Ohba Tsugumi and Obata Takeshi - Death Note, vol. 01-05 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

I started reading Death Note after hearing a lot about it on LJ and after I found it in the library (I suspect most of my manga entries start out this way). I had actually expected something rather on crack, given that all I knew about the series was that there was a very odd doujinshi with much sex and men in black suits, and that it inspired a rather rabid following.

It is actually one of the least on crack manga I've read. Granted, the premise is somewhat wonky -- there are various shinigami (gods of death) that go about on earth and kill people by writing their names in the Death Notes. When a shinigami loses his or her Death Note and a human picks it up, the human then can kill anyone by writing their name in the Death Note and specifying a means of death. There are even more rules regarding the use of the Death Note, and one of the fun parts of the series is seeing how detailed the rules are and how Ohba works them into the series.

Yagami Light manages to find himself a Death Note one day, and he decides to kill criminals. After a while, the police notice that there's a serial killer on the lose, and they put the legendary detective L (who is a teenager who cannot sit with his feet on the floor, something I completely empathize with) on the case. What follows is a series of cat-and-mouse bits between Light and L, both of whom are geniuses.

Although sometimes, the turns of logic make me roll my eyes, I have a huge intellectual interest in the manga. I was particularly surprised by that, given that most of the time, my attachment to manga is purely emotional. But it's a smart manga, and even though some scenarios seem a bit improbable, I really enjoy watching Light and L trying to outsmart each other. I was afraid that this would quickly grow stale, given that there's only so much one can do with that, but just when I think Ohba has taken all the fun out of one scenario, he quickly throws in something else and complicates the plot yet again.

Also, I really like what I saw of Obata's art in Hikaru no Go, and I continue to enjoy it in Death Note. He's just got this wonderfully clean style that I really like.

Anyhow, I'm not sure how much longer I'll keep reading this; it's not a series I'd buy. I like it from a more intellectual level, but nothing in it has hooked me emotionally yet.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

The relentlessly logical plot twists, clean and dynamic art, and psychological cat-and-mouse game between L and Light hooked me for the first four volumes, but the arc that starts in volume five is so stultifying that I am still trying to struggle through it. It doesn't emotionally engage me, though I don't think that's the intent; although I am rather fond of the toe curling, shoulder scrunching, sweet-gobbling, unsocialized, insomniac, poorly socialized, and brilliant L.

That bizarre doujinshi makes much more sense now, though, doesn't it? The handcuffs, the interplay between Light and L, the voyeurism, the men in suits, the repetitions of "This is a test" and "We have put them in the room as a test" are all actually perfectly in keeping with the source material. Except for the GIANT LOOMING PENIS with the tiny black bar randomly pasted to it.

[oyceter]

The new arc is very boring indeed. Also, it got rid of a lot of the cool cat-and-mouse stuff that I had been liking so much, and now I obviously need to make a spoilery post, because I can't talk about it any more without spoilers!

I was totally amused to find Nick of PBR in an L-like pose!

The doujinshi does make sense! Except... the GIANT LOOMING PENIS. And... L, having sex. My brain cannot imagine L having sex.