A review by zeydejd
21st Century Boys by Naoki Urasawa, Takashi Nagasaki

5.0

I feel like anything that elicits tears has to get 5 stars, right?

In all seriousness, 21st Century Boys did the things that I was hoping for at the end of 20th Century Boys in terms of addressing loose ends in a way that was captivating and at least mostly satisfying (without being cliche or cheesy).

I know some folks have an issue with Katsumata as a plot device, but I actually liked it, and it was way better than the few theories I had going toward the end of 20th Century Boys. I think what made it work so well was the fact that Urasawa already introduced this sort of haze or lack of clarity around what the past entailed, almost from the get-go. So, readers can never be totally sure if what they thought happened was the true or complete story.

Kanna's character returned to something that actually resonated, as opposed to the character I was watching unfold toward the end of 20th Century Boys, leaving my only real issue with Kenji's 15-year hiatus.

Overall, I'm so glad the series got capped with these two volumes, because it was a great way to end it. The merits totally eclipsed any complaints I may have had coming out of 20th Century Boys.