Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 12 [Paperback]

Naoki Urasawa (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 21, 2010 | Series: Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys (Book 12)

Reads R to L (Japanese Style), for T+ audiences. Will 2015 bring an end to human history?! An urgent but mysterious messsage left by her mother Kiriko in 2002 finally reaches Kanna. But where is Kiriko, who developed the germ warfare weapons used on Bloody New Year's Eve, and what is she doing now? Memories of New Years past flood the minds of Kenji's friends and family. Will Yoshitsune's clandestine actions eventually prove fruitful, or are they doomed to repeat the tragedies of the year 2000?Meanwhile, Otcho and Kakuta are busily trying to track down Kiriko's former colleague, Dr. Yamane. Unexpectedly, their search leads them to the very neighborhood that Otcho, Kenji, Maruo and the rest of their childhood pals grew up in. Can a visit to their old school shed new light on a bizarre incident that happened when they were all in the sixth grade?

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Naoki Urasawa's career as a manga artist spans more than twenty years and has firmly established him as one of the true manga masters of Japan. Born in Tokyo in 1960, Urasawa debuted with BETA! in 1983 and hasn't stopped his impressive output since. Well-versed in a variety of genres, Urasawa's oeuvre encompasses a multitude of different subjects, such as a romantic comedy (Yawara! A Fashionable Judo Girl), a suspenseful human drama about a former mercenary (Pineapple ARMY; story by Kazuya Kudo), a captivating psychological suspense story (Monster), a sci-fi adventure manga (20th Century Boys), and a modern reinterpretation of the work of the God of Manga, Osamu Tezuka (Pluto: Urasawa × Tezuka; co-authored with Takashi Nagasaki, supervised by Macoto Tezka, and with the cooperation of Tezuka Productions). Many of his books have spawned popular animated and live-action TV programs and films, and 2008 saw the theatrical release of the first of three live-action Japanese films based on 20th Century Boys. No stranger to accolades and awards, Urasawa is a three-time recipient of the prestigious Shogakukan Manga Award, a two-time recipient of the Osamu Tezuka Cultural Prize, and has received the Kodansha Manga Award. Similarly, Monster has been nominated three times for the Eisner Award in America. Urasawa has also become involved in the world of academia, and in 2008 accepted a guest teaching post at Nagoya Zokei University, where he teaches courses in, of course, manga.

Product Details

• Paperback: 232 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; Original edition (December 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421523655
• ISBN-13: 978-1421523651
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #170,766 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Answers! Finally the Friend revealed!, August 28, 2011

By 

Kid Kyoto (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Vol. 12 (Paperback)

One problem with any series built around a mystery is that at some point you have to start giving answers or readers will walk away. For 11 books readers have been taunted by the question of who is the Friend, the architect of the Bloody New Years Eve and shadow ruler of Japan?

Well with book 12 we finally get those answers, and wow, Urasawa does a great job.

He drags it out. He really drags it out but he does it well. This volume is a real page turner filled with tense scenes and dramatic twists.

If you're worried about whether or not to continue with 20th Century Boys trust me, keep going, it's worth it.