Death Note

Honestly, I don't think think I could ever recommend a story enough. DeathNote will always and forever be my number one. There isn't a thing I could think of ever changing in this series, despite it being problematic, but in a redeeming sense, as our main character yet antagonist goes through the notions and ultimately always seems to get what's coming to him.

(NOTE: I'm referring only to the manga story of DeathNote, not the anime. The anime is pretty good as well, but I do have problems with it... unlike the lack of problems I seem to have with the comics.)

Story: 10/10

There is never a moment in this story where I wasn't hooked into the plot. The pace in the manga is so incredibly beated and timed. Ohba knew what story they wanted to tell and stuck to it. Obata knew the vision he wanted for its absolutely beautiful visuals and stuck to it.

The story is geinusly written from the perspective of our antagonist as the main character. It's such a tricky point of view when he describes his reasons for using the DeathNote for good, but becomes absolutely mad with its power. He's cunning, absolutely infuriating at moments in how he manipulates strangers and even his loved ones, but what's amazing is how human and real the conversations are. There's no pandering or unrealistic interactions with these characters, even so much so with the shinigamis that come into contact with the DeathNote holders. All interactions feel genuine and make the story that much engaging.


Art: 10/10

If I could rank up the score higher than I could, then I most definitely would. Takeshi Obata is one of my all time favorite artists on the planet, let alone manga artist period. His work is absolutely breath taking and gorgeous, yet somehow extremely expressive and fun.
There are at times when you can tell that an artist is on a deadline by the quality of the work going back and forth in its pages. With DeathNote, it is always consistent and always beautiful.
Seriously, I have no idea how this man doesn't get more recognised for his craft.

Side note but I found his art book at a Book Off in Japan for $20 but I made the hardest desicion of my life and leaving it because I was afraid of going over the baggage weight. I still almost cry every time whenever I think about that, along with almost meeting the man if I had walked another block in Manhattan when NYCC was happening. He was doing a signing at a bookstore I frequented at. I was actually planning to stop by but decided not to at the last minute. I still kick myself hard over that.

Character: 10/10

Complex and so unbelievably fucking human. Excuse my French but I've never felt more in the headspace of individual personalities like the characters in this story. All have faults and all have strengths that perfectly balance with conflict amongst each other.
The cat and mouse chase between Light and L is a really wild ride from start to finish. They're always trying to one up each other in the most subtle way and yet give a huge slap in the face to the other as both L and Light get closer and closer to the position that they want to be in.

Some I think may have a problem with Light as a character, but I think that's absolutely the point. He is a psychopath and takes advantage of anyone who can help him gets what he wants. With that, he is an incredibly smart character, but with that, I think makes it all the more intriguing for us to watch and wait for someone to take this SOB down!

SPOILER
As the era of L ends, the pick up is disappointing with wanting to see L win, but more nail biting as Light has full control of his position, as the people underneath him question him.

It literally is one of the most intense reads I've ever experienced as everyone tries to piece together with their suspicions to then later evidence. It's so much fun to be a part of as Light's reign comes to a close in a most deserving way.

Enjoyment:

Do I even need to say anything? Probably not. I know there's probably very few people who have not read DeathNote, bur if you are of that tiny precent that just so happens to read this review, you better go and read before I do, again. For the 100th time.

Fu*k yeah!!!
I want to make love with this manga's collection. I want smothered it all my love.

Reading this make me feel like riding a jetpack while having double miniguns and fu*ked all the dinosaurs into extinction by time machine.

It's so good, I feel like I was frolicking at the back of a hairy polar bear while riding a unicorn while watching godzilla and some random monster from ultraman fighting each other.

I know it's a little bit late of reviewing this but I have to do it in honour of this masterpiece written by some genius mind of some japanese dude.

I even suspect that that the writer was drinking a shiny tear of bald eagle while writing the manga.

Ok, let's cut to the chase.. the Review.
The story is undoubttly have any plotholes (for me, I don't know if any Death Note fans out there have any). Every action, event and path for the storyline in the manga is just good and make sense in any way or another.
They don't have boring storyline at all, they just kept us entertained and suspensed railing on for waiting the next chapter.

It's a story about an excellent student, Yagami Light that really have a remarkable sense of strong justice run through his veins. Well, wait 'till you see when he possessed the Death Note, he went from Genius to batshit insane of a mad murderer.

Of course, what comes around goes around.. here comes the Detective infamous of it quirks and child-like behaviour,L.
Of course, the clash of minds begin and the odds one will be eliminated.


****MAJOR SPOILERS******
L IS DEAD! RAMMED BY A CARGO FULL OF CANDY!!
************************

As for the continuation. another Detective by the heir of L himself.. N and M ,Mello. The stories went a little bit of confusing but you can pretty much catch it up all the way~

That's for the storyline, other than that I can't reveal anymore. I know putting spoilers are ridiculous because this manga is considered fossil by today's date, but have a respect for the new reader that never enlightened to read this manga on how good it is.

The art is a little bit different from any typical manga you ever read. Because they keep it realistic and seriousness. Of course, even I would've crap this manga if they done any MOE stuff in it.

The character are well DONE! They have the story portrays as a hardworking genius battles with a natural genius. Each character have it's own interesting attribute and design that we could differentiate one and another.
Their motives are clearly shown, their personality and others.

If you ask me, my favourite character would be L. Of course, it's highly typical with other Otakus out there.. but I like him because I can relate pretty much everything with him and little bit from N.
I'd say L is more smarter than N but with a little bit more of an initiative but in logic skills, N takes it all the way.

Overall.
It was great, I recommend everyone should read the manga alongside the BB case itself. Yes~ the Los Angeles Beyond Birthday case. Probably the most mind twisting and gore, but explains on how Wammy house operates itself.

I'm beginning to notice an unfortunate problem with mangas. No matter how brilliant and imaginative a premise, no matter how creative, authors can never follow through on it or do its idea justice. Either they blow it with a cheap resolution or play the premise out in the most generic, tedious and cliche way possible.

Death Note is one of the worst examples of what I mean. It started off with a great idea--a high school student, Light Yagami, discovers a book that shinigamis (reapers) use to end peoples' lives with. The epitome of self-righteousness and arrogance, he decides he will play "God" and kill evil people. A "super detective" named "L" then goes after him.

So far, so good, right? The problem is that after Light and L meet, Death Note becomes one long tedious, repetitive and boring drumbeat of all the characters constantly contemplating what the other characters are thinking (i.e., "brain picking"). I am not exaggerating. 95% of the book is every character going for pages on end, "He thinks I'm about to do Y. But if I do X, he'll figure out that I'm onto him. So I'll do A. But then he will figure out that if I do A, he'll know that I know B, and then he'll try C. In which case..."

This "brain picking" reaches the height of the absurdity in the Yotsuba story arc. In one chapter, almost every line of dialogue contains the word, "if" several times. For example: "If Kira does A, that must mean A is true. But if Kira doesn't do A, then B is true. However, if Kira does C, then neither A or B would be true. But if C is true, doesn't that mean D is also true? No, if D is true, then F is true. But that's if Kira does A first. Otherwise, G is a possibility."


Again, it sounds like I'm exaggerating, but this is the bulk of the dialogue. It's as if the author just learned "Logic" in math class in school and was very excited to show off how much he learned.

Things get even more confusing later on because Light technically stops acting as Kira for awhile and makes other people act as Kira under his direction. So, when he joins his father's investigative team, he contemplates scenarios in front of them by giving false information about what Kira might do to cover his tracks. It then becomes a chore to make sense of what he's saying because while he does have another person acting as Kira, he is still technically Kira the entire time. No, he doesn't have the book at that point but since he's manipulating the fake Kiras, he is still technically "Kira."

This is not the least of the manga's problems. Light is a despicable character, yet we're forced to experience most of the story from his perspective. Takada and Mikami were equally as disgusting as Light, so made reading the manga even more unbearable when the two characters joined in as protagonists.

Most of the side characters were useless wastes of ink and contributed nothing to the story (like Misa and Matsuda, both annoying, stupid clutzy comic relief characters). The Euro male and female crooks who L hires to help him came out of nowhere and didn't fit the story at all. Aizawa was completely wasted as a character.

The story arc involving Mello and his motivations were convoluted. And there was no explanation as to why all the genius kids had an obsession with eating and stacking stuff. (90% of the time, Near, L and and Mello would be eating something or building things with their food.)

Lastly, the idea that teenagers and children would be the center of such a dark story is far-fetched, even for a manga. I don't care how "ingenious" a child is; there's just no way he would become an internationally famous crime fighter or be entrusted with such a difficult case.

Because of all of these issues, I disliked Death Note so much that I was this close to quitting halfway through. I forced my way through it because I hated the Light character so much I wanted to see if he'd get his comeuppance in the end. The ending wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but slogging through so much "if...if...if..." wasn't worth it.

So all in all, a 5/10 for me, the 5 being for the great art work and character designs of the shinigamis.

Deathnote has a unique storyline although it seems similar to all the others, save the world from criminals and bring peace however Light's way has got a way of getting into are minds, there is an morality battle raging in the readers mind, would you consider it ethical to use the note to end the lives of those who destroy and torment other peoples lives, could use the note to kill someone you deeply and truely despise or to kill someone in a jealous rage. Also can you kill a criminal who for all you know could be innocent.

Light and L go into a deep cat and mouse game and to me Light's way of bringing peace is a little mad (hehe). Ryuk the Shinigami is a delightful character that brings in the subtle humor that helps to balance out the dark and evil genre of the series (he's got big eyes too!). The one thing that I dislike is the fact that you didn't get many opinions of this mass murder case by the police and FBI, only one person showed that they agreed with Light's idea and this was met with disapproval.

Overall a great occult/thriller classic which I think doesn't deserve it's 16+ rating because of it's total lack of violence then again I don't think that kids of 13 could take death on a massive scale.

If there's one thought that goes through my brain the same moment I think of Death Note, it is: "If only it were even better to begin with, it'd be even cooler". Its authors go and deliver what they think is the best they can do and sure, that might be true. Ohba and Obata's other work Bakuman alludes to them wanting to end Death Note's story earlier and sure, that also might be true.
Yet if these things are true, DN still makes me scratch my head about some things throughout the series overall.

I want to try and go over my gripes and show my appreciation for DN since at the moment of writing this, spending my time publicizing who-gives-a-shit thoughts sounds like a better pastime than doing nothing or masturbating every time I scratch myself down there out of boredom and random itchiness.

*WARNING: This text will be getting into some SPOILER territory so I'd advise people who don't want to spoil themselves if they haven't watched or read this title to stop here*

Death Note not being perfect is hardly an uncommon opinion in any shape or form, in more concentrated animanga communities or wider. The reasons may somewhat vary, but there is a consensus about the second half of the story just not being on par with the first. I'm not here to argue that.
What I am here to do is tell it like I feel it for DN as a whole in terms of its story. First things first, it doesn't go out of its way to use too many dumb characters so that the main characters seem smarter in comparison. The writer really wants to let you know that it doesn't give easy opponents that lead into a smarter foe for Light by just outright having the hook of the manga be fighting against a person on the same supposed level of intelligence. Just for reference, a series like Legend of the Galactic Heroes often has the two main characters each face a lot of brainless mooks by their actions inbetween facing each other.
Death Note seems to try its best to avoid this. Stuff like that can lead to a crooked picture of what is the actual intelligence of the characters at the forefront of the story. The times Light is faced with a hurdle to overcome besides L in the first half of the story, it is made so he needs to put in at least decent effort with enough back-and-forth with the person he's talking to. It does apply in the second half, too. Characters that aren't exactly the brightest exist in DN very much, but the actions they take and the mistakes they make feel like they're always accounted well enough by the thought processes and actions of its main characters.

That means, however, that the suspension of disbelief and overall quality depend the most on how consistent its main characters come off. It leads me to the point that the story really puts in the effort to be consistent as much as it can... but oversights happen, in character and general plotting. Given its concept and the kind of battle it entails, mishandled minute details or logistical improbabilities and contrivances stick out that much more.
First thing in order is the FBI agents situation. There was no proper reasoning why the info from analysis on Kira's killings being affected by misspelt names really had to arrive late to L or the FBI, it just kinda happened. Those deaths being prevented already would alter the situation to have Light handle that much bigger of challenge. This is just a contrivance that can be easily overlooked, mind you, yet its ripple effect could hardly be negligible.
Another situation really concerns character consistency and it's about Light. Him getting arrested is a result of two events: getting tailed while being on a date with Misa which leads to suspicion from L and the japanese police and the other one being Misa visiting Light's campus, where L nabs Misa's phone working under the suspicion from the first event. The fault here lies on Misa, but only somewhat and given the character it makes sense enough writing wise. The fault also lies on how Light was quite literally written into this spot due to an oversight, that oversight being Light really not making use of the fact that Rem as a Shinigami actually decided to take a side unlike Light's Ryuk, even threatening Light to kill him if something happens to Misa. Where I am getting with this is that given that Rem actually worries for Misa's safety, he could've made use of Rem to actually be on a lookout for anyone following her and inform her. The first event that got Light arrested later could've been avoided or it could've been used to avoid the second one if this happened and it is uncharacteristic of Light's tendency to get mileage out of everything at his disposal.

There are scenarios where he put himself into an awkward position due to his ego, and childishness while still a highschooler as when he got challenged by a fake L on TV which gave the real L insight into Kira's general whereabouts and mentality, but this ain't it, chief. He was very aware that he had to act carefully given that he met up with the second Kira, which is Misa. And it bothered me that in all of the explaining he had for her, he let probably the most useful detail to use in this situation go. Thinking about the fact that there could've been something instead of the very roundabout Yotsuba arc to see Light's plan resolved really gets under my skin a little.
Ironically given its reputation, the second half has less of these problems. The catch though, is that one notable example of the types of issues I first mentioned is in the very ending. Light gets caught because Near switched Mikami's Death Note with a fake one. The fake one was handwritten to be like the real one to a T and what's incredible about this is that between Mikami taking the notebook out of the vault to try and stop Mello and silence Takada and Light getting caught, not even a whole day has passed. And just one person managed to fill up a notebook with precisely and consistently copied handwriting, with every page filled to the brim with names in maybe over half a day worth of time.

The writer of the authorial duo seems like he writes around a certain scene he wants in the story at times. It's like he wants something to happen so he will put it in and then sweat the details later to come to that event. And there's a good chance he does since beyond the first three chapters, DN really was written as he went along. Throughout the manga, there are rules about the notebook that come with the chapters and a lot of times, these rules are given way ahead of a scenario which will put how the Death Note works into question, making a certain action with the notebook reasonable in hindsight. At rare times, certain rulings come quite literally in the chapter that puts forward the problem is that even possible or alright to do which is just slightly troublesome.
My main gripe with the fact that these rules exist is that for a decently sized rulebook with some interesting and specific rulings, a lot of them cannot come to fruition in some part of the story. When I factor in the places where the story could've taken a different turn due to some overlooked tidbits, there could've been an even more engaging fight just against L.

I won't make assumptions about why Ohba let some things past his attention, but given how entertaining DN's scenarios are as is some of its slip-ups aside, a part of me wishes I didn't notice them and forever seal Death Note in my head as "hella fun, but short-sighted given its potential" because of those oversights. It's slightly sad since there is a lot of good to talk about it even so.
As I said early on, most of the time it is consistent. While Light's side of the deal is faulty, L's character does not suffer from lack of consistency and therefore is more of a safe spot to grab on to in terms of what to expect. L was kinda always written after Light in response to him, therefore L's character writing avoids mishaps even if he did get struck by a contrivance or two like with the FBI agents, which is something not on him since it was late info for no real reason for everybody, but on Ohba's writing saying that this and that ought to happen like this and then just sort of miss a detail.

I commend Ohba's efforts to try and make Mello and Near worthy successors of L. People may not care since they're so attached to the initial hook of the story and therefore attached to the detective that loves sweets, but they are well done for what purpose they serve. The hook for the second part of the story is these two finding out from a random policeman testimony that there was some kind of notebook on the scene of crime involving the Yotsuba group Kira, something that was part of Light's plan to rid suspicion and take down L. They act on that testimony to locate and face Kira. What instigates the Near and Mello part is very whatever for a lack of a better term to describe it, but in retrospect randomly finding a supernatural notebook is sorta equally so.
I've ran into a number of people who are quick to disregard these two in comparison to L, some chose to do it on basis of wit and line of thinking. And here's the deal, there are things like charisma, poignancy and such that don't resonate equally and in same ways with people that I can understand, but this is somewhat different. For reference, Near's thought process is far more detailed than L as part of Ohba's efforts to let the reader know "yes, this is how they inferred where to look for Kira and pin him him down with nothing more than a testimony that could've been a weird rumor/lie". His deduction process during the notebook machinations with Mikami in the mix in the second part was decently articulated. More than my review, in any case. Obviously, I said that it is Near's thoughts that are explained in great detail, Mello isn't handled in the same way. However, his behavior always throws a monkey wrench into Light's plans and is presented as understanding Near's thought process in general and for the final plan to bring Kira down. L showed glimpses of morally concerning thoughts when he was in the story that were kept in check by those around him at the time, but with Mello, he isn't restrained by anybody considering that he went to the other side of the law to take Kira down. For a guy relayed to the more brutish role in the story, to just straightforwardly push Light's buttons early on in his appearance was at least somewhat refreshing to see.

The side characters don't jump out of their necessary roles in the story, at worst they are underutilized like Misa for reasons I have mentioned before. There's no harm in her existence being just another weapon for Light given how simple it is to string her along since the time she meets up with him, as she also had enough brains in her to be careful up to the meet-up and it was his responsibility to make better use of her while he was still being watched. Misa fucked it up for him, but only because in the first place he wasn't more careful about how useful a character with her cirumstances can be.
But let's talk about these characters as people, since narrative roles and personalities and character detail are different stories. The characters that matter most are worked out by the way they think and the way they act across the events of the narrative. Knowing the way these characters think does stack up a few adjectives that can be used to describe each and every one of them, but they're still used in a limited space, by which I mean always as a part of a moving plot. The idiosyncrasies of certain characters don't prove insightful into any facet of their personality that can be seen in the way they act in the story, and how they behave in the progressing plot doesn't pour over into the little bits of the series that don't concern this cat-and-mouse game between galaxy brains. There's really not that much beyond the plot events to Death Note, if we're talking about character pasts playing a pivotal role, how characters behave around families or those they deem close and things like that. DN sorta separates business and pleasure in how its characters are conceived and used, and then just forgoes pleasure for the most part, since most characters are all about business. Which is fine by me, I don't take it against the series, but criticisms of lack of characterization are a bit misguided whenever I manage to see some.
Light steals the show since he's the one character followed the most and his downward spiral has some subtleties to notice throughout the series' run. It's not necessarily as simple as breaking bad for him and that's where it ends as far as talking about character progression. Things like L's challenge towards Light as Kira and their subsequent meetings leave an ever increasing mark on his ego and humanity. I mean, sure, he doesn't wrestle with any conflicting feelings with what he does beyond the beginning, but other things take a toll and noticing his attitude changing, even if just subtly sometimes in places has its own charm.

Death Note has quite the nihilistic mood to it, from the unconcerned world of the Shinigami to the apathy of the detective foes Light faces. There is no care for executing justice among L, Near or Mello especially, it is either about the challenge a case presents, or finishing what someone started out of a crooked sense of respect as the two kids do, one of them not caring how low he stoops for it.
If DN has a choice to present either the better, humane sides of some characters in the story or the worse parts of humanity, the latter would sound like a better idea to write about as far as Ohba is concerned. From orphanages that raise jaded, apathetic super-detectives to power hungry corporates that organise killings of their competition to rising two-faced cult leaders that take advantage of people's fear and respect towards Kira, there is a lot cynicism, sinister thought and so on. And there is the protagonist that wants to sit on top of it all, who is nothing more than a murderer excusing his initial blunder to not have his ego and life crash.
In short, Death Note does not give a flying fuck and it wants you to come along for the ride, mull a bit over some points it presents and hope you got some fun out of it with a ridiculously achieved lesson on why any ambition doesn't excuse the means to achieve it if it was even an honest ambition in the first place. Its biting cynicism and nihilism perhaps comes from the writer's priority to just write what he deems interesting and that is alright, since there are some very entertaining individual scenarios to take away from the series.

As far as the art goes, Takeshi Obata's human designs are always very nice to look at and the designs of the Shinigami are fairly eye-catching. The real-life referenced backgrounds and objects don't exactly scream creatively distinct, but there isn't a real need for that.
The manga doesn't lack a good sense for camera angles, but it lacks engaging panel composition. There is a lack of sparking, sharp and diagonal panels to accentuate the intensity of certain scenes at times. If there's an action scene, it either goes wide or it feels cramped and lacking in energy, signalling some limited capabilities of Obata as a comic artist at the time whom since had improved incomparably. It's hard to argue that not needing intense and creative panneling is that necessary given the nature of the conflicts in the story considering how the anime adaptation was able to go about it.

And that is that pretty much. Death Note is not a tale of peaks and valleys in quality, but little disappointments here and there that could've led to more. It is also a tale of a story which, while too comfortable in its own skin, executes what's there with extreme confidence that I can't help being fairly entertained anyway. A lot of its situations on their own are very engaging and my gripes with it can't take that away enough, I guess. Still, I'm gonna have to carry the good feelings along with the spectres of criticism looming over my shoulder like a god of death.





It ain't a heavier weight than the one that comes with living with a humongous dick though, believe me.

[ S P O I L E R W A R N I N G ]

Death note is a story about light, a geneus student who finds the death note on the ground and decides to test it out; on finding out that it does indeed work he begins his iradication of all criminals and falls face first into the downward spiral of insanity.

STORY

The story is extremely good and gripping, as all dedtective novels should be. I enjoyed it so much that I skipped many hours of sleep to finish it in two days.
But the second part after L death is weaker but Light’s death scene is very good ( I cried )

9

ART

Personally I liked the art as it had a nice feel but it was not amazing but there were no errors that I remember and it was verry clean.

8

CHARACTERS

For the first half the characters were verry good and had clear motivations and this is constant throughout the manga but something happens after L’s death the new detective characters, Mello and Near are not as likeable and you start to root for light, which is not nessiseraly bad as it makes his death all the more impactful but still they could be better as there is not much development in any character.
7

ENJOYMENT

The quirkyness of the characters and the gripping story make for a verry enjoyable manga.
9

CONCLUSION

I recommend the manga over the anime as the art style is much cleaner I definitely recommend this as it is a classic stlill relive the today and is quite deep and makes you think about stuff my three brain cells would not give a shit about like: is it right to kill a criminal, how far should one go to cach one and is Mello a boy or a girl

OVERALL

9/10

I began reading this series, thanks to a friend, when it was still being translated. As soon as I picked it up I couldn't put it down! I spent an entire week going to the book store after a day at college just to read another volume!

I was pretty broke back then and couldn't afford to buy the series, but even after I'd finished it I was surprised and stoked when a 13th appeared! By then, I'd bought the whole series and I had to have it too (even if it's not a story volume) and I was pleased as punch to discover L's true name! (sorry, no spoilers here)

I've read and re-read this series countless times and it is still one I wouldn't mind being caught reading!

Death Note tells the story of two geniuses going up against one another in a battle of minds. You have a character with questionable morals taking on the mission to rid the world of evil while another character tries his best to discover his identity and stop him.

The story unfolds brilliantly. The art is well matched with the story. The characters are very well done. As the reader, you will be intrigued to see where the story goes next and are probably gonna finish the series in a day. Its remarkable in many ways, nothing too major to complain about and definitely a fun read.

Highly recommend it.

Summary of the story: Morality. Every character has a radically different conception of justice, but who is the good guy? And is there one? Who's right? Who's wrong? Those questions have multiple answers, so let's find out.

What defines good and evil? How should evil be dealt with? Who decides which is which? Death Note doesn't necessarily answer these questions, but it doesn't intend to; the point is that such questions have been asked for centuries and will never be answered but humans simply can't find answers as living beings in this world. This anime pits formidable personalities with wildly different worldviews against each other, and none of them are afraid to say "I am justice!". The question of who is right haunts every character and ultimately go unsolved, so let's see if we can't get to the bottom of it, using the three characters at the center of the show's moral conflict.

As Yagami Light, a protagonist is not necessarily a hero and Light proves it in the first episode.
It's not enough for him to take a stand against violent crime; after only five days with the Death Note he's written hundreds of names and declared himself the "god of the new world," vowing to strike down any who stand in his way. It's a noble cause, but easily corruptible; it's basically the communist ideal. It's worth noting that in the five years of Light's reign as Kira, the crime rate plummets and all wars are put on hold. From Light's perspective, it's one step closer to an ideal world. But a world governed by altruism is a far cry from one governed by fear. By this time Light and his subordinates have started killing pickpockets and other petty criminals, judging mankind on acts rather than reasons. The rule of law rests entirely in the hands of three flawed individuals.

Perhaps only fear can motivate humanity to coexist so completely and so quickly, but the second half of the plot makes clear that Kira has addressed symptoms and not causes. Fear, ignorance, and anger still exist, and Light is perfectly willing to manipulate these flaws in his favor, as when he organizes a bloodthirsty mob to storm the Kira task force's headquarters. And lest we forget greed, this same mob is distracted and neutralized when Near showers them with the remains of L's fortune to cover his team's escape.
Remember that Light's original motive is boredom. "Day in and day out, the same news on permanent repeat," he laments, shortly before picking up the Death Note and changing the world forever. Though he vows to strike down the wicked, he makes no distinction between hardened criminals and those "who are less guilty but who still make trouble for others." The troublemakers are culled through disease and accidents, while the truly terrible serve as examples. One could argue that Light's power gives him the responsibility to reshape the world for the better, but the world he seeks to create is unquestionably in his self-centered image.

L is described by Tsugumi Ohba as "slightly evil", and it isn't difficult to see why. As the undisputed king of detectives, L has essentially limitless jurisdiction and resources. In a world that turns on the interpretation and manipulation of data, he is as close to superhuman as one can get. It's the perfect recipe for a villain: wholly without rivals, with every eccentricity tolerated and he even is a star athlete. With the ability to succeed at seemingly anything he does, why does L devote himself to the law?

In a way, L is just as vain as he proves Light to be in the second episode. He admits that he's "childish and hates losing," which indicates a certain amount of pride at stake in his work. He also will not take a case unless at least ten lives or a million dollars are on the line. If his detective work is indeed just a game to him, it makes sense that he would seek out challenges. He may also believe that his intellect is wasted on any but the most dangerous and impossible cases. But both he and Light declare "I am justice!" at the end of the second episode. The parallel is no mere dramatic flair. As Misa's extrajudicial kidnapping and torture prove, both men are willing to go to extreme lengths in the name of their principles. But while they both work from the shadows, L has an existing legal framework on his side—one that he is more or less free to dictate. While he insists that extraordinary foes require extraordinary actions, he's also not above outright lying—everything from using convicts as expendable decoys to insisting that his trademark crouch increases his reasoning abilities by 40%.

Humans are inquisitive by nature. We want answers, and Light's tenure as God proves that many of us look up to powerful figures who claim to have them. Light appeals to an innate desire for justice in all people and uses that to rule the world from the shadows. But his arrogance consumes him throughout the second season because he has no equal to keep him humble. It's possible that L is the same way: he gravitates toward law, detective work, and justice simply because he has to succeed. Where Light represents individual, retributive justice, L represents law at its most perfect and least merciful.

While we're on the subject of L, why does the discovery of shinigami shock him so deeply? Because of the supernatural upsets the balance of the hierarchy he has crowned himself king of. Gods of death operate by completely different rules than humans, physically and psychologically speaking. Once he's acknowledged that he's dealing with forces beyond his understanding, of course, the shinigami are just one more challenge for him to fit into his worldview. So what is there to understand about Ryuk? Of all the characters in Death Note, Light's companion shinigami is the most honest. Ryuk may be deliberately evasive or obtuse, but unlike the humans he meets, he never tells an outright lie. His reason for dropping the Death Note into the human world is clear from the beginning: "I did it because I was bored."
Is it evil to allow a deadly weapon to potentially fall into evil hands? Perhaps, but would you call gun shop owners evil? All they do is respond to the demands of an existing market. The difference is that Ryuk knowingly attempts to stir up trouble - the most "interesting" humans are the ones who make extensive and creative use of the Death Note, and those who rise to challenge them. Ryuk sets in motion the deaths of thousands - perhaps hundreds of thousands. But he does not hide behind ideals or principles. There will be other lives, and as long as they do interesting things - and give him apples - he is content to watch them destroy each other. He'll be the first to tell you. It may sound like a paradox, but there's an undeniable integrity to that sort of morality.

The answer to the question of right and wrong is that there is no answer. Good and evil are mutable concepts that change with perspective and context, and defining them is a constant undertaking that stretches back as far as recorded history. Both Light and L believe that humanity is fundamentally unchanging, both use that belief for their own gain, and both have different definitions of justice to back it up. Ryuk, as one of a stagnant race, is wholly amoral, but he is under no obligation to be otherwise. Nor does he feel it necessary to disguise his motives - why should he answer to alien laws? Trying to decide who is on the side of justice - whether they take a side or not - misses the point of this show. The idea that there are sides drives human history and achievement. But in the world of Death Note, those who see beyond the abstractions have the power to manipulate them, for better or for worse.

Personal Note - This manga came out in Portugal and it took 3 years to be completed. The manga does a better job of conveying the message.

Unlike the brilliant anime, the Death Note manga in my opinions isn't quite as good. Yes, the story-line is identical apart froma few minor differences, nothing that changes anything. If you've seen the anime, you'll find it tedious re-reading the manga. Its the same.
However Death Note doesn't quite suit the manga as well as the anime. It starts of very good, but towards the later numbers it becomes heavily text-based and you'll be trolling through pages of talkign which is slightly more bearable in anime.
The only down-side to the manga is the artwork. Overall it is very good, but at time if you read it, you'll notice it is a bit sloppy, L most of all looks kinda retarded at times and a lot like an ape, therefore
Overall it still is very good but just not quite up to scratch compared to the anime, I'd still recommend it as a good read.

Most people say death note is a brilliant game of wits.
They say its morally grey.
This is both wrong. All the mindreading is unrealistic. Even if you are the smartest person alive you cant make predictions about other people with 100% accuracy because in the real world you deal with incomplete knowledge. All those "i know that you knew that i knew that you knew..." stuff is entertaining but not "brilliant".
That the series is morally grey is absurd. Yes there are a lot of Kira followers in the manga but most of them are depicted as imbeciles. The only important characters that sympathize with Kira are Misa (who is portrayed as dumb, superficial), Matsuda (also dumb) and this greedy sakura journalist.
In the end Light gets mad. And even in the beginning he starts killing nonmurderers, its pretty clear that almost everyone finds that wrong.
The story is also build on a lot of conventient coincidences, for example that the police chief is the father of Kira, that Misa is in love with Light, that Rem cares way too much for misa and so on.

Light is an empty character, he has no hobbys, no interests,is asexual, he just does what you should do in japanese society, study for school. The only personal thing we know about him is that he played tennis in the past. I dont find it plausible that such a conformist would try to change the world so radically.

The thing i really liked about death note is Ryuuk.
We live in a world where everyone tells us how important it is that we personally take action, that we go vote, that we make the world a better place and such.
Ryuuk just watches, he rearly gets involved in the plot. He doesnt judge. He just enjoys the moment. In the end both L and Light lose, both lived not in the moment but in the future, in their worlds of anticipation. Rem let herself in in lights sceming, that ended in her dimise. We all should be more like Ryuuk and less like Rem. We shouldnt take life too seriously. We should stay in the present. In the end all the planning will be in vain.

The first thing you wonder about when you start to read DEATH NOTE is whether the stories main protagonist is good or evil. After reading a bit further you realise that your suppoesed to keep guessing right till the end.

DEATH NOTE was the first manga I read the entire way through and I will continue to re-read it over and over, till the day I die.

The story of DEATH NOTE is a detective story that runs over the course of about seven years. However, it has a edge-of-your-seat speed and danger about it that is strangely alluring. Tsugumi Ohba has managed to weave a tale with many twists and turns that you don't expect until it's right there on the page in front of you.

Takeshi Obata's artwork begins very well. Then gets better. It is perfectly dark and worrying, and the Shinigami (Death Gods) almost look as if you could meet one in reality. But it is at the end where the imagery is most powerful and amazing.

The most important part of DEATH NOTE is it's characters. All of them are well developed from their unveiling. Even some of the characters that are only in three or four frames seem to have been created with the same love as the main characters.

DEATH NOTE is enjoyable for almost any body in their teens and onwards through adulthood. It can be (and has been) enjoyed by all ages, all genders, race, religion and political preference. And always will be.

Overall, this series' excellence speaks for itself and has paved the way for an Anime and Film adaption as well as a prequel novel. No one can really say how good this series is. The reader must judge for themself.

And more often than not, they judge it wonderfully.

Ok, so I read Death Note religiously for 5 days and finished all 12 volumes of it. And I absolutely loved it. For this review I am going to start a new format where I list the basic pros and cons with no spoilers, then go into a person rant about what I loved and hated.

Pros:
-Very smart and cunning characters
-Suspenseful story, always making you want more
-Interesting love story
-The ever complicating rules of the Notebook
-The ending

Cons:
-The main character's God complex becomes overwhelming at times
-Can't tell if the main character is evil, a jerk, or just psychotic

Personal Rant +SPOILERS+
Okay, so I decided that I would read Death Note as a quick break from the other manga I have been reading, but then I was absorbed into the story line in no time at all. So first, the things I hated. I did not like how Light was defeated, it was so unprofessional. Then again, when Ruyuk killed Light himself, I applauded him. At first when Light died, I thought deep in my heart how I didn't want Light to die and take over the world with Misa. Then, after I thought about it, I was so glad how Near won. I also liked it how Misa was kept alive, she was my favorite character, of course she did turn into a Kira worshiper. Another thing I loved was how the rules of the Notebook were used in so many different ways. So I give this manga a perfect 10!

Ok so Death Note is a huge manga and anime/manga fans who havnt heard of it have got to be living under a rock. Death Note is definitely a must read for all anime and manga fans whether you feel it's your type of story or not. Why do I say this? Well it's because Death Note is so original. It's thrilling, suspenseful and always keeps you well into the story. There's always something going on as the plot leads one thing to another.

What I love about Death Note is how the plot is so well planned. Not even I could think up all of the plans which Light, L and Near plot! It's simply too genius which also makes for it's downfall. The last half of the story is when Near and Mello are introduced into the plot and that's where it kinda starts to get a bit confusing. I do understand what they're all doing but sometimes I need to read things over to get it. Some of the things didn't make sense for me which explains my '9 instead of 10' rating for enjoyment.

The characters were very well thought out. The roles they played, their attitudes and personalities added to the already amazing plot but the character I am most thankful for is Matsuda. I was so glad he was there to bring comic relief and to lighten up the manga! Some of the characters were rather annoying which explains the '9 out of 10' rating and when I said "some of the characters" I was meaning Misa in particular. She's annoying and clingy but at times I did think she was cute and did bring some comic relief. Also Light was pretty creepy in the final chapters.

I remember when I first started reading Death Note. I had heard of it and I only expected myself to read a chapter or two so I could at least understand what it was about. I ended up reading the next 10 chapters on the same night and I thought it was unbelievably awesome! I understood at that moment why Death Note was so popular. Sure Death Note is another story with the good guys and the bad guys but the good guys always win in the end but Death Note is far from cliche. We all know who wins in the end but it's the 'how' which gives it its originality. Overall it was an outstanding manga for me and I'm sure the anime is just as excellent. Death Note deserves the praise it receives.

Story: [10/10]
The story is amazing. Light and Ryuk both think their world is rotten so they try to make it better. Ryuk escapes his world and looks for entertainment on earth by dropping a notebook. The best entertainment he could wish for, Yagami Light, picks up the book. This is when one of the biggest geniusses on earth starts to make that world a place worth for a god to live in... by killing criminals! Of course that makes him a criminal himself in the eyes of the law and the police and detective L. Light searches for L and L searches for Light, both to stop them. As they are both invincible since nobody knows anything about them, desperate needs lead to desperate deeds.
I found myself a few major plot holes, but I just think of that as "That person wasn't smart enough to do that" but it really was searching for them and almost as hard to find as L for Light and visa versa.

Art: [10/10]
Simply the best art I've ever seen in manga, shonen at least.

Characters: [9/10]
Light and L both have my deepest respect. L is extremely cool besides his lack of social skills and Light is exactly how I would imagine an insanely smart person with that kind of book. He acted in most cases how I would act.
the -1 is because of the position of women in this series: they are all relatively dumb and half of them is used. They also all fall for light like autumn leaves as if they have no mind on their own. Besides that: the heroine is very annoying.

Enjoyment: [10/10]
This is the part of the review I wanted to write the most:
This manga challenged me mentally and logically. It made me question moral and death and it learned me to look at things differendly: more conciderately. The only other manga's/anime's that accomplished this so far are Liar Game and Akumetsu, but none of them was as strong as Death Note.

Overall: [10/10]
Why are you still reading this review instead of Death Note?

Death Note is a thrilling, captivating manga, which will let you wonder and guess the whole time.

Story:
Yagami Light, a brilliant high school student, finds a notebook Every person of which his/her name is written in the notebook will die-if the cause of death is specifically written that will happen,unless it's something that can't happen;like someone from Japan dying in England,and if the cause of death isn't written the person will die of a heart attack-, with a few other rules. The Shinigami Ryuk/Ryuuku had dropped the notebook on purpose out of boredom and has to follow Light, the owner of the notebook, now. Light has a strong sense of justice and a strong will and has decided to kill off all criminals who commited big crimes-he doesn't punish people who commited small crimes,people who didn't do the crimes on purpose or people with a criminal record but who changed-and to let the world know someone is punishing evil people getting sudden heart attacks becomes Kira's trade mark. When criminals keep dropping dead the people nickname him Kira en the authorities send the legendary detective L.With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal... or his life? The story was great-in the first half it was the absolute best for me. The second half was nice too, but not as great. After 'major spoiler'-like the others call it-I was truly shocked. Really,for a second I thought it was just a joke. After all that happened I didn't expect thát to happen.Most people stop reading it at that point,but I wanted to know how it ended and then I got shocked again. Still, I promise it's worth to read it. I agree with the other people who say it would have ended better at the point of 'major spoiler',but it's still great to read.It's like a cat-and-mouse game and I keep getting like 'Okay,what?' at points when they think so far ahead as how they would respond to the plan of the enemy on their plan or how their plan worked-I was really confused at the end thanks to Nears response-but okay. Mello and Near appear later as more of Lights enemies,but L still surpasses them for me. I still give the story a 10 as it still managed to keep me on the edge of my seat.

Art:
The arts great-I really get goosebumps at times when Light shows me an unbelievably creepy smirk and then comes up with even more versions of it.It's drawed well and accurate, so I give it a 10.

Character:
The characters are truly astonishing. Light is so smart that it's frightening and L is on par with him. Really, the characters developed greatly and you managed to understand them and predict their reactions. Well this obviously doesn't count for Light,L or Near. Even though most people dislike Light because he uses people to achieve his goals-mostly Misa,to which Light is everything-and because he looks down on people,but I took quite a liking to Light-well apart from the creepy smirks and the using and looking down on people Light is just trying to get a better world. I wonder if Light never had picked up the notebook and someone else had become Kira,would he and L have become friends?I really hope so. The Shinigami were quite scary at the beginning,but I began to take a liking to Ryuuku,Rem and Shidou-Shidou was so foolishly adorable it was hard not to. All in all I give the characters a 10 too.

Enjoyment:
I really enjoyed reading this and couldn't stop reading it once I started.If you are looking for something which will make you sit on the edge of your seat the whole time,keeping you wondering and guessing what will happen,then this is the ideal manga for you.If your just looking for something enjoyable you should give it a try to. It's worth it. I give it a 10 too.

Overall:10/10
Well,you wouldn't expect any other score with all the 10s I gave,eh? But still, I really love this manga. It's awesome and you'll surely like it.
Just give it a try and keep reading.

My scores may not make much sense but it's because the story series delines as it progresses, but the art and characters remain strong. The enjoyment was a 10 untill roughly halfway through the series and this has marred my overall opion, as explained below...

It's good untill it gets stupid - I can accept the initial premises of a manga like this (Shinigami exist and kill people by writing their name in a book), that's fine because it's explained right at the start and as far as I'm aware that's the only difference between this universe and the manga's.

However, unfortunately, the plot devices just get too ridiculous. It didn't help that my favourite character died but that really isn't why I stopped reading (same happened in Claymore and I still really like that). The thing is, this manga claims to be intelligent, which it is to a degree but it fails at being intelligently silly which, regrettably, is what this becomes around the point when I stopped reading...

Each era of anime is marked by its own trends, its own conventions, its own shows that dominate the conversation and shape public perception of the medium among fans and non-fans alike. For the 2000's, Death Note was one of the biggest, and a good argument could be made that it WAS the biggest. It achieved a seemingly omnipresent level of saturation, you could not go to a forum on any given nerd hobby without people filled with avatars and signatures from the series, and its famous lines are parroted even now. Its anime adaptation was immensely popular and reached a level of pop cultural osmosis that was thorough enough that even people who don't care about anime obtained a passing familiarity with at least the eponymous concept. As of this writing, it is even getting a westernized adaptation on Netflix with Willem Dafoe of all people as Ryuuk.


Unfortunately, I can't really hold the series in an especially high regard for a number of reasons despite all the critical acclaim and praise that has been lavished upon it.

To get the good out of the way, it certainly has a pretty fascinating hook. The ability to easily kill anyone without leaving any proof, thoroughly avoiding any consequences, merely by writing their names in a notebook, is a pretty interesting and memorable concept. It has immense potential for all kinds of storytelling possibilities, such as the development and psychological effects that this would have on the person using the Death Note, the wider sociological repercussions of a mass series of killings that seem to be divine punishment, whether it's morally justifiable to kill criminals given that any justice system is heavily skewed in certain ways, etc.

Secondly, it has very good artwork. While Obata is not among my favorite manga artists, it would be disingenuous to not recognize his draftsmanship as arguably the strongest point of Death Note. It is not by any means easy to create polished and detailed art on a weekly basis for manga even with assistants, and yet Obata pulls it off with aplomb and a very strong aesthetic. My favorite part are probably his fantastical shinigami designs, which have a very "demon punk monster" vibe to them.

Finally, the actual focus of the plot, the cat and mouse games between Light and the investigators (whether they be L or someone else) are pretty entertaining to watch. I don't think I was ever BORED reading the series since there was almost always something going on, some zany scheme or gambit at play that kept things moving. This was by Ohba's own admission what he was writing the manga around, and I can understand that decision since Death Note must have pulled in a strong readership when it was running in Jump due to its suspense on a week to week basis.

But unfortunately, even with all those things going for it, it can't make up for what I consider Ohba's crippling flaw, which is generally that I think his characters are very lackluster for the most part.

Light CAN be a fun character to watch, but I ultimately feel that he is a detriment to the series because he isn't especially nuanced or interesting. Everything related to his "development" is handled in an extremely underwhelming manner. Any scruples that he has are quite quickly tossed aside in a manner that makes later developments to paint him as a good person prior to the Death Note as completely unconvincing. He is little more than a petulant, arrogant sociopath with a god complex who only becomes more and more unlikable and pathetic as the series goes on. He has very little in the way of humanizing traits or moments, which just renders him completely impossible to like or get behind. This may have been the point, but I don't feel that it made for a good character because you can still have a complex and nuanced villain who is still someone to hate, but who also has layers and where you understand why he became the person they did and perhaps connect with them on some level against your wishes. Light does not achieve any of that, so as it stands I just don't find him to be that great.

L is probably the best character in the series, a fun character to watch with enough bizarre quirks to make him feel more human than the other characters, even if it's an exaggerated animu way. I would honestly say that he is one of the series' biggest assets, every scene he is in is one where he has your attention. I don't think that I can hold him up as one of my favorite characters in anime and manga, but among the ones in the series, he stands supreme.

The thing about this though, is that it makes the conflict in place have a pretty clear right and wrong. I have heard a few times about the supposed moral ambiguity of the story and the idea that people debate on who to root for, but with all due respect I just find that to be malarky. Light is such a horrendous, sanctimonious individual that it is impossible to suggest that he is in the right with a straight face. His entire worldview and methodology to using the Death Note is fundamentally and horrendously flawed and likely led to many innocents being killed, he simply cannot be trusted with that kind of power. This is someone who killed a man entirely because he insulted his ego, that is his defining character moment at the very beginning of the series. He isn't even the kind of charismatic villain who you want to see triumph. The idea that anyone should root for him or want him to win is completely laughable.

I don't think most of the other characters really have that much going for them, honestly. Almost all of them are defined by very superficial characteristics that make it hard to really care about them in any meaningful way. IIt feels like Ohba only really cared about them as pawns on a chessboard to move his thriller plot along, without bothering to put some effort into humanizing them and making them compelling characters to be invested in.

There was one moment in the story where one character leaves the investigation due to anger at how he is being treated, and is greeted by his daughter who asks him what's going on, leading him to burst into tears and hug her. This was one of the few instances of warmth and actual humanity in the story where I actually cared somewhat about what was happening on an emotional level, but there was never any other time where that happened. Overall, Death Note is quite an impersonal and cold story as the characters aren't really people you connect with all that deeply.

Now, it is not necessarily true that you need super great and complex characters in order to have a worthwhile story. Some people may say that, but I don't think it's true, per se. If your story is more theme and idea-driven, then it is ok for the characters to be a bit more flat or to be more representative of ideas and philosophies, or be more timeless archetypes in order to make a point. The story need not be super emotional either, as long as it is interesting.

But for that, your ideas need to be actually interesting and you have to deal with them in a meaningful and insightful way.

Death Note never does that because it is entirely focused on its thriller elements. Ohba himself said that he wanted to leave moral judgments and sociological commentary for the audience to think about. I suppose I can understand that decision, but Death Note completely neglecting this area of the story feels like a bunch of squandered potential. All of the questions that I mentioned above regarding the premise's potential that could have been explored due to the premise are left as footnotes or passing mentions at best.

This means that Death Note only really works as a reasonably entertaining thriller; it cannot to be said to be a strong character-driven drama, nor is it a poignant thoughtpiece that presents interesting concepts and gives insightful answers.

What this basically means is that looking back on Death Note, I am just left feeling that the version of the story that I got from the premise was not at all the kind of story I would have preferred to get from it. I would have done a lot of things quite differently, such as significantly changing Light's character, focusing a lot more on societal effects of Kira, putting more character moments to add complexity to the cast and make you care about them, etc.

But I suppose in the end I can't really be that hard on it, since I was entertained reading it. It just isn't anything more than a 6 out of 10 for me as an experience.

Throughout the time I read the manga (I haven't seen the anime. Is it good?), I was giddily bouncing in my seat and squealing. Yes, it evokes a deep sense of fangirlishness and, actually, suspense. A real page-turner.

Story: The plot is something I've never seen before. It is definitely my personal favorite, but if you want to do yourself a favor, stop after reading chapter 56-58. It gives you a sense of ending. After that, they introduce the new characters; L wannabe, Near, and chocoholic Mello. The plot gets a little tedious, and often I found myself wanting to skip through it.

Art: As far as I can tell, the art is pretty well drawn, though sometimes a bit sloppy.

Character: Not many people have noticed, but I have to wonder if the creators are misogynistic. All of the females portrayed are seen as weak and helpless - even dumb. For example, there's Misa, who will gladly give away her life for Light and is not so smart. Yuri, who was just being used for barely two chapters, Sayu Yagami, who was basically just used so Mello could kidnap her, the lady who was Raye Penber's fiancee, who is shown to be obviously in a more dominated side of the relationship, and though she was smart, was killed off soon enough.

Otherwise, I find everyone to be very lifelike.

Enjoyment: I enjoyed it very much; up until chapter 60. With that, it started up again (the plot) and it felt kind of forced - like fanfiction when the author had writer's block.

Overall: Overall...I find it very difficult not to give it a high score. Go read it. Now.

Q: What happens when an unstoppable Mary Sue meets an immovable Mary Sue?
A: Death Note.

The protagonist, and his adversary, are both genius pretty boys (with the odd names of Light and L) who have an incredible amount of achievements and skill for their young age. Light somehow predicts things that he could not possibly have the foresight to predict, because, you know, probability is a thing. Don’t worry though, it’s not like you know that he’ll always win, because L possesses this exact same unexplained and ludicrous ability to predict the future; he just does so without a cheesy “Just as planned!” catchphrase that makes me want to shoot myself every-time it graces my ears. In this way, rather than being a dark and mysterious thriller, Death Note often manages to be an overblown mental mudslinging contest between two impossibly perfect master practitioners of bullshit who are both describable in a single sentence. This is epitomized in an early scene where the two, who both have tennis skills at a professional level, get into a match and engage in a ridiculously drawn-out internal line of logic about how the desire to not lose might relate to the true identity of the other.


Furthermore, what kind of psychological mystery thriller has a plot entirely driven by coincidences, improbabilities, and impossibilities? Again, Death Note. Plot devices like this were used every-time the manga found itself in a narrative corner, and these cop-outs always completely killed the tension that was built up to that point, while simultaneously disengaging the plot from the audience.


The concept was intriguing, and I won’t say it did not entertain me at some parts, but it was ultimately far too flawed in its execution to be called enjoyable or good overall, and it never managed to pull off the promise of its premise. It seemed overdone at times, with eye-roll worthy developments, and lines like “I take a potato chip and eat it!” delivered with the utmost significance and conviction, devoid of any irony or self-awareness. Light’s ability, of writing a name in a notebook as a method of killing, is initially well established and limited, while being relatively creative, although you would think he’d be able to do a bit more with it, but the way the new rules of the note are introduced as the story goes on can get a tad contrived.


Characterization quality is somewhat varied, but I would say that it's generally not all that good. It was bad, really. Light is a bit too perfect, his only flaws being the well-concealed logical results of his perfection, such as his narcissism and overconfidence. It could be argued that this flawlessness was intentionally done in an effort to depict the deconstruction of a seemingly perfect human being, but I think this concept eventually fell flat. It would have been far more interesting to see an average teenager find the note and watch the scope of his ambitions and arrogance develop over time. Light is arrogant, ambitious, and a staunch consequentialist from the very outset; this, logically, kills almost all opportunity for development. As for the rest of the characters, L was far more interesting and entertaining than Light, although he was even more unrealistic, evoking the child prodigy and boy detective clichés among other things; I mostly found myself rooting for him rather than the protagonist. Light's eventual “girlfriend” falls in love with him, to the extent of obsession, right away, as the plot commands it, and this insufficiently-explored obsession with him defines her entire character. There is absolutely nothing to her besides that, despite her eventually becoming one of the most significant characters in the series. In all actuality, the motivations for most characters, besides the protagonist and the Shinigami, are hazy at best and, with the exception of L, none of them are interesting in the slightest.


Death Note has some religious symbolisms and themes, which are underplayed and done well until a forced Christ allegory towards the middle, but this all kind of falls apart in the second half and all of the symbolism quickly vanishes into thin air. To make matters more dire, the already limited development of the protagonist stagnates and his adversary is quickly replaced by two identical, yet duller and less compelling, copies. At the same time, while the developments and additional rules to Light’s ability in the first half were often a bit contrived, they were usually better than nothing; pretty much all evolution stops in the second half, and it only gets worse. The manga essentially loses everything that it ever had going for it, and it then lies fallow in that inadequate stage for the remainder of the plot, all leading up to an anticlimactic conclusion that the audience knew was coming from the very beginning. The manga would have lost nothing to speak of had that conclusion come around 4 volumes earlier than it did. Therefore, as the plot progressed, it increasingly lost its higher significance and simultaneously started to wear thin the initial appeal of its premise.


The art is arguably the strongest, or least flawed, aspect of Death Note, the character design being particularly astounding, with the exception of a couple characters introduced in the second half whose designs were either dumb-looking or recycled. The art is generally pretty atmospheric and it never skimps on detail out of convenience, although not much detail is required in the first place. The design of the main antagonist, while understated, is particularly impressive due to the fact that he manages to be very aesthetically appealing, despite the ridiculous heroin chic vibe that the audience gets from him. It is usually pretty stellar, although side characters aren't all that detailed.


In the end, what Death Note did accomplish was hackneyed and not all that original; it could not be called “deep” nor was it ever cutting-edge in the grand scheme of things. The coincidences and general improbabilities that drove the plot bar it from being called “realistic,” more than the out-there premise ever could. That said, it should be given some credit for featuring a true antihero, who is still often admired by the audience, and ultimately not being afraid to portray him as pathetic. It also never used the character’s high school age as an excuse to throw light school-life hijinks into the plot. But these positive qualities unfortunately failed to have too much influence in the industry, and they are additionally outweighed by negatives in the universe of the manga itself. Code Geass, a blatant Death Note rip-off, wasted no time at all in taking every single good Death Note did and flipping it all on its head. I might recommend Death Note, if only for the first half, but only with a warning that it fell apart and that even the first half is not as great as it's often made out to be. You honestly might be best off watching the first half and simply skimming the plot summary of the second, because it has nothing of value to offer the reader beyond that point.

Note: This is mostly a modified version of my review for the anime. They follow the same storyline and suffer from the same fundamental issues.