Death Note: All in One Edition

by Tsugumi Ohba

Genres: Manga, Fiction

Paperback

Published January 1, 2018

About the author

Tsugumi Ōba (Profile in Japanese: 大場 つぐみ), born in Tokyo, Japan, is a writer best known for the manga Death Note. His/her real identity is a closely guarded secret. As stated by the profile placed at the beginning of each Death Note manga, Ōba collects teacups and develops manga plots while holding his knees on a chair, similar to a habit of L, one of the main characters of the series.

There is speculation that Tsugumi Ōba is a pen name and that he is really Hiroshi Gamō. Pointing out that in Bakuman the main character's uncle was a one-hit wonder manga artist who worked on a gag super hero manga, very similar to Gamō and Tottemo! Luckyman in all aspects. Also that the storyboards drawn by Ōba greatly resemble Tottemo! Luckyman in style.

Reviews

[Justin Decloux]

I don't think it's meant to be consumed as fast as I did it (A week), but I was surprised at how engaging this was initially because I assumed I knew the major story beats after seeing the two live-action films from many years ago.... and I did! But it was presented engagingly, hinting at all the promising stuff that could happen.

Until it didn't.

The manga makes a bold turn halfway through that it never recovers from, introducing new characters to take the place of a departed one, but they don't have anywhere near the same impact. Once it settles into a groove 1/3rd of the way through, it's absurd how much time is spent with characters sitting in a hotel room doing nothing but yapping away. And head-scratchingly, the potential of the death note being able to dictate a person's death or have them do actions before it happens is barely touched upon!

Still, it wraps up satisfyingly, even if I can't imagine reading this week to week as it moves at a molasses-style pace. I guess it's what happens to all Shonen Manga, as once the core ideas are set up, authors often have the characters get into long-drawn-out fights to fill the time, while here, there are no fights but a lot of sitting in rooms, to big reveals that made me go "Uh. If you say it makes sense, I guess it does!"

[Gintarė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Įtraukianti ir įdomi istorija, kuri nuo pat pradžių prikausto dėmesį. Pasakojime nagrinėjami sudėtingi moraliniai pasirinkimai - kas turi teisę spręsti, kas yra teisinga, o kas bloga. Pagrindinis veikėjas atsiduria situacijoje, kur galia susiduria su morale, o tai verčia susimąstyti apie teisingumo ribas. Nors tokios istorijos pabaigos iš esmės tikėjausi, bet jos išpildymas vis tiek nustebino ir paliko stiprų įspūdį.

[Saphir Vendroux · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great manga to read

[Rex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I finished Death Note, the all-in-one edition. It follow Light Yagami, a boy who receives a Death note from a Shinigami (some type of death demon creature) and gains the power to kill anyone simply by writing their name in a magic notebook. The story is good enough and poses the quandary: Is it justifiable to completely rid the world of crime by murdering the wicked? The four star rating is mostly for the first two thirds of the manga in which Light plays a game of cat and mouse with another prodigy detective named L. Once that arc ended, I lost interest and really had to muscle my way through the last 700 pages or so (which didn’t really add too much to what had already been done previously in my opinion). My other main complaints about the manga are the characterization of Misa Amane (the main female character who happens to be a complete idiot) and that it was annoying to have the plot, rules exposited to me time and time again. Other than that it was an interesting read. (Disclaimer: my only exposure to Death Note before reading this was a Simpsons treehouse of Horror where Bart finds a death note, so I went into this completely blind).

[Ruth · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. I never realized I hadn't actually finished this story until yesterday.

Something told me to revisit it, maybe the holiday season (lol) but I remember reading this in middle school. Then mom confiscated it from me (vol 4) and I never revisited it.

Until yesterday. Gosh, it's so iconic and I now have a heightened understanding of the morals being covered here. I distinctly remember being pro-Kira when I was in middle school, but God knows I am definitely no longer morally confused about Death Note. (Proof that my brain was not done developing lol).

I think at some point the spoilers on the internet were enough to satiate me. I found out Light dies at the end and I was like ok then, no need to find out how.

It was satisfying to finally know how it happens, though I know this is the wordiest manga I've ever read. Jesus.

The art is still phenomenal after all this time. I found a few mistakes, but the art is so confidently inked, most would not notice it. As an artist, I freaking want those superpowers. Ugh I'm in love.

Would I recommend DN? Of course; it was culturally pretty big in the anime community, and it's a great story. Watching Light's schemes fall apart was also really cool. I would not be offended if you missed some panels, either. lol yikes.

I can confidently say I'm a fan now; before I always hesitated to. BUT YAY

[Maria N · Rating 5 out of 5]

My all time favorite anime... it was destined to be even greater in written form. It took me a LONG time to read all of this one (as it spans well over 2,000 pages) but let me tell you, there's no filler and every scene bleeds wonderfully into the next in the race of pride and yearning for justice. It's a race of wits, intelligence and manipulation. What a thrilling read. Glad to have it as part of my collection. It still left me with a few curiosities as to Misa... but other than that it seemed to wrap up together nicely. While I watched the anime years ago, I was inspired by L and every quirk about him. Oddities run rampant through this book (or books, if you will) and I thoroughly enjoyed them as well. Read it for yourself! Overall, a good note.

[Matthew Saunders · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good I finished it in a week I adored the smartness of the main character light a scene that stood out to me was when Light saw this girl who was getting insanely close to figuring it out and his knowledge got her real name to reveal he was Kira it was a great read recommend to any death note fan and this got me into death note.

[Dylan Andre · Rating 3 out of 5]

More authors should do these types of editions its cheaper

[Tony Binglejones · Rating 5 out of 5]

2400 pages done in four days i have never been happier

[Rachel Christoffersen · Rating 3 out of 5]

2300 pages later and here we are!
Because I read the all-in-one edition, I am giving the complete Death Note collection 3 🌟. The first half gets 4 🌟 and the second half gets 2 🌟 from me. iykyk.

[Jacek Klosowski · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best

[Garrett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though it did fall off a bit after L’s death, it did pick up during the last few chapters. I really enjoyed that it showed more of what each character was thinking, something that the anime didn’t really have much time for. Overall, it was a fun and easy read. One of my favorite stories