Naoki Urasawa's 20th Century Boys, Volume 1: Friends

Failed rock musician Kenji's memories of his past come rushing back when one of his childhood friends mysteriously commits suicide. Could this new death be related to the rise of a bizarre new cult that's been implicated in several other murders and disappearances? Determined to dig deeper, Kenji reunites with some of his old buddies in the hope of learning the truth behind it all. The Friend, an ...

It turns out that the Friend's plan to destroy the world was dreamed up long ago by a gang of boys playing "good guys against bad guys"... And now, the only one who can stop this diabolical plot from succeeding is the one who came up with it - Kenji! Kenji races home and picks up the newspaper: sure enough, the mystery microbe has hit London. He thinks back over everything that has happened a...

It appears that Kanna's ambitious gamble has paid off as the leaders of the local Thai and Chinese mafias agree to both call a truce and offer to back her up. This doesn't sit too well with Yukiji, though, who is furious that Kanna would risk her life in such a brazen way. But one thing seems certain: when it comes to fighting the Friends, there's no limit to how far Kanna will go. ...

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 the...

The Friend is dead. As the news spreads around the world, the members of the Friends’ executive committee are faced with a dilemma: Is it all over, or will the events predicted in the New Book of Prophecy still be carried out? Otcho insists that things are not over at all, and that is exactly what his old nemesis—Number 13—tells the fractious Friends’ committee, where quite a few members are prepa...

Humanity, having faced extinction at the end of the 20th century, would not have entered the new millennium if it weren't for them. In 1969, during their youth, they created a symbol. In 1997, as the coming disaster slowly starts to unfold, that symbol returns. This is the story of a group of boys who try to save the world.

Sorting through the volumes of research his dearly departed mentor left behind, a young priest, recently returned to Rome, stumbles across a mysterious (and potentially dangerous) book that prophesizes the end of the world. Uncertain as to the text's true meaning, Brother Luciano's search quickly leads him to a startling revelation: the Friends may have operatives inside the Vatican, and the young...

Contrary to what his actions as an adult have led Kenji and his pals to believe, back when they were children, Fukube really wanted to be their friend. Fukube even went so far as to let them read all the latest manga magazines he diligently purchased in the hope of winning their friendship. Yet despite all this, Fukube still felt like an outsider. Fostering a sense of superiority toward all the ot...

It is the third year of the Friendship Era. Darkness covers the earth, and the world is under the control of evil. The Friend has become President of the World, and he reigns from within the enclosed walls of Tokyo City. Most people believe in the Friend, but hidden below the surface is a small ray of hope. Someone known as the Ice Queen is calling for the people to rise up, and she has deemed Aug...

Far, far from Tokyo, a man approaches the checkpoint at the Northern Border... Everyone north of the gate is dead, but here he comes on a motorbike with a guitar strapped to his back. Who is this man who calls himself Joe Yabuki, and why does he break out in song? Is he a Messiah here to save the people, or is he just a deluded nut?