Prophecy, Part 1

My journey into this dystopian world so frighteningly similar to the state of our own started on a flight from Japan's Narita International Airport. I watched the people around me in fascination as their screens displayed a film called "Prophesy"--a gutteral tale of one man's effort to bring justice and attention to the fallen, corporate world of mass media, and one policewoman's passionate pursuit of his criminal organization to stop their reign of destruction and misguided holy war. I finally found the manga format, and it was just as engrossing and powerful as the movie; captivating from Page 1, well worth the full read and reasonably priced, this mini-series is the best of both worlds. Be warned, however, as you may find yourself losing a good deal of time to this gripping page-turner.

I’d recommend Prophecy to absolutely any manga fan that asked my opinion. It’s just that good! This series is short but oh so sweet. Buy all 3 volumes at once because once you finish volume 1 you won’t be able to stop thinking about what’s next in this tremendous cyber-suspense story!

There's a saying that goes "You are who you are in the dark." This means that our true character shows when others can't see our actions. These days, the anonymity offered by the internet has shown that a lot of people are in fact, not good people. That, and the net's mob mentality, are the core of the story in this volume.I won't say much for fear of spoilers, but imagine the reaction if internet vigilantism took the next step and spilled out onto the street. That, and the reaction to it, are where this story begins. It's a dark tale of people's cruelty, despair, and how technology can makes all of that worse.Tsutsui deserves a lot of credit here. The art is solid and the story itself is worthy of any top notch crime novel. The story offers no apologies for looking at the darker side of human nature and it pulls no punches. This is easily the best "serious" manga I've read in a long time.For people looking for a more adult tale from manga, this is a book well worth getting.

The figure on the cover of Prophecy is “Paperboy”, a vigilante who covers his head in newspaper when he goes online to promise revenge through underground video postings from internet cafes. All his victims were previously brought to public attention online, whether a company that caused a number of food poisoning cases or a guy who stupidly blamed a rape victim for being “easy”. Although the internet punished them with boycotts or personal attacks, Paperboy takes payback into the real world. Some of his revenge schemes are clever or ironic; others simply violent.He’s being chased by a Tokyo police unit formed to specialize in internet crime. As the book opens, they’re arresting a junior high kid who’s been accused of uploading pirated video games. He thinks of himself as some kind of fighter for freedoms, but he’s quickly shown how misguided his self-justification is, as those who took advantage of his offerings quickly turn on him once he gets in trouble, laughing at his rationalizations. The attention and affection of an online group are fickle things.The leader of this cyber investigation unit is a young, pretty detective who’s most noted for being hard as nails and remarkably outspoken. I’m not sure she’s going to be able to achieve her aim, that of preventing Paperboy’s online fans from continuing to grow. She’s concerned they’re going to get out of control — and unspokenly, challenge the social order by supporting individual violence outside the established structure to bring justice, no matter how damaging.Tetsuya Tsutsui tackles remarkably modern themes within this structure, including social network information sharing, online mobs, mass peer pressure, how online anonymity affects behavior, the desire to have one’s non-mainstream voice heard, and the underemployment of a technologically educated age group. For a story based on computers, he also makes it visually interesting. Similar to a procedural TV show, there are lots of close-ups of emotional people making dramatic statements. Everyone’s attitude is exaggerated, although they’re all also based in authentic beliefs and motivations.I found it particularly affecting how one character’s background, as a temp programmer who was made promises about permanent employment his boss never intends to keep, reflects so many of the problems in today’s economy. Although one wouldn’t go to Paperboy’s extremes, the motivation is understandable. (Review originally posted at ComicsWorthReading.com.)

The strength of Tetsuya Tsutsui’s comic “Prophecy” (“Yokokuhan”) lies in two things: immediacy and brevity. The comic deals with crimes using internet, especially social networking. Also, it has only three volumes. You can read the entire story in a half day or maybe less. And Tsutsui is a very good storyteller.The fast-paced story of “Prophecy” starts with Tokyo Metropolitan Police’s newly established Cyber Crime Division led by 26-year-old Inspector Erika Yoshino. They track down a masked vigilante “Paperboy,” who “punishes” those who Paperboy thinks deserve it, and uploads the video online. While Yoshino and her team investigate, Paperboy grows a “fanbase” online.“Prophecy” is basically a thriller, but the mystery itself is not very intricate. The manga is less about solving the mystery than about knowing these characters and their motives, and Tsutsui is good at keeping us intrigued, even though most of the things he writes about the internet and cybercrimes are nothing particularly new to us.Perhaps some of non-Japanese readers would miss the cultural references that the manga is making to give the story immediacy. Probably you will notice that “the Sea Guardians” that appear in the second volume is in fact a thinly veiled reference to a famous organization, but you may not recognize the resemblance between one of the characters in the manga, and a certain Japanese entrepreneur, who made a well-known IT-related company years ago.But don’t worry, for you can enjoy the comic without such knowledge, and though the manga has a few serious moments, there are a few comical moments that offset them. (Incidentally, the comic will be turned into a live-action movie, which will be released in Japan this summer.)

My son was very happy with this book thank you and fast shipping also ''

I didn't think much of Prophecy. It started right off the bat with some rude and inaccurate stereotyping of Internet Piracy and continued on in with much the same level of finesse. The idea of an online vigilante is a pretty stale one at this point so if your looking for an enjoyable Manga I would probably give this book a miss. There were a few good scenes but nothing to really stick out from the crowd. All in all I would say it was underwhelming (and I am someone that doesn't like to give bad reviews!).