Tsugumi Ohba's Death Note - Manga Review

Tsugumi Ohba's Death Note has recently seen it's last of 12 volumes published in the US. This manga has achieved popularity not only in Japan and the US, but has spawned multiple live action retellings, an anime series, a Nintendo DS game, a printed novel, and a 13th "manga" containing canon and story background not explicit in the main series. With a combination of supernatural horror, suspense, and scenes of detective work rivaling Sherlock Holes mysteries, it's hard for fans of more than one dramatic genre not to find something appealing in Death Note.

The story chronicles Light Yagami, a top student attending high school in Japan, who finds a notebook belonging to a shinigami, or death god, named Ryuk. Ryuk explains that the notebook gives its owner the ability to kill someone simply by writing his or her name in the Death Note, as it is known. Light decides to use the Death Note as an instrument of justice, and begins killing criminals who, in a society Light considers corrupt, otherwise go unpunished.

As the series progresses, Light not only must maintain a moral high ground when given absolute power, but must evade capture by a master investigator, who introduces himself as "L." Throughout the series readers are made to reassess whether Light's actions are just, or if he has been corrupted by the power he wields, as he begins considering those who would capture him enemies of his justice. The series makes readers not only hope for Light's capture or death, but also hope for his redemption, as we are given a view of Light prior to the influences of the Death Note.

Confrontations abound, and readers are treated to internal dialogues and deductions from all characters which are as suspenseful as any on TV or film. The inner workings of characters plotting against each other made this clear to the audience is one of the greatest strengths of Death Note, and I have yet to encounter another work of fiction (outside novels eight times as long as a single volume of Death Note) this in-depth in its conflicts.

The story is illustrated beautifully by Takeshi Obata. Panels range from about a sixth of a page, to multi-page scenes, all showing great detail. There is a greater amount of work put in to the art of Death Note than most manga on the market, yet it does not overshadow the story, but serves to emphasize what the characters are going through emotionally.

Death Note is one of the greatest manga to come from Japan in recent years. With a story putting it in the top tier of suspense fiction, and illustrations above and beyond most of what manga is on the market, Death Note is a must-read. Manga fans owe it to themselves to read Death Note if they haven't already, and people new to manga can't pick a better introduction.