Death Note Review

   I’m one of the few people in Reading the “Death Note” manga way before the anime appeared.

While it’s heavily raining in my town, i remember having first seen the two live-action movies based in the manga during winter. They caused such an impact in me, that every time it rains, its soundtracks sound in my head.

   Death Note is a manga originally written by Tsugami Ohba (there are rumors saying it’s just a pseudonym), illustrated by Takeshi Obata (Hikary no Go, Karakurizōshi Ayatsuri Sakon, and many others), published since December of 2003, till May of 2006, with 12 volumes. This manga is based in a “one-shots” (only episode), diffused by Shūeisha; the thirteenth manga volume (“How to Read”), is a Special that includes this one-shot. The 37 episodes anime produced by Madhouse, began its emission in October of 2006, till June of 2007. The series was adapted to three live-action movies, 2 light novels, various videogames and a lot of merchandising, plus various books and supplementary chapters to the franchise.

   Death Note is one of the Shonen Jump most sold mangas, with over 26,5 millions copies sold.

The Ominous Object

   The “Death Note” it’s an abominable object for many, but useful for others. This notebook is capable to kill any person  just knowing their face and writing their names in any page.

-     The human whose name has been written in the Death Note, shall die.

-   This notebook won’t have effect unless that who writes in it has in mind the face of the subject, whose name is been written.

-     If the cause of dead is written in the next 40 seconds after writing the name, this cause of dead will happen.

-     If the cause of dead it’s not specified, the person shall die from a heart attack after 40 seconds the name written.    

-   After writing the cause of dead, the dead details must be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

   The Death Notes belong to the Shinigamis, spiritual beings who use these notebooks to take the life of a person and, this way, acquire the stolen years of life of these human beings. The Shinigamis are virtually immortal, though after reading the rules that the author gives over the series, we can find out different ways of dead of a Shinigami.

   The rules and ways to use the Death Note are usually revealed in special Light manga pages, the leading character discovers new rules and tends to use them like tricks for those who try to catch him.

Plot

 

   Light Yagami is the best qualified student in Japan, but he’s bored of watching the crime growing in the world. One day, he finds a notebook with the title “Death Note” falling from the sky. After a several number of tests, this notebook allows him to kill many criminals just writing their names in it. After five days, he gets the visit of Ryuk, a Shinigami, and Light decides to explain to him that this notebook will help him to end with the crime in this world, and he’ll become into this “New World’s God”. When people finds out that all of the criminals are dying because of a heart attack, they decide to name this fake god as “Kira”, from the english word “Killer”, murderer. Inside the story, we must consider this rule “Everyone who uses the Death Note, will be owned by a Shinigami”, meaning there’s a “normal and positive” Light without the Death Note, and another, Light Kira  eager to use the notebook and end with everyone who tries to stop him.

   The second leading character is “L”, a super detective that begins investigating Kira and realizes he needs to know the name and face of the person to kill it.

   The story develops the psychological game between both and the tricks they place mutually, Light to escape from any suspects, and L to catch Kira.

Death Note,Tsugumi Ohba’s Work

   Death Note comes from a tremendously innovating concept of the author: trying to make s suspense series about Shinigamis with very specific rules, something never seen before in the Shonen Jump. Owned to the one-shot positive reactions, and to the inclusion of Takeshi Obata to illustrate the work, Tsugami Ohba starts publishing the manga for the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine, which is dedicated almost exclusively to Shonen genre.

  Other author’s known work is “Bakuman”, but is suspected that name “Tsugumi Ohba” is just pseudonym of a recognized author. Is also believed that “L” is based in Ohba’s personality. It’s even presumed that it may be a woman, because of the little woman shape holding an apple in the right hand used in each of her fans notice.

Death Note Manga

  With 108 chapters, 12 collections volumes and a special volume, “How to Read”; according to the author, the concept there to rescue in the Death Note manga would be: “Every human being will eventually die and there’s no coming back, so let’s give our best while we’re alive”.

 Though for me the best end is the episode #25 of the anime, Ohba assures that the story ends in the manga, with certain differences, according to what he had plain from the beginning of manga, Ohba always saw L defeating Kira.

Death Note Animation

  With 37 episodes and cheered by the MadHouse’s master crazies, the animation is tremendously well cared, giving it an enhancement to some aspects turning the series more interesting, more than being focus in what’s moral and the sense of justice the manga talks about. The manga is suspense by clear, but the anime reaches some action through special effects and exaggerations well used in the work. There’s no doubt in that we’re face to face with a great quality kind of animation.

   Plus the 37 anime episodes, there are 2 special collection volumes, though they’re not supplementary to the work or even necessary to see to understand the piece (Death Note Rewrite: The Visualizing God y Death Note Rewrite 2: L's Successors).

Soundtracks, Openings

  The soundtrack is a living actor in the animation and the live-action movies. A great mix of learned music (suspense themes are awesome) and, when’s necessary, Gregorian chant brand shirring Kira´s actions, this new world’s god.

   The openings bring back something loss in that moment animes: The Metal. The second ending “Zetsobou Billy” by Maximum The Hormone says it clearly: Kira kills the rest of poser styles leaving alive his preference band, Metal. 

Live Action

 

   There are three live-action movies based on Death Note. The first two are straightly based in the manga story, even if some characters and tricks are changed by others, the work’s suspense is still there.

   The third movie “L Changes the World” is a spin-off based in the character “L”. This movie has a story none based in the manga, but still keeps some of the original characters, like L and Near.

  Warner Bros owns the rights to work on a Hollywood movie about Death Note. Sadly, at U.S.A. they still don’t get the love that fans have for this piece, and keep changing and making movies full of shit and only useful to throw out everything in your stomach. Let’s hope for Death Note U.S. version not to be another foulness like Dragon Ball movie.

Work’s Acceptance

  The cultural impact Death Note has caused is huge. Being consider as a merchandising object and a great sale all over the world, it was shut down in China, owned to the fact that students changed their notebooks and used to write known people, enemies and teachers names.

   There are crimes very similar to Death Note ones, at Belgium a man was found dead with a note in latin “I am Kira”. At U.S.A., various students have been discovered with their own Death Notes with names written in the inside. Well I’m over a hundred percent sure that people all around the world have written names in their Death Notes, and I’m also sure that most of you have done it too in your own Death Notes.

    

The piece has received many compliments of any kind; the only thing i can complain is the short appearance of the character “Misa Amane”, second Kira, someone really important that disappears at some point in the story, and it’s not named again; and that “L” had acquire such a weight and fame considering his short charisma and his low social skills, something very contradictory for a detective, who needs to develop a whole Social Engineering to do his job well.

Something that calls everyone´s attention is that the manga, the live-action and the anime have different ends.

I choose anime´s episode #25 ¿What did you choose?