When Tsutsumi Yukihiko decided to adapt Urasawa Naoki's classic "20th Century Boys", it was a sci-fi suspense comic with many characters, complex structure, and multiple time and space, one more it is the big production of the trilogy. It made comic fans extremely excited, and together with the starring of a number of Japanese superstars, it became a major event in Japanese Cinema in 2009.
The second episode of "20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope" continued the style of the first episode. The protagonist Karasawa Toshiaki played Kenji, who did not appear as in the original book. Kenji's niece, Kanna played an important role by the rookie actress Taira Airi, and Choji played by Toyokawa Etsushi, Yukiji played by Takako Tokiwa and Yoshitsune played by Kagawa Teruyuki are the protagonists of the second episode. The plot entered the second episode and began to enter the climax. The identity of the "friend" and his purpose began to be described more clearly, and the identity of Kanna was also revealed in the second episode. Born by a "friend" and Kenji's sister Kiriko Endo, a girl with super power, a hope for the future, all Kenji's faction strives to protect her. And Kiriko Endo is played by Kuroki Hitomi. However, Chono (played by Fujiki Naohito) and Kyoko Koizumi (played by Kinami Haruka), who had more scenes in the original comic, instead became supporting roles, but the performance of Kinami Haruka is more eye-catching than Taira Airi.
In fact, Urasawa Naoki's classic "20th Century Boys" has so many characters that it is not easy to assign scenes as a movie trilogy. Tsutsumi Yukihiko adapted from the original comic book without drastic deletion of the plot. Therefore, in order to balance the scenes of each character, the two episodes became smooth, and it is a standard work, but there are no surprises, especially some characters who have played a lot in the original work have been reduced to supporting roles, such as Yoshitsune (played by Kagawa Teruyuki), as the leader of an underground organization, it is too low-key; on the contrary, Kuroki Hitomi who made a cameo appearance, Sadakiyo played by Yusuke Santamaria, are even more eye-catching. Of course, the second episode mainly describes the appearance of the "Book of Prophecy". In the opening scene, the childhood "friend" and Sadakiyo have a heart-to-heart relationship, which becomes the focus. Unfortunately, the film does not create a new climax for the content of the "Book of Prophecy"; instead, the two scenes of the assassination of Kanna and "friend" were both captured the due momentum and the taste of the original comic.
Although the two episodes did not add new elements or open up new realms to the original comic, Tsutsumi Yukihiko struck a good balance in taking care of the general audience and comic fans, and steadily adapted the comic into two decent films. Perhaps, this classic comic by Urasawa Naoki is really not easy to adapt. In addition, the characters and plot are difficult to arrange and control, and the space for the director to play is limited. The quality of the current film may have reached the "best performance".
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)
The second episode of "20th Century Boys 2: The Last Hope" continued the style of the first episode. The protagonist Karasawa Toshiaki played Kenji, who did not appear as in the original book. Kenji's niece, Kanna played an important role by the rookie actress Taira Airi, and Choji played by Toyokawa Etsushi, Yukiji played by Takako Tokiwa and Yoshitsune played by Kagawa Teruyuki are the protagonists of the second episode. The plot entered the second episode and began to enter the climax. The identity of the "friend" and his purpose began to be described more clearly, and the identity of Kanna was also revealed in the second episode. Born by a "friend" and Kenji's sister Kiriko Endo, a girl with super power, a hope for the future, all Kenji's faction strives to protect her. And Kiriko Endo is played by Kuroki Hitomi. However, Chono (played by Fujiki Naohito) and Kyoko Koizumi (played by Kinami Haruka), who had more scenes in the original comic, instead became supporting roles, but the performance of Kinami Haruka is more eye-catching than Taira Airi.
In fact, Urasawa Naoki's classic "20th Century Boys" has so many characters that it is not easy to assign scenes as a movie trilogy. Tsutsumi Yukihiko adapted from the original comic book without drastic deletion of the plot. Therefore, in order to balance the scenes of each character, the two episodes became smooth, and it is a standard work, but there are no surprises, especially some characters who have played a lot in the original work have been reduced to supporting roles, such as Yoshitsune (played by Kagawa Teruyuki), as the leader of an underground organization, it is too low-key; on the contrary, Kuroki Hitomi who made a cameo appearance, Sadakiyo played by Yusuke Santamaria, are even more eye-catching. Of course, the second episode mainly describes the appearance of the "Book of Prophecy". In the opening scene, the childhood "friend" and Sadakiyo have a heart-to-heart relationship, which becomes the focus. Unfortunately, the film does not create a new climax for the content of the "Book of Prophecy"; instead, the two scenes of the assassination of Kanna and "friend" were both captured the due momentum and the taste of the original comic.
Although the two episodes did not add new elements or open up new realms to the original comic, Tsutsumi Yukihiko struck a good balance in taking care of the general audience and comic fans, and steadily adapted the comic into two decent films. Perhaps, this classic comic by Urasawa Naoki is really not easy to adapt. In addition, the characters and plot are difficult to arrange and control, and the space for the director to play is limited. The quality of the current film may have reached the "best performance".
By Kam Po LAM (original in Chinese)