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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
Actual rating: 3.5 ★
Having watched the anime ages ago, I don't remember much. But I do remember this being the lead-up to a massive nosedive for the series...
Rating for the individual volumes:
Volume 5: 3.25 ★
Volume 6: 3.5 ★
Having watched the anime ages ago, I don't remember much. But I do remember this being the lead-up to a massive nosedive for the series...
Rating for the individual volumes:
Volume 5: 3.25 ★
Volume 6: 3.5 ★
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a lot of fun, probably my favourite so far! The ending was even quite tense, which I didn't expect.
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
• The person in possession of the Death Note is possessed by a Shinigami, its original owner, until they die or the death note is destroyed which ever comes first.
• If a human uses the note, a god of death usually appears in front of him/her within 39 days after he/she uses the note.
Shinigami, the original owners of the Death Note, do not do, in principle, anything which will help or prevent the deaths in the note.
• A Shinigami has no obligation to completely explain how to use the note or rules which will apply to the human who owns it unless asked.
I have long adored the Death Note films, well the originals and not the American remake, but I have never got around to reading the books they were based on.
That all changed when I found a set of the Black Edition books in a local charity shop for an unbelievable bargain price. They have now taken pride of place in my manga collection and I will be working my way through the books over the next few weeks.
The premise is iconic, a Death God (Shinigami) recklessly, or perhaps just for laughs, drops his sacred Note Book in the human realm. There it is found by Light Yagami who, once convinced by its legitimacy, decides to rid the world of violent criminals as part of a quest to make a better society.
This can't be achieved without scrutiny from the police, who are stumped as to how the killings are taking place. Their only hope is the prodigy 'L' who has never failed to solve a crime. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse with both Light and 'L' striving to come out on top.
Taking up the moniker of 'Kira', Light continues his assassinations of criminals across the world whilst his father heads the taskforce pursuing him. As he learns more about the Death Note, Light is able to draw some suspicion away from himself, but the case is thrown wide open when he has to eliminate a team of American agents who are on his tail.
Things take another twist when a second notebook enters the human world and a new 'Kira' joins Lights mission to rid the world of Criminals. This second 'Kira' fulfils a desire to meet Light but is sloppy with their use of the Death Note, leading to their capture. This leads to Light having to take drastic action to save both of their skins!
It is everything I had hoped for and so much more. 5 stars.
• If a human uses the note, a god of death usually appears in front of him/her within 39 days after he/she uses the note.
Shinigami, the original owners of the Death Note, do not do, in principle, anything which will help or prevent the deaths in the note.
• A Shinigami has no obligation to completely explain how to use the note or rules which will apply to the human who owns it unless asked.
I have long adored the Death Note films, well the originals and not the American remake, but I have never got around to reading the books they were based on.
That all changed when I found a set of the Black Edition books in a local charity shop for an unbelievable bargain price. They have now taken pride of place in my manga collection and I will be working my way through the books over the next few weeks.
The premise is iconic, a Death God (Shinigami) recklessly, or perhaps just for laughs, drops his sacred Note Book in the human realm. There it is found by Light Yagami who, once convinced by its legitimacy, decides to rid the world of violent criminals as part of a quest to make a better society.
This can't be achieved without scrutiny from the police, who are stumped as to how the killings are taking place. Their only hope is the prodigy 'L' who has never failed to solve a crime. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse with both Light and 'L' striving to come out on top.
Taking up the moniker of 'Kira', Light continues his assassinations of criminals across the world whilst his father heads the taskforce pursuing him. As he learns more about the Death Note, Light is able to draw some suspicion away from himself, but the case is thrown wide open when he has to eliminate a team of American agents who are on his tail.
Things take another twist when a second notebook enters the human world and a new 'Kira' joins Lights mission to rid the world of Criminals. This second 'Kira' fulfils a desire to meet Light but is sloppy with their use of the Death Note, leading to their capture. This leads to Light having to take drastic action to save both of their skins!
It is everything I had hoped for and so much more. 5 stars.
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The story took a different turn is this edition with the introduction of another Kira in some ways I liked it because it added a new dimension to the story but I'm also wondering where it's going to go from here so I'm definitely going to carry on with the series, I just hope that the story doesn't start going really over the top or repetitive but I guess I'll find out!
fast-paced
Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note’s might be the worlds most popular manga series. Even if you don’t read manga, chances are you’ve heard of or watched Death Note. Totalling of twelve books (not including extra editions featuring more information about Ohba’s world) we follow Light Yagami try to change the world to a better place through the murders of criminals and deviants. We quickly see his character change and the immense power the death notes hold change his character for the worse, suggesting that even with the best intentions, this type of power can quickly corrupt someone. At times you don’t know who the good guys are, you want Light to succeed as we’ve followed his story from the beginning, but L, M and N are trying to prevent him from killing more people as Light quickly becomes who he hates, in the name of trying to make the world a better place.
The best characters are Misa and Rem, they’re both funny and creative. The scenes featuring them are the most memorable and I’m glad they both feature throughout the series. Unfortunately, the incredibly limited female characters featured are all shallow and none of them drive the plot forward, they’re simply romance obsessed background characters. The male characters are sexist and misogynistic, sometimes shockingly so. These books were published in 2003, which would explain an undertone (thankfully a lot has changed in the last 20 years), but a lot of the scenes involving female characters are really uncomfortable to read. This is disappointing, and the lack of diversity seems very prominent reading them now. Sadly, this series is now outdated and can be disappointing to read because of it.
Although the Death Note series is one I’m happy to reread, at times I found it really confusing keeping up with the detectives investigations, trying to remember who knew what, who was on who’s side, and I could never figure out how police and detectives characters discovered each other’s plans. There was plenty of moments throughout the series that I found myself flipping back through pages trying to figure these things out, but ultimately I’d just read on knowing in a few chapters there would be another event which would confuse me!
Takeshi Obata’s illustrations are brilliant, the Shinigami’s are so creatively designed, and their drawings and their world are some of the best images include. Even though they’re the true antagonists, everyone loves their characters, showing how well Obata and Ohba have done to create these villains. Overall I’d give the entire series 3 stars, but 4 for the first book.
The best characters are Misa and Rem, they’re both funny and creative. The scenes featuring them are the most memorable and I’m glad they both feature throughout the series. Unfortunately, the incredibly limited female characters featured are all shallow and none of them drive the plot forward, they’re simply romance obsessed background characters. The male characters are sexist and misogynistic, sometimes shockingly so. These books were published in 2003, which would explain an undertone (thankfully a lot has changed in the last 20 years), but a lot of the scenes involving female characters are really uncomfortable to read. This is disappointing, and the lack of diversity seems very prominent reading them now. Sadly, this series is now outdated and can be disappointing to read because of it.
Although the Death Note series is one I’m happy to reread, at times I found it really confusing keeping up with the detectives investigations, trying to remember who knew what, who was on who’s side, and I could never figure out how police and detectives characters discovered each other’s plans. There was plenty of moments throughout the series that I found myself flipping back through pages trying to figure these things out, but ultimately I’d just read on knowing in a few chapters there would be another event which would confuse me!
Takeshi Obata’s illustrations are brilliant, the Shinigami’s are so creatively designed, and their drawings and their world are some of the best images include. Even though they’re the true antagonists, everyone loves their characters, showing how well Obata and Ohba have done to create these villains. Overall I’d give the entire series 3 stars, but 4 for the first book.
