Bloody Monday - First Five Chapters

Summary: On a dark, snowy night in an undisclosed location in Russia, a mysterious woman --- named "Maya" --- receives a mysterious package. Within that package lies a secret; a secret with the potential to destroy the entire world.

Maya leaves with her package, followed by a male companion, and departs on a train. Before she leaves, she plants a single kiss on her companion, effectively planting the first seed of her intentions. Within her mysterious package lay a container; filled with a man-made virus capable of infecting and killing millions. She leaves her first victim to unknowningly spread the disease to everyone else he knows, and departs to her homeland: Japan.

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Meanwhile, an infamous high-school computer hacker named Fujimaru Takagi (alias, Falcon) faces several dilemmas. A mysterious new professor arrives to teach at his school, named Orihara Maya, and strange, new developments begin to unfold. His father, an important government agent, present his son with a strange code, "Bloody Monday", which he must crack and reveal to the agency for safekeeping.

After a mysterious virus kills off a segment of the Russian population, Fujimaru has been recruited by the Japanese government to find out what happened in Russia when Third-I government agents had recovered an unknown memory stick containing files of the incident.

With his father accused of murdering his superior, Fujimaru is driven by the quest to find out the truth behind Bloody Monday.

And all the while, the mysterious Maya watches from the shadows, waiting for the chance to unveil her own dark intentions.

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Impression: The first few chapters of the manga series, Bloody Monday by Ryuumon Ryou, have so far given me a very good impression of the series. There is a high level of suspense, woven neatly into the accomodating level of horror and despair. The setting, a normal, high school environment, gives the events taking place a dark aura... as if something is just waiting to jum put from the normal scene and become somethign much more terrifying.

Fujimaru is a likeable hero; he is very protective of his little sister, Haruka, but also knows that the government is relying on him and knows when to swtich between 'big brother mode' to 'dangerous hacker mode'.

The supporting cast of the series is also rather interesting; the ambiguous female spy named Houshou, the fiery, blackbelt classmate of Fujimaru's; Aoi, the skilled archer class representative Otoya, and many more. And of course, the sultry, mysterious Maya whose viral intentions are still yet to be revelead.

Overall, this is a dark, intense series with strange and suspenseful plot developments. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good dash of sci-fi, horror, and thriller genres.

Check this series out here: http://www.onemanga.com/Bloody_Monday/