20th century boys trilogy reviewed!

Well i finally got around to watching the japanese triolgy of"20th century boys"and i have to say when i first saw the sleeve notes saying"live action manga adaptation"i thought ah well another one but i could not have been more wrong,because as a trilogy it is nothing short of AWESOME!!!
As i said it is a trilogy based on the classic manga tale,The first film is nearly 2hrs 30 minutes long but don't let that put you off as it is engrosing stuff.
It was seen in japan pretty much the way the"lord of the rings trilogy"was seen in the west as pretty much an impossible undertaking but i cannot say enough how well they have pulled it off.
The first film is about a group of young boys growing up pretty much in the same vein as the boys in stephen king classic"stand by me"and with the length of the first fil you do get to really bong with the characters as the trilogy twists and turns and dazzels throughout the 3 films.

They create a book that depicts future Armageddon; they call it the Book of Prophecy. Sometime later the grown ups meet at a school reunion, people are dying at the hands of a sinister cult led by a mysterious leader known only as ‘Friend’, it soon becomes apparent that the time they spent together as children is having a major influence on current events. Their predictions are coming true and the mysterious cult is using the symbol they created as their logo. Worse than that, it soon becomes apparent that the nine grown ups are also responsible for the future of mankind and only they can save Earth from destruction.
The second movie was always going to be difficult to pull off as in many pre-filmed trilogys it doesn't have a begging or an end but just leaves you itching to put the third film on straight away and i did!!
Then th e3rd film in the trilogy goes all balls out!Huge robots destroying landscapes and ufo's,who needs more!If you are a fan of the manga comics the trilogu does end differently but thats not a bad thing and it is completeley satisfying.
I can't really say anything about the 2nd to parts without giving spoilers away wich i don't want to do,all i can say is go watch!
This film comes out this week and is currently on amazon to pre-order for only £14.99,with the first film coming in a brillant box with a super neat booklet.
Released by 4digital media and nippon tv,in a 4 disc box set,for this price its a definate buy 9/10!!