History Manga / TwentiethCenturyBoys

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Relatively minor example with the Chinese overheard by Bri-chan. She says she overheard the Chinese man in the alley say "罗马法王" (''Luómǎ fǎwáng''). This is translated by Kanna to mean "Pope." However, this is a meaningless phrase in Chinese; the word for pope is "教皇" (''Jiàohuáng''). The incorrect translation clearly comes from the Japanese translation of the word, "ローマ法王" (''Rōma hōō'').

* BookEnds: The first and last chapter of the series both show the scene where Kenji puts ''20th Century Boy'' on the PA, although in the last chapter you see it from a different point of view.

-->''"This symbol is a symbol of friendship."''

''Twentieth Century Boys'' is a manga series created by NaokiUrasawa, the mastermind behind ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', and it is widely considered to be his {{magnum opus}}. The plot of the manga spans several decades, from the 1960s to the 21st century, and involves a large cast of characters and several plot twists along the way.

During their childhood, Kenji and his friends played a game in which they imagined the world being destroyed by a group of villains. Now, Kenji must gather his friends again, in order to prevent Friend, the man who took their symbol, from turning their childhood fantasies into a horrible reality. The final 16 chapters were released under the name of ''21st Century Boys''.

* LateToTheParty (Kyoko, Chouno, and Kakuta)

* FauxSymbolism: Otcho's explanation of [[spoiler:how he came up with the symbol that later became the Friend group's: he took the "continue on the next page" marker and drew an eye over it.]]

** Friend himself shows shades of this as well. Enacting a doomsday scenario dreamt up by grade schoolers certainly doesn't help his case.

* GoMadFromTheRevelation: The reaction to the bonus stage at [[AmusementParkOfDoom Friend Land]], specifically [[spoiler:the boy in the mask having ''[[HighOctaneNightmareFuel a grown man's head.]]'']] [[spoiler:Kyoko only managed to see it and not kill herself because her memory was damaged from being removed and only gradually returned.]]

* DrugsAreBad: During her HeroicBSOD, Kanna is offered some "Love and Peace", only for flashback!Kenji for remind her that real rockers don't use drugs.

** The holographic BlandNameX version of StreetFighter.

* BigNo: Kanna, when she finds out her tape player is broken.

* TheUnreveal: Ultimately subverted. Friend's true identity ''is'' ultimately revealed. In the meantime, though, Urasawa spends a huge chunk of the story teasing the readers by ''almost'' revealing Friend's identity, only to reveal that he's wearing a mask, or is a fake, or only showing other character's reactions, or continuously cutting short people who found out his identity.

* DidNotDoTheResearch: Relatively minor example with the Chinese overheard by Bri-chan. She says she overheard the Chinese man in the alley say "罗马法王" (''Luómǎ fǎwáng''). This is translated by Kanna to mean "Pope." However, this is relatively meaningless phrase in Chinese; the word for pope is "教皇" (''Jiàohuáng''). The incorrect translation clearly comes from the Japanese translation of the word, "ローマ法王" (''Rōma hōō'').

* ApocalypseHow: Deconstructed and Reconstructed. At first, [[TheHero the heroes]] want to stop the BigBad from doing a class 3. [[spoiler: Turns out it was only a class 0, designed to frame the heroes for it and make the Big Bad more powerful. 15 years later, the Big Bad pulls out a real class 1, kills about 90% of the humanity, and conquers the world. And 3 more years later, he tries to do a class X, only to be finally stopped by the main character. But it doesn't end here: after the Big Bad's death, one of his followers tries complete his master's plan, and do the class X, but is also stoped by the heroes.]]

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/20thcenturyboys.JPG

''TwentiethCenturyBoys'' is a manga series created by NaokiUrasawa, the mastermind behind ''{{Anime/Monster}}'', and it is widely considered to be his {{magnum opus}}. The plot of the manga spans several decades, from the 1960s to the 21st century, and involves a large cast of characters and several plot twists along the way.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: After the series' first major TimeSkip, where [[spoiler: things are suddenly set 15 years later in a Japan ruled by Friend]]. See YourPrincessIsInAnotherCastle below.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The series' [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters "no name wasted" policy]] made the fact that [[spoiler: Maruo's son]] never came back from [[PutOnABus his bus ride]] quite bewildering...or sad...really sad.

* NothingIsTheSameAnymore: After the series' first major TimeSkip, where [[spoiler: things are suddenly set 15 years later in a Japan ruled by Friend]]. See NotSoFastBucko below.
* NotSoFastBucko: It initially seems like the series is going to end when [[spoiler:the heroes try to stop Friend from destroying Tokyo on Bloody New Year's Eve with a giant robot]]. However, as you can probably tell from the chapter count, that it is most definitely ''not'' the end. It turns out that [[spoiler: Friend was just using the (fake) robot so that he could destroy it himself and play the part of the hero, whilst framing Kenji and his friends for all the chaos and destruction.]] Suddenly, [[spoiler:the story jumps forward 15 years and Friend is now head of an opressive Japan, and all our heroes are either scattered, in prison, or presumed dead.]] OhCrap.