Billy Bat

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This is simply the best Manga i have ever read!

The Manga started pretty weird but we all know Naoki Urasawa. He is not just drawing Manga, his works are simply art with a way deeper meaning than it might appear at first glance.

Billy Bat is using historical information, known conspiracy theories and different aspects of life in a way.. it just simply blows your goddamn mind. I read his other works and many other seinen or just manga with deeper meaning but Billy Bat is just something else. And don't lemme start with the ending.

Give it a shot.
You might think it's weird or boring ... at time. Maybe you dislike history. But if you understand the deeper context. This is probably the most brilliant piece of "Manga-Art" you can find on this planet. Trust me.
You won't regret reading this Manga and it might inspire you.

Billy Bat is an intricately woven mystery-thriller; it's a manga where twists and turns are around every corner and one which you will have to invest quite a bit of time into before any kind of revelation or payoff, but my is it gripping.

We begin with Kevin Yamagata; a Japanese-American cartoonist whose series Billy Bat - which follows the adventures of an anthropomorphic bat detective - is published by the reputable Marble Comics and adored throughout America. However, by chance Kevin learns of a manga which features a similar protagonist to his in Japan. Realising he may have unconsciously plagiarised the character whilst in Japan ... some years prior, he travels there hoping to meet with the author, but what he discovers is a web of conspiracies, murder, cover-ups and betrayal which all seemingly lead back to his bat character. Before long, however, it becomes evident that Billy Bat is something far beyond Kevin, as he's whisked into a mystery surrounding the bat's inception millennia ago and how - since the beginning of time - it has influenced history.

'Begin with' is an opportune phrase as - while Kevin is the protagonist - like much of Naoki Urasawa's work, the cast is impressively extensive, with Urasawa dipping in and out of different time periods and into the minds of numerous characters. The story is sinuous to say the least, but following it is never a chore. Urasawa nails the pacing, with much of the later content split into story arcs which usually consist of eight chapters (one complete tankobon). As a manga which portrays no less than fifteen different time periods - ranging from the 1st century to the 21st - it rarely comes across as confusing or disjointed, with Urasawa utilising sublime, almost cinematic transitions, along with many familiar faces in the form of characters based on real-life historical figures, which many readers will be able to pinpoint.

These characters - along with the inclusion of many real-life incidents, such the the Shimoyama affair, the JFK assassination, the falling of the Berlin Wall and even the 9/11 attacks - make the series feel as though it's grounded in reality. Billy Bat has a certain familiarity about it; it's an evocative series which balances fiction and non-fiction well, all the while displaying just how much planning and preparation Naoki Uraswawa and Takashi Nagasaki have put into the story.

It does require a certain amount of patience, however. Much like in 20th Century Boys - one of the authors' previous series - a hundred and one questions are proffered before only a handful are answered. Urasawa grips readers with frequent twists and startling cliffhangers at the end of every chapter - the story itself never sours - but readers of an impatient disposition may encounter some frustration with how long certain questions are held in limbo.

The characterisation is phenomenal, with both the fictional and non-fiction based characters portrayed immeasurably. Certain characters are more well-rounded than others, but for such a huge cast, Urasawa works wonders. I'm delighted to say, both the protagonists and antagonists are superbly crafted; with a heart, a soul, emotions and clear motivations. It's especially great to see the more villainous characters looked after, so to speak. One dimensional characters can cause a story to fall so utterly flat, but Urasawa deserves much praise. He has created a multitude of level-headed, layered, intelligent, intriguing, well-written, well-implemented characters sure to leave an impression.

Urasawa's handiwork continues in the art, which rarely misses the mark. Certain panels could do with a little more detail, but all-in-all, the characters are appropriately differentiated and well-drawn, the backgrounds are stunningly detailed - especially in the page spreads - and, as before, Urasawa's use of transitions from one scene to the next is second to none. Urasawa utilises a different style for the comic-in-a-comic sequences of Billy Bat - it's more cartoonish and Americanised - which works exceedingly well and adds yet another flavour to an already appetising manga. The flow of his artwork and panel placement is admirable, with the dramatic beats hitting their mark and the action sequences thrilling to follow.

Ultimately, Billy Bat is a precisely planned and efficiently presented manga; it's clear to see how in control Urasawa is. Despite such a gigantic cast and involved plot, he never loses his way. The story is well-rounded and confidently written, with the characters consistent and appealing. Additionally, the drama is realistic and attentively developed, with many of the story arcs able to garner substantial emotional investment. Overall, Billy Bat is an immersive, gripping and highly stirring read; among Urasawa's best.

When I heard Naoki Urasawa was making a new manga I was extremely excited. I am a massive fan of his works, so it was amazing when I first found out about Billy Bat.

The first couple of chapters I was a little confused by the comic in a manga idea and how we were introduced to the comic bofore the characters in the manga. Also when I first read it I was a little unsure whether it was actually a manga by Urasawa, because of the style the manga had begun. But all my doubts where removed when I we were finally introduced to the ... main character Kevin Yamagata.

Story.

Like all of Naoki Urasawa's mangas Billy Bat is no doubt a cativating thriller that makes me want even more every time I read the resent update. The idea of being haunted by your own creation interests me too. The story so is brilliant and well planned.

Art.

Urasawa's art may not be the prettiest or best looking, but his art is easy to follow, not like some commen shoujou manga. Personally I love his art, and he will always be my favourite mangaka not just because of the captivating plots he comes up with but his raw talent he has with drawing.

Character.

The characters in Billy Bat are strong and well made. No two characters look the same, and due to Urasawa's art style it is easy to see his characters in real life. All character backgrounds are realatiable and realistic, therefore making it even easier to simpisize with the charaters.

Enjoyment.

I am really enjoying this manga, I can't wait for the next update! I highly recomend Billy Bat to anyone who enjoys any other manga by Naoki Urasawa

Don't be deceived by the title that seems childlike; it seems so at first glance but when you take the initiative to learn it you shall realize how the entire melody of the comic is paced by the title itself.
The story seems to be a simple mystery initially, but as you move on you realize that it is much more than that.The story starts from one point and then diverges through several roots and later the network of these roots of story lines converge once again to convey the theme. The narrative is rather adventitous.
The anti-climatic ending itself justifies the greatness of the comic.
Several anecdotes ... are potrayed here, from first human landing on moon to the Kennedy assassination and so on, thereby giving it a historical fiction attribute. It was a great experience to learn about the japanese history and what helped the country to ascent the level to as it is.
We are introduced to myriad of characters gradually, seeming to become a mishap but after thorough reading, all of the character makes sense.
The human struggle to rise against the religious bias and racial prejudice, the change in social behaviour in a particulae generation with progress of time and the overall effect of the wars on civilians are the recurring synopsis.
The art is fabulous, the layout is great and the dialogue is highly aprreciable. Urusuwa's genius is coveyed through every aspect of the comic.
Highly recommended to those who enjoy slow paced innovative thrillers!

Running from 2008 to 2016, Billy Bat is the next mystery-thriller from Naoki Urasawa, though this time written in combination with Takashi Nagasaki. People discussing Urasawa usually tend to solely mention Monster, 20cb, and Pluto, giving Billy Bat a pass. Is this due to a lack of quality? Is it simply too new? Let’s Rock.

PLOT: We begin in 1949, comic artist Kevin Yamagata is semi-successful with his comic “Billy Bat” (which the first chapter and a half simply are). However an investigator looking into some soviet spies drops by his office. The investigator comments that he’s seen the Billy Bat character before as a manga ... in Japan. Yamagata, feeling like he may have unintentionally plagiarized the character. sets off to Japan. However what he finds isn’t simply a manga with a bat, but a multi-thousand year conspiracy about prophecy, power, and the icon of god. I say “begin” because the plot will move a lot in both directions, looking into the past, and progressing into the future. It’s intricate and intriguing, and in my opinion one of Urasawa’s greatest plots. Not only does it span a good amount of time, it heavily involves real world conspiracies. To avoid _too many_ spoilers I’ll only mention the JFK Assassination, Disney’s ghost writer, and Nazi spies. I find that the use of reality adds more weight and impact to everything. No matter what it does, it makes it connected and always comes with an interesting twist, being plenty surprising. The ending will be hit or miss depending on the person. I wouldn’t say it’s the most narratively satisfying but it’s incredibly thematically satisfying. Which party you lean towards will decide how you feel about it. I personally enjoyed it. Back to the main plot however, it’s a lot of different conspiracies over time, all involving the bat. They can feel episodic as it’s heavily arc based, but they all build into the larger narrative. Nothing is unimportant, even what seems irrelevant at first.

9/10, it’s crazy cool and uses real world elements for great effect.

CHARACTERS:With that much plot detail something had to give, and that sadly was characters. Kevin Yamagata just isn’t as interesting as some other Urasawa protagonists. I think the epitome of this problem is when Kevin hooks up with a girl in early volume 2. It’s so focused on tying the plot in that the girl is completely devoid of anything interesting and her exit from the story has little impact. There’s not a lot of flesh given to a lot of characters save for some more character focused arcs. I rarely found myself connecting to anyone (notable exceptions were Kiyoshi Kurusu and Diane Goodman, who to the end of both of their arcs had become exceptional). Though there weren’t really any bad characters. Kevin(s) felt like typical leads, thrust into situations they don’t know and largely defined by their abilities and perception being based around those. They were simple, and effective for the plot, but with Urasawa I’ve come to expect more character writing. Takes on historical figures were interesting to see however. Lee Harvey Oswald was quite interesting in contrast to the usual public image of him. Adolf Hitler was also a surprise. A lot of characters were unique in manga for their natural existence in different time periods and locations, but I don’t think any of the characters will stay with me too long.

7/10, there wouldn’t be any real complaints if it weren’t for Urasawa. There’s nothing to write home about without comparison to external knowledge.

VISUALS:The art in Billy Bat is a unique topic, mostly for its varying styles. In being a manga about manga/comics there are many a times that things are told through the comics themselves, switching into the style of whatever in-series artist drew the comic. This keeps the manga visually interesting, and whenever the series focuses more on fiction it becomes quite intriguing to look at. I can still see in my mind Billy Bat walking on a flat plane consisting of his comics, and that’s a cool image. Urasawa’s ability to represent different art styles is also a nice little touch. The real world art is pretty standard Urasawa fare. Like with Monster I found the art to be largely not surpassing functional. All of the characters were visually different and nothing ever looked bad but there were only maybe 3 moments within the 20 volume manga that I ever found myself wowed at the art. After 20th Century Boys I expected to be wowed once more but I never found myself as impressed. Still not being the greatest is by no means bad, and there were still things I found myself quite impressed with. The depiction of JFK and his Wife just wasn’t that.

8/10, there’s a lot of smart design and varied/unique visuals. Just not a lot of uber-frameable moments.

FINAL SCORE: 8/10

Billy Bat is an interesting manga, a very interesting manga. I can see someone coming off of Monster and being disappointed that it doesn’t have Monster’s level of skilled character writing but it makes up for that in plot. I wouldn’t call myself Billy Bat’s biggest fan but it was an intriguing read that I think I’ll come to find I enjoyed more than I initially thought. For anyone into conspiracy stories and meta-narratives about art I’d definitely recommend Billy Bat. It’s not Urasawa’s best work but I do believe it holds to his standard of quality, and that’s a high standard.

Having felt curious because of a new manga series that got translated online, I started reading Billy Bat and realised how amazing it was. It was indeed very confusing at first because I thought it would be an Americanized comic about a detective, however I realised it was so much more.

Urusawa has definitely put a lot of work into this manga due to the fact that it has a lot of significant historical references such as the birth of Jesus and the assassination of J.F. Kennedy.

What I love the most is that it deals so much with racial discrimination and an actual insight of the ... so-called assassinator of Kennedy, Oswald. The manga is very powerful in a non-cliched manner such that people will feel that it is decent and original.

The best manga I have ever read, and I've read a few. Even for Urasawa's standards, this was an absolutely phenomenal read.

Story: 10/10
Gripping yet heartwarming. The final message was beautiful, a critique of society but with a message of hope. The last chapter was absolutely amazing.

Art: 10/10
Beautiful art, but that's to be expected of Urasawa. The landscape panels, the character designs and how they aged. I thought the little billy bat segments were cute and felt like a standalone comic on it's own with it's unique art-style.

Characters: 10/10
All the characters are likable in their own way. They have depth, motivations, hopes, even the fictional ... characters feel like real people. It sends a powerful message that every person has a story to tell. Even without the beautiful art and interesting story, I'd recommend this manga because of its characters.

Enjoyment: 10/10
The beginning was a bit slow but after the 3rd volume, it becomes a manga that's impossible to put down. I enjoyed every single page of it and I plan on eventually reading it again, just to relive everything again.

Overall: 10/10
This is my first time giving a manga a perfect 10. Sometimes I give them an overall 10 but a 9 in one or two of the aspects but in this case, everything's a ten. I'll recommend it to anyone no matter what genre they're into, because I think Billy Bat has something for everyone.

So I won't waste your time and give it to you straight: Billy Bat is not for everyone. This manga's story structure is nigh impenetrable to the average reader(at least I hope I'm average), the story itself has loads of ups and downs and story threads that take forever to pay off. You'll also have to tackle at least a dozen different characters at any give time, and many of them will just be kind of...irrelevant. Additionally, you'll never be sticking with any one character for very long, and the lines between where one ark begins and another ends will be blurred for large portions ... of the manga. It switches a lot between story threads, and this detracts from the experience by melting the stories together at many points. There's other, smaller flaws, but they're largely unimportant.

Now if none of the above deters you from reading, let me give you some positives that might entice you to actually read this manga. Firstly, the art is excellent. It's sharp, professional, clear, beautiful, just perfect. The dialogue is also rather well-written(or at least the translations are) and though the story can take some deep dips, it also soars to amazing heights and had me losing sleep at some points because I just had to know what comes next. The story structure itself is also very well done, even if it's constant jumping between different story threads can be very tiring and annoying. It really feels like the artist had much of this planned out from the start and it flows together very well, if you can bear with it for a while.

Overall, Billy Bat is a good manga. It is, however, a rather difficult read and will probably deter a lot of readers early on. I would recommend it only if you want to read something unique, and are not so concerned with things like traditional protagonists or normal story flow. Otherwise, stay away. You really won't be missing THAT much.

This manga was very suspenseful with a large host of interesting characters. It has a multitude of main characters, who may all begin their stories in different places or in different ways, but that have paths that come to intersect, even across generations. That's part of what makes this story so interesting, that it's being told at such a massive scale, but that it still seems to flow well and seem consistent, with characters coming up again and again in unexpected ways or places. The characters are also interesting, especially as it shows them in all sorts of circumstances as well as a at various points in their life, so it ... manages to develop them a great deal. It also shows a large slice of history, primarily from 1950 to about 2015, though it has events outside that as well. Within this period, it manages to tie a number of major world events into the plot, which makes the plot feel even more massive scaled. However, despite all this, there is the major issue that after that crazy ride, the payoff at the end is kind of weak. While at the beginning it starts focusing on smaller stories that slowly connect themselves to a bigger plot, which are interesting stories in their own right, as it goes on the focus on the larger plot becomes more and more important with the smaller stories ultimately never really having much of a conclusion at all. Hence, at this point it feels that all that matters are the main plot, solving the final mystery and reaching the end. How this ultimately happens though felt quite weak for the massive build up to it, and in the end, I was left somewhat dissatisfied. If there was more care given to showing how the main characters ended up and gave them some sort of meaningful conclusion, than it may have been fine. But it goes full speed towards the conclusion for quite a bit, but then just sort of sputters off when it gets there. Still, the journey there was quite an interesting ride. The art isn't a style I'm particularly fond of, and it started out a bit rough, but overall quality wise it was definitely pretty good. 

tl;dr: A manga that has a story at a tremendous scale but doesn't really have an ending that does that justice.

Finished Billy Bat! what a pay off.
Never read anything like this before. a thriller mystery of highest standards, twists at every turn. Its astonishing to think a person came up with "monster", "20th century boys" and "billy bat" while many mangakas struggle to finish one off. And just like his previous work, excellent characters, perfectly built and supports the plot. The only complain would be they didn't explain the time travel which happened earlier in the series other than that cant find any short comings.
Highly recommended if you are a sucker for thriller mystery as you wont be disappointed picking this one.

Billy Bat isn't even close to being one of Urasawa's best works, it's a decent manga, but for the simple fact of being written by Urasawa you would expect it to be a decent work at least, but the truth is that 20th Century Boys, Monster and Pluto are far superior in plot construction, character development, mysteries, protagonist, villain, and every other aspect. In fact I would dare to say that Billy Bat is one of the weakest works of Urasawa. But as I said before, it's a decent piece of work, and it has some very good aspects. This manga keeps showing me that ... Urasawa has no bad works.

Billy Bat is a drama, mistery and supernatural manga by Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki, a story that contains real facts mixed with ficcion in all the arcs of this master piece. Kevin Yamagata, a japanese-american mangaka created a detective manga called "Billy Bat", but he discorved that his creation and character already exist. Knowing about that, Kevin return to Japan to find the Billy Bat's original creator and seek permission to use his character, but he find out a really dark and twisted history of murders that somehow involve the character he thought he created.
Billy Bat transform the way of telling a story in ... a different way of telling facts and fiction. The manga uses real facts to explain the fiction behind the Billy Bat and his creators/authors. Billy Bat is made of the "loser's point of view" to tell the history of the world at the same time uses this to pass a mensage of fight and injustice.
The construction of the characters and the art are perfect. The two authors used really well the way that the time pass through the story.
In the end, Billy Bat show to us a beatiful mensage and how the discrimination, the injustice and the separtion of the humans are a silly thing and that we must save the world's future and prepare our children to live in this planet, not as only one in the world but to teach the children to live in society and without discrimination.

Reading through the first few chapters of Billy Bat is a very confusing experience. The initial premise is fairly simple but intriguing: Japanese-American comic artist Kevin Yamagata travels to Japan in order to find out whether he has unwittingly plagiarized his most popular character, which starts him off on a long journey. However, expectations of the plot's direction are quickly subverted and it does not take long for the story to explode into a dazzlingly complex mosaic of interrelated narratives. Topically, this includes discussions of anything and everything, such as meditations on the aesthetics of visual media, conspiracy theories, American racism and even a rare ... exploration of the persecution of communist organizers in post-war Japan. The themes I have listed here are really just the tip of the iceberg and if this seems like a lot to get through, that's because it is. However, If I had to narrow down what Billy Bat is really about, I would argue that, at its core, this Manga is a meta-narrative about the power of storytelling that comes by way of a preposterously ambitious piece of speculative historical fiction.

Although the story is sometimes clunky and convoluted, given how enormous its scope is, Billy Bat manages to never become a slog. As we follow a diverse cast of characters who live through a seemingly never-ending series of both mundane as well as earth-shattering events, we become privy to the shadowy machinations of this alternate universe's numerous factions and actors that stand in our protagonists' way. With intrigue and mystery abound, Billy Bat is a truly captivating read that kept me on the edge of my seat for long periods of time. In no small part, this is due to Urasawa's unique ability to write characters that are immediately convincing and relatable. The story is routinely interrupted by seemingly unrelated, short vignettes that serve to introduce new characters. After an initial groan at the preceding cliffhanger, it rarely took more than one or two chapters for me to become fully invested in any of the numerous characters that appear over the course of Billy Bat's story. Moreover, when their relevance to the overall story is revealed, the payoff is huge, making this Manga a very gratifying read.

While the author's strong suits lie in writing relatable characters and spellbinding storylines, the art of Billy Bat deserves special mention. For a lot of people, Urasawa's at times utilitarian art style is an acquired taste, as he favors realism over the more flashy and experimental registers of some of his colleagues. For Monster, arguably his magnum opus, this is perfectly appropriate, as its story is very much grounded in the real world. With the bizarre twists and turns of Billy Bat, however, it's a completely different story. Whereas a similarly surreal narrative like Paprika is visually just as bonkers as its plot, the contrast between Billy Bat's narrative and its realist art style is frequently jarring, giving this Manga a fever dream-quality that sometimes had me questioning whether I was hallucinating what I was seeing on the page. Furthermore, Urasasawa uses his penchant for realism to great effect by occasionally incorporating elements into his panels that are stylistically completely incongruous, contributing greatly to Billy Bat's overall surreal vibe.

As is typical for Urasawa, Billy Bat seems to present its audience with more loose ends than the story itself can handle and leaves many questions unanswered. I cannot say whether this is due to a genuine commitment to crafting ambiguous stories or the author's inability to keep up with his own narrative's numerous mysteries. Whatever the case may be, if you are the kind of reader that gets discouraged by stories that do not neatly resolve every plot point, Billy Bat is probably not for you (and that's fine!). If that is not an issue and you are into (mystery) Seinen, I would highly recommend you give this Manga a shot. For me personally, this is definitely on the Mt. Rushmore of the genre.

Upon first completing Billy Bat i wasn't sold on in completely until i thought about it for a while. In retrospect i enjoyed this much more than I initially thought. I've noticed with all of Urasawas works after completeing them but he always manages to make me miss the cast and the world he's very carefully created. This happens a while after reading the story not right away. This was more so evident after reading Billy Bat which i want to talk about.

The story of Billy Bat is probably Urasawas most ambitious. Now if youve read anything else by the guy this seems like a ... strong statement but i think theres some truth to what i said. The plot follows our protagonist Kevin Yamagata, a comic book artist situated in New York who upon finding out the character he draws may be someone else's, goes to Japan to apologize for plagiarizing his work (bare with me). The character that he draws is called Billy Bat. This character since its inception (Which seems to be since the start of time...) has had many iterations. Upon finding one of the people who has seen the bat, Kevin is thrust into a world of conspiracy which spans generations and thousands of years. Urasawa enjoys going back and forth in time in basically all his works, whether its to flesh out characters, see how the plot affects the world he's created or to uncover more of the mystery he presents. There is no shortage of that here, perhaps even more of the back and forth which can be hard to follow at times but is tied together very well.

The characters are good but not some of the best he's written. There is a clear focus on plot with a little character development here and there, but mostly its held by its plot, which is quite good. The mystery/concept of "Billy Bat" is handled really well and has a pretty good build up maybe even the strongest but in terms of its payoff i think some people can come out disappointed. There are very nuanced ways Urasawa builds up his themes in this and unless you payed very close attention you might miss what the payoff means but if you get it i think it is very satisfying. The art as always has a very distinct style. In terms of his character design i think its some of the best in the industry, the way he makes distinct characters 4 manga in is mind blowing. I cant really give much insight into this aspect but i think this is really a culmination of his style till date.

In conclusion I think you should give this story a read. Its probably Naoki Urasawa's most underrated work and deserves some more attention . The way he writes a mystery is a delight in any story of his but it truly shows in Billy Bat.

(Disclaimer: The review was firstly published on Anilist, and slightly changed to fit into MALs outdated writing sheet. All the inserted panels are to be read from left to right.)

Introduction

If you really make a wish, from the bottom of your heart, a real wish... it'll come true.
-Billy Bat

A sentence, that you'll only hear once in Billy Bat, but it’s essentially the driving factor of many sprouting themes and ideas in one of Naoki Urasawa's most critically acclaimed works. The starting quote might suggest an easy read without any uniqueness to it, but the narrative's structure is very clustered, and the number of focused characters and ... themes is nearly limitless. This amounts to a majority of takes I have on this piece of art. Thus, I decided to write a structured review, in contrast to the disconcerted narrative of Billy Bat. (My ability is simply not of Urasawa's quality).


Writing

As I've already mentioned, the tale isn't straightforward. It's, especially at the start, confusing, jumping from place to place, time to time, with nearly no hint of a joint that holds everything together. This burning issue kind of gets fixed towards the end. Nonetheless, there is still a lot of room for one's own interpretations because of the loose explaining and various decisions, so no plot point can't be clarified. Not my favorite type of narrative progression - most of the time they feel like a way for an author to hide their inability to write - but mastered well enough, to not be disliked.

Structuring aside, the wordsmith's ability to face risky decisions is incredible. They don't fear to just throw the most popular characters away or write controversial dialogue. Unexpectedness is the result, but failing to write a compelling cast is another outcome, which I'll further delve into in my Character section, later.

Something I always have a positive impression about - among my favorite writing contributions - is the author's ability to write thought-provoking dialogue in-between. This happens frequently throughout Billy Bat. The first example I grasped is this one:

https://i.postimg.cc/fyPXqjtX/Screenshot-2024-06-13-185728.png

A phenomenal take on artistic influence.
These sequences happen on various occasions during the tale, due to the tight selection of themes. Honestly my favorite aspect of fiction are perplexing themes. Therefore, I just decided to make it its own headline.


Themes

Something I haven't mentioned on purpose yet, is to mention anything in relation to the historical genre that is enlisted on Anilist. The storyline takes place across many centuries, especially during the 20th century. The reason for this decision lies in the decisiveness historical events take upon the topics present in the work. I hate being spoiled even to a minor extent and sporadically also like to read reviews beforehand. Two things that don't go well together. Due to the majority of people like myself only reading the first and last lines of a review, I'll try my best to spoil only a minority of essentials in the introduction and the deep dive happens in the subcategories like now.

During my reading I took notes of themes I perceived. Resulting in more than 10. A general thread running through them is a rather uplifting vibe and detail to reality. Continuing my showcase for thought-provoking dialogue; the portrayals of racism and prostitution tend to provoke the reader to go easier on people suffering from them. The anti-racism line in here is unexpectedly vivid, I didn't anticipate reading in a Japanese comic:

Who cares if you're black or white? If we turn this place into a slaughterhouse...only read blood will run!!
-Diane Goodman

Or the conversation between the MC and a prostitute:

https://i.postimg.cc/ZK7Zgs5X/Screenshot-2024-06-13-190112.png

Billy Bat is a story, established writers use as a message to humanity. And I always love that. Examples for that is the novel The World of Yesterday by Stefan Zweig, or the Ghibli movie The Tale of the Princess Kaguya by director Isao Takahata.

Because of the historical fondness of the writer duo, thoughtful dialogue like my examples can happen at the most crucial times history provided. Both moments happened in the 1950s an infamous century for racism, right before the famous speech by Martin Luther King Jr., picked up later in various segments to spread positivity.

The most ambitious subject featured is art. This shouldn't surprise anyone as the protagonist is literally a mangaka. The first page sequence already included artistic values. But it goes way deeper than that. Delving into the influence, importance, or merit of art.

Other themes briefly mentioned in the manga are:

Police Superiority, Peace, War, Time Traveling/Changing, Nazism


Characters

The weakest part for me is the character writing. For many Urasawa's best ability. For me in Billy Bat it just isn't. It is still above average, you'll hopefully notice my positivity to it, after I evaluate my POV.

What exactly did I dislike? It was the inconsistency between the characterization of the main cast. None of them were multi-dimensional with one or two out breakers. The formula the authors took was characterizing through one or two crucial life experiences. My favorite example is Chuck Culkin getting saved by Hitler. After that crucial experience he starts to behave like Hitler and inherits his thriving for success and develops narcissism. Due to those trades and Hitler's influence on the market, he becomes one of the biggest figures in buisness. A clear indication of the success of Nazis post WWII, who profited from WWII without punishment - a complex theme, rarely depicted in fiction. Chucklin's character arc is still not perfect - like for many other similar built-up characters - the cause for the development is just not believable enough.

The best character in Billy Bat for me is Oswald - the murderer of JFK. Only present in a fifth of the story. His arc might be short, but is rich of details, full of motives and layered. His persona is surrounded by Nietzsche's Übermensch theory. An Übermensch is a human who has his own morales and possesses a will to power. This might seem like a stretch, but there were evidences I found that indicate the possibility that it was intention. Firstly, his characteristics are perfect for the theory because he tries to find any opportunity to be a hero and fears to hurt anyone - a pacifistic motive. Secondly, the chapter he first appeared in was named Thus Spoke Oswald - a reference to Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the philosophical writing, the Übermensch thesis was mentioned in the persona of the character Zarathustra. Thirdly, in chapter 50, Oswald cries about his failure to not reach the same recognition as Napoleon, Caeser and Alexander the Great - three of the most famous Übermensch examples. In this conversation between Oswald and Kevin (protagonist), Kevin denies their greatness, suggesting a negative opinion the authors might've on Nietzsche’s philosophy.


Art

Urasawa is not among the best manga artists. His sense for artistic values is top-notch though. The narrative's structure heavily relies on different use of colored comics - in different art styles, uncolored comics, and graffiti. Character designs tend to be realistic enough, playful enough and unique enough to not feel anything than perfect. Same goes for the amount of dialogue per page or size of panels. Perfect in what it wants to be, but also not flabbergasting.


The Ending

(Spoiler Warning)
I choose the combination of words The Ending on purpose. Conclusion would have been wrong. Because it is not a perceptive conclusion to the tale's events, but more of an ending to the opinions and messages the readership should receive and implement into their morality and thought process. I finally understand why the Billy Bat and the Pharao volumes are regarded as the best of the Billy Bat series by many cast members. Those last-colored pages were simply astonishing.

https://i.postimg.cc/jSBWVSjV/Screenshot-2024-06-13-190338.png

Conclusion

Billy Bat is a manga I could talk about for hours, the loose structure, the artistic values, the character details, the engaging themes, the ending... I didn't even analyze the character Billy Bat.
Ultimately, it is Naoki Urasawa's message to the world, it has its flaws, but despite that, it is simply beautiful.

(In my rating system it is a 4/5, but it can't be compared to the 10 metric system, so I'll just give it a 10, indicating general positivity)

Billy Bat is a great conspiracy thriller manga with a very engaging story, but stumbles along the way. However, let's go by parts:

The characters in the work are very good, they are very human with flaws and qualities that greatly influence the story.
The selfishness, cowardice or stubbornness of one directly impacts the plot being something that gives a good realistic layer within the work by making the characters humanly believable.
In addition, because there is no definitive protagonist in the story, following several good characters makes the reading gain new perspectives brought by them, which further instigates the reader to follow the story.

The story is very ... good and exciting. In it, the author manages to bring together dozens of historical figures and situations throughout the 20th and 21st century that have always been the target of conspiracy theories around the bat plot, something quite sagacious considering the myth of the bat and organizations disputing it.
In this, it is added to the good characters that have in the work that end up being involved in the spiral that this mystery of the bat and the desires of those who seek to have control of it that makes a very involving and dramatic journey.

That said, the work initially fails to have a confusing beginning by presenting several parallel elements that will be important later, but that don't connect in a way that makes sense at the moment. This delay to engage can be tiring, but it's worth it when everything really starts to happen.
Added to this, in the final stretch, the work also begins to show fatigue in its plot, which can gradually become boring. Despite saying that, the ending still manages to be beautiful and deep so it's an incredible read that I recommend.

Finally, Billy Bat is a great mystery manga with good characters and story. However, he stumbles on things that get in the way of reading.

Naoki Urasawa's outstanding creation Billy Bat is an example of what you can call "a letter of love" to the world itself. Combining an entertaining, complex and strong plotlines full of memorable characters with ability to maintain a solid conversation with it's reader, this manga blends into something very special and private for everyone.
You, as a viewer, can see pretty clearly what questions author wants to discuss and what answers he manages to came to as you progress with the story, leaving you with full ability to go find your own perspective. Whether its something fundamental about society, perception, morale. Or about personal questions almost ... everyone asks themselves at some point in their lifes: "what should I do?", "what I want to do?", "what's the meaning behind my own actions and decisions, and to what degree?", "what's important and how you discover and weight such things?" Urasawa's work resonates with our life and history as a specie, patiently shares his vision and carefully leaves reader with an open mind of what they can do to maintain this fragile world's balance.

Billy Bat is a story about a cartoon character, and how the history of humanity was affected by said character.
If this already interests you, then I recommend to just go read it right away. This is a amazing manga to read, but I know its probably not for everyone. The story is like a big mystery that creates more questions than it answers, which to me is the one problem I had with this manga.
I truly enjoyed the read all the way through, but lets say the answers I got in the end werent enough for me. I understood it, but I expected ... more. Which funny enough, I am pretty sure was intentional.
Of course, that did not ruin the journey for me. Reading Billy Bat is like going on a trip through time, and you see not just original characters but also real life people and the writers view of their personalities, as well as real life issues like racism, war, discrimination, etc.
Theres not much else to say without spoiling, so I will end this by again recommending anyone interested to go read it right away.

Naoki Urasawa's big three thrillers: 20th Century Boys, Monster, and Pluto. Compared to these, Billy Bat is more of a niche thriller, but it has its loyal fanbase, especially since it's set during the Cold War era.

Let's start with the good stuff: Billy Bat has a ton of settings, tons of information, a non-linear narrative, loads of characters and their backgrounds, and of course, Naoki Urasawa's signature use of foreshadowing, all of which make this work stand out.

Now for the bad: reading it can be exhausting. You have to remember a lot, and sometimes you forget earlier plot points. The pacing can drag at times, ... making you feel impatient, and only the desire to uncover the truth keeps you going. But when you finally reach the end, you might feel like the so-called "truth" isn't that great. You'll probably think, "That's it?" and then feel a wave of dissatisfaction. This is a common issue with Urasawa Naoki's works. Finishing one of his stories often feels like the music is building up to a peak but then suddenly cuts off at a weird way, leaving you feeling a bit lost and let down. It feels like a weak ending ruins the whole thing.

But after calming down and reflecting on the whole reading experience, you'll realize that even though the ending was meh, the storytelling, narrative techniques, and foreshadowing were actually brilliant. So overall, I'd give it an 8 out of 10, but don't expect too much from the foreshadowing payoffs.

One of Urasawa's best works, it's so weird and different that there's no other work of art similar to this. At the same time, it works so well. I know that not everyone will like it, but if you're used to strange works, you should definitely give it a try. I did, and I don't regret it.

The art style fits perfectly. It's weird in the sense that on one page, you have a cartoonish design, and in the next panel, you have something more realistic or extremely detailed. This isn't a bad thing; it actually matches the vibe and doesn't disturb your immersion, which is ... rare. Drastic changes in style usually break immersion and make no sense, but in some cases, they can be used effectively.

As for the characters, I think I've never seen such a strange combination in a story. You literally see Jesus, Lee Harvey Oswald, Martin Luther King, and Hitler in the same story, and somehow it works perfectly.

But again, if you're not used to strange stories, conspiracy theories, and odd characters, you probably won't get it at all