Death Note
Written by Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Lowdown: Loved it. This 12-volume manga series, while not original in the art department, has a thoroughly engrossing, fantastically unique story. Once you start, be prepared to fork out at least $63 to get the complete set, or make generous use of your library.
Remember that show 24? The one where Jack Bauer, warrior extraordinare, battles threat after threat after threat after threat, which become more comical as the show progresses. (My favorite season was the first, since the surprises never got too extreme and the story stayed pretty tight and focused.)
Death Note is the 24 of the comics world. Plot twist after plot twist gets thrown at you, but instead of dragging out, the story ends just before the action gets out of hand.
One day, Light Yagami finds a journal, with “Death Note” written on the cover. He quickly discovers, with the aid of the shinigami who owns the book, that he can kill anybody by writing their name in the book. He quickly sets about ridding the world of violent criminals. Of course, he doesn’t just stop there, and begins to create a utopian world with no evil. Soon, his dad, chief of the Tokyo police and “L”, the world’s greatest detective are hot on his trail.
This book is fun. Plain and simple. I could not put it down, and devoured each volume as fast as the library could get them to me. You would normally expect a plot with two dueling super geniuses to contain some pretty big logical holes and inconsistencies, but this story is as tight as any I’ve ever read.
If you’ve never read manga before, start here. Great stuff.
I recommend picking up volume 1 at the library, or reading it at a local bookstore. If you like it, and prefer to own the books you read, order the box set from Amazon. It has all 12 volumes, plus a bonus “behind the scenes” volume 13 . Each book sells for about $8. The box set sells for $63, which is $5.25 a book, a 35% savings.
Buy from Amazon
Death Note Box Set (with kickback
)