The Good, The Bad, The Verdict Tokyo Ghost issue 9

Issue 9 of Tokyo Ghost captures two different ideologies that Debbie and Davey have and the consequences that result. Davey wants to bring everyone into the virtual world to gain control. Conversely, Debbie realizes that her selfishness has destroyed the only technology-free-zone and she wants to correct that wrong. As a result of their ideologies and goals the two come into direct conflict with one another as their goals cannot be complete while the other exists. The issue captures what a person is willing to do for their ideologies as both Davey and Debbie are willing to destroy the other to accomplish their own goals.

The Good:

The issue reestablishes Davey and Debbie’s ideology for surviving in the dystopia they are currently live in. Davey’s ideology is that he wants to bring everyone into the digital world. He wants to accomplish this by hacking people’s bodies and making them commit suicide, but before they do he will copy their conscious to a virtual world. Once in that virtual world they will be able to live forever, never have to be subject to hunger, pollution, or any problems. This shows Davey’s ideology is he wants to push humanity’s growth towards a more digital based solution, which will eliminate issues of hunger and life expectancy. Conversely, Debbie’s ideology suggests a different solution for humanity’s future, as she wants to restore Tokyo to a technology-free zone and eliminate the virtual world. This is due to effects that technological had on Led directly and indirectly from when he was a kid until his death. And many of those effects were reversed when Led was in Tokyo away from technology. As a result, Debbie views humanity will move forward once they step away from the technology and virtual world and start to live in the real world. Davey and Debbie have opposing views on the direction humanity should go in generates a meaningful conflict between the two of them. As both Davey and Debbie have evidence to back up their position and both sides are equal. This in turn really forces a reader to think about which side is the correct side as well as to question the current amount of technology in our system and the impact it has on our society.

The Bad:

Now the problem with this comic is the way it addresses loose ends. In particular, it explains how Takara saved Debbie as the bomb went off in Tokyo (at the end of issue 5). Having this answered is great but it feels as if it was just interjected in the comic to fill up pages rather than add to the story or the plot. Furthermore, the comic focuses on the past of Led and Debbie and seems very repetitive of the last several issues. This seems very stale and does not have the same impact that is has had in past issues.

The Verdict:

The issue does an excellent job of showing 2 conflicting ideologies that humanity can go in. Due to showing two sides it is a very thought provoking comic as in many ways it mimics our current world and all the technological advancements we are achieving. Due to the fair portrayal and the thoughts that this comic generates along with how it furthers the story along, it is a great issue and can be enjoyed on many levels.