to read yet another page of Chad getting rocked by some shinigami he shouldn’t be fighting. He would say “my god, this character is horrible! He shouldn’t even exist! What the hell is going on here?” Sorry Dr. T, but anime/manga has lost its’ integrity.
Audiences suck. You never let the audience dictacte your work. For example, I could care less if people like my site or not. The intelligent people who love anime/manga, sexy Japanese girls, and Japan will stick around. Women who pretend they like anime/manga in order to get attention aren’t allowed. Dudes who think condemning all anime is selfish and wrong can go write a post about it somewhere in the land of I don’t give a damn. Dr. T would agree with me. He wrote Black Jack, a story about an illegal surgeon who saves people from rare diseases because he feels like it. You think he gave a damn what the audience thought? Hells no.
Sometime in the past few years of manga history a horrible trend of creating the same character archetypes appeared. This system probably originated from one of Dr. T’s works but I don’t know which one. One concept I created is that Dragonball Z started the horrible trend of the “rival”. Everyone loved Vegita. Yes he is cool. So is Hie, Saitou Hajime, Renji, Uryuu, Sasuke, the black haired dude from Slam Dunk, and all the other “rivals” and “cool under pressure” characters. I can go on and on but why? Almost every manga has the exact same characters. They are drawn differently but their personalities and motives are exactly the same. The audience wants to read the exact same shit every single time because they are ignorant. Manga artists who can’t draw worth a damn just copy and paste and sell huge numbers while the manga business turns into one big shit sandwich.
Manga plots are horrible. Someone always gets kidnapped for no reason. There is always a tournament the main character needs to test his strength. The million side characters and their plots are ill conceived rendering such characters useless (Bleach and Naruto are the main culprits) Even when a creative manga gets popular the story starts to suck because the fans want more bullshit (i.e. Deathnote and Code Geass) At least Deathnote ended before it got worst. Code Geass is going straight to hell.
I don’t watch anime anymore. Code Geass ruined anime for me. I guess I had my hopes too high. Miyazaki Hayao is done. After I watched Princess Mononoke I knew I didn’t have to watch anymore of his movies. Japanese people like his movies because he is Miyazaki Hayao and he made Tonari no Totoro. I didn’t think he would get washed up so fast but I guess he knows anime/manga has no integrity too. Why make anymore movies if people don’t appreciate them and hate him for it? I would quit trying too if I was him.
Anime and manga was the best thing Japan had going for it and now it’s all fucked up like Japanese eels from China…errr..Kobe. Comments are closed on this post because I am right. There is no gray area or different points of view. The only thing I can do is post about manga that I like and utterly destroy manga that sucks. I don’t care if people agree with me or not and it will make me feel better.
Line Barrels 鉄のラインバレル: Pretty Weak
Line Barrels is a new manga/anime by Shimizu Eichi and Shimoguchi Tomohiri about a young student Kouichi’s encounter with a huge mecha named Line Barrels and…..pages upon pages of action for no reason. Allow me to state the facts so you guys can understand that I am being reasonable. Don’t read ahead if you can’t stand spoilers.
Before I could really get into the story I learned that Line Barrels accidentally killed Kouichi. Because Line Barrels is not allowed to kill humans for some reason, the huge mecha uses his super nano technology to bring Kouichi back to life, which gives Kouichi super human strength, endurance, agility, and the ability to ride Line Barrels. Why wasn’t this kept a secret in order to create a sense of mystery and intrigue? Is there any reason for me to care about the story any longer? No of course not!
Surprisingly, neither the horrible writing nor the elimination of potentially cool characters (Kouichi’s best friend Yajima) ruined Line Barrels for me. I hated when Kouichi decided to join some mysterious company for no reason. Why did he need to join some weak ass corporation when he controls the ultimate death mobile Line Barrels? Even if he did want to save the world and have enemies to fight, he could have found that easily without any help. I know Line Barrels was aiming for that Evangelion shadowy organization appeal, but none of the characters are deep enough to care about. The most complex character dies before the story gets interesting.
Line Barrels could have been a great Evangelion runner up, but I can’t respect a manga that doesn’t even try to have some integrity. The characters are two dimensional at best. The story degenerated into predictable Death Note and Code Geass trash (I’m gonna save the world by being an asshole!) The Line Barrels mecha design is a fusion of Zone of Enders and Evangelion which isn’t half bad, but the weapons are sloppy and poorly explained. I could go on and on, but for what? I’m not reading it anymore but it’s good to write a review so I can remember how much I think it sucks. If you are reading Line Barrels, why are you reading it? How often do you decide not to read it again it but then pick it back up because you are bored? And if you do like Line Barrels, please tell me…..why?
Code Geass: The Best Part
In order to tool up for my next awesome post about the Code Geass/Evangelion mash up anime/manga called Line Barrels, I just want to make my peace with Code Geass by explaining the true meaning behind the best part of the entire series which obviously includes R2 because I know it sucks. If you haven’t watched Code Geass yet, don’t read any further because I’m posting mega spoilers.
The best part of Code Geass is when Euphemia li Britannia goes on a killing spree because Lelouch misfires his geass at her. Despite creating a Special Administration Zone of Japan she begins to slaughter every Japanese person present at the administration changeover ceremony. Zero gives her a bullet meal and she dies from her injuries afterwards.
This moment was the best part of Code Geass because it shows how a supposed champion of the poor and meek is actually a horrible beast. Euphemia, like Suzaku, is only a champion for dependent 11s because of the attention she receives. Before she becomes a “heroine”, she is a nobody princess cupcake. Her supposed nice and friendly demeanor towards people is her weapon to control the weak souls who need her. Unlike Lelouch who strives to change the world for his own selfish reasons Euphemia wants all people to be dependent, weak, and helpless like herself. Thus, she almost defeats Lelouch until his geass kicks in and says fuck that.
Lelouch’s geass exposes Euphemia for who she truly is. She actually despises 11s. The only reason she helps them is because of the attention she receives and the feeling of superiority over them. Why do you think she made a filthy traitor 11 like Suzaku as her knight? Instead of choosing some one decent or respectable, she chooses a common patricide who is dependent on his triumphant enemies for his own survival.
You aren’t supposed to feel sorry for the 11s. I know I don’t. When they got massacred I didn’t laugh or feel bad. I felt pretty much indifferent to the whole affair because 11s are depicted as less than human. Except for the former resistance members and Karen (who is a half 11) almost every other 11 is disgusting. They live in the slums, abuse tourists, refuse to fight, and lack any type of dignity or self-respect. They way they flocked to the Special Administration Zone idea was hilarious considering that they still would have to depend on Britannia for protection anyway. . In fact the Special Administration Zone of Japan would be just like how Japan is today….but that is a topic for another day.
I hope this post helps clarify some of the questions you guys might have had about the series. The winner up for the best part was when Mao pulls Suzaku’s card and reveals that he is a patricide. I might do a follow up post about that later after I knock out Line Barrels. I don’t think people read enough literature or actively use their brains to think things through. If they did everyone would be angry about how the first season ended on a cliff hanger that made no sense in context to the direction of the series. But that is how corny anime/manga gets when it hits the main stream. It loses all it’s self respect and integrity like the 11s in Code Geass.
Evangelion:1.01 You are (not) alone
I just finished watching Evangelion:1.01 and I must say that I am definitely impressed. The story moves forward at a much brisker pace and the graphics look ten times better. All of the classic moments are pretty much untouched like Shinji repeating that he shouldn’t run away and Rei explaning why she pilots Eva. I was definitley happy that they erased many of the unecessary parts like Shinji running away and meeting one of his classmates as well as Misato telling Shinji to leave Nerv just because he ran away. I thought that part in the original anime was superfluous because we already know that Shinji doesn’t want to pilot Eva so it doesn’t make any sense that he would run away again or that Misato would tell him to leave.
The angels all look much better even though the fights are pretty much the same. The 3rd angel battle is definitley the best stuff of 1.01 and why I look forward to watching the rest of the series redux. I felt that a retelling of this classic series was long overdue years ago so I feel that I deserve to enjoy this. Many of the mysteries like orgin of the angels and the Seele orginization seem like they are going to be solved this time around. If you haven’t checked out Evangelion:1.01 right now you must be living under a rock. If you have seen it, what did you think about it? How does it retell the story in a better way than the original series? What kind of mistakes does it make?
Hayate no Gotoku ハヤテのごとく!
Hayate no Gotoku ハヤテのごとく or Hayate the Combat Butler is a Japanese anime/manga series about a boy with all kinds of problems who ends up becoming the butler to a girl, Nagi, he once tried to kidnap. He spends most of the manga trying to protect Nagi while performing normal butler duties alongside Nagi’s maid Maria.
Besides Maria being a sexy 2D fan service girl in this picture, Hayate no Gotoku is essentially a romantic comedy that connects with the audience. I think it is funny that Hayate is damn near invincible and the fact that he has to take care of his lousy parents instead of the other way around. I also like how the narrator cracks jokes on Hayate and says funny things to him.
Basically Hayate no Gotoku is hilarious. The randomness, the Butler wars, and the shameless promotion of lolicon make this anime/manga series damn near classic. What do you guys think about it?
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