DEATH NOTE

Journal of DOOM!

By Mia MacHatton
May 1, 2007

Since its American debut in 2005, Death Note has become one of the most popular manga in the United States. Don't quite know what the appeal is? Let us tell you!

Sheena McNeil, Anime & Manga Editrix

Light is not your average teen; he's a genius - and a bored one. So when he finds a book called a Death Note, left in this world by a Shinigami, he is quickly captivated by its power and riddles. Ryuk is a bored Shinigami who "lost" his book on purpose in order to have a little fun with the humans. Light is quick to learn many of the rules and restrictions of the book and appoints himself as an almight judge who shall destroy the wicked criminals (as the Death Note makes him somewhat of a death god himself), but in so doing he inadvertently makes himself an enemy of the law, and more importantly the great and mysterious detective L who's mind gives Light a run for his money. As another Death Note begins circulating things really get interesting, even causing Light and L to team up (with Light working overtime to keep his secret which becomes doubly hard when L handcuffs them together!).

I mentioned in my review of the first volume that this series reminds me somewhat of X by CLAMP with "mystical" powers, enemies tightly bound to one another, and some ambiguity as to which side is really good and which evil. However, the intricacies and details in the plot, and all the surprise twists take Death Note much further - it's an intense mind game for the characters and the reader. Never is there a dull moment, and I am constantly surprised by the turns the story takes. It is thrilling and exciting, but it also challenges me to see things in new and different ways. It also strikes home at the root of human nature and the lust for absolute, godlike power - as the characters wrestle with how to use such power, the reader also wonders what they would do in that situation. Right and wrong are all shades of grey and I am constantly shifting from supporting and condemning all users of the Death Notes as well as Light and L.

Light is the main character and a strong driving force of the story, with his genius intellect, initial idealism, and strong presence. But this story would be incomplete without the creepy L. He really rubs me the wrong way and sends a few chills down my spine as he displays weird habits, and a mind that rivals Light's so intensely. I want to see him as a villain, but it is sometimes easier to place Light in that role - they play off each other well, and their interactions force things to happen that would not otherwise. Then there are the Shinigami, somewhat silent onlookers who are constantly bemused by the actions, plans, and thoughts of the humans. They complete the casting set by giving the power a rightful user, who knows just what it can do as well as how it can be used (though even they are surprised sometimes).

Death Note's art also has a very powerful and unique feel to it. The hideousness of the Shinigami contrasts with the good-looking humans. The eyes are different as well, especially L's with their dark circles underneath and heavy lids. The art is an excellent match to this manga, and this is one manga that really knows how to hook the reader and work through a frightfully-realistic story.

Katherine Keller, Editrix-In-Chief

I just finished reading volume one of Death Note and all I can say is, "Great Hooly Mooly!"

In some ways the premise is similar to 100 Bullets, but the style and the treatment of themes are rather different.

The theme of "playing God" is, in and of itself, a classic visited in just about every culture's literature. And instead of giving some sort of heavy handed moralism, Death Note dives right in. Light (our rather ironically named character) views himself as on a moral crusade to make the world a better place. He does a surprisingly small amount of moral agonizing about the power of life and death that's been placed in his hands.

And for most stories, the moral dilemmas faced by Light would drive the story, but Death Note adds another two layers on to the whole thing.

First off there's Light's relationship with the bored Shinigami (a kind of death god) named Ryuk who dropped the Death Note into the world because he was bored and wanted to more or less mess with humanity. He's trying to manipulate Light, who, because he is a genius level intellect, also plays similar games to manipulate Ryuk back.

Next up, Light is also locked in a cat and mouse game with L, a legendary investigator for Interpol who's clearly on to the fact the deaths of all these criminals cannot be a coincidence. Light manipulates the properties of the Death Note to try to thow L off of his trail, but at the same time he's trying to use L's reaction to the deaths to ferret out L's identity so
that he can kill L.

Whew!

I suspect that the beautifully illustrated Death Note is going to get hellaciously plot twisty, but I'm certainly hooked on this interesting melange of horror and crime story.

Shaenon Garrity, Staff Writer

Oh, man, Death Note. One of my favorite guilty pleasures. It's about hot supergeniuses battling for world supremacy, which is basically all I ever want to read about. And their absurdly complex logic-loop scheming frequently threatens to engulf entire pages with text, which is fun. And they're constantly thiiiis close to making out.

I admit there's a danger of bias here because I work for Viz, the company that publishes Death Note, and I'm friends with editor Pancha Diaz. But we're honestly total fangirls about the series. It's always a great day at Viz when a new volume arrives and everyone scrambles to find out what happens next (yes, I have heroically restrained myself from looking ahead in the Japanese editions). It also seems to have a lot of crossover appeal with fans of American comic books. It's one of the few manga my husband has really gotten into, and I love being able to discuss the subtleties of plot and characterization with him:

ANDREW: I don't see why those two guys had to spend an entire volume handcuffed together.

ME: *coughs violently*

To be honest, I think Death Note hits its peak in the early volumes. It doesn't completely overstay its welcome (it's twelve volumes long, which is fairly short for a shonen manga), but the early cat-and-mouse standoff between Light and L is my favorite phase of the series. Takeshi Obata's high-contrast, hyper-naturalistic artwork is atypical for manga, but inarguably cool.

VIZ Media, LLC. — Publisher of Death Note and lots of other fine manga.