>With Nick heading up to Chicago as I type this, it brings a tear to my eye as I post one of his last reviews…sniff.

When Viz first announced that they were bringing Naoki Urasawa’s mangas “20th Century Boys” and “Pluto” to the States, I truly thought that “20th Century Boys” was going to be the series for me. How could a sci-fi thriller starring a failed rock star with a baby strapped to his back not be better than a re-envisioning of an old “Astro Boy” storyline? After reading the first volume of each series, I surprisingly found myself favoring “Pluto’s” mystery/suspense take on classic “Astro Boy” story “The Greatest Robot in the World.” In the months that have past since the release of those initial volumes, two more books of “Pluto” have come through Star Clipper’s doors. The wait for “20th Century Boys” Volume 2 has been much longer, with it only arriving on our shelves in the last week. After devouring this second volume’s pages, it unexpectedly climbed past “Pluto” to be my favorite manga I am currently following.

“20th Century Boys” story makes some pretty big strides in its second installment. While the first volume shows early in its pages a mysterious band of heroes being celebrated at the United Nations for saving humanity, it spends the remainder of its pages on establishing Kenji’s decades old childhood friendships, a mysterious cult inexplicably tied to those friendships, and the death of one of those friends. Building off the premise established in the initial book, volume two expands on lead character Kenji into fascinating directions all while unveiling the truly grand scope of its mysteries as hinted in volume one.

Kenji had been established as a sympathetic lead in the series’ first volume. His struggles to raise his missing sister’s baby and run his family’s convenience store business made Kenji come off as equally noble and defeated. The fact that this new life is built out of the ashes of his failed childhood dreams of rock stardom doesn’t help matters. In volume two, Kenji’s interactions with childhood friend and reformed tomboy Yukiji serve to remind readers of Kenji’s change from the brave boy shown in the flashbacks to the frustrated man he is now. The questions about where Kenji is going raised by the reconnection of this old friend, along with the fleshing out of Kenji’s relationship to his absent sister, establish a pretty compelling arc for the lead. To make things even more interesting, the volume’s last pages place Kenji at the heart of the series’ mysteries.

These mysteries are expanded upon greatly in this second installment. The scope of the machinations of the cult-like organization run by the mysterious “Friend” are revealed, along with hints as to groups size and how they will execute the sinister plot. As the investigation into “Friend” and his ties to the death of Kenji’s friend Donkey move forward, Urasawa and writing accomplice Takashi Nagasaki pack enough twists and turns to keep it interesting.

While series looks to promise an epic science fiction tale, I am astonished at how well it contains these elements. Instead of overloading the readers with a ton of fantastic ideas, the creative team have decided to build the narrative around highly relatable characters all while slowly unveiling just how sci-fi the stories is going to grow. As a result, they have hit on an engaging mystery that is outstandingly well paced. I can’t wait to see what unfolds in volume three!

-Nick

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