Death Note

[Miang]

Probably the best way to get this topic started is with a bit of information about what the manga's about.

In a faraway and barren dimension there exists a race of gods of death. One of them, Ryuuku, "accidentally" drops a magical item of theirs into the human world and has to go and get it. The magical item is called a Death Note, it's picked up by a human student named Light Yagami who opens it up and finds directions in English explaining that this is the property of a god of death, and anyone whose name is written inside of it will die. There are additional rules written out, only the person who's face you are thinking of when you write the name down will die so multiple people sharing the same name are unaffected, it explains that if no cause of death is written by the name, they'll appear to have died from a heart attack, if no time of death is specified they'll die within forty seconds of their name being written, if the specific conditions attached to the death or manner of death are impossible to achieve, it'll "default" back to a heart attack, etc.

Light picks it up, at first thinking it's somebodies idea of a dumb joke, but curiosity eventually compels him to try writing the name of a hostage taker he sees on the news inside the Death Note and a couple of minutes later the news is reporting that the hostages started running out of the building telling people that the man just seemed to die suddenly. Light experiments with it a few more times and becomes convinced that it is real...

Skip forward a week later and after Light comes back from school he finds a monstrous seven foot tall demon with golden eyes waiting for him in his room. The demon introduces himself as Ryuuku, the owner of the Death Note that Light found. He flips through its pages and remarks that he's impressed Light has written so many names down inside of it. Light, once he recovers his composure, says that he's been expecting Ryuuku to show up sooner or later and asks what's going to happen to him now. Ryuuku seems surprised at that and says that nothing's going to happen to him, Light can go ahead and keep on using the Death Note, as far as he's concerned it's his now. He dropped it because he wanted it to be found. He was bored and hoping that whatever human found it would use it to provide him with some entertainment, that's why he wrote the nice directions in English for it. The only price is whatever his own conscience levies... oh, and that he probably shouldn't expect that people who use the Death Note will wind up in heaven.

Ryuuku does however wonder at one thing, Light has written so many names down but almost none of them have a cause of death listed, he wonders why Light's been so lazy. Light then smiles and says that that's actually the most useful feature of the Death Note, all around the world, bad people, criminals on the run, murderers in prison, and the like have all been dropping dead of heart attacks. Because the cause of death is so consistent people in these cases people are going to figure out that it can't be a coincidence, that there's a mysterious and unstoppable force out there that is killing evil doers and bringing justice to the world. Criminals who might scoff at the wrath of the law will learn the fear of God and the world will become a better place for it.

At about the same time, an ICPO conference has noticed this and is trying to figure out what could possibly be causing it. During the conference it's announced that their top investigator, known only as "L", has expressed an interest in the case and will be leading the investigation. L is a total recluse, it's said that nobody has ever seen his face or even knows his real name, but he's a total genius with a perfect track record in every investigation he's ever handled.

And so it's off. L wants to track down the real identity of "Kira" (as the media takes to calling whoever it is that's killing all those criminals) and arrest him. Light wants to continue his utopian vision of bringing justice to the world. The police have decidedly mixed feelings about both of them, particularly as they're afraid that if they do find anything about Kira he'll just kill them while L sits back in anonymous safety.

So, like... is there anyone else here who's read this here? The writing's good (Though the translations I've seen tend towards being a bit spotty) and the artwork's great. I've also been having fun with the moral issue, which thankfully the series is actually quite thoroughly unpreachy on. And hey, Ryuuku's a fun character.

[SS4Zach]

I read and watch the anime.

I love it.

[SpiritOfFire]

Originally Posted by Miang

So, like... is there anyone else here who's read this here? The writing's good (Though the translations I've seen tend towards being a bit spotty) and the artwork's great. I've also been having fun with the moral issue, which thankfully the series is actually quite thoroughly unpreachy on. And hey, Ryuuku's a fun character.

You are the last but most likely person I would've thought to read manga, or something like this.

I read Death Note, it was really good, and is is my top 3 manga. I like Ryuk because he's so carefree, even till the very end. He does stick to his words too, but I just wish he wasn't so ugly. I would've started reading Death Note long before I did if he weren't so ugly.

[Boku77]

I just started to read Death Note and......ITS SO FREAKING COOL!!!!

[Aaroniero]

DEATH note Is the ****ing ****

[Miang]

Originally Posted by SpiritOfFire

You are the last but most likely person I would've thought to read manga, or something like this.

Not that often, Urusei Yatsura and a bit of Ranma 1/2 are the only other ones I've read much of. I heard Death Note recommended as a neat detective series and after reading a bit it grabbed hold of my interest.

I read Death Note, it was really good, and is is my top 3 manga. I like Ryuk because he's so carefree, even till the very end. He does stick to his words too, but I just wish he wasn't so ugly. I would've started reading Death Note long before I did if he weren't so ugly.

Blasphemy! Ryuuku's looks are exactly as they should be! The gangly height, the slightly fishlike eyes-staring off in opposite directionness, the somewhat simian proportions of his body, his perpetually open and leering mouth with its sharp teeth, his heavy metal accessories, he's perfect!

What makes his design so wonderful is the way that it's so much out of place with everything else. A well thought out bit of anachronism can always lend an interesting contrast to everything around it. And of course as a character, at his worst he's no more a monster than he was made to be, the same can't be said for some other people...

[SpiritOfFire]

Originally Posted by Miang

Not that often, Urusei Yatsura and a bit of Ranma 1/2 are the only other ones I've read much of. I heard Death Note recommended as a neat detective series and after reading a bit it grabbed hold of my interest.



Blasphemy! Ryuuku's looks are exactly as they should be! The gangly height, the slightly fishlike eyes-staring off in opposite directionness, the somewhat simian proportions of his body, his perpetually open and leering mouth with its sharp teeth, his heavy metal accessories, he's perfect!

What makes his design so wonderful is the way that it's so much out of place with everything else. A well thought out bit of anachronism can always lend an interesting contrast to everything around it. And of course as a character, at his worst he's no more a monster than he was made to be, the same can't be said for some other people...

I agree, he does look like a possible adaptation of a Shinigami, and he does that very well. It's just that in itself, Shinigami are very ugly. Every picture I saw of the manga, to represent it, was the one where Light-o was standing next to Ryuk, like a mugshot. I decided then and there that I wouldn't read it if the story was about that monster. Luckily,he wasn't the main character, so it turned out alright, and I got used to him after the first couple chapters. Even watching the anime, I couldn't help thinking how ugly he is, even after I'd already seen him thousands of times in manga form that didn't bother me. He actually has "cute" moments, if you will. but my favorite character is still L. :D

[Miang]

Finally finished it, the ending was great. In regards to Kira especially it was perfect. I was rather surprised actually, I was wondering if the author was ever going to be able to tie up all the loose threads. Especially after Mikami was introduced and I was wondering if it was going to be a repeat of the whole corporate plot line again but... no, he actually turned out quite well.

I think I'd pick Near as my favorite character, largely for his ability to get a rise out of Light whenever he belittled his abilities. L probably did have the best quote in the series though with his (paraphrased) "Is it possible that we really are interrupting the work of a god?... No, what kind of god needs to be able to know the faces and names of those he judges? That's a spoiled child playing at being god."

Though Near's responce to Kira's speech at the end came pretty close to it as well.