20th Century Boys 1: Beginning of the End

(20-seiki shônen: Honkaku kagaku bôken eiga)

Synopsis

In 1969, Kenji, an elementary school kid and his friends built a secret base during their summer holidays. They fantasized that they had to fight villains who were out to conquer the world and wrote them in the "Book of Prophecies".

Years later in 1997, Kenji becomes a convenience store manager and leads a regular life after giving up his dreams to become a rock star. His boring life is suddenly turned upside down when his old classmate dies mysteriously and an entire family in the neighbourhood disappears. At the same time, a religious cult and its mysterious leader, "Friend" emerges and a strange chain of events duplicating exactly the events described in the "Book of Prophecies" follow. Is this the beginning of the end of the world? Who is 'Friend'? (Panait Daniel)

A movie directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi

2008 - 142 minutes - Color - Dolby Digital - 1.85

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Also Known As

  • Twentieth Century Boys (inc)
  • Twentieth Century Boys: Chapter One (inc)
  • 20-seiki shônen dai 1 shô: Owari no hajimari (jp)

Release dates

  • August 30, 2008
  • August 30, 2008
  • May 04, 2009 (DVD premiere)
  • January 23, 2009 (Santa Barbara International Film Festival)
  • August 15, 2009 (San Francisco, California)