20th century boy’s pt 3 – our flag

Title - 20^th century boy’s pt 3 – our flag
Language - Japanese
Genre - Sci-fi












 As this is the 3^rd part of the trilogy there may be some spoilers for the first two films the reviews for which are here Part 1 and here Part 2

Part 3 is set in 2017, 2 years after the events in part 2.  Friend has built a wall around Tokyo and has total control of the city.  There are no radios allowed and the only television shows have to be approved by Friend.  At the start of the film we see Otcho (shogun) and his companion scaling the walls to get into Tokyo.  As they get over Otcho is surprised to see that the city has been rebuilt to look the same as it did in the 1970’s but he doesn’t have much time to look around as an alarm goes and the ‘Global defence force’ who are now policing Tokyo come looking for them.  Otcho and his companion separate and Otcho ends up taking refuge in a wheel barrow that is being pushed by two children.  After accompanying the children Otcho learns a number of facts:

1)      Friend is rounding up and killing anyone who disagrees with him.

2)      There a final part of the new book of prophesies which stated that, on August 30^th 2017 there will be an alien invasion which will lead to a 3^rd plague being spread around the world.

3)      Yoshitsune is leading an underground faction to stop Friend

4)      Kanna is calling herself the ‘Ice Queen’ and is leading a second faction that is planning a violent revolt on the 30^th August

5)      There is a chance that Kenji is still alive

Otcho also begins to suspect that Yoshitsune is Friend and his rebellion is a ruse, this comes from the second film where Friend has the badge that was stolen when they were children.  It is suspected that the child who stole the badge is now Friend.  Otcho goes out to find Kanna and worn her that Yoshitsune is looking for her to make an alliance, which Otcho thinks is another ruse so Friend can track her down.

Whilst this is going on Kiriko (Kanna’s mother) is working on a vaccine for the new plague, as she helped to create the original plague that was released at midnight new years eve 1999 hand helped to find the cure for the second one that was released at the end of the second film she believes that she can inoculate people from the third one.

When Otcho finds Kanna he tries to convince her that Kenji may still be alive and that the violent rebellion she has planed will not work.  He finally manages to prove that Kenji is alive when he finds a radio and play her a new song that Kenji is singing, as neither of them have ever hear the song before it stands to reason that it was written after the events of the first film meaning that Kenji could not have been killed when the Robot exploded.

Later Kanna confronts her mother to find out who her farther is, Kiriko confirms that it is Friend but she is uncertain of who he is as the name he used when they were together was fake.

Kanna is arrested for being a terrorist and taken to Friend who attempts to recruit her to his side.  Kanna refuses to join him and Friend lets her go giving her a clue how to survive the next plague.

Kanna changes her plan from the planed revolution to trying to get as many people to the site of the 2015 expo that Friend created in the second film as it is a place of importance to Friend and she believes that he will not spray the area with the plague.  To get the people to the expo site Kanna sets up a concert promising that the singer of the mysterious song that is playing on the radio will be there.  The song is the new one for Kenji.

As Kanna is setting up the concert Kenji approaches the wall of Tokyo.  After getting through the gates he meets a man who used to work with Friend and who helped Friend form his mystique.

As every one gathers a Kanna’s concert Friend launches his UFO’s to spread the new plague and a robot equipped with a neutron bomb.  Kenji and Otcho race to stop them from destroying the city and then the world.

The third part of 20^th century boys brings the trilogy to a nice conclusion, all the characters are reunited and most of the events of the first two films are reviled.  We learn how   Friend built up his cult and gained his power, we learn how he resurrected and, of course we learn that his true identity is…. Well of course I’m not going to give that part away but Friends identity becomes secondary anyway the films are more about why and how Friend was created and what can happen when some one becomes so lonely that they begin to hate humanity and, of course the films are about the power of Rock music.

The films are tight and there are very few loose ends, the only two things that don’t seem to be explained fully are both from part two and they are the esp, does Kanna and Friend have any powers or not.  It is hinted that the spoon bending is another trick of Friend’s but it is not fully clarified.  It is also not totally clear if the Virtual reality time travel used in the ‘Bonus round’ actually affects the present or if it just changes the program.  If the times travel affects the present then it could argued that time had been changed and events of the three films never happened.

The last part of the third film was a good way of explaining some of the finer points.  After the concert has finished Kanna takes Kenji to the remains of Friend land and he uses the Bonus round technology to go back and set things right, as I said we don’t know if the events that happen in Bonus round affect reality but if they did it would change things so that Friend never took over.

The look of the third film keeps in line with the other films; the future technology still has a retro 70’s feeling to it.  The uniforms of the global defense force are reminiscent of the original series of V and the UFO’s are you standard low budget ‘hubcap’ flying saucers.  The mystery of the identity of Friend began to remind me of the hunt for ‘Number one’ in the original series of ‘The Prisoner’

Over all 20^th century boys part 3 is a good ending to a great series and is well worth a watch although I would make sure you plenty of time as the whole series runs at around 7 and half hours. 

20th century boys part 2: The last hope

Title - 20^th century boys part 2: The last hope
Language - Japanese
Genre - Sci- fi, conspiracy

I reviewed the first part of this trilogy a while ago (the review can be found here) and finally decided to watch the next part.  As the films carry on from each other there will be spoilers for part one in this review.

Part two is set 15 years after part one, Kenji and his friends failed to stop the giant robot from spreading the virus and in the aftermath Friend, the cult leader form the first film has risen up to be the new ruler of Japan.  History tells us that Kenji was the person responsible for the robot and virus and he is missing, presumed dead.  The rest of Kenji’s gang are in hiding except for Shogun who is still in Friends prison where he is only known as Number 3.

In the fifteen years since the end of the first film Japan has become slightly futuristic looking city, there are blimps in the air, giant monitors on the sides of buildings and loud speakers in the street all of which are used for advertising and spreading propaganda about how good Friend is.  The scenery is like a more realist, less futuristic blade runner with out the hover cars.  Most of the population seem happy but at the beginning of the film we see that there is a lot of violence as the Chinese mafia is at war with the Thai mafia in the back streets.

The film starts with the sides of the mafia fighting in a number of back streets.  The gunshots are heard in a nearby café.  When one of café regulars mentions where the fighting is happening the waitress runs out into the middle of the gun fight and forces both sides to stop.  We discover that the waitress is Kanna the baby from the first film and she knows the truth about her Uncle Kenji but know one will believe her.

A body is found during the aftermath of the mafia fight which is first assumed to be a victim for the violence but it turns out that is was an assassination by a corrupt police man. 

The customer who first told Kanna where the fighting was taking place than asks her for help, she has a friend who knows why the man was killed and they need Kanna’s help to protect her as it has information on Friend and what he is planning next.  The information leads Kanna to ‘Friend land’ a summer camp used to brain wash people into supporting Friend.  The murdered man was in Friend land and took part in something known as the bonus round.  Kanna decides to get into friend land to see if she can find out what is happening.

At the same time as this is all going on Shogun and a manga artist who has been imprisoned for righting the wrong type of manga make their escape from the prison and meet up with one of the other heroes from the first film.

Kanna and one of her classmates enrol on a stay in Friend land and they meet up with Kanna’s uncle Yoshitsune, one of the heroes from the first film who tells them that only the best students get to go into the Bonus round, but warn against it as it is dangerous.  Kanna ignores the warnings and pass the tests to get into the bonus round, along with her classmate.

The Bonus round uses virtual reality to take two girls back in time to when her uncle and his friends first wrote the book of prophecies, specifically to when ‘Donkey’, the group member who’s death set the current events in motion went into the school and saw the ghost.  Kanna sees two other boys one of whom has hanged himself and the other who is watching him.  The second by has a copy of the new book of prophecies and the first boy comes back to life.  Whilst this is going on Friend enters the room to speak to Kanna and to tell her who her farther is.  While Kanna is talking to the adult Friend her classmate is on the roof looking for the child version of Friend to try to find out who he actually is, she approaches a masked child who takes his mask off.

Yoshitsune pulls the plug on the computer that runs the bonus round and Kanna sets off find out about the new book of Prophecies.

Shogun is now on the trail of Friend during his investigations he is approached by an old lady who recognises him as one of Kenji’s friends and she hands him a copy of the new book of Prophecies.  The book was written but the children Kanna saw in the past and, reading through the book Shogun realises that they are approaching the final chapter in it where Friend is made into a god and the human race is ended.   Shogun, Kanna and Yoshitsune are now in a race against time to work out what the final prophecy means and how they can stop it.

20^th century boys’ part 2 is long which i find unusual for a middle film; it picks up well form the first part and is still as good.  The film keeps things as real as possible but still has a slight feel as being what an anime would be like if it came true. 

The future of 2015 manages to carry the feeling of what a child may imagine which is as it should be being as it is meant to be based on the books of prophecy.

The film also manages to keep the identity of Friend a secret, just when you think you know who it is the plot takes a turn to remove that character as a red herring.

There are a couple things in the film that you are never sure if they are real, there is a bit about Kanna having esp but, like the ray gun and the robot in the first film you can’t tell if it is real or just part of the fantasy set in motion by Friend recreating the books of prophecy.

I enjoyed the second part of 20^th Century Boys and regret not watching it sooner and I’ll be watching part 3 for next weeks blog.   

20th century Boys Pt1 the beginning of the end

Title - 20^th century Boys Pt1 the beginning of the end

Language – Japanese

Genre – Sci Fi

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

20^th century Boys is an epic 3 films long and the first film is over 2 hours long. It start proper when a group of friends attend there high school reunion against the backdrop of two occurrences, an out break of a strange disease that drains it's victims of there blood and a cult which is gathering a big following.

Kenji, one of the group was told that one of his customers had disappeared and, when he went to investigate he found a symbol on the house wall, the Symbol was created by Kenji and his friends when they were still at school and only the small group knew about it. As Kenji and his friends dig deeper into the mystery they find that the leader of the cult, who is only known as Friend is bringing a story that the group wrote as children, the 'Book of Prophecy' tells how an evil organisation will end the word on December 31^st 2000. Kenji and his friends fight to stop the prophecy’s from coming true.

I have to say it's been a while since I've seen anything that has made me want to review it right after I've seen it but the first part of 20^th century boys is one hell of a ride, starting out as a mystery and leading into an apocalyptic sci-fi complete with plague spewing robots and even a ray gun it reaches into the future without being to fanciful.

The story is mainly set in the late 1990's to 2000 but also flashes back to Kenji's child hood and into 2015 (when I think the second part is set) with the main story ending as the group fight the aforementioned robot.

For a film that has robots, ray gun's and biological weapons 20^th century boy is very grounded in reality, showing where the technology comes from, and why it is deployed leaving the viewer with a chain of events that could conceivably happen and I think this is part of why the film is so good, that and the excellent sound track.

Defiantly one to watch & I will be watching part 2 very soon