By: Tsugumi Ohba Publisher: VIZ Media LLC Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: VIZ Media LLC Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 200 Publication Date: October 10, 2005
Book Description: Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects - and bored out of his mind! But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, and notebook dropped by a rougue 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?
Suspenseful Thriller Manga This is a Manga thriller of a top notch high school student who finds a notebook called a Death Note. It belongs to a god who picks humans for death. The god is bored and wants to entertain himself with a human, the human thinks its a great idea to play god and kill criminals. Kind of a Manga Dexter, if you ask me. Pretty interesting and I was absorbed by the 1st issue. I will be reading more of it.
Justice Will Prevail Unlike anime heavy weights such as; Bleach, Naruto, Inuyasha, and Full Metal Alchemist, Death Note brought something new to the table. Instead of big swords, too much hair gel, and busty women, Death Note has a entirely never done before story; which makes it so appealing. It has almost a Gothic feel to it that's addicting like chocolate.... (don't mind the bad comparison....!)
Death Note revolves around Seventeen year old Light Yagami; a genius, tennis star, and heartthrob. One fateful day, Light happens to pick up a black notebook off of the ground bearing the words; Death Note. Upon further inspection, Light learns that if you write a person's name in the Death Note while thinking of their face, you can kill them. Now Light, an aspiring Police/Detective officer puts away the Death Note and doesn't even think about it. Until he happens to witness a young girl being attacked by grimy men. He quickly writes the guys name, and sure enough he dies. Light is shocked, how could something like this really be true? It is true however, as Light gets an unexpected greeting by the owner of the Death Note, Ryuk, who happens to be a Shinigami. (Think something like a Grim Reaper.) Ryuk tells Light he can kill anyone, provided he follows the rules. So here history is made, as Light decides to kill of all criminals and 'evil.' He will become the God of the new world. Light dons the name 'Kira' (derived from Killer) and starts off killing criminals.
But all is not well in Light's world. The Police have noticed all of the mysterious deaths, and have now vowed to get this Kira; including the world's best detective, known simply as; L. Will Light carry out his goal for complete dominance over the world? Or will the world's best detective, L, stop him? Your going to have to either A) Watch the Anime or B) Read the Manga.
Characterization has never been better in a Anime or Manga then it has been in Death Note. Light Yagami is characterized as an arrogant, greedy, devilishly intelligent young man who will stop at nothing to achieve his goal. You'll love to hate Light, and find later in the series how evil and maddening his character is.
L, the world's best detective, remains enigmatic for much of the first part of the series. But once his grand entrance is staged, you'll see truly grand character development.
Animation is certainly gorgeous, with a Gothic element that's hard to resist. You'll have a hard time not to drool over Light or even L later on. (Who doesn't love the fact they both don't wear hair gel....!) There's something about the stunning visuals that'll suck you right in, and certainly draw you into the world of Death Note.
So go ahead, try something new. There certainly aren't any; Big Swords, Hair Gel, Busty Women, or over the top Gore, but that makes Death Note even the more satisfying. It's new and fresh, and something that's never been done before. I'm glad I watched Death Note, (and I almost didn't!) and now I'm completely obsessed.
Didn't Parents always used to say, trying something new is good for you?
My favorite Manga I just started reading Manga earlier this year,I've read Naruto,Mars and Death Note. This is the most amazing one I have read and the plot is mind-boggling.I love reading it everyday and enjoy the tv show also. In my opinion this is the best manga ever :)
Absolute must-read manga When I first received a copy of volume 1 from the library (after reading reviews on [...]), I was hesitant to read it, because I thought Ryuku (on cover) looked so disturbing. I flipped through and thought, 'no way will I enjoy this -- he's too creepy and the art is not he typical "anime style" that I am used to.' So I decided to give it 3 chapters -- could not put it down. Was so engrossed I just kept going. Bypassed the library entirely and ordered the first four volumes on amazon.com.
I have been trying for years to get my husband as into anime as I am. I'm an old-school anime/manga fan, and am now absolutely thrilled to pass my love for it onto my kids. Anyway, I told him, "Honey, you HAVE to read this." He looked at it, thought it looked bizarre and started to hand it back to me. "No, you HAVE to read it. Just give it 3 chapters, and I guarantee you'll be hooked." He was. We're now toting the tankoban all over with us...while we're waiting during kids' dance or martial arts lessons. I am a firm believer in: if you love something as a kid (manga, video games, whatever), there's absolutely no reason you should give it up as an adult.
I am amazed at the unique quality of both the story and the illustrations. It is such a thrilling book of cat and mouse and one-upmanship. I have rarely been so engrossed. The Shinigami are a tad disturbing-looking, but they have a friendly sort of quality about them that makes them almost sweet.
I am actually going to pass these books onto my parents and let them read. I've let my father-in-law read "Maus" and he really enjoyed it...so now I think the family is ready for manga. Back in the early 90s, there was so little translated manga/anime out there. Today, there is just a plethora of titles available, and I'm thrilled.
If you have any doubts, or you're curious, give this title a read. It's really stellar.
Absolutly Genius In one word, Death Note is "beautiful." It keeps you thinking and waiting in anticipation for the next volume, not to mention obsess over at least one of the characters, if not the Death Note series itself...
Light Yagami is bored out of his mind with everyday high-school life. Luckily (or should that be unluckily?)for him, he finds the Death Note, a supernatural notebook that kills the human whose name is written down in it. After a few tests, Light discovers that the deaths caused by the notebook are real, and he decides to help his fellow humans by killing off criminals of every kind, leaving hard-working, kind people to populate the world with him as their God of Justice.
A mere five days after he starts his mission, Ryuk, the Death God ("shinigami") who dropped the notebook onto Earth out of sheer boredom, visits Light and explains that he has to follow Light around until either Light or the Death Note is destroyed. Soon after Ryuk's appearance (Ryuk DID say that Death Gods bring bad luck and sorrow to the owner of a Death Note), the world's police forces send a mysterious detective by the name of "L" to begin tracking down the serial killer responsible for the many recent deaths of criminals. Light, now nicknamed "Kira" on the internet by the public, is now, in turn, tracking down L to accomplish his goal of becoming the God of the new world.
I highly, HIGHLY recommend this series for ANY anime/manga fan out there. I watched the whole series, both movies, and read the entire manga series, and every one of them is amazing. There is no other series that compares to it! It's simply...
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