The Shadow Prophet: A Nice Change Of Pace
“The Great Prophet Godo has a place for everyone in his perfect society… so long as you aren’t a failure. Itshou is living a diligent and sheltered life when she suddenly finds herself denounced and marked for exile. While her beliefs are shaken to their very core, a chance encounter with a childhood sweetheart derails Itshou’s banishment and puts her on the path to political uprising. Now facing down the same forces she once trusted to protect her, Itshou must untangle the web of lies at the heart of her city and unmask the Shadow Prophet.”
[Before I go further with this review, “The Shadow Prophet” at this point in time is not completed yet, so these points could be subject to change.]
As of now, The Shadow Prophet has 19 Episodes, but Episode 1 was a very strong pilot that demanded my attention. The art and writing both did their parts perfectly, but to understand why I think this way, I will dissect the first few panels of [Episode 1 Godo Says: “A Clean Room Mirrors A Clean Mind”].
The beginning of Episode 1 shows starts with a broadcast of “Godo TV”, and it immediately pulls the reader in everyone’s, but more importantly Itshou’s, day-to-day.
The next panel shows our main character Itshou searching through her cluttered room filled with paper cranes trying to search for something important. The messy room likely refers back to the Episode’s Title: “Godo Says: A Clean Room Mirrors A Clean Mind”.
This is clearly not Itshou’s day: She lost her (whatever it is), she has to get a ride quickly so she won’t be late to her exams and being reminded of her late mother’s death because of rebels on the news.
Surrounded by all this confusion and negativity, she coils lies down in her bed with the many cranes she had made up until that point. It should also be said that on “The Shadow Prophets’ Marissa Delbressine and Anne Delseit LIVE Q&A (Toon Ladies Episode 06)”, Marissa confirms that the cranes Itshou made are used to focus on whatever she has to do, as well as carrying already present symbolism such as Luck, getting a wish granted, and/or even being used for meditative purposes.
At this point, I have only talked about half of the chapter, and I already cheering for Itshou’s success, and even started to unconsciously project some of her anxieties onto myself.
From Itshou’s dorm, the city, and even the school: Marissa’s ability to draw settings that give off their respective vibes. For instance:
The Rush Hour of the city looks very cloudy, hidden, and pretty suffocating. Everyone doing their part as to not disappoint their peers nor The Great (yet mysterious) Godo, which you will quickly learn more about as you read. Because as the synopsis states, “The Great Prophet Godo has a place for everyone in his perfect society… so long as you aren’t a failure”. The city’s suffocating environment matches the toxic relationship between the structure of this society and those that have to conform to it.
These scenes are from Episode 4: “Godo Says: When out of Ground. Learn To Fly.”
And as this scene suggests, The world is moving way too fast for Itshou to mentally comprehend at this moment in time. She can’t move at such a pace as calmly as everyone else around here seems to be. Although Godo Says: “A Productive Day Is A Healthy Day”, as prior events proved, Godo doesn’t acknowledge the imperfections of man in while only appreciating perfection.
This may sound like a digression, but it’s these experiences that will ultimately move the story forward.
Because I want to keep the bare minimum of info so you, a possible reader, can enjoy the story more, I’ll only talk about two characters: Itshou and Ryuichi.
Itshou’s role as the protagonist is to learn more about the truths of this world and determining the path she wants to go down. As soft-spoken as she appears to be in the initial chapters of the story, it doesn’t mean she isn’t determined or even afraid to go after an answer if need be, which caught me off-guard. She is definitely a character worth following should you consider reading The Shadow Prophet.
Ryuichi, whether you love or hate him, is a compelling character. Everything he does makes you immediately curious to figure him out because ever since his introduction, we the reader could tell that he isn’t your average joe or even just any government worker. The more I learn about his relationship between him and Itshou, the more confusing his motives seem to be. Moreover, the way he gaslights Itshou makes me see him as the main antagonist (not even regarding what he did on Exam Day, which basically starts the story).
The Shadow Prophet is one of the more unique Webcomics on Webtoons featured collection in terms of art. The only other Featured Webtoon that has put me in awe in terms of art is Space Boy, a webtoon I definitely want to get to Reviewing. I could share more examples of the art, but if what I have shared doesn’t convince you, I don’t think another example could.
The Execution so far has been par for the course, and it helps that Marissa’s personal life had influenced the stories world, and some of its characters, but not in a way that messes with the integrity of the whole plot in a negative way.
I ended up finding this out through the Toon Ladies Interview I referred to earlier when I was talking about Immersion, but apparently, there is a playlist you can listen to when reading The Shadow Prophet which I thought was pretty neat, but the playlist someone was meant to post was not posted, which sucks.
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