20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End (2008)

Years after a schoolboy writes a book of prophecies, a mysterious super-villain uses it as his master-plan of world destruction.

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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Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in Special Collector's Edition: La colina de las botas (2011)

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Soundtracks

Brothers
Written by Naoki Urasawa
Performed by Naoki Urasawa

User Reviews

Below average manga inspired movie

The story is interesting to begin with, with a bunch of kids creating an "end of the world" story and then watching it made come true when they are adults. They embark on a mission to save the world, as their original story prophesied.

However, the plot is really weird. There is a virus that kills people by making their blood explode, but it seems it is not contagious, it needs to be sprayed on. A giant robot smashes through Tokyo and the police stop in front of it to shoot guns. The leader of a hypnotic cult becomes the leader of the most important party in Japan, and so on and so on.

Then, as world saviors go, the heroes are the most inept I have ever seen. The movie is very long, at 142 minutes, and it is only the first part of a three film story. The acting is pretty bad, too.

Bottom line: it seems this is a failed attempt to mix the success of the Death Note franchise (I don't know what that thing was successful either) and the comic book/manga craze that is taking over the movie world in the US and the rest of the world. There is a feel reminiscent of Watchmen in the film, but only a trace. I am not saying that it is not worth watching, but I can't say I liked it.

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 1: Beginning of the End

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