Monday, January 27, 2014

Death Note #1-3 (Manga Monday)


Death Note, Vol. 1 - Tsugumi Ohba
Death Note, Vol. 2 - Tsugumi Ohba
Death Note, Vol. 3 - Tsugumi Ohba
This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

I've got a couple of series of manga that I want to get through this year and the best way I can think of is to make it a regular weekly feature here on my blog. I've got enough to read for at least a year's worth of posts.
I'm aiming for 3 volumes a week and then reviewing them in one go.

For the next 4 weeks I'll be reviewing Death Note, a 12 volume Supernatural Mental Battle between 2 geniuses. One wants to kill as a god, the other wants to bring the killer in for justice.

Synopsis
Light Yagami is a bored genius of a highschooler. He finds a Death Note which allows him to kill off people in a variety of ways. Light decides to start killing criminals worldwide in an effort to change the world. After several weeks Interpol realizes something is going on and hires the mysterious L to find out what is going on.

What ensues is one of the best Logic battles I've seen in a long time.

My Thoughts
Light is given a Death Note by a Shinigami. Light decides that he has been given a gift to clean up the world and remake it in the image of his own idea. All he has to do is write a name down in the notebook and visualize the person's face and they will die of a heart attack. There are also a whole host of rules that allow the owner of the notebook to kill in a variety of ways.
Light goes on a killing spree to test the notebook. Which attracts the attention of L, a genius investigator who figures out what is going on with a fantastic logic trap on live tv.

And that is what this is about. Light and L battling it out on the mental plane, trying to outwit each other. While Logic is the basis for the fights, a lot of gut instinct happens. And since this is a manga, those gut instincts are correct.

And at the end of volume 3, we are introduced to another Kira [what the public calls the Mysterious Killer, who is Light Yagami] and the complications begin to seriously ramp up.

I enjoyed this the first time I read through it and I'm enjoying it now. Of course, Light's megalomania shows up right from the first, which I missed on my initial go-around. And L's arrogance is just staggering.

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist:Takeshi Obata

No comments:

Post a Comment