Death Note #01

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emmejo, December 30, 2009 (view all comments by emmejo)
When Light finds a strange notebook called the Death Note that claims if you write someone's name in it they will die, he assumes it is a joke. He tests it out on a criminal who is holding hostages and 40 seconds later the man dies of a heart attack. When Light realizes that he has the power to kill anyone in the world he decides to start killing criminals to make the world safer, but there is a line between helping and using the power of the Death Note for his own purpose, which becomes to create a utopia-like world in which he is god.

I decided to give this book a go because it is so popular among Manga fans. I have to admit that although the premise is interesting, this is quite predictable, even dull. There is no real depth or interesting enigmas to the characters and the plot is very predictable with few interesting spots. The dialogue isn't interesting, it is flat and lacks any grace, wit or character. The art is static and although technically proficient, lacks life and an interesting layout. Perhaps the later books improve, but I doubt I will read them unless my sister checks them out from the library and I am very bored and have nothing else to read.

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crowyhead, August 27, 2008 (view all comments by crowyhead)
This is an intriguing premise: a Death God has purposefully dropped his Death Note, a notebook that allows the bearer to sentence anyone to death simply by writing their name in the book. A young man named Light picks up the book, and after a few false starts, embarks on a mission to kill all of the world's most notorious criminals and create a utopia. Interpol, however, considers the deaths to be the act of a serial killer, and a mysterious supersleuth known only as "L" is brought onto the case.

I enjoyed the art, and like I said, the premise is intriguing, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with the overall execution. There is very little complexity to the plot thus far, and the way the author continues to add on additional rules regarding the use of Notebook feels like slapdash writing instead of trickiness on the part of the Death God. I think I'll give the next volume a chance, but I don't really anticipate getting super into this series.

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zachpenguinboy, May 29, 2008 (view all comments by zachpenguinboy)
Death Note is an ingenious suspense/action story about Light Yagami, a seventeen year-old intellectual who one day finds a notebook called a “Death Note” dropped by a Japanese god of death called a Shinigami. When Light discovers that he can take the lives of people whose name he knows and faces he can clearly envision by writing down their name in the “Death Note”, he decides that he will create an evil free Utopia in which he reigns supreme by taking the lives of all existing criminals. After criminals begin to rapidly die of heart attacks all around Japan, the Japanese police notice immediately and put the world renowned detective, simply known as L, on the case to track down the killer. A battle of wits between the two begins as Light attempts to discover L’s true persona and L tries to find the person responsible for the murders in hopes of bringing him to justice.
The story Death Note is a brilliant story that carefully crafts ancient Japanese culture with the realistic technology driven world we currently live in. One thing I picked up on very shortly after starting the novel is the intelligence level of author Tsugumi Ohba, represented by the in depth intellectual conversations and situations that the characters get themselves into. A huge positive of the novel is the originality of the story line. A story like this has never yet been thought of, and would be a very long a grueling process to try and copy off of, which could possibly explain its large international success.
The negatives of the novel are few and far between. One change Ohba could have potentially made to make the story appeal to a larger demographic would be to reduce the amount on fantasy elements in the novel such as use of the Shinigami. Those elements intertwined in the story have undoubtly turned off many westerners whom are not familiar with manga or ancient Japanese culture, which could possibly twist people’s opinions on the stories worth. Another minor problem I found with the novel is the confusion created by some of the conversations between L and others that he converses with. His level of intelligence can make it very hard to follow his thought processes and can sometimes lead to having to read a few excerpts over a couple of times. Hope this review helped!

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Product Details

ISBN:

9781421501680

Author:

Ohba, Tsugumi

Publisher:

Viz Media

Illustrator:

Obata, Takeshi

Author:

Obata, Takeshi

Subject:

Graphic Novels - Manga

Subject:

Manga - General

Subject:

Good and evil

Subject:

Criminals

Subject:

United states

Subject:

Death

Copyright:

2005

Edition Number:

1

Edition Description:

B102

Series:

Death Note

Series Volume:

01

Publication Date:

October 2005

Binding:

TRADE PAPER

Grade Level:

General/trade

Language:

English

Illustrations:

Y

Pages:

200

Dimensions:

7.5 x 5 in 6.02 oz

Age Level:

16 and up