20th Century Boys

20th Century Boys


20世紀少年
20 Seiki Shōnen
20th Century Boys
Also known as 20th Century Boys 1: The Beginning of the End
Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Original Story Naoki Urasawa
Screenplay Yasushi Fukuda
Takashi Nagasaki
Naoki Urasawa
Yusuke Watanabe
Music Director Ryomei Shirai
Music Ryomei Shirai
Toru Hasebe
Audio Highs
Naoki Urasawa
Photography Satoru Karasawa
Art Naoki Soma
Lighting Akio Kimura
Sound Mitsuo Tokita
Editor Nobuyuki Ito
Production Companies Nippon TV Network, Shogakukan, Toho, Vap, Yomiuri TV Broadcasting, Dentsu, Yomiuri Shimbun, Cine Bazaar, Office Crescendo, D Rights, Sapporo TV, Miyagi TV, Shizuoka Daiichi TV, Chukyo TV, Hiroshima TV, Fukuoka Broadcasting
Release Date August 30, 2008
Runtime 142 minutes
Followed by 20th Century Boys: The Last Hope (2009)

20世紀少年
20 Seiki Shōnen
20th Century Boys
Director Yukihiko Tsutsumi
Original Story Naoki Urasawa
Screenplay Yasushi Fukuda
Takashi Nagasaki
Naoki Urasawa
Yusuke Watanabe
Music Director Ryomei Shirai
Music Ryomei Shirai
Toru Hasebe
Audio Highs
Naoki Urasawa
Photography Satoru Karasawa
Art Naoki Soma
Lighting Akio Kimura
Sound Mitsuo Tokita
Editor Nobuyuki Ito
Also known as 20th Century Boys 1: The Beginning of the End
Production Companies Nippon TV Network, Shogakukan, Toho, Vap, Yomiuri TV Broadcasting, Dentsu, Yomiuri Shimbun, Cine Bazaar, Office Crescendo, D Rights, Sapporo TV, Miyagi TV, Shizuoka Daiichi TV, Chukyo TV, Hiroshima TV, Fukuoka Broadcasting
Release Date August 30, 2008
Runtime 142 minutes
Followed by 20th Century Boys: The Last Hope (2009)

Kenji works at a convenience store, looking after his niece Kanna after she was abandoned by his sister, Kiriko. He is pulled into a massive conspiracy sweeping across Japan when, at a school reunion, he is shown a symbol being used by a strange new cult, led by a masked figure named “Friend.” Kenji realizes that the symbol is the same one used by he and his childhood friends when they were playing in a grass fort one summer thirty years ago. Furthermore, Friend’s cult appears to be taking its cues from a notebook Kenji wrote that summer called “The Book of Prophecy,” in which a series of specific disasters occur before Kenji and his friends rise up to save the earth. Kenji looks for and finds an old time capsule they had buried at the end of the summer, which contains a flag bearing Friend’s symbol. The Book of Prophecy is still unaccounted for, but now Kenji is convinced that one of his childhood friends is behind the Friend cult.

Kenji tries to remember the specific events mentioned in the Book of Prophecy, such as an airport being destroyed. Haneda Airport is subsequently destroyed in a terrorist bombing. Members of Friend’s cult appear at Kenji’s store and attempt to kidnap Kanna; when they fail, they burn the store down. Kenji confronts the cult members at a gathering, where he comes face to face with the masked Friend. Friend taunts Kenji and reveals that he is really Kanna’s father, and that both he and Kanna have important roles to play in future events. Friend has Kenji framed for the recent disasters and forces him into hiding. Kenji contacts his childhood friends and summons them to Tokyo to fight Friend. Kenji also manages to recover the Book of Prophecy, so he can anticipate Friend’s moves.

Over the next several years, Friend’s cult grows into a political party and takes a majority of seats in the government. Kenji’s group struggles to stay ahead of Friend’s plans up until December 2000. On New Year’s Eve, before the start of the new millennium, they expect a giant robot to attack Tokyo. Sure enough, the robot appears, while simultaneous bio-weapon attacks occur all over the globe, slaughtering millions. Kenji and his friends leap into action. Otcho and Fukube search for someone who could be controlling the robot. Fukube finds someone in a Friend mask atop a skyscraper; they struggle, and both men plunge over the edge to their deaths. Yukiji and Mon-chan try to break into the Friend party headquarters. Kenji boards the robot with a bomb to destroy it. He encounters Friend, who unmasks himself. As Kenji stares at Friend, the bomb goes off, causing a chain reaction that destroys most of the city. Fourteen years later, Kanna has grown into a teenager and resists the oppressive government instituted by Friend…

Top Billed Cast

Toshiaki Karasawa
Kenji Endo
Etsushi Toyokawa
Choji "Otcho" Ochiai
Takako Tokiwa
Yukiji Setoguchi
Teruyuki Kagawa
Tsuyoshi "Yoshitsune" Minamoto
Hidehiko Ishizuka
Michihiro Maruo
Takashi Ukaji
Masaaki "Mon-chan" Shimon
Hiroyuki Miyasako
Keitaro "Keroyon" Fukuda
Katsuhisa Namase
Saburo "Donkey" Kido
Fumiyo Kohinata
Akio Yamane
Kuranosuke Sasaki
Tetsuya "Fukube" Hattori
Shiro Sano
Yanbo, Mabo
Mirai Moriyama
Kakuda
Kanji Tsuda
Dan Moroboshi
Takashi Fujii
Himself
Hanako Yamada
Herself
ARATA
Masao Tamura
Nana Katase
Mika Shikishima
Chizuru Ikewaki
Erika
Airi Taira
Kanna Endo
Taka
Shikishima Seminar Student
Toshi
Shikishima Seminar Student
Atsuhiko Nakata
Scooter Man
Shingo Fujimori
Scooter Man
Fumiya Fujii
Masato Ikegami
Mitsuhiro Oikawa
Rock Band Vocalist
Tomiko Ishii
Chiyo Endo
Naoto Takenaka
Pierre Ichimonji
Ken Mitsuishi
Detective Yamazaki
Tamotsu Ishibashi
Kenji's Classmate
Yu Tokui
Kingmart Franchise Rep
Masato Irie
Kenji's Classmate
Miyako Takeuchi
Setsuko Ichihara
Yoriko Doguchi
Mitsuko Kido
Kenichi Endo
Bloody Man
Toshikazu Fukawa
Nobuo
Bengal
Orico President
Taijiro Tamura
Hobo
Akio Yokoyama
Hobo
Mansaku Fuwa
Hobo
Nightmare
Rock Band
Ken Tanaka
Jijibaba's Husband (Photo)
Naoko Ken
Jijibaba
Raita Ryu
Chosuke "Cho-san" Igarashi
Kazuko Yoshiyuki
Mrs. Moroboshi
Jun Nishiyama
Kenji
Ryusei Sawahata
Otcho
Tamaki Matsumoto
Yukiji
Fumiya Ogura
Yoshitsune
Ichiya Anzai
Maruo
Katsuto Yoshii
Donkey
Taichi Yano
Mon-chan
Takuya Moriyama
Keroyon
Kosei Kuroha
Katsumata
Kaoru Fujiwara
Sadakiyo
Kiyotaka Yamada
Yanbo (1969)
Yuki Otoguro
Mabo (1969)
Ibuki Shimizu
Konchi
Riku Uehara
Fukube
Tadashi Nakamura
Fujiyama Travel (Voice)
Dave Spector
Commentator
Tetsuya Miyazaki
Commentator
Noriko Kimoto
Commentator
Dandy Sakano
Infomercial Talent
Renji Ishibashi
Inshu Manjome
Katsuo Nakamura
Kami-sama
Hitomi Kuroki
Kiriko Endo

Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically

Rina Hatakeyama
Kanna
Yusuke Hirayama
Detective
Kaiyu Yoshida
Ikegami
Top Billed Cast

Kenji Endo
Toshiaki Karasawa

Choji "Otcho" Ochiai
Etsushi Toyokawa

Yukiji Setoguchi
Takako Tokiwa

Tsuyoshi "Yoshitsune" Minamoto
Teruyuki Kagawa

Michihiro Maruo
Hidehiko Ishizuka

Masaaki "Mon-chan" Shimon
Takashi Ukaji

Keitaro "Keroyon" Fukuda
Hiroyuki Miyasako

Saburo "Donkey" Kido
Katsuhisa Namase

Akio Yamane
Fumiyo Kohinata

Tetsuya "Fukube" Hattori
Kuranosuke Sasaki

Yanbo

Mabo
Shiro Sano

Kakuda
Mirai Moriyama

Dan Moroboshi
Kanji Tsuda

Himself
Takashi Fujii

Herself
Hanako Yamada

Masao Tamura
ARATA

Mika Shikishima
Nana Katase

Erika
Chizuru Ikewaki

Kanna Endo
Airi Taira

Shikishima Seminar Student
Taka

Shikishima Seminar Student
Toshi

Scooter Man
Atsuhiko Nakata

Scooter Man
Shingo Fujimori

Masato Ikegami
Fumiya Fujii

Rock Band Vocalist
Mitsuhiro Oikawa

Chiyo Endo
Tomiko Ishii

Pierre Ichimonji
Naoto Takenaka

Detective Yamazaki
Ken Mitsuishi

Kenji's Classmate
Tamotsu Ishibashi

Kingmart Franchise Rep
Yu Tokui

Kenji's Classmate
Masato Irie

Setsuko Ichihara
Miyako Takeuchi

Mitsuko Kido
Yoriko Doguchi

Bloody Man
Kenichi Endo

Nobuo
Toshikazu Fukawa

Orico President
Bengal

Hobo
Taijiro Tamura

Hobo
Akio Yokoyama

Hobo
Mansaku Fuwa

Rock Band
Nightmare

Jijibaba's Husband (Photo)
Ken Tanaka

Jijibaba
Naoko Ken

Chosuke "Cho-san" Igarashi
Raita Ryu

Mrs. Moroboshi
Kazuko Yoshiyuki

Kenji
Jun Nishiyama

Otcho
Ryusei Sawahata

Yukiji
Tamaki Matsumoto

Yoshitsune
Fumiya Ogura

Maruo
Ichiya Anzai

Donkey
Katsuto Yoshii

Mon-chan
Taichi Yano

Keroyon
Takuya Moriyama

Katsumata
Kosei Kuroha

Sadakiyo
Kaoru Fujiwara

Yanbo (1969)
Kiyotaka Yamada

Mabo (1969)
Yuki Otoguro

Konchi
Ibuki Shimizu

Fukube
Riku Uehara

Fujiyama Travel (Voice)
Tadashi Nakamura

Commentator
Dave Spector

Commentator
Tetsuya Miyazaki

Commentator
Noriko Kimoto

Infomercial Talent
Dandy Sakano

Inshu Manjome
Renji Ishibashi

Kami-sama
Katsuo Nakamura

Kiriko Endo
Hitomi Kuroki
Rest of Cast Listed Alphabetically

Kanna
Rina Hatakeyama

Detective
Yusuke Hirayama

Ikegami
Kaiyu Yoshida