20th Century Boys, Volume 15 begins in the Vatican, Rome, where Brother Luciano is toasting the Friend before making a journeyed to the home of his recently deceased mentor, Father Perrin. The Continental setting of the beginning of this volume reminds me of two other long series by Naoki Urasawa, Monster and Master Keaton. Before his death, Father Perrin was studying books of prophecy, and now Brother Luciano has the opportunity to move into Father Perrin's study and continue his work. He discovers that Father Perrin had been obsessed with a book of recent origin masquerading as an ancient text. It hints that the End Times are coming, and soon. It also suggests that there are agents of the Friend in the Vatican, itself.
The ensuing drama connects to the main story and to an old character, a friend and of Kanna's, who we haven't seen for a while. It's really a great adventure, and unlike some of the other storylines in 20th Century Boys, it directly connects to the story instead of being a mere character study, much like the "Father Zosima" section of The Brothers Karamazov. Really, the story combines the three main elements: adventure, characterization, and plot, producing a very engaging story. And humor. Urasawa does it all.
Eichiro Oda (One Piece) and Shigeru Mizuki (Showa: A History of Japan, various other works) are best known for creating insanely large casts and bringing minor players out of the woodwork to support the main cast from time to time. Naoki Urusawa takes this to an extreme, combining a large cast of characters but showing the change in their faces over decades, from the late 1960s to the mid-2010s. He also has a very modern way of depicting buildings and structures. The artwork of 20th Century Boys more than equals the writing of 20th Century Boys.
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