The Plot : 10/10
Just Perfect ! Multi-layered stories with a switch back and forth through timelines without ever feeling out of place , This is a story that is perfectly executed with lots of suspense and intense to the fullest. The childish cover may dismiss a lot of people from reading it , but the content is very very mature. I have never seen such a perfectly executed story in a manga before, I am still quite surprised that this is a manga not a story in 3-part book for example, also another thing that I adored is the variety this manga offered , which I think is the key to success to any long running manga. It is true that the last third is a little weaker than the the first two thirds , but let me say that these first two thirds are just way out of league .
The Characters 10/10:
Loads of characters have been introduced and all of them made an impact in this manga, also about 95% of these characters have been fleshed out fully. It's very easy to relate to them and their characters. and I liked them all . Kenji , Kanna , Yoshitsune , Otcho , Fukubei , Mon-chan , Yukiji , Kami , Manjoume, Donkey , Keroyon . just a few off my mind right now but I didn't really hate any characters. I also liked how he introduced a lot of characters and he made it work and gave them their own personalities with their own way of thinking.
The Art 9/10
Naoki Urasawa's distinctive art strikes again , which is very useful in drawing the facial expressions and unlike with Monster this time character designs do not look recycled at all. And there is a big improvement in the art style in this manga over Monster.
Also check out the Reception this manga got.
Reception :
20th Century Boys has 36 million tankōbon copies in circulation, was the third top-selling manga series of 2008, and the ninth top-selling of 2009. The series has also won numerous awards, including the 2001 Kodansha Manga Award in the General category, an Excellence Prize at the 2002 Japan Media Arts Festival, the 2003 Shogakukan Manga Award in the General category, and the first ever Angoulême International Comics Festival Prize for a Series in 2004. It also won the Grand Prize at the 37th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards, and the Seiun Award in the Comic category at the 46th Japan Science Fiction Convention, both in 2008. The series won the 2011 Eisner Award for Best U.S. Edition of International Material in the Asia category for Viz Media's English releases, and won the same award again in 2013. It was nominated twice, 2010 and 2013, for the Harvey Award in the Best American Edition of Foreign Material category, and three years in a row, 2010-2012, for the Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series.
Manga critic Jason Thompson called 20th Century Boys "an epic saga of nostalgia, middle age, rock n' roll, and a struggle against an evil conspiracy." He compared the story to several novels by Stephen King, such as It, where "a group of childhood friends who reunite as adults to deal with leftover issues from their childhood manifested in monstrous form." Thompson wrote that despite being a seinen manga aimed at an older audience, the series gained fans of all ages for its great premise, storytelling and the mystery behind Friend.
Carlo Santos of Anime News Network felt the pacing of the series should have been quicker, but praised the intricate and interconnecting plot and its twists, as well as the well-developed characters. He also noted Urasawa's art and dialogue, saying "it takes real skill to build a story as multi-layered as this one and still have it make sense as the characters explain things".
Overall 9.7 /10
Ceiling 9.7 is 10
So it is a 10/10(Masterpiece)
