History YMMV / TwentiethCenturyBoys

* ValuesDissonance: Friend Land has no trash cans. Instead, guests are supposed to drop their trash on the ground for the janitors to clean up. This is merely strange to the West, but it's shocking in Japan, where cleaning up after oneself is a civic duty.

* CompleteMonster: Both versions of [[BigBad Friend]] were absolute monsters of different varieties.
** The first Friend--[[spoiler:[[DarkMessiah Fukubei Hattori]]-- grew up ignored by his classmates, with their attention often focused on hero Kenji Endō. Thus, Fukubei developed a [[AttentionWhore craving for attention]], and a [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate hatred for Kenji]]. Already [[KidsAreCruel wicked as a child]], Fukubei psychologically abused his so-called "best friends," regularly tried to terrify people with his tricks, and ruined the childhood of one of his classmates--who would later become the second Friend thanks in part to the Fukubei's cruelty. Forming the "[[{{Cult}} Friendship Party]]" as an adult, Fukubei began developing a virus that painfully killed anyone it infected, all while silencing anyone who got his way. Unleashing the virus, Fukubei framed Kenji and his group for the ensuing 150,000 deaths, took over much of the world as a "hero", and ruled it with an iron fist, sending people to reeducation camps for even minor crimes. Fukubei's master plan is then revealed: Use a new virus to wipe out 99% of the human race, then rule over the remaining 1% of "true believers". Sociopathic, egomanical, and petty, Fukubei Hattori set the bar for wickedness in this manga.]]
** The second Friend--[[spoiler:[[FromNobodyToNightmare Katsumata]]--[[StartOfDarkness grew up unliked and bullied]], in particular by Fukubei, and this resulted in [[StrawNihilist a hatred for all humanity]]. Taking over after Fukubei's death, Katsumata destroys much of human civilization with a new virus and rules what's left even harsher than Fukubei, spreading tales of "aliens" invading to keep innocents terrified in the process. To further cause chaos, Katsumata regularly sends out small doses of vaccines to groups of potential rebels, knowing they will tear themselves apart trying to acquire the antidote. Revealing he plans to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all of humanity with an incurable virus]], Katsumata tries to [[ForcedToWatch make Kenji watch]] as he kills Kenji's niece, Kanna--Kanna's mother is Kenji's sister, while her father is Fukubei--as revenge for a transgression Kenji committed against him as a child, and, when finally defeated, it is revealed he left an Anti-Proton bomb to be detonated by his followers, which will destroy the entire world when activated.]]

* CompleteMonster: Both versions of [[BigBad Friend]] were absolute monsters of a different variety.
** The first Friend ([[spoiler:Fukubei Hattori]]), after growing up ignored by his classmates, with their attention often focused on [[TheHero Kenji Endou]], developed a [[AttentionWhore craving for attention]], and a [[DisproportionateRetribution disproportionate hatred for Kenji]]. Already [[KidsAreCruel wicked as a child]], he psychologically abused his so-called "best friends," regularly tried to terrify people with his tricks, and ruined the childhood of one of his classmates, [[StartOfDarkness who would later become the second Friend]] thanks in part to the first Friend's cruelty. Forming the "[[{{Cult}} Friendship Party]]" as an adult, this Friend began developing a virus that painfully killed anyone it infected, all while silencing anyone who got his way. Unleashing the virus, he [[FrameUp framed Kenji and his group]] for the ensuing 150,000 deaths, took over much of the world as a "hero," and ruled it with an iron fist, sending people to [[MindRape reeducation camps]] for even minor crimes. His [[AGodAmI master plan]] is then revealed: Use a new virus to wipe out 99% of the human race, then rule over the remaining 1% of "true believers." Sociopathic, egomanical, and petty, the first Friend set the bar for wickedness in this manga.
** The Second Friend ([[spoiler:Katsumata]]) [[FreudianExcuse grew up unliked and bullied]], in particular by the aforementioned first Friend, and this resulted in a hatred for all humanity. Taking over after the previous Friend's death, he destroys much of human civilization with a new virus and rules what's left even harsher than the previous Friend, spreading tales of "aliens" invading to keep innocents terrified in the process. To further cause chaos, this Friend regularly sends out small doses of vaccines to groups of potential rebels, knowing they will tear themselves apart trying to acquire the antidote. Revealing he plans to [[OmnicidalManiac destroy all of humanity with an incurable virus]], this Friend tries to [[ForcedToWatch make Kenji watch]] as he kills Kenji’s niece, Kanna (Kanna’s mother is Kenji’s sister, while her father is [[spoiler:the first Friend]]), as revenge for a transgression Kenji committed against him as a child, and, when finally defeated, it is revealed he left an Anti-Proton bomb to be detonated by his followers, which will destroy the entire world when activated. Though having the aforementioned FreudianExcuse, the second Friend was ultimately a [[PsychopathicManchild psychopathic]] [[MisanthropeSupreme misanthrope]] whose attempted revenge on humankind was DisproportionateRetribution taken to its highest degree.

* EarWorm: Kenji's song, Bob Lennon. As mentioned above, it's a rare in and out of universe example, as it plays a very important role in the plot as the story goes on, [[spoiler:especially the 'Gutalala Sudalala' version, which even the characters comment on as being an ear worm]] and since it was released in real life it can end up being stuck in your head very quickly.

* MagnificentBastard: Friend.

* CrazyAwesome: [[spoiler:Kenji]], after the second time skip.

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: Kenji's song, Bob Lennon. It's a rare in and out of universe example, as a recorded version was released with the volume it was introduced in. Urasawa Naoki can sing, apparently.
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xdY10RhB0s#t=4m19s GUUUUTALAAAALA SUUUUUDALALAAAAAA!]]

%%* ParanoiaFuel: This series is the ''United Arab Emirates'' of Paranoia Fuel.