I remember like it was yesterday....Actually it was in the sophomore year of college. I was at my desk typing up another pointless paper on the subtleties of macroeconomics that I knew I would forget as soon as that paper left my hand and into my professor's work pile. I needed a break so, like many of our readers, found sanctuary at Japanator.com. It was then where I read the latest headlines and found "Live Action 20th Century Boys Film Cast Announced."

I read into it, reading the synopsis and instantly got into it. I decided, then and there, that I would read the entire 22 volume (24 if you count 21st Century) before the films came out. I fell in love with it: the story, the characters, the switching from past and present...Magnificent. (I will refrain from revealing any more than a simple synopsis so that everyone can experience it like I once did).

I remember having read the entire series and desperately waiting for the movies to come out. Then one of my friends from my circle of friends who enjoy Japanese animation asked me to recommend something to him. I decided to pass on the very brilliance that was Naoki Urasawa's work in verbal form the very best i could:

"Dude, you have to read 20th Century Boys. It is amazing. I want you to imagine of just how well you could come up with a manga with all the amazing plot lines as Good vs Evil, Giant Robots, Lazer Guns, the Bonds of Friendship, Secret Organizations, an Unidentified Villain, and Awesome Rock n' Roll influences all the while making the manga feel and seem realistic. That is what 20th Century Boys is. It is the epitome of the very hope we could ever have to actually having an anime moment in real life. What the characters are going through in this manga are the closest we could ever get to the world of Japanese animation, keeping everything realistic. Naoki Urasawa is the Manga Shakespeare of our time. You would have to be crazy to call anything else "the best" without reading this manga. This manga will stick with you...it will be etched into your heart and soul for a lifetime...Read it...Enjoy it..."

Well, there you have it. A story of passing down one of my favorite manga of all time. Take a gander at the first volume if you have time. You will not regret it.