21st Century Boys - Vol. 2 Ch. 16

[absinthe]

if there’s anything about Urasawa is that he knows how to write a hell of an ending.
Also, I feel like a lot of people don’t realize that the author doesn’t have to and really SHOULDNT give away every detail of the story. Katsumata’s mystery is prob intentional and adds more thrill to the story. Mysteries keep a story alive after it’s finished. It’s not a bad thing unless you see it as one.
20/21CB and FMA are my only 10/10 manga.

 

[WeebWeeberWeebest]

My first ever manga completed... awesome... mangas are so much better than animes man... I was missing out on a lot.
But I'll re-read it since being a simpleton many things and themes went over my head. I knew they were there, but I couldn't exactly point them out.

 

[Robinisback]

There's no closure for Kenji and Kanna? Seriously? They are the main characters in the series and not even a proper talk? I'm crying.

 

[Meireen0307]

Ah, I have a high expectation. But, at least my Kanna-Shohei (seems) sailed.

 

[ThatGuy42]

really cool to end this manga with the song

Bob Lennon (20th Century Boys)​

 

[Bean_Soup]

There's no closure for Kenji and Kanna? Seriously? They are the main characters in the series and not even a proper talk? I'm crying.

This is the only real element of this ending I have a problem with. Like another commenter said earlier, the author shouldn't have to disclose every single detail to leave no thread unaddressed, but the last major interaction they have between the two is Kanna's apparent conception that Kenji's disappointed in her. I waited for that to be brought up to be revealed as some form of misconception or room for dialogue, but the fact they don't address it at all seems incredibly disjointed to me- a major disappointment given that the relationship between the two was one of the core themes that kept me interested throughout the read.

 

[storkwalker]

very confusing ending but nonetheless damn I can't believe the story's over

 

[Ahab19]

Idk I found the manga to be underwhelming, so many plot conveniences or reveals that don't really matter, good few plot points that go no where, no real overarching themes I could pick up on. The author really liked doing this thing where he'd have several groups of characters all come to the same conclusions around the same time and then drag out the reveal over the next 10 or so chapters all felt redundant and unnecessary. The characters where all really well written for the most part at least, but the final battle was pretty bad, the robot wasn't created by friend and the twins didn't seem to have anything to do with friend by that point so having the bomb be set off by the robot he didn't know existed or have the controls to until the professor died was just bad. I'd give it a 7/10.

 

[its_scamer_]

Why the 3 kids at the last page have boner 😂

 

[biznizz]

Anyone know the perfect edition ending?

Come on. What the hell happened with Katsumata?

Okay, so just for the record, the Perfect Edition has clarified a few things.

1. Fukibei died when he tried to perform the miracle in the science lab as a kid. That's why Donkey ran away and why he was killed: he knew that the person pretending to be Fukubei couldn't possibly be him. Also, the fact that he would have seen through the false assassination attempt.

2. Friend is, and always has been, Katsumata. He committed to living out Fukubei's dream of world domination, then allowed "him" to die so that he could live out Katsu's dream of destroying it. He's the father of Kanna, and Kenji told us in the Perfect Edition ending that he figured things out.

Apparently, this was always supposed to have been the idea, but Urasawa messed up in the implication of Fuku's death as a kid in the original version.