20th Century Boys

20th Century Boys (20世紀少年, Nijūseiki Shōnen) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoki Urasawa. It was originally serialized in Big Comic Spirits from 1999 to 2006, with the 249 chapters published into 22 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. In January 2007, a sixteen chapter continuation titled 21st Century Boys (21世紀少年, Nijūisseiki Shōnen) ran until July, and was gathered into two tankōbon. It tells the story of Kenji Endō and his friends, who notice a cult-leader known only as "Friend" is out to destroy the world, and it has something to do with their childhood memories. The series makes many references to a number of manga and anime from the 1960s-1970s, as well as to classic rock music, its title being taken from T.Rex's song "20th Century Boy".

A trilogy of live-action film adaptations, directed by Yukihiko Tsutsumi, were released in 2008 and 2009. The manga was licensed and released in English by Viz Media from 2009 to 2012, and distributed in Australasia by Madman Entertainment. The films were also licensed by Viz in North America and by 4Digital Media in the United Kingdom. 20th Century Boys has received critical acclaim and has 36 million copies in circulation.

20th Century Boys (band)

20th Century Boys was a heavy metal pairing of German lead vocalists Michael Bormann of Jaded Heart and Michael Voss of Mad Max. The duo recorded 11 songs by T. Rex as a tribute to Marc Bolan and released them as an album called Beware of the Rex! in 2004. This was only a one-time project for Bormann and Voss.