Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

Really Surprised!

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

First thing out of the box DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TRY THIS FILM UNLESS YOU'VE SEEN THE FIRST ONE. The film will leave you hopelessly lost, and even if you've seen the first film you may end up lost.(Said by a man who watched the films back to back) Picking up in 2015 this part of the film focuses primarily on Kanna, Kenji's now teen-aged niece. Many of the old characters are drifting around but for the most part this is Kanna's story. The Resistance to Friend is still going on but more quietly. What remains of the fighters from the first film are trying to still sort out what Friends ultimate goal is, and they are horrified to discover that there is a "New Book of Prophecy" which seeks to fill in where Kenji's tale left off. More secrets are revealed and everyone scrambles to stop another doomsday plot and a ploy to make Friend a god. Of course like chapter one this is all set up for the last film....There are lots of old characters (though some are given nothing to do) lots of new characters and a better sense of time and place, this film pretty much sticks to the stories present and doesn't jump around. Easier to follow, assuming you've seen the first film close to this one, I saw them back to back and I'm really thankful I did.This film is better and worse than the first film. The film suffers from lots of contrived plotting. Several things, including the ending could be seen from miles away so I was really surprised when the audience gasped at a couple of plot turns that weren't so much fore shadowed but set up with neon signs.(Catholic Church anyone?). I don't know how close this is to the manga but I'm guessing its like the first and cleaves of chunks of exposition. The real problem for me was that the film descends in to satire and poor humor with members of the cult played for laughs. The silliness of it all (absurd facial expressions, silly walks and the like) made them seem like a joke, not like a threat or a group that would ever have taken over a country and parts of the world. Watching things like the aides at Friend Land walking with arms and legs flailing just made it less compelling.The film and the larger story finally seem to click about a half an hour from the end when the silliness drops away and Friend's plot begins to come together. The film then moves along at a good clip to the end. Its a shift that made me shaking my head in disbelief that I was still in the theater to really enjoying myself.Ultimately its worth seeing if you've seen the first film. Its good, but not great and hopefully it sets up a great conclusion.And like with part one stay through the end credits to see a preview of Chapter 3

It's been a relatively long wait for the sequel to 20th Century Boys, and a word of warning to those who intend to catch The Last Hope. Either you have to be a thorough fan boy of the first film to have a photographic memory of what developed, or you'd have just recently watched it on DVD, in order to be able to dive right into this film's proceedings. Being a fan of the manga series probably wouldn't help as much since the story would depart from the established mythos, and it's sad to say there isn't so much of a recap of key events and characters from the first film. You have been warned, and newbies better stay away.Otherwise, save for the film starting off with a flashback scene into the 70s, the film is set some 15 years after the climax of its predecessor, where the group of friends are now termed terrorists, and "Friend" is the recognized saviour of the world, having become leader of Japan, and well-respected leader to the world. After all, history is written by the victor, and "Friend" has ensured that the students in school are inculcated into his version of the truth.Kanna Endo (Airi Taira), the niece of Kenji Endo (who doesn't feature in this installment), takes over the mantle as The Chosen One. Just what she's chosen for is quite vague, other than her lineage and what could be deemed as super-powers in her fighting ability, which doesn't get exploited much, leaving a lot of room for interpretation just what her value is to the plot. She suffers from weak characterization, and got bogged down with protecting two transsexuals, searching for her mom, infiltrating "Friend"'s cult camp, and learning some back-story of her uncle and his friends.The other characters of course were the older versions of some of Kenji's gang, from Occho (Etsushi Toyokawa) to Yukiji (Takako Tokiwa), lending again some bewildered moments as they get caught up trying to learn of "Friend"'s identity, and his next scheme. Unfortunately, the narrative's played out in rather straightforward fashion, and before the mid-way mark is reached, you'll expect what that would just be, thanks to a careless slip where you see the initial seeds of the plan being worked on, since the childhood days. There's also a New Book of Prophecy, and rather than come up with some earth-shattering self-fulfilling prophecies like the first installment, it has, wait for it... one prophecy to develop in the whole 2.5 hours.New characters were also introduced, and here's yet another negative point that the film chalked up effortlessly. Many of the new faces just turn up with little background, and you've to swallow it as is. Some are added for (poor) comedic effect, like Kanna's klutzy schoolmate Kyoko Koizumi (Haruka Kinami) and honest, bullied cop Detective Chono (Naohito Fujiki), but a lot of characters were just there for the numbers, such as the Thai and Chinese Mafioso, and well-connected priest Father Nitani (Naomasa Rokudaira). I guess we would only know their extent of relevance come the third film, if they do get an opportunity to show something worth their salt.The only plus point which does get tired after a while, is how fanatical any cult follower can be, in complete obedience to their appointed leader. In this film "Friend"'s aims to cement his reputation, and has his own inner circle of members inducted through specially designed camps. One can just laugh at the proceedings, and especially at the camp leaders in their extremely artificial show of sincerity toward all new recruits whom they want to win over. It's quite scary how uniform they all behave, and their conformity to one another just seem all the more fake especially when someone breaks ranks, and doesn't exhibit approved behaviour.20th Century Boys 2 suffered from your classic middle-movie syndrome, being sandwiched as part of a planned trilogy. Not every middle film can stand alone and make sense without too much reference to its predecessor, and I guess the acid test is whether a new viewer would be able to watch this film as the starting point. The fact is it can't, and with the expectation that this film will definitely come without a real ending, it probably will just frustrate you until the third and final chapter come rolling along. So all you can do for this one, is to sit back after the end credits roll for the trailer of the final film, and trust me, that short clip is equally baffling as this film.I only hope that this series would be worthwhile investing time in when seen as a whole trilogy.

To be fair I accidentally watched half of this film before realizing I was in the second part of a series. At which point I went back to the first film and wondered whether I need have bothered. This sounds like a criticism but is not. Unlike a lot of series the two films blend together seamlessly and you get many flashbacks from the first part.It is a loosely faithful version of the famous manga series. Japanese manga have an ability to take you into a mysterious world and keep you intrigued and with an appetite for more. Death Note was similarly interesting in the way it converted to film and kept this charm. You have to accept that it comes from the world of manga as quite simply most of the plot and characters are larger than life and flawed in a gorgeous manga kind of way.The manga films that don't work for me are the likes of transformers which is taking itself far too seriously but I digress.What makes this series compelling is the connection to religious cults that fascinate the Japanese people in real life. The acting is above average and the special effects work without being over bearing or loud action for the sake of it.You need to concentrate as it weaves like a good mystery novel. The last 30 minutes are excellent and build you up to a bit of a let down at the end but there is enough to make you want to see the last part.

Whereas the first movie was very faithful to the Manga series, the plot in this part is quite different. This is not a bad thing per se, but I was a bit disappointed that Manjome and dream navigator Tagasuki were represented as 1-dimensional characters who are aware of all of friend's plans. Also, there a scene where Maniome basically says what is going to happen next that totally spoils the movie's climax. I believe a lot of people who are not familiar with the Manga series will either not fully understand what is going on or find the movie boring.My friends and I agree that three movies are simply not enough to retell the complex story of the Manga series. A TV show would probably have been a better approach.Overall, I still give this movie 5 stars, because it is entertaining and the few more exciting scenes are well executed.