Voyeurs, Inc.: Volume 1 Book

(For mature audiences.) Hideo Yamamoto's Voyeur, part of Viz Communications' gritty Pulp Graphic Novel series, enters the world of voyeurism at several levels. On the surface, this adult manga is a tale of simple perversion, about a man who dons night goggles to peer into the intimate moments of other peoples' lives. But as the book unfolds, Yamamoto exposes the depth of his suggestive title. The protagonist, Ko Higaonna, despises the young peeping Tom who keeps showing up in his life. But as Ko becomes concerned that his girlfriend, Satomi Shiraishi, is deceiving him about where she has been spending her evenings (she insists that she is studying for her TOEFL exam), he begins to indulge in a bit of voyeurism of his own. Like the hero of Hitchcock's Rear Window, Ko can't help but look into Satomi's life. The mystery behind her supposed virginal innocence beckons him to gaze into her windows and follow her through the streets. As his career as a spy unfolds, Ko is drawn to the voyeur who he at first rejected. The voyeur has refined observation to an art, and to Ko he reveals tiny clues--such as bruises on Satomi that suggest an amorous encounter--that slowly erode Ko's trust in his lover. When Ko abruptly learns the truth of Satomi's secret life, he must confront the charade of his own life--his politeness and servility in the face of hypocrisy. Together with his newfound conspirator, he leaves the path of material success and polite society to begin a career as a professional voyeur--a detective of sorts--who works to protect the unsuspecting from the voyeuristic predators he now sees everywhere. Despite this somewhat formula-driven ending (which is clearly a setup for a series about Ko's detective career), Yamamoto has crafted a superior manga that braves the waters of sexual deviance only to interrogate the reality of urban life beneath the surfaces that so tantalizes the stereotypical voyeur. --Patrick O'Kelley Read More