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Death Note [デスノート] #1
Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects--and he's bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal...or his life?
200 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 2, 2004
2757 people are currently reading
148367 people want to read
About the author
Tsugumi Ohba
365 books2,855 followersTsugumi 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 5,866 reviews
February 4, 2022
“There is no heaven or hell. No matter what you do while you’re alive, everybody goes to the same place once you die. Death is Equal.”
Shall we begin?* Ryuk laughs in background *
Before you read this , a little advice please watch the anime if you dont have time to read the manga. It's only 37 episodes , 20 min each , for free on YouTube with eng subs.
Assuming you have watched it because this review is going to be spoilery mess!
One more thing , if you think that death note is for teens obsessed with idea of being smart and killing people to prove their worth please just get lost! I have spend enough time defending myself !
It is just outstanding and beyond words!! There is no Anime/Manga like Death Note and I can debate on this anyone.
The story is unique. A notebook falls from the sky, and the human who writes a name in it is capable of killing the individual pictured in his mind (I left out the details that you don't care about). This presents the readers with a highly debatable theme based on morals and justice. Yagami Light, who obtains this power to kill, utilizes it in hopes of creating a utopia in which he is god. Criminals, and only criminals, are to be punished in hopes of a perfect society. Is this however, right? Is it right to kill individuals who have done wrong, and will do wrong again? Can they be reformed? Death Note presents the readers with questions such as these, questions which cannot be easily answers.
This series challenges the viewers morals and for that, it deserves highly.
Moving on characters, unpopular opinions and fan based theories :-
✏L lawliet :- he is my favourite character in the series and it's his intelligence , quirkiness and everything he stands for and not to forget his smile and his love for ice cream .
Bitch I cried when he died! Okay!
Kira is childish and he hates losing... I am also childish and I hate to lose. That's how I know.”
✏Light*i don't give a fuck about anything*Yagami
:- my second fav character , and now here is a thing I love L like 55% and light like 45% and I can't decide whether I am team kira or team anti kira.
He is like my beyond imagination intelligent and smart but eventually he met his end, because it was necessary you see but if in some alternate world Light lives, I honestly don't have problem with it . Period ( don't fight me , I had enough discussion over this with my mum)
"This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me?”
Now my next fav characters will be ryuk , mello, misa, near ( in that order)
I love mello soo much and I have great respect for near and people who say after L's death the series became boring and near wasn't that much intersting , I agree but it was necessary to introduce someone and near never said he is L , he used to call himself L's successor always !!!!
Unpopular opinion :- I like Misa
▪She is smart than people think.
▪ She brushes off torture like no one else.
▪ Her love for Light , knows no command.
▪She adds color and humor to manga( bet if you didn't laughed at her silliness)
▪And not to forget her fashion sense!
Now I am believer of the most famous death note fan theory of Light becoming shinigami at the end( if you too let me know)
In the end acc to me, death note is one of the most iconic manga/anime I have ever read/watched like there is nothing like this and i recommend everyone to watch/read it once in their lifetime.
It will make you question things you never would have brainstormed . Because low-key we all know we would have done the exact same thing when we would have got the death note.
"In the end, there is no greater motivation than revenge.”
Thank you!
June 28, 2015
4 1/2 stars
When I wrote in my review of Battle Royale that there were only two manga series I really enjoyed, it made me realise just how much in need of a review this was. I am not a manga fan, I know some people love it like crazy, but I've tried starting the most commonly loved - Naruto, InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc. - and been left believing that I would never come to appreciate these graphic novels. Death Note was a complete accident which I found one day whilst browsing youtube. I ran into the first episode and watched out of curiosity, then I watched the next and the next until I'd seen the whole thing and knew I had to read the novels too. Both are brilliant. The whole series has only one flaw for me and that's why I deducted half a star from the rating. I will talk about this issue later on.
Just so you know, this is going to be a review of the series as a whole because I'm not going to review every single volume, but I promise to leave out any spoilers.
Here goes: Death Note is brilliant. It's incredibly clever and will challenge your views on justice and power, but the challenges it puts your way are far from simple. I guarantee that you will change your mind multiple times during each volume; you will switch sides constantly; you will one minute think Light Yagami is evil and the next you'll think him a hero. This is a very complex moral story about right and wrong, about how power corrupts, and about what is a just punishment for the wicked.
Light Yagami is an over-achieving student who is fed up with the world around him - day by day he hears the news report listing murders and rapes and other atrocities committed by human scum. When one day a Shinigami (Japanese death god) drops his death note into the human realm, Light Yagami picks it up and holds in his hands the power to kill people just by writing their names and picturing their faces whilst doing so. He starts out with the most noble intentions - rid the earth of the foulest criminals - but there's a price to pay for playing god. As people start to realise that somehow someone is murdering criminals and disregarding Japan's law methods, questions about justice begin to arise - is the killer doing the world a favour, or is he showing a complete lack of respect for human rights?
When more people begin to stand in Light's way, he is forced to write the names of more and more individuals - some criminals, some not. The power granted to him begins to change him, force him deeper into his obsession with this god-like role. All the while, Ohba maintains a brilliant pace and throws up many obstacles and challenges. This story will really appeal to people who want something to think about and are sick of reading novels with the same old pattern.
On top of all this, Death Note has possibly my favourite detective of all time. When the Japanese police force realise that they are unqualified to catch the killer, they appeal to L Lawliet for help. Now, I don't want to say too much about L because I could spoil it, but he's intelligent, lovable, brilliant... I doubt you'll be able to resist loving L Lawliet. And this is one of the things I love most about the series: there's no clear line between good and bad. The novel pits Light and L against one another, they have very different ideas about justice and right and wrong, but the brilliance of it is that you can see it from both points of view, in a way you find yourself on both of their sides.
So why did I knock off half a star? Because I dislike the way women are portrayed in Death Note. At the end of the day, this series was made to mainly appeal to young adult males. There's no heroine and very few main female characters appear throughout the whole thing. Also, the most central female character is Misa Amane and she is beautiful but useless. She is silly and fickle, and she is mostly regarded with contempt from the other characters. This would probably annoy me more if the rest of the story wasn't so excellent, but it is, it really is.
You should read it. Or watch it. Each episode is only 20 minutes long, why not try out the first and see if it's something you could like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CheI5D...
When I wrote in my review of Battle Royale that there were only two manga series I really enjoyed, it made me realise just how much in need of a review this was. I am not a manga fan, I know some people love it like crazy, but I've tried starting the most commonly loved - Naruto, InuYasha, Fullmetal Alchemist, etc. - and been left believing that I would never come to appreciate these graphic novels. Death Note was a complete accident which I found one day whilst browsing youtube. I ran into the first episode and watched out of curiosity, then I watched the next and the next until I'd seen the whole thing and knew I had to read the novels too. Both are brilliant. The whole series has only one flaw for me and that's why I deducted half a star from the rating. I will talk about this issue later on.
Just so you know, this is going to be a review of the series as a whole because I'm not going to review every single volume, but I promise to leave out any spoilers.
Here goes: Death Note is brilliant. It's incredibly clever and will challenge your views on justice and power, but the challenges it puts your way are far from simple. I guarantee that you will change your mind multiple times during each volume; you will switch sides constantly; you will one minute think Light Yagami is evil and the next you'll think him a hero. This is a very complex moral story about right and wrong, about how power corrupts, and about what is a just punishment for the wicked.
Light Yagami is an over-achieving student who is fed up with the world around him - day by day he hears the news report listing murders and rapes and other atrocities committed by human scum. When one day a Shinigami (Japanese death god) drops his death note into the human realm, Light Yagami picks it up and holds in his hands the power to kill people just by writing their names and picturing their faces whilst doing so. He starts out with the most noble intentions - rid the earth of the foulest criminals - but there's a price to pay for playing god. As people start to realise that somehow someone is murdering criminals and disregarding Japan's law methods, questions about justice begin to arise - is the killer doing the world a favour, or is he showing a complete lack of respect for human rights?
When more people begin to stand in Light's way, he is forced to write the names of more and more individuals - some criminals, some not. The power granted to him begins to change him, force him deeper into his obsession with this god-like role. All the while, Ohba maintains a brilliant pace and throws up many obstacles and challenges. This story will really appeal to people who want something to think about and are sick of reading novels with the same old pattern.
On top of all this, Death Note has possibly my favourite detective of all time. When the Japanese police force realise that they are unqualified to catch the killer, they appeal to L Lawliet for help. Now, I don't want to say too much about L because I could spoil it, but he's intelligent, lovable, brilliant... I doubt you'll be able to resist loving L Lawliet. And this is one of the things I love most about the series: there's no clear line between good and bad. The novel pits Light and L against one another, they have very different ideas about justice and right and wrong, but the brilliance of it is that you can see it from both points of view, in a way you find yourself on both of their sides.
So why did I knock off half a star? Because I dislike the way women are portrayed in Death Note. At the end of the day, this series was made to mainly appeal to young adult males. There's no heroine and very few main female characters appear throughout the whole thing. Also, the most central female character is Misa Amane and she is beautiful but useless. She is silly and fickle, and she is mostly regarded with contempt from the other characters. This would probably annoy me more if the rest of the story wasn't so excellent, but it is, it really is.
You should read it. Or watch it. Each episode is only 20 minutes long, why not try out the first and see if it's something you could like: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CheI5D...
September 11, 2022
An ingenious concept for a crazy, disturbing tour de force mangaing to be appealing to close to all audiences of horror, dark fantasy, mystery, crime, philosophy, and humor together
Who created it?
That nobody knows who Tsugumi Ohba really is is freaking funny and adds an extra bonus to the mystery of and cult around the series. For an average series, this might be no real big selling and advertising argument, but because of how big and brilliant this thing is, it adds an extra arcane bonus level.
What is right and what is wrong?
Ok, it might be a bit of an overreaction to kill people, but maybe they would have someday killed (others) themselves, so it´s maybe some kind of good preemptive policing and self justice that´s perfectly fine? Probationers would have no work anymore and who cares about the differentiation of how high the reoffending rate really is for each case and crime. But seriously, the big ethical, moral question behind this is
How someone would use that power for which kind of justice.
Imagine being able to not just kill murderers and monsters, but everyone. Let's say people at work who could get the promotion, friends, partners, family members, maybe even kids. So with great power comes great responsibility and the
Protagonists are used to make the reader think about justice
Because they have completely different opinions and worldviews, their argumentation which criminal is to kill for what makes it a roller coaster ride and ethics class example fun with the reader permanently being mindblown. Because obvious cases change, new evidence occurs, something completely changes the state of evidence, and one is confused about what is right and wrong anyway.
This series doesn´t grow too big because it was built to perfectly end
I still haven´t read just close to all of it, thank and hail Ryuk and the flying spaghetti monster for that, but I assume that trying to put all in just a few parts increases the quality, and avoids a great series crashing to redundancy and at best average quality, by growing to inappropriate length.
I don´t know the anime and movie, but possibly many readers will get extra kicks out of it.
What the ratings are saying, the anime is a pretty good bet, while the movie seems to be some kind of fandom war territory. One of these cases where it´s impossible to say if the movie sucks and if they ruined a perfect series, or if it was just impossible to live up to the expectations of the fandom.
Oustanding for the manga and anime genre
It´s pretty disturbing, sick, and absolutely not what many associate with the stereotypical manga and anime features, some find a bit too extremely sweet and thereby annoying. That it´s dealing with some pretty deep topics and has both great art and writing makes it one of the most popular milestones of not just manga, but also graphic novel history.
Try Full Metal Alchemist and Battle Royale too if you like that kind of stuff.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Who created it?
That nobody knows who Tsugumi Ohba really is is freaking funny and adds an extra bonus to the mystery of and cult around the series. For an average series, this might be no real big selling and advertising argument, but because of how big and brilliant this thing is, it adds an extra arcane bonus level.
What is right and what is wrong?
Ok, it might be a bit of an overreaction to kill people, but maybe they would have someday killed (others) themselves, so it´s maybe some kind of good preemptive policing and self justice that´s perfectly fine? Probationers would have no work anymore and who cares about the differentiation of how high the reoffending rate really is for each case and crime. But seriously, the big ethical, moral question behind this is
How someone would use that power for which kind of justice.
Imagine being able to not just kill murderers and monsters, but everyone. Let's say people at work who could get the promotion, friends, partners, family members, maybe even kids. So with great power comes great responsibility and the
Protagonists are used to make the reader think about justice
Because they have completely different opinions and worldviews, their argumentation which criminal is to kill for what makes it a roller coaster ride and ethics class example fun with the reader permanently being mindblown. Because obvious cases change, new evidence occurs, something completely changes the state of evidence, and one is confused about what is right and wrong anyway.
This series doesn´t grow too big because it was built to perfectly end
I still haven´t read just close to all of it, thank and hail Ryuk and the flying spaghetti monster for that, but I assume that trying to put all in just a few parts increases the quality, and avoids a great series crashing to redundancy and at best average quality, by growing to inappropriate length.
I don´t know the anime and movie, but possibly many readers will get extra kicks out of it.
What the ratings are saying, the anime is a pretty good bet, while the movie seems to be some kind of fandom war territory. One of these cases where it´s impossible to say if the movie sucks and if they ruined a perfect series, or if it was just impossible to live up to the expectations of the fandom.
Oustanding for the manga and anime genre
It´s pretty disturbing, sick, and absolutely not what many associate with the stereotypical manga and anime features, some find a bit too extremely sweet and thereby annoying. That it´s dealing with some pretty deep topics and has both great art and writing makes it one of the most popular milestones of not just manga, but also graphic novel history.
Try Full Metal Alchemist and Battle Royale too if you like that kind of stuff.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
August 25, 2017
My very first read of Manga.. and it just blow my mind
I mean what if you have A Death Note...,A note that belong to one of the gods of Death..
Just write a name in it...with the person's face in your mind...and BAM .. Dies..
It's a 'hard to pick a side' story..
I mean, I would do just as Light did, try to get rid of those who make life hell...Killers, torturer, rapers, sadist and child abusers.
Damn them all ,you know , specially in here in Egypt...The law is way slow and ,mostly, not that fair...at the same time...is that would be fair?
Oh and I may go BIGGER but, not now, Let's back to the story..
Light, a prodigy student, as an answer to his prayer to get off his Boredom, finds a Black Note...A Death Note, complete with its instructions.
and as a Good person , he know how to use it as best as it gets -I feel I'm soooo agree , mostly, to his ideas, is that making me a bad person? , may be..
The Death Note originally belong to Ryuk a Shigami, a god of Death -may be in Japanese myth, I don't know.- He deliberately lost his Death Note into the human world ...ALSO because he felt a strong Boredom... he wanted to leave the Land where the gods of Death hanging around.
BUT as hundreds of criminal and convicted murderers, The Police of Japan "NPA" start searching for who is reasonable for this weird phenomenon..and for this mystery they can't look without a genius detective ..
And here's L , a anonymous detective who's super smart and really effective in solving mysterious cases...
Now they together will do all their best to catch this one they call "Murderer" ,But will they?
*************************
The first Vol. , Boredom , has 7 chapters.
Boredom ( 5 Stars)
L (4 Stars)
Family (5 Stars)
Current (5 Stars - really smart)
Eyeballs (4 Stars)
Manipulation (5 Stars - full of anticipations)
Target ( 5 Stars - WHAT A PLAN!)
The chapters are really amazing and fast.. and it caught my attention with even before I finish the first chapter.. with Light magnificent discovery, and the fun of the neutral companion , the Shigami ,god of Death with his super cute features ...and the surprise in chapter 3, family - I won't spoil for you now.-
then L came and it's Cat and Mouse....both super smart , both righteous... Both think they represent JUSTICE..
So , pick a side... I know it's Hard..
A truly nice comic, Manga ..and it's a great start to me into this world..
Mohammed Arabey
from 9 February 2016
to 11 February 2016
PS : This is half the review of the edition I read, The Black Edition.. since the review there will be in Arabic when I finish Vol. 2 too..
I mean what if you have A Death Note...,A note that belong to one of the gods of Death..
Just write a name in it...with the person's face in your mind...and BAM .. Dies..
It's a 'hard to pick a side' story..
I mean, I would do just as Light did, try to get rid of those who make life hell...Killers, torturer, rapers, sadist and child abusers.
Damn them all ,you know , specially in here in Egypt...The law is way slow and ,mostly, not that fair...at the same time...is that would be fair?
Oh and I may go BIGGER but, not now, Let's back to the story..
Light, a prodigy student, as an answer to his prayer to get off his Boredom, finds a Black Note...A Death Note, complete with its instructions.
and as a Good person , he know how to use it as best as it gets -I feel I'm soooo agree , mostly, to his ideas, is that making me a bad person? , may be..
The Death Note originally belong to Ryuk a Shigami, a god of Death -may be in Japanese myth, I don't know.- He deliberately lost his Death Note into the human world ...ALSO because he felt a strong Boredom... he wanted to leave the Land where the gods of Death hanging around.
BUT as hundreds of criminal and convicted murderers, The Police of Japan "NPA" start searching for who is reasonable for this weird phenomenon..and for this mystery they can't look without a genius detective ..
And here's L , a anonymous detective who's super smart and really effective in solving mysterious cases...
Now they together will do all their best to catch this one they call "Murderer" ,But will they?
*************************
The first Vol. , Boredom , has 7 chapters.
Boredom ( 5 Stars)
L (4 Stars)
Family (5 Stars)
Current (5 Stars - really smart)
Eyeballs (4 Stars)
Manipulation (5 Stars - full of anticipations)
Target ( 5 Stars - WHAT A PLAN!)
The chapters are really amazing and fast.. and it caught my attention with even before I finish the first chapter.. with Light magnificent discovery, and the fun of the neutral companion , the Shigami ,god of Death with his super cute features ...and the surprise in chapter 3, family - I won't spoil for you now.-
then L came and it's Cat and Mouse....both super smart , both righteous... Both think they represent JUSTICE..
So , pick a side... I know it's Hard..
A truly nice comic, Manga ..and it's a great start to me into this world..
Mohammed Arabey
from 9 February 2016
to 11 February 2016
PS : This is half the review of the edition I read, The Black Edition.. since the review there will be in Arabic when I finish Vol. 2 too..
December 29, 2014
I don't read very much manga. But I picked the first few books of this series up on a whim, then quickly bought all the rest so I could finish the series.
Short version? I really enjoyed it.
Longer version: Here's some thoughts in no particular order....
~ Great example of how you don't need a bunch of crazy fantastic things happening to make something a gripping piece of Speculative Fiction. In this series, you've got a notebook, and if someone writes your name in it, you die. It doesn't seem like that should be enough to carry twelve graphic novels worth of story, but it absolutely does.
~ These books break a lot of my rules-of-thumb in terms of what makes a good story. The vast majority of the action is people thinking about things. That's a definite "no" in terms of storytelling, and I'd think it would be a double "no" in a visual medium like this. But it works. You can't argue with that.
~ I think the series took a definite dip 2/3rds of the way through. It felt to me like the story reached a natural ending point, then just kept on bulling ahead, ignoring it.
I've seen this happen before with a fair number of successful US comics (And a few series of novels). And while it's nice to see that this isn't not a problem unique to US publishing, I still have a severe distaste for stories that don't end properly. Doubly so if they feel like they're being infinitely extended just because the author won't let go, or because the publisher wants to keep selling more books.
Short version? I really enjoyed it.
Longer version: Here's some thoughts in no particular order....
~ Great example of how you don't need a bunch of crazy fantastic things happening to make something a gripping piece of Speculative Fiction. In this series, you've got a notebook, and if someone writes your name in it, you die. It doesn't seem like that should be enough to carry twelve graphic novels worth of story, but it absolutely does.
~ These books break a lot of my rules-of-thumb in terms of what makes a good story. The vast majority of the action is people thinking about things. That's a definite "no" in terms of storytelling, and I'd think it would be a double "no" in a visual medium like this. But it works. You can't argue with that.
~ I think the series took a definite dip 2/3rds of the way through. It felt to me like the story reached a natural ending point, then just kept on bulling ahead, ignoring it.
I've seen this happen before with a fair number of successful US comics (And a few series of novels). And while it's nice to see that this isn't not a problem unique to US publishing, I still have a severe distaste for stories that don't end properly. Doubly so if they feel like they're being infinitely extended just because the author won't let go, or because the publisher wants to keep selling more books.
April 2, 2020
EDIT: The most me thing ever, I just signed up on Netflix and Death Note anime is the first thing I started watching.
It's driving my parents crazy. My mum always asks a question about something and then rather leaves.
My dad just watched 3 episodes with me, but he had to open a bottle of good port wine.
tak tohle bylo fakt kruty! zjistila jsem par veci: 1) zbožňuji mangy
2)nevim jestli jsem team Light/Kira nebo team L. prozatim budu oboje. necham je souperit o to, kdo bude vychytralejsi zmetek ^_^.
3)chci vlastni Deathnote! ♡
It's driving my parents crazy. My mum always asks a question about something and then rather leaves.
My dad just watched 3 episodes with me, but he had to open a bottle of good port wine.
tak tohle bylo fakt kruty! zjistila jsem par veci: 1) zbožňuji mangy
2)nevim jestli jsem team Light/Kira nebo team L. prozatim budu oboje. necham je souperit o to, kdo bude vychytralejsi zmetek ^_^.
3)chci vlastni Deathnote! ♡
May 22, 2017
Trah la la, I have me a manga that I'm in love with and I need the rest of them now and I might have to get them because I want them now and I pre-ordered the freaking funko of L because I'm in love with L and unfortunately I didn't like the Funko's of Ryuk or Light. I was really hoping for Ryuk but he doesn't look cool at all, and I'm babbling!
Thank you to all of my GR friends that pushed me onto this manga!!!!!!! Actually it was sweet Ashley my hufflepuff that sold me on it first. =) ♥
This is so freaking cool. So, Ryuk is a Shinigani <-- did I spell that right? which means he's A Death God. He just happened to drop his Death Notebook in the human world because he was bored. Ha
Then this smart as a whiz kid named Light finds it and takes it home. Then Ryuk shows up. Apparently whoever possesses the notebook can write in the names of people that they want to die and they can see Ryuk when no one else can. Oh happy day!
Light decides to do the good think and kill off evil people, mostly the ones that are already in jail. I don't see anything wrong with that but the cops think it's murder even though he's doing it for the greater good. Although, he wants to be on top of the world and be his own god so yeah...
Then the cops call in L <---screee . . . and he is going to hunt Light down and put a stop to it.
I can't even imagine what is going to happen in the next several books! I hope nothing bad happens to L and no one better tell me. I like Ryuk too. Anyway, I can't wait to read them all!
Thank you to all of my GR friends that pushed me onto this manga!!!!!!! Actually it was sweet Ashley my hufflepuff that sold me on it first. =) ♥
This is so freaking cool. So, Ryuk is a Shinigani <-- did I spell that right? which means he's A Death God. He just happened to drop his Death Notebook in the human world because he was bored. Ha
Then this smart as a whiz kid named Light finds it and takes it home. Then Ryuk shows up. Apparently whoever possesses the notebook can write in the names of people that they want to die and they can see Ryuk when no one else can. Oh happy day!
Light decides to do the good think and kill off evil people, mostly the ones that are already in jail. I don't see anything wrong with that but the cops think it's murder even though he's doing it for the greater good. Although, he wants to be on top of the world and be his own god so yeah...
Then the cops call in L <---screee . . . and he is going to hunt Light down and put a stop to it.
I can't even imagine what is going to happen in the next several books! I hope nothing bad happens to L and no one better tell me. I like Ryuk too. Anyway, I can't wait to read them all!
March 5, 2019
Always so much fun to re-read a beloved series only to find out that I still love it. Or maybe even more.
Oh, and I don't think that I even need to say that I'm team Kira. Who would be surprised by that?
“I am justice!”
Oh, and I don't think that I even need to say that I'm team Kira. Who would be surprised by that?
“I am justice!”
August 14, 2018
I finally borrowed "Death Note" from the library and I think I might be in love! <3
This is soo damn good!!! I really didn't expect it to be so good!
I don't know what I expected but damn it's definitely better than I thought it would be!
And haha I'm having trouble to decide which side I'm on. I mean it's obvious Light is misguided and that his actions are wrong, this however still didn't stop me from liking him and Ryuk though. *lol*
Also, I love L! Gosh they are like cat and mouse and it's nothing but amazing! I live for their "chess game" and how they try to lure each other out! ;-P This is exactly the kind of story I love!
I hope I'll be able to borrow Vol.2 from the library soon! XD
Wish me luck! *crosses fingers*
This is soo damn good!!! I really didn't expect it to be so good!
I don't know what I expected but damn it's definitely better than I thought it would be!
And haha I'm having trouble to decide which side I'm on. I mean it's obvious Light is misguided and that his actions are wrong, this however still didn't stop me from liking him and Ryuk though. *lol*
Also, I love L! Gosh they are like cat and mouse and it's nothing but amazing! I live for their "chess game" and how they try to lure each other out! ;-P This is exactly the kind of story I love!
I hope I'll be able to borrow Vol.2 from the library soon! XD
Wish me luck! *crosses fingers*
November 1, 2007
Over the past three weeks I've been burning through one of the most exciting reads I've come across in a while. Death Note is a seat-edged battle of wits that left me exhausted by the end. Heck, I was exhausted by the halfway mark.
Let me start over. Death Note is a Japanese comic that tells it's story over the course of twelve volumes (on display now at your local Borders). If what I'm about to say sounds good but you don't feel like spending the eight dollars per volume, head to your local library - they almost certainly carry the books in the Young Adults section. In any case, it's worth your time. Here's why.
The story begins when Ryuk, a death god (known in the story's mythology as shinigami), drops a death note into the human world in order to alleviate the boredom that oppresses his everlasting life. A death note is a special notebook possessed by shinigami that allow them to take the lives of humans whose names they write into the notebook. Ryuk's dropped notebook "happens" to fall into the path of Japan's top high school student, son of the chief of police, and all around genius, Light Yagami.
After a couple tests of the book's authenticity and the boundaries of some of its rules (e.g., one must visualize the face of the person whose name he is writing for that person to die), Light decides that he will forge a new world, a utopia in which all criminals (those would would take advantage of the weakness of others) simply die. Rather quickly, the police around the world begin taking notice of the staggering number of criminals who have suddenly dropped dead of heart attacks. Suspecting foul play, they want to find the perpetrator because law-and-order and vigilantism have never been the best bed-fellows. And it doesn't help that Light has gained a popular following amongst the masses who dub him Kira (which sounds remarkably similar to the Japanese pronunciation of the English word, "killer"). So the authorities enlist the assistance of the world's greatest detective (an anonymous man known only as L) and he quickly narrows the range of suspects dramatically, instigating a pulse-pounding game of of cat-and-mouse between the figures - L vs. Kira.
Initially, as exciting as the first couple volumes were, I had a hard time seeing how the story could sustain itself across twelve volumes. The key to Death Note's happy success is the absence of anything really resembling a status quo. The story and its elements are continually in flux. If things remained simple, I could see the book resolving in four or five volumes but everything is constantly moving, constantly changing. It was a fantastic read.
And smart. The fact that you're reading about these very intelligent characters who think things through to incredible lengths only adds to the excitement. There were moments of revelation and counter-revelation that simply blew my mind. And then there are moments when you think the jig is up for one or more of the characters and then a flashback will reveal the would-be victims plan from the start and you get to see tables turn and over turn as these characters fight for their lives.
And even after that, the moral question that is explored by the book's author and artist really goes to lengths to get the reader thinking about means and ends and it's not at all clear who one should root for. It helps that Light, despite having an ego that won't quit, is entirely unselfish in his motivation. Death Note is almost a distillation of an important moral question.
In short, I highly recommend this series to just about anyone.
Let me start over. Death Note is a Japanese comic that tells it's story over the course of twelve volumes (on display now at your local Borders). If what I'm about to say sounds good but you don't feel like spending the eight dollars per volume, head to your local library - they almost certainly carry the books in the Young Adults section. In any case, it's worth your time. Here's why.
The story begins when Ryuk, a death god (known in the story's mythology as shinigami), drops a death note into the human world in order to alleviate the boredom that oppresses his everlasting life. A death note is a special notebook possessed by shinigami that allow them to take the lives of humans whose names they write into the notebook. Ryuk's dropped notebook "happens" to fall into the path of Japan's top high school student, son of the chief of police, and all around genius, Light Yagami.
After a couple tests of the book's authenticity and the boundaries of some of its rules (e.g., one must visualize the face of the person whose name he is writing for that person to die), Light decides that he will forge a new world, a utopia in which all criminals (those would would take advantage of the weakness of others) simply die. Rather quickly, the police around the world begin taking notice of the staggering number of criminals who have suddenly dropped dead of heart attacks. Suspecting foul play, they want to find the perpetrator because law-and-order and vigilantism have never been the best bed-fellows. And it doesn't help that Light has gained a popular following amongst the masses who dub him Kira (which sounds remarkably similar to the Japanese pronunciation of the English word, "killer"). So the authorities enlist the assistance of the world's greatest detective (an anonymous man known only as L) and he quickly narrows the range of suspects dramatically, instigating a pulse-pounding game of of cat-and-mouse between the figures - L vs. Kira.
Initially, as exciting as the first couple volumes were, I had a hard time seeing how the story could sustain itself across twelve volumes. The key to Death Note's happy success is the absence of anything really resembling a status quo. The story and its elements are continually in flux. If things remained simple, I could see the book resolving in four or five volumes but everything is constantly moving, constantly changing. It was a fantastic read.
And smart. The fact that you're reading about these very intelligent characters who think things through to incredible lengths only adds to the excitement. There were moments of revelation and counter-revelation that simply blew my mind. And then there are moments when you think the jig is up for one or more of the characters and then a flashback will reveal the would-be victims plan from the start and you get to see tables turn and over turn as these characters fight for their lives.
And even after that, the moral question that is explored by the book's author and artist really goes to lengths to get the reader thinking about means and ends and it's not at all clear who one should root for. It helps that Light, despite having an ego that won't quit, is entirely unselfish in his motivation. Death Note is almost a distillation of an important moral question.
In short, I highly recommend this series to just about anyone.
August 21, 2017
yayyy for buddy reads and amazing manga
April 2, 2017
Not Stopping Until I Hit The Finale.
My wife was hunting me down to read this manga and until I do that, she won't let me breath.
Well, well!
I'm glad that she has tremendously fantastic choices in everything. And so she proved it in this case too.
A thrilling ride Death Note is!
If you haven't still encountered with it yet, I urge that you should!
My wife was hunting me down to read this manga and until I do that, she won't let me breath.
Well, well!
I'm glad that she has tremendously fantastic choices in everything. And so she proved it in this case too.
A thrilling ride Death Note is!
If you haven't still encountered with it yet, I urge that you should!
November 7, 2020
“Start looking around you... and all you see are people the world would be better off without.”
Wow. It's no wonder Death Note is such a wildly popular manga. I loved everything about this first volume! The characters and prose were unlike anything I’ve read before.
~★~ What is this book about? ~★~
When Ryuk -a god of death- drops his notebook, Light Yagami is the one to find it. The notebook is titled Death Note, and guarantees the death of anyone whose name is written in it. Ryuk and Light become unlikely acquaintances, and embark on a mission to eliminate criminals using the book. The sudden sequence of deaths happening amongst prisoners raises alarm amongst the authority, putting Light in more danger than he first anticipated.
~★~
The dynamic between a high school student and a god of death was not one I expected to pore over, but alas, here we are. Light and Ryuk are such bizarre characters, it was nearly impossible not to love them. Light’s nonchalance towards meeting an outwardly terrifying creature was pretty hilarious… and Ryuk, oh Ryuk. This duo is going to be a problem for me in all the best ways, I know it.
The plot of Death Note is so intriguing, I flew through this volume in no time. I loved seeing Light and L attempt to discover each other's identity with Ryuk monitoring their proceedings. It’s a mystery as to what’ll happen next, but I can’t wait to find out.
I’m pretty sure Death Note is also the most read manga on Goodreads, and it’s evident as to why. This is a tale that even people who’ve never read manga before will love, and that in itself is a great feat.
February 23, 2018
My first toe dip into the world of Manga, this was enjoyable and packed full of surprises and colourful characters.
What would you do if you had the ability to kill anyone in the world just by writing their name and picturing their face, in a book? That's the situation Light finds himself in when he comes across the Deathnote. Soon he finds himself persued by the police, and the mysterious 'L', as he tries to complete his dream of creating a utopia free of violence by killing the worlds criminals.
I suppose the overriding theme here is does anyone have the right to take another's life, even if that life has done nothing but evil? Choice, surely must always play a part. Light is arrogant with his power, and lets it go to his head big time. He thinks he can outdo the worlds police, that he's smarter than everyone he meets. Honestly, he's not a nice guy. Which comes as a surprise, because from the start I though he was going to be the protagonist. The antihero. He's anything but. Ryuk by comparison, the shinigami who owns the Deathbook is a great character. He's funny, often feigning melancholy at his life before coming to earth, and appearing interested yet also completely nonplussed at what Light is doing.
The plot is also really interesting. Far from being straightforward, it had plenty of twists and surprises to further the plot and make it exciting. I'm actually amazed that such a complex story can be told in so few words.
My only criticism is the lack of any female presence through this volume. We see Light's mother, sister and a random girl who takes on a 'date'. All the main characters are men. And most of the secondary cast too. A bit of female presence would have been welcome.
What would you do if you had the ability to kill anyone in the world just by writing their name and picturing their face, in a book? That's the situation Light finds himself in when he comes across the Deathnote. Soon he finds himself persued by the police, and the mysterious 'L', as he tries to complete his dream of creating a utopia free of violence by killing the worlds criminals.
I suppose the overriding theme here is does anyone have the right to take another's life, even if that life has done nothing but evil? Choice, surely must always play a part. Light is arrogant with his power, and lets it go to his head big time. He thinks he can outdo the worlds police, that he's smarter than everyone he meets. Honestly, he's not a nice guy. Which comes as a surprise, because from the start I though he was going to be the protagonist. The antihero. He's anything but. Ryuk by comparison, the shinigami who owns the Deathbook is a great character. He's funny, often feigning melancholy at his life before coming to earth, and appearing interested yet also completely nonplussed at what Light is doing.
The plot is also really interesting. Far from being straightforward, it had plenty of twists and surprises to further the plot and make it exciting. I'm actually amazed that such a complex story can be told in so few words.
My only criticism is the lack of any female presence through this volume. We see Light's mother, sister and a random girl who takes on a 'date'. All the main characters are men. And most of the secondary cast too. A bit of female presence would have been welcome.
May 13, 2021
*4.5
August 8, 2018
Aclaro que es mi primera experiencia con manga. Desde hace mucho tiempo quería probar y cuando Death Note fue elegido en un grupo de lectura ni lo dudé, ya que había escuchado buenísimos comentarios de esta historia. Y la verdad, concuerdo, la historia es muy original y bien elaborada… peeero, no es mi tipo de lectura, definitivamente soy más de descripciones escritas que gráficas. No creo que lo continúe.
January 3, 2016
Come on,it doesn't get more original than this.
I've already watched "Death Note" so the story is not shocking for me,but it's as interesting as it was last summer.The characters are amazing and I can't wait to see how they develop throughout the series.Light VS L is probably one of the most epic "battles" I've ever had a chance of reading/watching.Apart from the obviously intelligent characters and an unique and captivating story,I really love the fact that this series questions our morality and principles.What is right and what is wrong?In Death Note there's no clear line between right and wrong,good and bad-everyone has different opinions and everyone sees Light's or L's actions differently.That's what makes Death Note so interesting.
Takeshi Obata is the artist/illustrator of Death Note and man,he is simply amazing.Give this guy an applause.
So,overall,I really enjoyed reading this and I'm already starting the next volume.
PS.I don't know why but I've listened to I Follow Rivers while reading this and I loved it.Great combination.☺
I've already watched "Death Note" so the story is not shocking for me,but it's as interesting as it was last summer.The characters are amazing and I can't wait to see how they develop throughout the series.Light VS L is probably one of the most epic "battles" I've ever had a chance of reading/watching.Apart from the obviously intelligent characters and an unique and captivating story,I really love the fact that this series questions our morality and principles.What is right and what is wrong?In Death Note there's no clear line between right and wrong,good and bad-everyone has different opinions and everyone sees Light's or L's actions differently.That's what makes Death Note so interesting.
Takeshi Obata is the artist/illustrator of Death Note and man,he is simply amazing.Give this guy an applause.
So,overall,I really enjoyed reading this and I'm already starting the next volume.
PS.I don't know why but I've listened to I Follow Rivers while reading this and I loved it.Great combination.☺
November 27, 2015
This is more of my opinion on the whole series instead of the first volume.
Death note is a highly addictive read. I would say it’s the best manga I’ve ever read. It’s one of those stories which leaves you desperate for the ending, but at the same time upset because it all ended. Everything in Death note was planned out perfectly and it was very fast-paced so I was never fed up.
However, I do have a problem with the protagonist. Light’s character was never developed well. He suddenly just turns evil after gaining the notebook. He appeared like a perfectly normal high-schooler, but he becomes a cold-blooded killer in matter of days. I don’t buy it. There must be some progression. I wanted to see him regret his actions slightly at first before turning fully evil.
Besides that, it’s fantastic!
Death note is a highly addictive read. I would say it’s the best manga I’ve ever read. It’s one of those stories which leaves you desperate for the ending, but at the same time upset because it all ended. Everything in Death note was planned out perfectly and it was very fast-paced so I was never fed up.
However, I do have a problem with the protagonist. Light’s character was never developed well. He suddenly just turns evil after gaining the notebook. He appeared like a perfectly normal high-schooler, but he becomes a cold-blooded killer in matter of days. I don’t buy it. There must be some progression. I wanted to see him regret his actions slightly at first before turning fully evil.
Besides that, it’s fantastic!
May 17, 2016
My first graphic novel and manga experience was definitely a good one and I might already be hooked!
I didn't know how I would get on with the format but I found myself just as immersed in the story, after a few pages, as I would an ordinary novel. This managed to pack in so much in such little text and I was consistently guessing where the plot would take me next. It also managed to transgress into so many genres that I find it hard that there would be a reader who would not like this!
The story follows high school super brain, Light, after he acquires a magical notebook that has fallen to earth. This is, of course, the Death Note, and each person written in the pages will find themselves deceased before the minute is out. Light manages to become the perfect anti-villain and his wit, super smart tactics and willingness to do good with his new evil power aligned me to his immoral cause.
The artwork was simplistic in colour and design and yet its varied format and sizing kept each page feeling fresh and pleasing to the eye. Takeshi Obata is a one seriously good artist and his skill really helped to bring this story to life. I can't wait to see more of his brilliant work and continue on with Tsugumi Ohba's complex and compelling story.
I didn't know how I would get on with the format but I found myself just as immersed in the story, after a few pages, as I would an ordinary novel. This managed to pack in so much in such little text and I was consistently guessing where the plot would take me next. It also managed to transgress into so many genres that I find it hard that there would be a reader who would not like this!
The story follows high school super brain, Light, after he acquires a magical notebook that has fallen to earth. This is, of course, the Death Note, and each person written in the pages will find themselves deceased before the minute is out. Light manages to become the perfect anti-villain and his wit, super smart tactics and willingness to do good with his new evil power aligned me to his immoral cause.
The artwork was simplistic in colour and design and yet its varied format and sizing kept each page feeling fresh and pleasing to the eye. Takeshi Obata is a one seriously good artist and his skill really helped to bring this story to life. I can't wait to see more of his brilliant work and continue on with Tsugumi Ohba's complex and compelling story.
Read
September 23, 2024all i have to say is, light is a genius.
(i’ll be rating this series as a whole and writing a full review once i’m done with it!!)
pre-read 📓☠️🍎:
so excited to start this series >_<
(i’ll be rating this series as a whole and writing a full review once i’m done with it!!)
pre-read 📓☠️🍎:
so excited to start this series >_<
December 19, 2025
peak peak peak
❝ Same old thing, day after day... what a bore. This world is a rotten mess... It really needs to be cleaned up.❞
❝ Damn... start looking around you... and all you see are people the world would be better off without.❞
❝ I'm a serious, straight-a student... a model teenager. And I... will reign over a new world.❞
5/5 stars 🌟
❝ Same old thing, day after day... what a bore. This world is a rotten mess... It really needs to be cleaned up.❞
❝ Damn... start looking around you... and all you see are people the world would be better off without.❞
❝ I'm a serious, straight-a student... a model teenager. And I... will reign over a new world.❞
5/5 stars 🌟
June 28, 2024
I wish I was as smart as L... or light for that matter...
its a hard knock life 😔
its a hard knock life 😔
November 20, 2013
Death Note is trashy good fun. That’s basically all you need to know going in. The writing and plotting is borderline retarded though the concept is completely enthralling so while I couldn’t put the book down, I was constantly aware of how dumb things played out or were set up – and I loved it, this book is hilarious! Tsugumi Ohba is definitely an ideas man though - as a writer he’s mediocre at best, kind of like a manga Dan Brown.
But I’m jumping ahead of the gloriously high concept plot! Light Yagami, Japan’s top high school student happens to notice a black notebook in the schoolyard. Despite a notebook of any colour in a school setting not really being special, he picks it up and takes it home with him. He discovers that this is a Death Note – a magical notebook for demons, or shinigami as they’re referred to here, and finds out all about its properties from its owner, Ryuk, a death god.
Once Light finds out that any name he writes in the notebook – while visualising the victim’s face – will kill that person by heart attack in 40 seconds unless he specifies the type of death, he decides to create a utopia, free of criminals who deserve to die. But after a number of criminals die of heart attacks one after another, the United Nations decide to bring in L, the world’s greatest detective, to track down the killer.
I honestly don’t know where to start with this nonsense – and it is nonsense but enjoyable as hell – but I think I’ll start with the most glaringly obvious detail that I couldn’t get past in my head: why there is any conflict in this book at all. Think about it: you have a nondescript notebook in your room, you write a name down in it, that person dies. This is easily the most fool-proof murder weapon of all time. Writing a name in a book. Putting the book away. Going on with your life. You would never be caught. Never! And yet Light manages to somehow show up on the radar of police who suspect him of murdering these criminals! He is the dumbest, dumbest, dumbest character I’ve come across in a long while. And then for no reason he starts ranting about creating a utopia and ruling over it?! It makes no sense! It’s funny but it comes completely out of left field. To be fair, L does some detective work (he’s the world’s greatest detective) to figure out it’s Light, or someone who lives in Light’s area, but it’s mostly guesswork on his part to get to that conclusion that that too is ridonkulous.
Then there’s the Death Note itself and its gazillion rules. First we find out about how you need to visualise the person whose name you’re writing down – which makes sense as every name is replicated at least once and you wouldn’t want to kill every John Smith or Sarah Jones – but then there are more and more rules shoved in about how if you touch the Death Note you can see the shinigami (Ryuk the death god is a constant companion of Light’s which provides a great visual of this S&M Sharon Osborne lookalike with no eyelids floating around behind Light, unseen by all). Every chapter introduces a new rule, not elegantly woven into the story but explicitly stated at the start of the chapter like a rulebook and then bluntly stated by Ryuk again and again throughout the chapter. And why is there an arbitrary 40 seconds from writing the name down before the death? Is there some magical timer in the notebook?
This brings me to Tsugumi Ohba’s writing which is good enough to keep me reading the story but bad enough to find it laughable too. When Light wants to try out the Death Note, he encounters a biker dude hassling some girl but he needs the biker’s name to kill him (because that’s an appropriate punishment for hitting on a girl). The biker then states his name and one of his buddies literally says “that’s his real name too!” so Light is able to kill him – well, that’s convenient! There’s also supposedly a moral question being posed in this book about Light killing killers and whether this makes him a bad guy or not. First off, Light is a dimwit – I know he’s Japan’s greatest high school student but he shouldn’t be getting suspected by the police of these random killings (I still can’t get past this – a dozen criminals die of heart attacks and they’re able to trace it back to a high school student who wasn’t anywhere near them when they died!!!). Second, having him talk about ruling the world or anything along those lines skews the readers’ perceptions in one direction only. Third, I don’t like him anyway. But this moral question is so stupidly handled that it’s not even worth discussing seriously, I mean, the guy’s name is Light and he does dark things – that’s the level we’re talking about!
Light’s adversary isn’t Dark (though it wouldn’t surprise me if that turned out to be the character’s real name) but simply L. This guy is the world’s greatest detective who’s brought in by NATO (or the United Nations, it’s some international organisation made up of representatives from the richest countries in the world) to catch the killer (or Kira – bless the Japanese, can’t pronounce their “L”s). So his identity is a secret, which doesn’t bother the top governments of the world nor are they able to find out who he is for some reason, he never leaves his bare room which only contains top Apple products from 2003, and he operates with possibly the most evil-looking gumshoe who’s his physical presence in the world. I get that other world’s greatest detectives are improbable, but Sherlock Holmes’ identity was known to Scotland Yard when they approached him – L could be Kira for all they know! – and Batman operates without the consent of anyone unlike L who is hired by world governments. This entire character is totally bizarre – and what a coincidence that his real name isn’t known, preventing Light from killing him!
All of this might seem like I dislike this book but I really don’t – I thought it was a hoot! - I just had to talk about the insanity that makes up this book. It’s not on the level of sophisticated adult comics but it can definitely be enjoyed by adult readers, as I did. It’s like watching Con Air and enjoying it for what it is, even though it’s absolute nonsense through and through (why was Dave Chappelle on that plane in the first place?!). Death Note is the Con Air of comics – big and dumb but great fun.
But I’m jumping ahead of the gloriously high concept plot! Light Yagami, Japan’s top high school student happens to notice a black notebook in the schoolyard. Despite a notebook of any colour in a school setting not really being special, he picks it up and takes it home with him. He discovers that this is a Death Note – a magical notebook for demons, or shinigami as they’re referred to here, and finds out all about its properties from its owner, Ryuk, a death god.
Once Light finds out that any name he writes in the notebook – while visualising the victim’s face – will kill that person by heart attack in 40 seconds unless he specifies the type of death, he decides to create a utopia, free of criminals who deserve to die. But after a number of criminals die of heart attacks one after another, the United Nations decide to bring in L, the world’s greatest detective, to track down the killer.
I honestly don’t know where to start with this nonsense – and it is nonsense but enjoyable as hell – but I think I’ll start with the most glaringly obvious detail that I couldn’t get past in my head: why there is any conflict in this book at all. Think about it: you have a nondescript notebook in your room, you write a name down in it, that person dies. This is easily the most fool-proof murder weapon of all time. Writing a name in a book. Putting the book away. Going on with your life. You would never be caught. Never! And yet Light manages to somehow show up on the radar of police who suspect him of murdering these criminals! He is the dumbest, dumbest, dumbest character I’ve come across in a long while. And then for no reason he starts ranting about creating a utopia and ruling over it?! It makes no sense! It’s funny but it comes completely out of left field. To be fair, L does some detective work (he’s the world’s greatest detective) to figure out it’s Light, or someone who lives in Light’s area, but it’s mostly guesswork on his part to get to that conclusion that that too is ridonkulous.
Then there’s the Death Note itself and its gazillion rules. First we find out about how you need to visualise the person whose name you’re writing down – which makes sense as every name is replicated at least once and you wouldn’t want to kill every John Smith or Sarah Jones – but then there are more and more rules shoved in about how if you touch the Death Note you can see the shinigami (Ryuk the death god is a constant companion of Light’s which provides a great visual of this S&M Sharon Osborne lookalike with no eyelids floating around behind Light, unseen by all). Every chapter introduces a new rule, not elegantly woven into the story but explicitly stated at the start of the chapter like a rulebook and then bluntly stated by Ryuk again and again throughout the chapter. And why is there an arbitrary 40 seconds from writing the name down before the death? Is there some magical timer in the notebook?
This brings me to Tsugumi Ohba’s writing which is good enough to keep me reading the story but bad enough to find it laughable too. When Light wants to try out the Death Note, he encounters a biker dude hassling some girl but he needs the biker’s name to kill him (because that’s an appropriate punishment for hitting on a girl). The biker then states his name and one of his buddies literally says “that’s his real name too!” so Light is able to kill him – well, that’s convenient! There’s also supposedly a moral question being posed in this book about Light killing killers and whether this makes him a bad guy or not. First off, Light is a dimwit – I know he’s Japan’s greatest high school student but he shouldn’t be getting suspected by the police of these random killings (I still can’t get past this – a dozen criminals die of heart attacks and they’re able to trace it back to a high school student who wasn’t anywhere near them when they died!!!). Second, having him talk about ruling the world or anything along those lines skews the readers’ perceptions in one direction only. Third, I don’t like him anyway. But this moral question is so stupidly handled that it’s not even worth discussing seriously, I mean, the guy’s name is Light and he does dark things – that’s the level we’re talking about!
Light’s adversary isn’t Dark (though it wouldn’t surprise me if that turned out to be the character’s real name) but simply L. This guy is the world’s greatest detective who’s brought in by NATO (or the United Nations, it’s some international organisation made up of representatives from the richest countries in the world) to catch the killer (or Kira – bless the Japanese, can’t pronounce their “L”s). So his identity is a secret, which doesn’t bother the top governments of the world nor are they able to find out who he is for some reason, he never leaves his bare room which only contains top Apple products from 2003, and he operates with possibly the most evil-looking gumshoe who’s his physical presence in the world. I get that other world’s greatest detectives are improbable, but Sherlock Holmes’ identity was known to Scotland Yard when they approached him – L could be Kira for all they know! – and Batman operates without the consent of anyone unlike L who is hired by world governments. This entire character is totally bizarre – and what a coincidence that his real name isn’t known, preventing Light from killing him!
All of this might seem like I dislike this book but I really don’t – I thought it was a hoot! - I just had to talk about the insanity that makes up this book. It’s not on the level of sophisticated adult comics but it can definitely be enjoyed by adult readers, as I did. It’s like watching Con Air and enjoying it for what it is, even though it’s absolute nonsense through and through (why was Dave Chappelle on that plane in the first place?!). Death Note is the Con Air of comics – big and dumb but great fun.
May 26, 2022
I can’t decide which is better, the anime or the manga.
Death Note is the first Japanese anime I watched in my adult life, I watched a few growing up and I’m still a fan of animated series but not Japanese anime, the I watched the anime adaptation and I fell in love. Years later after watching the adaptation I decided to read the manga.
Death Note is such a great manga, it’s follows Light Yagami a top high schooler, he is extremely smart and intelligent. One day he found a Death Note(belonging to a Shinigami I.e the Japanese god of death) lying on the floor with instructions on how to use it, of course he experimented on it and lo and behold he works. Light decided to kill all the criminals in the world and create an utopia that he will rule as a god. A bunch of criminals dying won’t go without notice.
I love the art, graphics and characters in this manga so much. Light the protagonist is an anti hero, who is on a downward spiral. Someone who is okay will killing and using people won’t remain the hero for long.
This manga poses a very moral question, what Light is doing is not exactly bad, he wants to create an utopia, a world without criminals and crime but his way of doing that isn’t morally correct, he isn’t a god even though he has a power of one, for now.
Death Note is the first Japanese anime I watched in my adult life, I watched a few growing up and I’m still a fan of animated series but not Japanese anime, the I watched the anime adaptation and I fell in love. Years later after watching the adaptation I decided to read the manga.
Death Note is such a great manga, it’s follows Light Yagami a top high schooler, he is extremely smart and intelligent. One day he found a Death Note(belonging to a Shinigami I.e the Japanese god of death) lying on the floor with instructions on how to use it, of course he experimented on it and lo and behold he works. Light decided to kill all the criminals in the world and create an utopia that he will rule as a god. A bunch of criminals dying won’t go without notice.
I love the art, graphics and characters in this manga so much. Light the protagonist is an anti hero, who is on a downward spiral. Someone who is okay will killing and using people won’t remain the hero for long.
This manga poses a very moral question, what Light is doing is not exactly bad, he wants to create an utopia, a world without criminals and crime but his way of doing that isn’t morally correct, he isn’t a god even though he has a power of one, for now.
March 21, 2020
21/03/2020
Watching the anime again because ... quarantine?!
This is probably my third time watching it. It NEVER gets old!
Watching the anime again because ... quarantine?!
This is probably my third time watching it. It NEVER gets old!
Want to read
September 21, 2025ੈ✩‧₊˚ 𝕡𝕣𝕖-𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕕 ੈ✩‧₊˚
I just finished the anime yesterday so might as well put the manga on my TBR, right? it’s been a while since I’ve watched an anime so I guess I’m just trying to get back into it all 🙈
I just finished the anime yesterday so might as well put the manga on my TBR, right? it’s been a while since I’ve watched an anime so I guess I’m just trying to get back into it all 🙈
July 10, 2024
TW// murder
This was a really solid volume to start off this series. It posed a lot of moral questions that were really interesting to ponder. It also did a great job of introducing the rules of the world while keeping up a really fast pace. I’m really intrigued by this series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume.
This was a really solid volume to start off this series. It posed a lot of moral questions that were really interesting to ponder. It also did a great job of introducing the rules of the world while keeping up a really fast pace. I’m really intrigued by this series and I can’t wait to get my hands on the next volume.
April 14, 2021
تجربتي الأولي في قراءة المانجا وكانت تجربة مذهلة بشكل لا يصدق
December 27, 2018
I think if a Shinigami gave you a death note – oh, I should say a Shinigami is a like god or spirit who controls the way HUMANS (meaning YOU) DIE (meaning DIE!) and also WHEN just by writing it down, and also this death NOTE is not a note, it’s a NOTEBOOK, just to be crystal clear – but anyway, why this becomes an issue is that this particular shinagami is really bored in the realm where he & his other death gods live – they always live in a REALM, have you noticed, never in a house or an apartment, always a realm – anyway, it turns out in the death god realm there’s nothing much to do, they get really bored writing down name after name with stroke or general organ failure or rabies or giraffe attack next to them, these shinagami don’t have much initiative otherwise they could of I dunno got a franchise to make a death realm Disneyland or play crazy golf or I don’t know what people do for entertainment, lot of the people I know just watch football, so maybe they could get Sky up there and follow the English Premier League, and see how Manchester United gets on under Ole Gunnar Solskjær, whatever, the clue is in the title of this first volume here BOREDOM, so because of that this particular shinagami leaves a death note (= noteBOOK) for this 17 year old kid to find and then he has the power to make anyone dead and that’s what you call a responsibility, I wouldn’t want that.
But I wouldn’t mind if a lower-ranking Shinigami from a lower REALM left me a SICK NOTE so I could make anyone really ill, that would be great, a lot of politicians I could name would be rolling around on Christmas Day after the turkey & not in a good way.
So is this 17 year old kid’s plan to make the world a better place by killing lots of people ethically sound or not? This is the big issue. Omelets, eggs, eggs, omelets. If Pol Pot was asked he would have said YES. Likewise Stalin. But if you asked Princess Diana or Walt Disney they would have said NO. Hmm, Stalin, Princess Diana, Pol Pot, Walt Disney. It’s above my pay grade.
But I wouldn’t mind if a lower-ranking Shinigami from a lower REALM left me a SICK NOTE so I could make anyone really ill, that would be great, a lot of politicians I could name would be rolling around on Christmas Day after the turkey & not in a good way.
So is this 17 year old kid’s plan to make the world a better place by killing lots of people ethically sound or not? This is the big issue. Omelets, eggs, eggs, omelets. If Pol Pot was asked he would have said YES. Likewise Stalin. But if you asked Princess Diana or Walt Disney they would have said NO. Hmm, Stalin, Princess Diana, Pol Pot, Walt Disney. It’s above my pay grade.
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