The Representation and Meaning of Expo 70 Trauma in Urasawa Naokis 20th Century Boys

Abstract

In this article, I examine Urasawa Naokis 20th Century Boys (20-seiki shōnen) as a post-disaster manga. In 20th Century Boys, disasters are layered; there is both immediate disaster in the looming extinction of humankind following a bioterrorist attack and symbolic disaster in the form of trauma. Disaster manga, even while depicting the bleak conditions of an apocalypse, typically convey a hopeful and futureoriented message in which a new generation overcomes the circumstances bequeathed by the preceding generation to forge a new world. The older generation is thus irresponsible and mistaken—a generation of mistakes that brought about the apocalypse— and the younger generation a force for change naturally entrusted with the future. 20th Century Boys parts with this convention. Members of the older generation (the twentieth-century boys) are aware of their mistakes and strive to make amends for them, while the younger generation (the twenty-first-century boys) supports and encourages them. The apocalypse thus brings together rather than divides generations. In this respect, 20th Century Boys is a post-disaster manga, transcending the frame of traditional disaster manga depicting change through generational transition. It is also a manga strongly critical of the past, evincing trauma rather than nostalgia, as is evident in its grotesque and nightmarish depiction of the 1970 Japan World Exposition. Contrary to claims in the existing literature, this event is not exclusively remembered as an achievement in the pursuit of national interests. As a post-disaster manga, 20th Century Boys emphasizes an attitude of taking responsibility and making amends for ones mistakes and breaking the cycle of hatred between and within generations. In the context of postwar cultural discourse, in which Japan has been criticized as unable to mature, this is an attitude that may help Japan to truly grow.