20th Century Boys- Chapter 1 (J Movie)

Runtime: 140 mins
More Info at Imdb

A interesting blend of mystery, prophecies, and conspiracy.

When i watched this movie, I haven't any idea of how its manga version feels like. But as a fan of the mystery genre, I was soon absorbed into the movie in about 10 mins into it.


First, it is quite a lengthy movie which I felt was like close to 3 hours when I watched it. (But I have always like long movies). Nothing really bad about that, rather I find it still reasonable as it gives more time to tell the backstory and unfolds the mystery.


Story basically starts out with long time friends gathering at the funeral of their once close friend, Donkey, who died mysteriously. Tieing the case and the protanganist(Kenji) together is the symbol that leads back to his childhood schooltimes where he and his group of friends first met. The symbol was created as a sign of their friendship.


Under the lead of Kenji, the curious students imagined what the future would be like and Kenji drew down the events on a book, which they named as the Book of Prophecies. The book was later buried and the group of students grew up living their own lives.


Back to the present time, mysterious murders continue after Donkey's death, influence of an unknown cult begins to spread, led by someone known only as Friend, an unidentified individual who wears a mask drawn with the symbol created by Kenji and his friends. Meanwhile, the events told in the Book of Prophecies starts to come true one after another.


Who is this Friend? Could the culprit be among Kenji's friends, the only ones who know of the Book of Prophecies? It was these questions that kept me till the credits roll. It was quite a pleasant surprise to see how the ending paves the start for the 2nd Chapter, which alas after a long wait will be screening in local theatres on this 9th of July!


Pacing and overall execution wise, I find Death Note better to some extent, though I have to say that 20th Century Boys' plot is more complex, and the character involvement is much broader. Fans of the mystery genre, DON'T miss this!