BILLY BAT

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

REVIEWS

• 

  DanielePiantoni

  87/100
  a poster for humanity

  Billy bat . Naoki Urasawa
  Let's start with an assumption, it is not the typical manga, we are talking about a work that takes its time to turn the classic narrative into something that only the Master Urasawa can create.
  The story tells the story of a Mangaka named Kevin Yamagata that in 1949 unintentionally discovers that his masterpiece is actually already present in Japan, thinking the plagiarism, the latter heads home to find the real author, although the plot may seem weak from here on will occur events that will change inexorably not only Kelvin but humanity itself.
  We are talking about a subtle and precise work of parallelism, we will discover the existence of a being that controls humanity from time immemorial or the bat, not coincidentally the protagonist of the work of our mangaka, nothing comes from chance and everything is already written, with these premises the work will take place in the various key points of history, but always leaving the decision to man.
  The bat in fact is the protagonist of the work of Kelvin, which is chosen as the bearer of a lineage already steeped in human history, from Jesus Christ to Kennefy to the moon landing, to the power of a scroll instead able to erase humanity from existence, is always targeted by that part of humanity that follows the thought of Black. In fact as said before the work is based on constant parallels, white bat or black bat? Right or wrong? Darkness or Light? Whatever the result the choice is always left to us as an epilogue that in history humanity has never been able to do the right thing.
  This work can be defined as a symbol in no uncertain terms, it succeeds in representing a century of history by characterizing each protagonist to be the bearer and resolver of something, everything is done by the bat to lead you to choose, this is the base from where urasawa brings out the psyche of each character, whether evil or not.
  To emphasize also a stoic line with parody , from Walt Dinsey to Mickey Mouse himself ascended to gods, one earthly and one totally dreamlike.
  The work takes its time even exaggerating in some cases, we have constant time jumps that serve to turn the gears of the story always towards specific key points, if we take for example Devive or Kuritsu in the emotional sphere of goodman or Smith and Zofuu with regard to Yamagata, their lives are told as a fundamental step for the growth of those who in the end will actually decide with their strength to "save the world" but not always in a fluid way.
  With this work urasawa gives us a real historical/realistic manifesto but managing to give a new imprint that flows into the supernatural and leaves the reader deeply impressed, I personally have had the opportunity to identify with the concept he wanted to convey. Finally, we have mysteri not specifically resolved or not deepened by the author that I would have liked to see, the phenomenon of timelines and parallel worlds, the influence of the dopplegeger in the events of Dallas and the same Administrator who pulls the strings left to glimpse as a god but at the same time something definitely omniscient, just think that reveals every historical disaster already in the Edo period in the events of the village of Nii.
  In conclusion a work that opened my mind and decided to do this kind of work on the whole cosmology of Urasawa. Honorable mention for the speech between the Fuhler and Albert Einstein in a park in Autumn, crowning the work between good and evil, light and darkness.

  Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

  Continue on AniList
• 

  notPara

  90/100
  Creating An Art In The Face Of Apocalypse

  Billy Bat is a Naoki Urasawa's most experimental work and one of the most thought provoking manga that i've ever encounter and i really had the pleasure to read it.

  Billy Bat is a mystery-thriller 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 and it is quite gripping. The setting of this story spans over the course of history and we see that how multiple important events in the past were heavily influence by this creature named "Billy Bat".

  The story begin with Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese-American cartoonist or mangaka whose series Billy Bat which follows the adventures of an anthropomorphic bat detective and it was 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 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 the history of humanity.

  Like his other works, the cast is impressively extensive, with Urasawa dipping in and out of different time periods and into the minds of different numerous characters. As a manga which portrays no less than fifteen different time periods, ranging from the 1st century to the 21st century, 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 such as Albert Einstein, Adolf Hitler etc.

  All the characters from different time periods stay parallel to the main story which make this manga super intriguing as we see that one action of the characters in the present really changes the event of history that made the readers feels as though it's grounded in reality.The characterization is amazing in this manga, with both the fictional and non fictional characters portrayed immeasurably. Both the protagonists and antagonists are crafted well, with a heart, a soul, emotions and clear motivations.

  The ending is where this manga truly shine in my opinion, where we finally see the bigger picture of the entire grand narrative. The conversations with the bat and that's what contributes to the ending where he makes a statement "Humans are foolish" is amazing.

  My only complain is that the first 2 volumes or so are kinda hard to get into because all the stuff that you don't know the context yet are just thrown at you back to back that it didn't give you enough time to understanding the plot. And the pacing in those 2 volumes are slow. But just like his other works, it does require a certain amount of patience. It's just the setup of the entire story and when it reaches that crucial moment towards the end, it will be absolutely worth it.

  So overall Billy Bat is an immerse, gripping and evocative series that balance between fiction and non fiction very well. With the realistic drama and story arcs that able to garner substantial emotional investment.

  Continue on AniList
• 

  DecoVsMyGPA

  100/100
  Autoria e como a arte nos influência

  Não tenho como começar a descrever Billy Bat, não sei por qual tema começar, não sei o que falar e não sei se tenho como expressar com palavras o que eu senti lendo. Billy Bat não é uma obra pra todo mundo e eu reconheço isso, mas queria que ao menos existisse uma obra assim pra todo mundo.

  O começo de Billy Bat é bem descontraído, mesmo fazendo comentários políticos sobre a época (e como quadrinhos americanos eram usados de propaganda anti-comunista na guerra fria), mas o principal ponto estabelecido é autoria. O protagonista entra em choque ao descobrir que pode ter roubado seu personagem principal de alguém, isso serve de crítica ao estado de autoria dos personagens nos quadrinhos americanos e também uma porta de entrada pro autor desenvolver essa ideia. O conceito de autor é desbravado e explorado em diversos momentos e arcos da obra, desde o inicio com o Kevin passando as rédeas do seu personagem pro seu assistente ou o embate de quem controla Billy Bat como IP durante a obra toda. O autor deixa bem claro o que é o sentimento de um autor com a sua obra, seja decepção de não fazer jus ao personagem, ou querer passar alguma mensagem/sentimento com o mesmo e isso da uma transição direta pra outro tema central da obra que mais me tocou: influência da arte no ser humano.

  O Autor comenta com maestria sobre esse assunto, a história toda acontece porque o Billy Bat como personagem e midia faz ela acontecer, seja mandando os personagens fazendo alguma coisa ou passando uma mensagem pela histórias em quadrinhos que ele ta presente. A gente não nota tanto isso, mas todo mundo tem um personagem ou filme que te motivou/mudou/influenciou e o autor explora muito esse sentimento de como a arte influencia nosso mundo e nós mesmos como indivíduos. Existem vários pontos chaves na história onde uma simples história em quadrinhos faz um personagem ter uma revelação ou o ato de criar essas histórias muda a visão de outro personagem, é simplesmente genial.

  A influência da arte no ser humano e autoria são só um dos tópicos que essa história aborda, além disso tem drama, suspense, política, momentos históricos, conspiração e muito muito mais. Falando assim pode parecer que é uma obra conturbada, mas de alguma forma isso encaixa muito bem, eu real tentei indicar esse mangá pra outras pessoas e não sabia como explicar JDKSKDKDK

  Sobre a arte do mangá, eu nunca itnha lido nada do autor então foi meu primeiro contato com a arte dele diretamente e posso dizer que gostei bastante, mesmo sofrendo da doença Shonen/Seinen de não ter enquadramentos criativos ele ainda consegue fazer uns paineis muito bonitos e satisfatórios de se ler, a arte tem bastante impacto e muitas cenas realmente criativas. O jeito que ele faz cenas pesadas e de tragédias terem peso é insano simplesmente genial, genuinamente acho que esse é um daqueles mangás que não conseguiria ter um anime, genuinamente não sei como conseguiriam traduzir essa obra pra animação.

  Eu quero fazer uma análise melhor mais bem trabalhada, mas por enquanto vai ser esse texto meio murcho que vai ser minha review, leiam vale a pena.

  Continue on AniList

SIMILAR MANGAS YOU MAY LIKE

• MANGA

  DramaPLUTO
• MANGA

  ComedyShoki no URASAWA
• MANGA

  Drama20 Seiki Shounen
• MANGA

  ActionSpirit Circle
• MANGA

  DramaMONSTER
• MANGA

  AdventureOPUS
• MANGA

  DramaEagle
• MANGA

  DramaOre to Akuma no Blues
• MANGA

  ActionAsadora!
• MANGA

  DramaLeviathan
• MANGA

  DramaAyako
• MANGA

  Drama21 Seiki Shounen