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chamomiledaydreams 's review for:
It's been a few years since I last read a light novel, and usually, I don't like them very much. I think it's because I've read clunky fan translations in the past; this is the first time I've ever checked one out from a proper library, and it seems to have been edited well (aside from a couple of missing quotation marks).
The quality of writing in "L, Change the WorLd" is pretty good, in my opinion, although it's also a little too fast-paced. The story covers a lot of ground very quickly, and I would honestly prefer for most of the scenes to be longer, especially when they involve profound character interactions. As for the characters themselves, I enjoyed them quite a bit, in large part because of the many cameos to the original series and its pilot. The themes about justice, morality, and rehabilitation are also interesting and tie into the main story very well, and I love that these fresh perspectives mostly come from a ten-year-old girl, who is so blunt and opinionated that she constantly throws the other characters for a loop.
The fact that there are so many branches of Death Note canon at this point helps me suspend my disbelief when the characters act unexpectedly or the lore disagrees with me. (I'm looking at the meaning of L's and Near's names, specifically. Explain Matt, Mello, and Linda to me then! And what about Beyond Birthday? I admire the dedication to finding meaning in the source material, but I cannot accept that the symbolism runs so deep...) I essentially view this story as fanfiction, just one possible interpretation of the characters.
One especially notable distinction for me is that L is more wholesome in this novel than in the other Death Note stories I've read or watched. He seems to be more virtuous and morally upright than his constant human rights violations in the main series imply. In this book, whenever it seems as if he's done something sick and twisted (like use the Death Note), it's eventually revoked and shown to be a fake-out, just another part of L's clever scheming. This makes sense for his character, and it's easy to recognize L as himself from the way his mannerisms and character interactions are written. But I do like leaning towards other aspects of his personality and would consider this installation slightly less canon than most others because of that.
Still, coming from the two live-action movies, I understand that this adjustment of L's character is consistent with the story's predecessors, and I don't mind it too much. It's mostly interesting to analyze and notice the implications of these subtle changes. And I did enjoy this novel overall and would confidently recommend it to other fans of the original series. Just make sure that you've seen the two live-action movies first, so you can understand how this story diverges from the anime/manga. It's a very fun ride!
The quality of writing in "L, Change the WorLd" is pretty good, in my opinion, although it's also a little too fast-paced. The story covers a lot of ground very quickly, and I would honestly prefer for most of the scenes to be longer, especially when they involve profound character interactions. As for the characters themselves, I enjoyed them quite a bit, in large part because of the many cameos to the original series and its pilot. The themes about justice, morality, and rehabilitation are also interesting and tie into the main story very well, and I love that these fresh perspectives mostly come from a ten-year-old girl, who is so blunt and opinionated that she constantly throws the other characters for a loop.
The fact that there are so many branches of Death Note canon at this point helps me suspend my disbelief when the characters act unexpectedly or the lore disagrees with me. (I'm looking at the meaning of L's and Near's names, specifically. Explain Matt, Mello, and Linda to me then! And what about Beyond Birthday? I admire the dedication to finding meaning in the source material, but I cannot accept that the symbolism runs so deep...) I essentially view this story as fanfiction, just one possible interpretation of the characters.
One especially notable distinction for me is that L is more wholesome in this novel than in the other Death Note stories I've read or watched. He seems to be more virtuous and morally upright than his constant human rights violations in the main series imply. In this book, whenever it seems as if he's done something sick and twisted (like use the Death Note), it's eventually revoked and shown to be a fake-out, just another part of L's clever scheming. This makes sense for his character, and it's easy to recognize L as himself from the way his mannerisms and character interactions are written. But I do like leaning towards other aspects of his personality and would consider this installation slightly less canon than most others because of that.
Still, coming from the two live-action movies, I understand that this adjustment of L's character is consistent with the story's predecessors, and I don't mind it too much. It's mostly interesting to analyze and notice the implications of these subtle changes. And I did enjoy this novel overall and would confidently recommend it to other fans of the original series. Just make sure that you've seen the two live-action movies first, so you can understand how this story diverges from the anime/manga. It's a very fun ride!