THIS IS GOING TO BE A SPOILER REVIEW. I AM VERY ANNOYED WITH SEVERAL THINGS, SO I WILL RANT. I DID REALLY ENJOY THE BOOK THOUGH. OKAY.
1) Ryuzaki's death pissed me off. I've talked to a few of my friends about it, and they've said that him dying like he did was more realistic than, say, Light Yagami, the bad guy of the book, killing him. No. Instead a God of Death killed him. I do sort of like that he died knowing that it was Light's fault (staring in to eachother's eyes, his last breath spent knowing Light Yagami is a smooth bastard who can manipulate even the amazing L, to an extent). But there's just something about how simple the heart attack was. I didn't like it.
2) Hidden Gay Subtext. This is going to be brief, but, like how I mentioned when describing Ryuzaki's death, them two had a lot more than just a no-trust/hate relationship. There was definitely a little bit of loving mixed in there, and I know ya'll could feel it too.
3) MISA AMANE. I. Love. Misa. My friend told me that nobody likes her except for me(I'm 99% sure that's not true), and the reason behind the dislike is because Misa is 'desperate'. I mean, I don't think I'll ever fall in love with a full on serial killer, but it's cruel saying Misa deserves the pain Light puts her through just because she's 'desperate'. He leads her on, manipulating her feelings (hence why I previously called him a smooth bastard), and that's not her fault: she's just too blind to realise Light doesn't love her. And I find that cruel.
All I hope is that Misa realises what a douche canoe Light is, but I've been told that that doesn't happen. Bummer. Still, they've only watched the anime, so the manga might end differently. Right? RIGHT?!
4) Ryuk and Rem. I really do like Ryuk: he makes all of those sassy comments, most of the time inwardly, seeing as how Misa can hear him, and and it's so clear how much enjoyment he gets out of watching the whole series of events roles out (especially when explaining to the other Shinigami where his Death Note is, which was another funny moment when you realise how little he cares for the rules). I really liked Rem as well, and I was a tad bit annoyed when she died, but she killed Ryuzaki, so I was over her death pretty quickly.
5) I like how Ryuzaki was always eating, and how Near and Mello picked up traits from him. Mello eats chocolate constantly (I thought he was a girl at first, although now I'm picturing him as Dan Howell wearing his leather shirt), and how Near is skilled when it comes to puzzles and being an overall cutie patootie (did you see him playing with those transformer toys?! TOO CUTE!!!!)
The art is amazing, the plot is getting thick and I am really looking forward to the next volume, which I'll hopefully be able to pick up from comic-con in May. A long way to go, but I might end up being able to pick it up cheap elsewhere instead.
4.5/5 for this volume.