I normally don't invest time in writing reviews or analyzing manga and anime in-depth, however, 20th Century Boys was such a dragged experience that I felt the need to leave a few words behind as a note to myself for the future.

Overall this manga certainly seemed like an enthralling experience at least based on the first 10 volumes. A profound story about the relationships between children who dream big and strongly adhere to their beliefs. The drama that ensnares those who cannot achieve their needs, the true meaning of justice in the world, an individual's role in it, and the not so black and white choices we make on a daily basis. While the story draws with the mysterious plot that ensues ridden with plenty of backstories I can't help but feel the story was really stretched out. At one point I thought to myself that the different arcs are almost the same story but repeated again and again in an increasingly incoherent way.

Just for a moment can you tell how it is that so many people can be brainwashed into believing in some dreamt up plan made by children. The conspiracies involved in these series are mostly underdeveloped and hardly explain the reasoning behind any of the people behind who look like mentally handicapped fools who have yet to come out of age from the point of the reader.

The game of cat and mouse quickly loses traction and appeal halfway through the story. Any meaningfulness is hardly conveyed while huge worldwide catastrophes are happening off-screen.

In all honesty, I don't feel the need to thoroughly explore the story in this review as it is bogged down in the end anyways and any attempt from my side to uncover any hidden meaning will be lost by the sheer stupidity this unfinished narrative radiates.

I am left with a bitter taste in my mouth after finishing a series which at the beginning I thought deserved a 9/10. I hope the incomprehensiveness of this quickly made review is as close to the one in the storyline in the second half of the series.

This manga is clearly overrated like so many others and suffers from being a conveniently unfinished mess. I rest my case.

P.S. Everyone is saying how good the art is. While by itself it's not half bad I must insist that compared to some of the more legendary manga this art style barely conveys any emotion and is rather inconsistent and bland (especially when it comes to expressions of characters).