Creative Staff
Story: Ryou Ryumon
Art: Kouji Megumi
Translation/Adaptation: Sebastian Girner
What They Say
Terrorists trying to recapture the founder attack the detention center with a virus! Fujimaru and the others need to obtain the cure from the terroists, so they head to the THIRD-I headquarters. In a race against time, Fujimaru faces “J” one-on-one yet again. How will the outbreak end, and what is the true meaning of “Bloody Monday?”
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Members of a nameless terrorist group successfully use a high school as a test run for a deadly, fast-acting virus. Now they plan on using the virus to free their leader from a high-security prison. One of the students, Takagi Fujimaru, is a master hacker who uses his skills to bully his way into the security force THIRD-i. His younger sister, Haruka, was infected by the virus, but hasn’t shown symptoms yet. The only vials of the antidote are in the hands of the terrorist lieutenant known only as “J.” In helping THIRD-I, Fujimaru hopes to confront J and retrieve the antidote; however, the virus has a three hour incubation period, and Haruka could die any time within that window.
This was the first time I had read Bloody Monday, and I was a little worried that coming in on the ninth volume would make it hard to follow. Thankfully, that wasn’t the case. While the action was non-stop and the pacing fast, the quality of the characterization and the few times the story stops long enough to provide a bit of backstory were enough to keep me from being lost.
One area where the manga truly excels is the way it handles its plot twists. The story kept going in unexpected ways, making for a very engaging thriller. I admit that the twists might not have been quite as surprising or as effective if I had read the previous eight issues, but the overall quality of the writing makes me think that this is not the case.
In the end, Volume 9 manages to wrap up the high school attack plot, tell the events of the leader’s escape from prison, while at the same time planting seeds of future mysteries and plot threads that will unfold in later volumes—once again illustrating the strength of the plotting. The only area where the manga hitches for me is the manner in which Fujimaru essentially takes over THIRD-i. The level of trust and authority that the members of the agency grant a high school student is a bit much. There are enough hints as to how and he earned their trust, but even so it strains credulity because the rest of the manga is relatively realistic.
In Summary
Although I had a hard time believing that a counterterrorism agency would give so much trust and authority to a high school student, Bloody Monday 9 is a tightly-paced, exciting thriller that manages to tie up plot threads, introduce new mysteries, and somehow still be new-reader friendly. I’d like to see where it goes from here. Recommended.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: A
Packaging Grade: A
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Kodansha Comics
Release Date: January 22nd, 2013
MSRP: $10.99
