Manga Review – 20th Century Boys, Volume 8

Manga Mondays are back, and I’m returning to Naoki Urasawa’s 20th Century Boys, with volume 8 of the manga.

Title: 20th Century Boys, Volume 8
Written & Illustrated by Naoki Urasawa
Adapted by Akemi Wegmuller
Touch-up and Lettering by Freeman Wong

Available from Amazon.com, and RightStuf.com

The Premise

Kanna continues to tell Detective Shohei about the events of Bloody New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, Koizumi Kyoko, one of Kanna’s former classmates, has been reported by her teacher to th Friends for wanting to write a paper on the events of Bloody New Year’s Eve, and she’s sent to “Friend Land” for re-education.

High Points

This is the most intense volume of this manga thus far.

Low Points

Yoshitsune loses a few points by taking his photo ID picture for koyoko without her knowledge, when she’s in the bath.

Score

Originality: So, I’m familiar with the “gamification” of learning, and I can even imagine applying that to brainwashing but using modified versions of Virtua Cop and Hang-On is something else. 4/6

Artwork: Urusawa’s art is still absolutely fantastic. 6/6

Story: The stakes are getting higher as we, the reader, come closer to knowing the truth. 5/6

Emotional Response: This volume wraps up another great cliffhanger. 5/6

Characterization: We get to see how Yoshitsune has changed since Bloody New Year’s Eve. 5/6

Flow: 6/6

Overall: This manga continues to be a work of sheer brilliance. This manga really shows how Naoki Urasawa is one of the top manga creators of the 21st century in my eyes. 5/6

In total, 20th Century Boys gets 36/42.