By: Tsugumi Ohba Publisher: VIZ Media LLC Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: VIZ Media LLC Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 208 Publication Date: March 07, 2006
Product Description: 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 loose sight of his noble goal...or his life?
A review of Death Note, vol. 4 (with minor spoilers) The last volume ended with a bit of a cliffhanger... someone besides Light possesses a Death Note and has made the deal for shinigami eyes. This second Kira is eager to meet the original, and L and the task force hope to intercept copycat before Kira can. Of course, Light is still active on the task force. When the second Kira reveals herself (gasp!) to Light, he must decide how best to use her and her shinigami.
Okay, so getting down to specifics, Misa (the second Kira) reveals herself to the police and then Light, confessing her love for him. She not quite what anyone expected. Compared to super geniuses (Wile E. Coyote-style) like Light and L, Misa isn't nearly as clever, but she's no dummy. She's unpredictable as well, being much more emotional than Light, and having the power of shinigami eyes. Her shinigami, Rem, is the complete opposite of Ryuk - forthcoming, patient, caring, and protective. Light isn't prepared to handle this curveball, and we see him acting more and more on the defensive.
Still, you can't help but feel that L is also struggling with the investigation. There's an interesting exchange between L and Light, where they talk about being friends. While you know that Light is just playing a part, you do feel for L, who seems lonely. He also contemplates his own mortality, knowing that he should concentrate on what he can do instead of letting the fear of death control him.
I think this volume's shift in focus - away from Light and Ryuk and on to L, Misa and Rem - was effective. While L has grown on me over the past three volumes, I liked Misa and Rem almost right away. Perhaps it's that they aren't as calculating as the other characters, but rather plain about their feelings. I'm looking forward to the next volume, especially after this new cliffhanger.
Volume 4 You can't not buy this... It's the kind of book that you have to read. Like the rest of the series... Lol.
Graphic SF Reader With Misa as the second Kira, things get more complicated, with L wanting to stop her, and Light wanting to discover how to work with her. This is made somewhat easier for him when she turns up at his place and confesses serious love.
Her Shinigami also apparently has become quite attached to her, and makes it plain to Light in no uncertain terms that she is not to be harmed.
All that Glitters *Is* Gold Volume Four of 'Death Note' still has the suspense charm that bestowed on the last three volumes. L is still suspicous of Light, but allows him to join his task force nonetheless, hoping to find a solution to this troubling problem. It seems as though the second Kira is a young woman who wants to be Kira's personal pet slave...or that's what it seems to me, since the girl, fashion model Misa Amane, is totally dedicated to Kira. I like this volume a bit more than the onces I've recently read, since Misa's Shinigami Rem, actually takes a liking to Misa. This proves for some interesting twists further in the series.
So why four out of five stars? Simply because I have yet to find a female character who doesn't seem either dumb or weak or completly dedicated to another character with lack of self-respect for herself. Light does not care who he uses or how he uses them, as long as they help him in his quest to be the New God to the New World, and of course, destroy L. It's still a good volume, but if you're looking for strong female characters, look elsewhere.
A New Kira, A Whole New Ball Game I don't care what anyone says, I love to see the proverbial noose closing in around Light's neck and then suddenly something happens and the noose loosens up some for the moment, and so far that's what Death Note has done.
At the end of the last book, we find out that a girl is responsible for sending the Kira messages to Sakura TV. We also found out that the girl has huge feelings for Light, but we don't know exactly why, well you find out in this book.
Anyway, about the book itself. The investigation team brings in Light for consultation on the new videos that are supposedly from Kira, though the videos are real, L takes the oppotunity to put Light to a test and gauge his reaction to see if he lets something slip that will lead to evidence to him being Kira. Soon the unit decides to create their own Kira using Light to try and capture this copycat Kira, however, from the tapes, Light learns that he really needs to meet this new Kira immediately because she is steadily giving away important information, such as the fact they are "bound" to a Shinigami.
Soon we even seen how this particular "goth" type girl came in possession of her Death Note and learn how to kill a Shinigami. But upon their meeting, Misa's Shinigami Rem has an immediate distaste for Light and vows to kill him if he even thinks about killing Misa (who is madly and blindly in love with Light). Things get even weirder after Misa is captured by the task force and placed in isolation and is "tortured" for information, now Light must devise a plan to save Misa or else Rem will kill him. In the end, Light must make a very important decision that could seriously affect his life.
This is another fantastic story, I can't wait to read the next volume. As I said in the beginning of this review, I love how Light is able to make his "escapes" all of the time. I so can't wait for the anime to hit shelves here in America. Anyway, this is another fantastic volume in a gripping and exciting series.
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