Billy Bat: Difference between revisions

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Kevin Yamagata was born to Japanese immigrants in California in the 1920s, and during World War II he worked with allied forces in Japan as an interpreter. After the war he became a comic book writer, and by 1949 his series Billy Bat, about a private detective in a world populated by animals, is a huge hit whose popularity rivals the biggest titles of [[DC Comics]]. His comfortable life comes crashing down when the police use his apartment for a stakeout, and one of them notes that his work is very similar to a Japanese manga. Kevin is horrified that he may have subconsciously plagiarized a work he saw while in Japan, and promptly stops work on the comic to go back and investigate.

After that, the story really takes off as it careens around time to show how the Billy Bat image has influenced events throughout history. There's clearly far more going on here than just the conspiracy, but in Urasawa's typical style whatever it all may mean remains incredibly murky.

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* [[Adaptation Decay]]: In-universe. Some of the people in the conspiracy express that Chuck Culkin's Billy Bat is nowhere near quality-wise to Kevin's. {{spoiler|If the conspirators searching for the original Bat's scroll succeed no one will remember Kevin's version at all.}}

** {{spoiler|Kanbei}}

** {{spoiler|and now Kevin}}

* [[Brick Joke]] - The Momochi clan seems to be intrinsically tied to the Bat {{spoiler|all the way from Momochi Sandayu, from Iga, to the taxi driver, Randy Momochi, back in 1959, to his daughter, Jackie Momochi, in 1963.}}

* [[But Not Too Foreign]] - Kevin is a Nisei (second-generation) Japanese-American.

** {{spoiler|And the real Chuck Culkin}} is one to [[Ub Iwerks]].

** Zofuu-sensei could be one, with beret and all, to [[Osamu Tezuka]], who however is mentioned in-story as being a huge influence in manga.

** Mitsuru Yamazaki for Minoru Yamasaki, the guy responsible for designing the WTC Towers.

* [[CIA Evil, FBI Good]] - Inverted, Captain Finney works for GHQ (The Military) and Agent Smith works for the CIA.

* [[Companion Cube]] - The taxi driver (Mr. Momochi) 's Billy Bat toy, who's his "navigator". {{spoiler|Subverted when Billy talks back, and also knows the future - er, ''present''.}}

** {{spoiler|Lee Harvey Oswald is a costumed employee in a Billy Bat theme park.}}

* [[Dodge the Bullet]]: {{spoiler|Appears to be one of the Bat's powers that he loans out, although it says it was just "Kanbei's heart" all along. One the one hand, Kanbei ''is'' a ninja; on the other, by that point he's literally running on fumes}}

* [[Drowning My Sorrows]] - Kevin, who has become an Alcoholic to stop seeing the [[Bad Dreams|Bat]].

** Billy himself becomes one of ''Mickey Mouse.''

** Kevin is a dead-ringer for Sahad, Agent Smith for Gesicht, and {{spoiler|the real Chuck Culkin}} for Professor Hoffman, all from ''[[Pluto]]''.

** Chuck Culkin's relationship with {{spoiler|the man who portrays him in public is very similar to [[Ub Iwerks]]' relationship with Walt Disney}}.

** The two detectives from the first chapter look a bit like [[Laurel and Hardy]].

* [[Flash Forward]] - [[Flash Back|And back again.]]

* [[Frame-Up]] - {{spoiler|Oswald is set up as JFK's assassin, thanks to three doubles.}}

* [[Go Out with a Smile]] - {{spoiler|Lee Harvey Oswald is told that he must not allow Jackie to be captured and thus sacrifices himself to the police to buy her time to escape. After doing so, he smiles, feeling satisfied that he at least did something good at the end.}}

* [[Gotta Catch Em All]]: {{spoiler|Devivie is destroying all traces of the "original" Billy Bat along with anyone who knows too much about the Bat and/or his mission.}}

* [[Government Conspiracy]]: {{spoiler|While Marilyn Monroe really did kill herself, capitalist forces are conspiring to kill the Kennedy brothers, and succeed. They also succeed in framing Lee Harvey Oswald as the lone killer of JFK. Later the US government hires a Japanese director known for his obsession to detail and great special effects to fake the moon landing.}}

* [[Grandfather Paradox]]: {{spoiler|''Weaponized'' by ''Einstein''. Zofuu-Sensei uses it against Devivie by revealing he knows his parents' names.}}

* [[Green Lantern Ring]] - {{spoiler|The people involved in the conspiracy declare that the scrolls can control The Bat, up to a certain point, and thus, alter the course of history.}}

* [[Heel Face Turn]] - {{spoiler|Lee Harvey Oswald used to work for Kurusu.}}

* [[Heroic BSOD]] - {{spoiler|Kevin was in one, until Agent Smith pulled him out of it.}}

** Don't forget when talking to Kanbei the Bat starts talking about {{spoiler|Napoleon, the Sarajevo Incident, Hitler, Stalin, the World Wars in general, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, the Shimoyama Incident, and 9/11}}. The Bat sure gets around.

** Kevin {{spoiler|does some sightseeing by the Grassy Knoll, and other suspected sniper spots on the eve of the JFK Assasination}}.

* [[Homage]] - Chapter 32 is based on ''Bad Day At Black Rock'' {{spoiler|minus Smith's gimpy arm, the burned house, and dead Japanese-American. The locals act mean to protect Kevin, who gave their little town a cameo as the setting for one of his non-Billy Bat comics}}.

* [[Identical Grandson]] - Momochi Sandayu looks exactly like his descendant, Randy Momochi.

* [[I Just Want to Be Special]] - {{spoiler|Lee Harvy Oswald}}.

* [[Insistent Terminology]]

* [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Ninja]]

* [[It Will Never Catch On]] - "Who's gonna read a comic that isn't for kids?"

* [[Lawyer-Friendly Cameo]] - Kevin works for [[Marvel Comics|Marble Comics]] and by [[The Fifties]] Billy has his own theme park in Florida.

* [[MacGuffin]] - The Ninja Scroll (no, not that [[Ninja Scroll|one]]). -

* [[Manipulative Bastard]] - the Bat and whoever is/trying to control it.

* [[Mind Screw]] - It's Urasawa, what do you expect? Examples include:

* [[Mr. Alt Disney]] - Chuck Culkin {{spoiler|and the real Chuck Culkin!}} who took over Billy Bat when Kevin left.

* [[Mushroom Samba]] - Kevin is sent on one thanks to some drugged sake, where he imagines Billy Bat and some of his other characters talking to him. [[It Got Worse|Now, he doesn't need to drugs to have the bat talk to him.]]

* [[Never Found the Body]] - {{spoiler|Agent Smith.}}

* [[Non-Indicative First Episode|Non-Indicative First Chapter]]

* [[Passing the Torch]] - {{spoiler|The Bat tells Lee Harvey Oswald that he must protect Kevin at all costs until he can pass his powers to his new successor, which according to The Bat, has already appeared. It was assumed it was Jackie Momochi, the daughter of the Taxi driver from the mixed-race wedding mini-arc and descendent of the ninjas. It is actually Kevin Goodman, the son of Tony and Diane Goodman, the interracial couple!}}.

** {{spoiler|Zofuu-sensei handing the last parts of the his manga to Yamashita, a somewhat dim-witted fan of his work, so he can then hand them over to Kevin}}.

* [[Private Eye Monologue]] - in the first chapter

* [[Reality Warper]] - The bat allows people to either [[You Can't Fight Fate|predict the future]] or [[Winds of Destiny Change|change it]], [[Mind Screw|(apparently)]].

** Anyone would think {{spoiler|the sheriff was at the KKK meeting where they burned a black man. It was his cousin.}}

** {{spoiler|Jackie Momochi being the successor, turns out it's Kevin Goodman, a 3 year old kid. Also, it was the boy that Kevin Yamagata was meant to save, not JFK.}}

* [[Room Full of Crazy]] - {{spoiler|Kevin's cabin at "Black Rock".}}

* [[Sacrificial Lamb]] - {{spoiler|Shizu.}}

* [[Sacrificial Lion]] - {{spoiler|Agent Smith}}.

* [[Scary Shiny Glasses]] - Kurusu

** Billy Bat(son) is the alter-ego of DC's Captain Marvel

** In the original comics, Billy Bat is a private eye, clearly evoking Sam Spade of the Maltese Falcon who eventually becomes an inspiration for Dick Tracy. The 'real' segments with Kevin start off with every indication that this is Urasawa's Cavalier and Clay, then the mind screw happens.

** "The rabbit's [[Meaningful Name|name]] is [[Oswald the Lucky Rabbit|Oswald]]." (although he looks more like [[Bugs Bunny]]) He's being groomed to [[Don't Explain the Joke|be JFK's assassin]]. {{spoiler|[[Mind Screw|There's actually three Oswalds]].}}

** Chapter 52 features a shout-out to "The Freewheeling Bob Dylan" album.

* [[Show Within a Show]] - The ''Billy Bat'' comic book inside the manga. When someone reads it you can see that it reads from left to right, like a comic book should.

* [[Speak Now or Forever Hold Your Peace]] - The black bride's white groom's family can't keep quiet. {{spoiler|The groom decides not to go along with it.}}

* [[Taking the Bullet]] - {{spoiler|The Bat implies that Kevin must die to save JFK. On one hand, [[Foregone Conclusion|we know how that ended in real life]], [[Mind Screw|on the other hand, it's Naoki Urasawa.]] Except that the Bat died, and what Kevin was supposed to do was save Kevin, his successor.}}

* [[The Tape Knew You Would Say That]] - While Kevin is reading a letter from Agent Smith by the window, the last line is "PS. Don't stand so close to the window."

* [[Time Machine]] - {{spoiler|Fake!Chuck Culkin is able to figure out that the scroll is this, sorta, thanks to the real Chuck Culkin explaining the basics of Einstein's Theory of Relativity and [[Time Travel]].}}

* [[Timey-Wimey Ball]] - {{spoiler|A bat doodle beats the astronauts to the moon(?), and it seems [[Jesus]] is affected too.}}

* [[Trickster]] - The Bat, probably. Wasn't there two of them?

** Now there's at least ''three'' of 'em.

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Manga]]