BookDragon Blog

Need some freak-out adventures you can’t put down? Time to continue the Death Note series with four more volumes that will get us to the half-way mark of this international phenomenon – in addition to the expected mega-million copy sales, anime and live-action spin-offs, novelizations, etc. etc., the series has elicited much darker responses, even copycat crimes that include murder! So be warned …

Vol. 3 has genius Light Yagami (aka Kira) under close surveillance by special members of the Japanese police – including his own father! – led by a seemingly unparalleled crime-solver who goes by L, also known as Ryuzaki. Light manages to stay just ahead of his watchers, even when L shows up on his college campus, same freshman class. With Light is under suspicion, a second Kira suddenly appears … and even Light is caught off guard.

In order to fight the second Kira, Light and L join forces in vol. 4 to ferret out the imposter. But Kira #2’s admiration and adoration leads her straight to Light … and makes her easy prey for capture. How much will she reveal?

In vol. 5, Light willingly goes to jail under 24/7 watch to prove his innocence … all part of an elaborate plot he sets in motion, which includes not only giving up ownership to the Death Notebook, but losing access to his own memories! When a third Kira begins to kill, Light and Misa are absolved and released … and, in an ironic twist, become part of the ultra-secret taskforce to find the latest killer.

Literally chained together in vol. 6, Light and L work tirelessly to catch Kira #3 – who quickly shows that his only goal is personal gain. As the head of a major corporation, the new Kira gathers a group of eight powerful internal leaders to ensure the company’s international domination, but his insatiable greed makes him far too careless …

Wow. So will Light ever be free of L? Any hope he’ll recover his memory? Just how elaborate is his plan? And what about Misa who has already given up so much of her very life just to be in Light’s presence? Six more volumes to go …

One minor complaint: the sharp increase of inner monologues printed on the page – especially for Light and L as they constantly try to outwit, outpace, out-solve each other – quickly becomes too much of ‘tell-not-show.’ Given creators Ohba and Obata’s supreme storytelling talents, all that inner babbling seems overkill (uh, no pun intended), especially with such well-developed characterizations. That said, I wouldn’t even think of stopping the series half-way through! Bring them on …!

For all the other volumes of Death Note (12 total) on BookDragon, click here.

Readers: Young Adult, Adult

Published: 2005 – 2006 (United States)
DESU NŌTO © Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Original Japanese edition published by Shueisha Inc.