By: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata (Illustrator)
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Series: Death Note: Black Edition (#1)
Summary: Killer 2-for-1 value on hit thriller Death Note!
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 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?
Contains Volumes 1 and 2 of Death Note !
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. Will Light’s noble goal succeed, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?
Review: No doubt, Death Note is one of the most famous manga series in the West. The series has garnered adaptations into multiple anime series, movies, and live-action films, and it has sold over 30 million copies. The series remains popular, and its memory endures.
This story follows Light, who is a genius honors student, handsome, well-liked, popular, athletic, charming, polite, capable of everything, and simply seems like an upright and admirable young man with a bright and successful future in law enforcement.
The epitome of an ideal student, son, and member of Japanese society.
Despite this, Light is bored. He seems jaded. Having the ability to get anything, he lacks interest in anything. Because of his boredom, he observes and contemplates the world around him. He's grown dissatisfied, seeing the world rot away.
He comes across a mysterious notebook suddenly, seemingly from nowhere. According to the notebook, if he thinks of someone’s face or writes their name in its pages, that person will die. Light tests the notebook despite its morbidity and unrealistic nature. He realizes its actual power.
Unexplained criminal deaths worldwide. Legal bodies seek answers. Enter L, the world's greatest detective.
L, a detective in his mid-twenties, is completely against the dogma of Kira (and Light) as he seeks justice. Rather than embodying a righteous god figure who upholds justice, Kira, an individual with god-like abilities, uses their power selfishly because of their flawed understanding of morality.
The contrast between him and Light, he works to arrest Kira and end his reign of terror in a battle to determine whose beliefs are truly true.
While they share many similarities—the drive to win, the conviction that theirs way is right, the genius intellect—they differ in many important ways. They switch from enemies to teammates, keenly aware of one another but unable to defeat each other.Yet despite this, I think one of the biggest problems with the story is that you can see how Light’s choices drive everything else that happens in the series.
If Light hadn't attacked an innocent (despite being a criminal), he wouldn't have killed the L stand-in. The global message would have continued, but with no progress, despite the 7 billion popular suspects. The first mistake Light makes is proving that Kira is in Japan, ruling out a broader pool of suspects.
This story happens because Light sees L as a threat, even though there’s no evidence linking the deaths back to Light. His fear and paranoia caused him to make irrational decisions, which ultimately lead to his downfall. Fear's power can make behavior irrational and decisions critical.
The writing had moments of stiffness that were hard to ignore. This may be because of the translation. It's possible that the subtleties and underlying meanings in Japanese storytelling don't fully translate into English, causing characters' emotions to escalate quickly.
The author’s sexism is worth noting. The author’s perspective belittles women, portraying men as geniuses. They consider them unworthy to be considered a threat in any sense. The view persists that women excel in domesticity and child-rearing, while men are solely breadwinners. This reinforces gender inequality and perpetuates the idea that women cannot achieve the same success as men.
If you can disregard this part. It’s worth checking out!