First installment of the ‘20th Century Boys’ trilogy primed for launch

The official website for Yukihiko Tsutsumi‘s 20th Century Boys (20-seiki Shonen) was updated today and features the newest trailer minus the annoying TV baubles and fonting from the one everyone was watching on YouTube last month. News of the film has been slowly trickling out for the better part of a year now, but if you don’t have the patience for blurb-tracking here’s the lowdown:

Back in February Tokyograph reported that the popular Naoki Urasawa manga “20th Century Boys” would be adapted to not just one, but a trilogy of live-action films with a combined budget of about 6 billion yen (almost 60 million USD). It was later announced that the cast would include over 300 people, with 200 of those appearing in the first installment of the trilogy. Some notables include Toshiaki Karasawa as Kenji, Etsushi Toyokawa as Otcho, Takako Tokiwa as Yukiji, Teruyuki Kagawa as Yoshitsune, and Kuranosuke Sasaki as Fukubei (among many, many others).

The original story on which the trilogy is based can seem kind of complicated, but I’ll try to summarize the parts the first movie covers as succinctly as possible. It revolves around a group of friends in four different time periods, starting in the late 60s and ending in the late 2010s. In 1969 a group of friends led by Kenji build a little hideout in an empty field to play and share their stolen nudie mags. With their imaginations running wild they create “The Book of Prophecy” in which they write about a science fiction-inspired future where the world is attacked by giant robots that only they can stand up to. One day another boy named Fukubei, who’s rich but very lonely, follows them to the hideout and secretly reads their book. Fascinated, he starts his own version of the book with the help of fellow class misfits Sadakiyo and Yamane. A few years pass and Fukubei keeps trying to pull pranks and stunts to be noticed, but never seems to get any credit or attention for his actions. Meanwhile a bowling alley is built over the old hideout so Kenji organizes a small ceremony in which all the boys, including Fukubei, place their cherished boyhood items in a box under a tree.

In the 70s and 80s the boys move on with their lives and experience various trials and tribulations. Always seeking more attention and influence, Fukubei decides to start his own cult—granting himself the new larger-than-life persona of “Friend”. He also uses the childhood secret base’s symbol for his cult and begins gathering easily-duped followers with the help of a few parlor tricks like spoon-bending and levitation. By the 90s the cult has gained substantial political influence and eventually recruits the daughter of professor Shikishima, a foremost expert on robotics. Meanwhile Fukubei has married Kenji’s older sister Kiriko, who has no clue what he’s been up to in his secret double life. The two of them have a daughter named Kanna, but when Kiriko finds out the truth she runs back to her family and entrusts Kenji with looking after her daughter.

When a member of the original group of friends, Donkey, commits suicide under mysterious circumstances and news of the “Friend” cult seems to be mirroring “The Book of Prophecies” Kenji decides to gather up the remaining members of the group and find the original copy of the book which includes made-up scenarios in which they repel the robot attack and save the world. But Friend is already on to Kenji’s plan, and is determined to put a stop to it. Kenji is labeled a terrorist but finds a safe haven in an abandoned subway station along with his friends and supporters. While planning their defense of the world the destruction of the National Diet Building signifies another prophecy brought to reality by Friend. The next is a giant robot which attacks Tokyo while spreading a strange plague. Kenji and his friends have no idea how they can possibly put a stop to something so destructive and powerful, but since they’re the heroes in the Book of Prophecy, they know they have to try.

Teaser trailer:

Full trailer:

20th Century Boys opens August 30, 2008 in Japan.

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Tags: 20th century boys, arata, atsuhiko nakata, bengaru, chizuru ikewaki, etsushi toyokawa, fumiya fujii, fumiyo kohinata, hanako yamada, hidehiko ishizuka, hiroyuki miyasako, hitomi kuroki, katsuhisa namase, katsuo nakamura, ken mitsuishi, kenichi endo, kuranosuke sasaki, masato irie, mirai moriyama, miyako takeuchi, nana katase, naoto takenaka, raita ryu, renji ishibashi, shingo fujimori, shiro sano, takahiro suzuki, takako tokiwa, takashi fujii, takashi ukaji, tamotsu ishibashi, teruyuki kagawa, tomiko ishii, toshiaki karasawa, toshikazu fukawa, toshikazu miura, yoriko doguchi, yu tokui, yukihiko tsutsumi