Death Note #1-3 (Manga Monday)

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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

Death Note

Volumes 1,2,3