Watch Dogs Tokyo, Vol. 1

Gr 8 Up–Following the installation of Blume Corporation’s J-ctOS, an AI system that controls infrastructure and security, crime rates in Tokyo are down. But what the corporation and government don’t want the populace to know is that this comes at the expense of privacy and other freedoms. When Inspector Goda realizes that the death of a blackmailer is subject to a cover-up facilitated by the police, he joins DedSec, a hacktivist group bent on fighting for those rights. Goda’s distaste for this pervasive corruption only just beats out his distaste for DedSec’s tactics, especially when it comes to S.S.B., a punk woman who relishes anarchy. Sharply panelled, crisply choreographed action ensues. The point-and-click hacking, digitized camera views, and demonic Noh masks all feel true to the hacktivist aesthetics established by the game franchise this spin-off manga is based on. Even in the premise, this is still an action series wrapped around succinctly shrewd commentary. Blume’s disregard for privacy and big data’s uses, the willingness of government officials to bed a corporation for personal gain, and the lethargic public turning a blind eye mirror real world concerns.