20-seiki shônen: Honkaku kagaku bôken eiga (2008)

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world ... See full summary »

Director:

Yukihiko Tsutsumi

Writers:

Yasushi Fukuda (screenplay), Takashi Nagasaki (screenplay)

Stars:

Toshiaki Karasawa, Etsushi Toyokawa, Takako Tokiwa

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshiaki Karasawa	...	Kenji Endô
Etsushi Toyokawa	...	Otcho
Takako Tokiwa	...	Yukiji
Teruyuki Kagawa	...	Yoshitsune
Hidehiko Ishizuka	...	Maruo
Takashi Ukaji	...	Mon-chan
Hiroyuki Miyasako	...	Keroyon
Katsuhisa Namase	...	Donkey
Fumiyo Kohinata	...	Yamane
Kuranosuke Sasaki	...	Fukubê
Shirô Sano	...	Yan-bô / Mâ-bô
Mirai Moriyama	...	Comic Artist
Kanji Tsuda	...	Moroboshi
Takashi Fujii	...	Friendship Party Promotor
Hanako Yamada	...	Friendship Party Promotor

Storyline

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the Book of Prophecies. Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighborhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, Friend emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the Book of Prophecies follow.

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Plot Keywords:

tokyo japan | osaka japan | london england | bangkok thailand | punctuation in title | 

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Genres:

Adventure | Fantasy | Mystery | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France] Official site [Japan]

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese Thai English

Release Date:

30 August 2008 (Japan)

Also Known As:

20th Century Boys

Filming Locations:

Bangkok, Thailand

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$38,231,562

Company Credits

Production Co:

Cine Bazar, Dentsu, Nippon Television Network (NTV)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

142 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Followed by 20-seiki shônen: Saishû-shô - Bokura no hata (2009)

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Soundtracks

Brothers
Written by Naoki Urasawa
Performed by Naoki Urasawa

User Reviews

20th Century Boys!

First of all-I have not read the manga but I have heard the title before. I will base my review with nothing to do with my knowledge of the manga. Making live-action movies based on manga and comics seems to be a trend in japan. Blockbuster live-action movies like Death Note are good. So hopefully, there will be more good adaptation of manga. I say that 20th Century Boys shall be one of the good adaptation and Japanese movie. This live-action movie broke death note box office in japan. That made me more interested of how this movie will fare. I must say it is worth the hype. It is pretty intense and epic to my sayings.

The story: It revolves around Kenji and his pals. They built a hideout and shared stories and stuffs. They made a story. When they grow up, the story they made up becomes true. A mysterious cult-leader called friend enters the world and wants to destroy the world. Kenji and his pal save the world. Not so easy. From there, dark secrets are spilled and they search their brains of what had happened when they were kids-their childhood. The plot is quite intense. I do not know whether it is a good apdataion but as a view of a Japanese movie, it is good.

Overall: As the plot is interesting and intense, it makes me want to read the manga which I will sooner. If it interest you, do go and watch it. Stay for the cast and credit to finish and there will be the preview of the second part. I will wait for the second part with anticipation.