Kanna Endō (遠藤 カンナ, Endō Kanna) is one of the two main protagonists of the 20th Century Boys series.
She is Kenji's niece and the daughter of Kiriko and "Friend", first introduced as a newborn, she grows up as the story progresses.
Nearly a decade following the Bloody New Year's Eve, she finds herself living a reckless life following the legacy of her uncle through his late advices, which shaped her philosophy and mindset.
Appearance[]
Infancy[]
As a baby, Kanna is a very round and expressive baby. She's usually seen wearing typical baby clothing.
Childhood[]
As a child, Kanna had shoulder-length pink-ish hair with a small singular pigtail on the left side of her head. She carried a backpack.
Teen[]
Later, as a teen, Kanna's hair had changed noticeably, as it had grown into multiple spikey ends. She always wears her uncle's hat, and she wears casual urban style clothes. She has a very determined and stern look, and typically carries her uncle's casettes.
Personality[]
Infancy[]
Kanna was a very vocal baby. She always got predictions and guessing games right, and she's overall very expressive.
Childhood[]
Kanna grew up to be a very sweet girl. She deeply loved her uncle Kenji and was very devoted to him and his songs.
Teen[]
Later on, Kanna would become a very capable woman. She always fought for what she thought was right and had a very strong rejection of Friend and his followers. She is a very determined person and is able to keep calm in dire situations and take the smartest course of action. She is also practically fearless, as nothing has been shown to frighten her. She, however, also harbors a profound sadness, mainly produced by the apparent loss of her uncle and the absence of her mother in her life. She initially rejects the idea of Kenji having survived the Bloody New Year's Eve, as she is not ready to let such hope shatter her resolve and take away her reasons for revenge against Friend.
Biography[]
Childhood[]
Kanna in 1997
Kanna was born in 1997 to Kiriko Endo. One day, Kiriko returned back to the home of her mother and younger brother, Kenji Endo, begging them to take in Kanna for her. Kenji agreed and raised Kanna in her childhood years, up to the year 2000.
While she was a baby, her grandmother, and the young employee of the supermarket, Erika, were in the convenience store when suddenly members from Friend's organization broke into the store desperately trying to kidnap Kanna. Kenji arrives and saves Kanna from them just in time, but the convenience store is then burned down by Friend's henchmen.
Years after, her uncle is publicly framed as a terrorist. This forces both him and his family to hide with the homeless and to conceal his identity in public. Kanna usually accompanied him on his public street concerts.
On December 31st, 2000, Kenji allegedly "died" during the Bloody New Year's Eve and she was taken in by Yukiji Setoguchi, a close friend of Kenji's.
21st Century[]
As a seventeen year old high school student, Kanna worked for a Chinese restaurant, often getting herself involved with issues between the chinese and thai mafias. She was also a great fan of Seven Dragon's Ramen (which the owner is the last disciple of the original ramen she ate with her uncle when she was a child). Kanna, after following a series of clues and experience the loss of her friend Britney up close by a certain police officer, comes to find out that Friend is planning to assassinate the pope. This is further proven when father Luciano, after discovering the pope assassination plan and escaping Friend's hitmen by fleeing to Japan, is questioned by Chouno and taken in by father Nitani, who confirms that Luciano is a man to trust and is saying the truth. After a brave display at the local underground casino, Kanna manages to gather the chinese and thai mafias at father Nitani's church to try to convince them to protect the pope. This, however, doesn't quite achieve that purpose without obstacles: the same officer that assassinated Britney comes to murder 'the Holy Mother'. Otcho heroically comes to protect Kanna, but it's then revealed that the police officer himself was the Holy Mother when he is killed by Nº13.
As she gets ready to protect the pope alongside her group, Kanna catches up with Otcho. They both go to Friend's funeral, where the pope is supposed to be killed, and ready a defense group to cover the most critical assassination spots from which the pope could be assassinated. They fail, however, as the last spot they thought of was the Expo monument behind the pope. Chouno and Luciano rush to the monument, but it's already too late, as Nº13 takes the shot. All this, however, was thoroughly planned by Friend in order to reveal he is in fact not dead and save the pope's life, thus becoming a ''god''.
In the third year of the Friend Era, after Friend has taken over the world, coupled with her charisma, Kanna makes an able leader, leading a rebel faction against Friend under the moniker of "Ice Queen" (冰の女王 Koori no Joō?). She runs a ramen shop within the walls of Tokyo, which in reality is a hiding spot for Friend opposers. A few days before Kanna's final raid against Friend, she receives Sanae, who unadvertedly uncovers a spy within Kanna's own ranks. This serves as a sort of wake up call for her, who inmediatly orders her followers to get ready to move out. Soon after, Otcho finds her after years of being separated. He confronts Kanna and tells her that this raid she's planning isn't what Kenji would do, as her men would surely die. She argues that they're fine with that, as Friend has taken everything from them and they live exclusively to fight against him. Otcho, however, does not give in and even hints at Kenji being alive, which Kanna inmediatly rejects this 'false hope'.
Nevertheless, Kanna does end up changing her mind. She calls the raid off and spares her men a certain death.
In 21st Century Boys she reunites with her mother in Africa alongside Shohei and her grandmother.
Powers/Abilities[]
Kanna seems to possess supernatural abilities such as ESP. How she obtained such powers is unknown, though it is hinted by Friend to be the result of a secret medicine given to her mother before childbirth.
Trivia[]
- Kanna's facial features vaguely resemble those of Anna Liebert in Naoki Urasawa's preceding manga Monster. Both are also well-liked among the social groups they choose to be associated with and have been born with some degree of experimentation on them. Similar to how Anna chases after Johan in order to stop him from killing more people, Kanna chases after Friend in order to bring down his dominance over the world.