Bloody Monday, Tome 1

Bloody Monday #1

by Ryō Ryūmon (Contributor), Sylvain Chollet (Translator), Kōji Megumi (Artist)

En apparence, Fujimaru est un élève comme les autres. En réalité, c'est un hacker de génie, qui pirate le matériel informatique de personnes malhonnêtes afin de les confondre. Il est connu sur Internet sous le pseudonyme de Falcon (le "Taka" de son nom de famille signifinant faucon en japonais). Fujimaru travaille en étroite collaboration avec la "THIRD-i", une agence gouvernementale secrète dont son père est le sous-directeur et qui oeuvre dans l'ombre pour préserver la sécurité publique sur le territoire nippon. Les capacités hors du commun de Fujimaru lui permettant de pénétrer n'importe quel système informatique sont mises à contribution le jour où l'agence découvre, sur le cadavre d'un ex-agent du KGB, une carte mémoire contenant de troublantes informations...

Genres: Manga, Mystery, Thriller, Horror, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 17, 2007

About the author

Ryō Ryūmon (龍門諒), or Ryou Ryuumon or Ryou Ryumon, is a pseudonym of author Shin Kibayashi.

Reviews

[Cindee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this manga it is a really great start to a well written thriller manga. I like the characters especially Fujimaru and his friends he is a hacker I really like how that is done in this manga. I liked the story it has great build up to tell you how it got to what the synopsis says this is a really interesting story will continue it at some point. So overall this is great thriller manga will read more at some point.

[Jasmine Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uuuuugggghhhhh.

The premise was promising, and while the art was a little on the round side, it was still nice. However, the stupidity of the main character was astounding. Here's this guy who can hack just about anything, so you'd assume he's pretty smart, right? Yeah, not so much.

1) He doesn't suspect a damn thing when the new teacher "accidentally" microwaves his laptop. I mean, seriously

2) He almost immediately tells his friends all the details about the super-top-secret and dangerous thing. (while, I actually really appreciate not going through the whole "I must go this alone because it's too dangerous" storyline, it is really stupid)

3) Not only does he tell his friends, but he does it IN HIS CLUBROOM at SCHOOL where they apparently feel no need to keep their voices down.

4) They also don't find it the least bit suspicious that the new teacher also just happens to overhear them. Instead of being suspicious, THEY INVITE HER IN and tell her everything.

5) When he actually has a reason to suspect her, he easily writes it off after checking some lame screenshot from a video store. He doesn't even try to investigate further than that.

I will give this series a few more volumes to prove itself, but we'll see.

[Alisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise and art were the best things about this manga. However, the protagonist is stereotypical- the dumb and unsuspecting type with the talent for hacking the only thing that kept him going. This genre asks for a brilliant detective, not some high school student always exposing his ignorance but that is just my idea of how it should be. The mangaka can do what they want to and only time will tell how long it takes before the protagonist figures out who is holding a dagger at his neck.

The father's story gave me "Mission Impossible" vibes so I didn't think of it as something refreshing or something that completely hypnotized me. This concept worked wonders in movies.

Undercover spies, betrayal, a man on the run to prove his innocence and a group of young high school students at the heart of a Russian conspiracy that could be the end of Japan- sounds intriguing but it's all about how the characters grow from here on, how it unfolds and if there are brilliant twists.

The cliffhanger was a good touch.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don't know why I thought it would be a good idea to just pick up and read a random manga with a cool title. I haven't liked the vast majority of anime and manga that I've tried out, and other than nice artwork, there wasn't much reason to think this would be an exception. Overall, this was sexist and uninteresting.

The artwork was nice, I'll give it that. There were times when it was too artificial-looking, but for the most part, it captured the sci-fi, computer-generated feel of the manga well. The character designs were also nice to look at, and the action was all clear and alive-looking.

The writing was much less skillfully executed. The plot had potential - basically, it was about using hacking skills to stop a viral outbreak - but something about it was just so boring. I understand that Ryumon had to establish the plot and characters in a relatively short amount of time... but man, there had to be a more entertaining way of doing it. There's absolutely no real tension at all - the only time it looks like any of the characters are in any peril at all, it turns out to be a misunderstanding. Instead, the plot feels dull and tired. I don't know why, because it honestly wasn't that bad, and it had a lot of potential, but it just wasn't memorable to me.

Maybe it had to do with how bland the characters are. As a protagonist, Tagaki was very typical for a manga - he was enthusiastic, talented, awkward around girls, and kind of cunning. None of the other characters got any real development. The story is solely plot-oriented, and it sacrifices the potential humanness of its characters for that plot.

And can we talk about the enormous misogyny in this book for a bit? Because that was my biggest complaint. Every single female character that plays a major role in the manga is either sexualized or a helpless victim. In an early scene, Tagaki lifts a girl's skirt in public, showing her panties to everyone, without her permission. She kicks him in the face, of course - it's a manga, what did you expect? - and then nothing else happens. It's never mentioned again, and we're still expected to feel sympathy for Tagaki, despite the fact that he sexually harassed someone. I mean, I'm normally not one to call characters unlikable, but come on!

Oh, and then we find out that a teacher had sexually harassed students, and he's therefore evil. I mean, what the teacher did was horrible, but under that logic, Tagaki should be the villain of the story.

So yeah, I can't recommend this manga in good faith. The artwork was pretty good, and the translation was exceptional (THEY KEPT THE HONORIFICS! HUZZAH!), but the writing was overall pretty terrible.

[Sarina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody monday: a thrilling manga Full of thrill, suspense and dread of bombing-massacre filled, this manga will give you a ride beyond anything you can imagine. The start is pretty nice-looking, but then...you get to meet Falcon. And that is where the real fun(or dread) starts.Personally, I can't shake the feeling of awe & admiration for the manga and its authors when I found out about Christmas Day. That's when I got sucked into the manga for real. If you haven't read the manga yet, you are missing out on one of life's greatest mystery plus thriller plus blood-pounding stuff. My advice: Don't miss it. Just read it. You'll see then.

[ReadingFrog · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

[Han · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

[Drew Constance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick Thoughts: Intelligent, Mysterious and Absorbing.


If you're a fan of action, espionage, secrets and mystery then you are sure to love Bloody Monday. It has everything you could want in an intense and fast paced story that reads much more like a movie than a novel. The characters were sharp and for the most part intelligent and I really liked seeing both aspects of the main character Fujimaru who comes across as a typical brash character, but who we get a chance to see has a fierce side to him as well. In the face of impending danger the cast of friends comes together to work to protect Fujimaru while on the outside he also has to decipher not only enigmatic codes, but who to trust he can't be sure who is on his side and who is out to murder to protect the truth. The ending was chilling and I surprisingly was on edge for majority of this novel making it a great read. I would recommend it for older readers, possibly 18 up as it does deal with some mature content, but if you're mature enough to read adult content then you should have no problem. I wouldn't say I read Bloody Monday fast, but I did enjoy it and I will try to find the next book in the series so I can continue with the series.

[Diego Canales · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alrighty, so basically, the story unravels as follows; Hacker kid goes to school, and has to gain points by crazy school system to keep a good grade and reputation. And this kid, he goes by the name of Fujimaru Tagaki, is in a news paper club, racking up extra points to keep that grade. One day some Russian psychopath buys an extremely dangerous virus, that she plans to spread. On the other side, Tagaki is a hacker(as stated before) that basically helps find criminals like the Russian girl. His dad is a special agent that works for a private organization. Tagaki was curious to see what his old man was up to, so he went on ahead and hacked into his dad's organization's database to see what was cooking. He later was given a task by the private organization to find out who the Russian girl was so they could find and arrest her. But a few days later, Tagaki's dad goes out for a stroll with his friend, who also fortunately had a lead to who this Russian girl was. Unfortunately Tagaki's dad's friend got shot and was framed for the murder. So now Tagaki has a lot on his plate, trying to find the murderer of his dad's friends, and who this crazy Russian psychopath really is. Aside from the plot, I find the story pretty interest, yet i'm disappointing that a lot of the main characters and side characters have a pretty flat anime-stereotypical personality. But aside from that, the plot is very nice. Definitely something I've never heard of before, and absolutely something I recommend. It's a very nicely structured compelling manga series. Oh yeah Tagaki's sister is planning to join in the fun as well, so I can't wait to see what happens next.

[Mariah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Normally I don't read much manga. It's not that I don't want to, I am more picky about the manga I'm interested in. I found the first volume of this at the library, so I figured I had nothing to lose by renting it.

The volume starts off with a sexy, secret assassin meeting up with a contact where she is given a virus which is extremely powerful. She takes the virus and walks away into the night. Flash forward to Takagi Fujimaru a high school kid who's a bit of a smart ass. He is caught by a professor for mouthing off and is given punishment. Fujimaru doesn't react well and it's revealed he goes under the guise of "Falcon" a hacktivist who is known by many of his classmates, but not linking the fact that Fujimaru is the hacker. He reveals his professor's creepy pornography to his principal where his professor is fired.

Fujimaru's father, Ryunosuke enlists Fujimaru's help on various government cases he's working on. It's clear Ryunosuke is investigating this virus, but isn't fully aware of how this virus will be released. When Ryunosuke's contact is murdered, Ryunosuke is framed for the killing and goes on the run. Now, Fujimaru is trusted to help prove his father's innocence as Falcon while also protecting his chronically ill sister, Haruka.

Manga has always fascinated me, but I haven't found a series I could dive into. I did genuinely enjoy this series and it's enough to keep me invested in the story. I'm probably either going to buy the 2nd edition of this series and continue to read it or rent it from the library again.

[Eva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Miúdo super hacker secreto e misterioso a trabalhar para agentes secretos mas tipo nem tenta esconder a sua identidade tendo em conta que ele é suposto fazer parte de forças especiais?? Ele tem de desencriptar um ficheiro mega confidencial e depois de acidentalmente deixar a professora (que btw é o inimigo) saber que ele é o hackerkid ele só abre o ficheiro confidencial em frente a ela e dos amigos? E ela quer livrar-se dele e dos amigos mas tipo não faz nada e está ali só tipo professora substituta toda sexy?

Tipo imagina Death Note mas o Light contava a toda a gente que tinha o caderno e o L era só burro e cómico. Epá, não.

As cenas de hacking até são passáveis. Tendo em conta como hacking é normalmente mostrado em filmes e afins, isto é um elogio do mais alto nível. Mesmo assim levas com um "enhance! ENHANCE!" lol.

O pacing é bom mas infelizmente é daquelas em que queria levar a sério e não posso porque é estúpido. E nem parece que é estúpido propositadamente, se fosse uma comédia a gozar com thrillers até tinha mérito.

[♡Kayla♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

*3.5*

I was watching a video about manga, and someone recommended this series for fans of Death Note, which is a series I adore (to the point that I've consumed nearly every version of it, even the awful Netflix adaptation), so I picked up volume 1 on a whim... and it was pretty good.

Obviously I can't say too much about the story and characters, because this is just the beginning, but so far it's fairly promising. I didn't know much about the plot going in, so I was pleasantly surprised by the whole hacker angle, and I also find the threat of a deadly virus really compelling and scary (for obvious reasons). I just hope the drama, anticipation, and intensity gets ramped up even more as volumes go on.

[Jamie (Books and Ladders) · Rating 3 out of 5]

See this review and more on Books and Ladders!

Content Warning: murder, death, violence, pronography, pedophilia

This was alright - very similar to Death Note in tone but I did enjoy what I've read so far! There were a lot of tropes that I wasn't a huge fan of - of course it's a high school student who doesn't really care about anything, some fantasy revenge of teachers, international espionage, etc. But I thought that even though it wasn't something completely new, it still kept my interest.

I may pick up the rest of the series since it's only 11 volumes total.

Like my reviews? Buy me a Ko-Fi!

[Terrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a spy, high school based story. So far, we're in the dark a bit, we just know what the "Bloody Monday" in the title refers to, but we don't know who the major players all are.

One of the central characters is a Bond-esque Villainess that infiltrates the hero's classroom. Pretty face value villain so far. Other aspects they do pretty well, like make you think characters are going to be kidnapped / perish, but pulling back the curtain to reveal what really happened. Of course, you can only play that card so many times, so we'll see what happens later.

[Asparkofc · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this concept. I really do. It’s such an interesting story and I like the main character.

But I disliked any and all relationships between the characters. It was boring and super stereotypical.

I disliked the fact that we knew more than the main character and it was just annoying waiting for him to figure it out. I would have preferred to find it out along with the main character.

I’ll read the next volume at least though, because I really like the idea of the story.

[V · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intriguing plot since it involved Russians. It was a bit hard to understand how that encrypted video file was a highly classified one when there was nothing much explained when it was eventually cracked. The only thing these students got was those nauseous scenes - in Russian! I hope it gave a “woah, that’s why” moment but nope, it was just a “huh? That’s it?”.

Nice drawing though.

[Shin Donghae · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kali ini sensei pakai nama pena Ryou Ryumon :)
Tentu yang tidak asing akan familiar dengan alur beliau.
Awal yang cukup menjanjikan meskipun ada beberapa lubang yang barangkali membuat pembaca "hei, dia hacker koq segitu tidak pekanya".
Barangkali agar alur cerita berkembang lebih baik, mari diabaikan ketidakpekaan tersebut.

[8tailfox · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has been in my list of Manga titles I wanted to read & finish for a long time.
As I read it, it makes me think of 24 with Jack Bauer as the main character.
There are some things that are outdated like the phones but it was during the time that the manga was made & other things too.
I can't wait to finish it.😊

[ashley marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s a really interesting premise, but parts of it feel out of place or inconsistent. I love that the author chose to include aspects of Japanese culture and language so the core of their story wasn’t lost. I’m going to continue with the series because it doesn’t have a ton of volumes, but I’m not sure if I’m truly a fan yet.

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised this is rated 13+ because... graphic violence, death, sexual panels/text, suicide mentions.

The story is good if you're into dark things. It's definitely interesting. I'm willing to give more of the series a chance.

[Pinky N.A · Rating 4 out of 5]

The way the mangaka revealed Falcon was way too fast, even though it obvious who is it—from the cover.

I cannot tell whether Falcon was cool or simply too secretive to the readers, I don't know. I was hoping to see his works in detail. It's only the first volume anyway.

This volume is alright.

[Abhinav Vuppalapati · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first manga that I am reading and I thought it was pretty solid and a good introduction, it is a complicated pacing and can be frustrating at times due to how slow it can get but it can also be speedy fast which is something that’s a plus, it’s definitely enough to keep your interest.

[Anhedonia Archer · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a strong opening volume to a pretty good thriller, I'm excited for the rest. It kind of reminded me of death note. The only thing I didn't like is the protagonist, he's a pervert, clueless guy with a huge ego. I hope he gets some character development.

[Katie Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was interesting.
Kind of similar to Covid 19. A virus breaks out and has the power to kill many people and wipe out the population around the world. I’m lucky my library has the whole series so I have put the rest of the volumes on hold.

[David Doel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a type of story that I like (spy/mystery); its just not especially well done. It's sort of -- a high school group takes on a spy ring and succeeds. It strains my ability to suspend disbelief. I have the complete set (11 volumes), so I hope it gets better.

[Liridona Berisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25/5 stars

[Justyna Łucja Piórko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kudos to Ryūmon for creating such a captivating story, and to Miura Haruma for portraying Fujimaru-kun! Re-reading and rewatching it for the fourth time, still keeps me at the end of my seat!

[Soo · Rating 4 out of 5]

06/26/2024 Notes:

Great characters, engaging plot and good art! A promising start to a new series.

[Siobhan Royle keating · Rating 5 out of 5]

my daughter loved this

My daughter loved this says it was amazing and the art is beautiful, if my daughter says it’s good it must be all she reads is Manga

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

That cliffhanger!! I want to know what happens now.