The man who usurps Fukubei's place as Friend is revealed in the last chapter of 21st Century Boys to be Katsumata, who wears a mask similar to Sadakiyo. Katsumata harbors a deep-seated resentment towards Kenji for stealing a prize from a candy shop in their childhood and letting Katsumata take the blame. This event leaves Katsumata socially ostracized, his very existence ignored by his schoolmates. Unlike Fukubei, who merely pretends to have supernatural abilities, the second Friend is a powerful precognitive who has been able to dream the future since childhood. While Fukubei dreamed of world domination to satisfy his craving for attention, Katsumata aims to obliterate the entire planet after deciding it is unnecessary. He conducted experiments on Kanna's mother during her pregnancy to create another paranormal being. After Friend's death, he assumes Fukubei's identity through plastic surgery but covers his head entirely with bandages displaying the Friend symbol. In the final confrontation with Kenji at their old school, Sadakiyo suddenly holds him at knife-point, and one of the flying saucers crash-lands on him, leading to his demise.
katsumata tadanobu
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Endo Kanna
Main
Kenji's niece, she serves as the protagonist for the events in the aftermath of the "Bloody New Year's Eve". She is shown to have ESP at an advanced level, and is capable of predicting the future (To a small extent), bend spoons with her mind, and even on...
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Endou Kenji
Main
Endou Kenji grew up in late-1960s/early-1970s Japan, at a time when American phenomena, notably the space race and the era of Woodstock, were resounding around the world. An avid reader of manga who often saw apocalyptic scenarios playing out, he always r...
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Friend
Main
Friend is the main antagonist of the series, and his true identity is the main mystery of the story. Friend is an mysterious and charismatic cult leader who seems to possess otherworldly powers such as flight. His followers and Friend himself use an uniqu...
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Chono Shohei
Supporting
Chono is the grand-son of the "legendary" Inspector Cho. The latter was murdered by his colleague, Yama, in 1997, because he had discovered the identity of his friend and projects....
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Chou-san
Supporting
A legendary, revered detective. With one week to retirement, he passes on all the info hes collected on Friend to a colleague. Unfortunately, said colleague turns out to be working for Friend....
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Endo Kiriko
Supporting
Kiriko is Kenji's older sister and Kanna's mother. For the vast majority of the manga, Kiriko is only seen in flashbacks, where she is shown to have a strong sense of justice and an interest in biology. She was also an important mother figure for Kenji du...
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Fukuda Keitaro
Supporting
Kenji's childhood friend nicknamed Froggy. He has been hiding out in America when he discovers that Kanna's mother has gone there to try to manufacture the vaccine for the outbreak of 2015....
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Hattori Fukubei
Supporting
Fukube is one of Kenjis childhood friends. His wife was abducted by "Friend" s sect, and he has to take care of their three children alone. In 2000, he will join his old comrades to fight "Friend" and try to get rid of the giant robot destroying Shinjuku....
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Imano Yûichi
Supporting
Childhood friend of Kenji and his band, Konchi is a character who is very present in the flashbacks of the 70s, but which is secondary because we never see adulthood. We know he was part of the band child and he was close to Kenji and others. However, he ...