Manga

Death Note
Written by:  Tsugumi Ohba & Yuuko Asami
Illustrated by: Takeshi Obata
Published by: Shueisha
Premiered: December 2003
Ended: May 2006
Volumes: 12
Genre: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Psychological, Shōnen, Supernatural, Tragedy
 
Death Note is an interesting manga, one that can be annoying and long winded at times. The storyline is bit crazy, overly exaggerated at certain instances, but if you are anything like me—CRAZY manga fan, you will keep going.
 
I must say despite how many times I wanted to tear the pages out, I kept at it. Like I said it’s an interesting and unusual story. If you find yourself fascinated by psychological thrillers, then this is the manga for you.
 
Light Yagami’s life is changed when he finds the “Death Note”.  A notebook dropped on earth by a god of death, also known as a shinigami, named Ryuk.  The power of the death note is beyond anything Light has ever seen. It grants him the ability to kill anyone whose face and name that he knows. All he has to do is write there name in it. The death note however has certain rules “instructions”, 5 are written for the holder to read, and others that Light will discovery along the way.
 
The story is interesting, not simply because of what the Death Note can do, but because Light isn’t just any kid. At 17 he is beyond book smart, he is calculated, and in my opinion a sociopath. He resents all things evil and uses the death note, and Ryuk to “cleanse” the world of crime. He wants to create a society where crime is non-existent, where is he the ultimate ruler.
 
At first things go smoothly, Light has not drawn to much attention to himself, but as the story progresses, the International Police Organization start noticing that a large number of criminals are dying of heart attacks. A special detective by the name of “L” is called in to investigate. Much like Light, L is also a genius, so it becomes a game of cat and mouse between the two.
 
The story follows the chess game that becomes the manhunt to catch the killer, known to the world as Kira. Who is Kira, what does he want, etc? All questions L is determined to find out. With the help of local police force, where Light’s father is chief, L is determined to find Kira.
 
Can Light outwit and win against L? Read to find out…
 
I have watched both movies for this series, and it was really good, surprisingly so. Most times movies will lack the most important accepts of the manga, but not here. There was some slight variation with the story, but it did not take away from the main storyline, I found it added to it, and made me appreciate the series more.
 
Like most manga, Death Note also have an anime series, the series has a total of 37 episodes. Not very long which is good, that means less filler episodes. I am more into reading so the anime is not something I jumped on, however, I heard great things about it and will check it out soon enough.
 
At the present moment I am reading the Death Note novel, Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. So far so good.
 
Overall for art work and storyline I give death note 8/10.
 
Happy Reading
Riri