Death Note Volume 1

Death Note Volume 1

Well I had just had to review this great manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note is a great fast paced graphic novel straight from Viz's Shounen Jump Advanced line. Death Note tells the story of brilliant high school student Light Yagami. Light finds himself a death notebook dropped by a Shinigami. The notebook has the power to kill anyone when there name is written within it's pages, however you must know the name and face of the person you wish to kill. In anycase Light begins killing off criminals, in fact he kills so many criminals that he draws the attention of not only Japan's police force, but the FBI as well. Also a mysterious detective named L also emerges to capture Light. L seems to posess the same amount of intelligence that Light himself has, and soon after a deadly game of cat and mouse begins between the two characters. I really loved this book, it raises many interesting points like is it truly alright to take a human life even that of a criminal. Another interesting point I found was Light's arrogance in believing that he could use the Death Note to kill off the wicked and create a Utopia under his rule. However the most interesting aspect of this novel I must say is the chemistry between Light and L, each trying to be 10 steps ahead of the other, each trying to outsmart the other, and both being polar opposites of the other, like night and day. The relationship between these two characters alone make the book very entertaining. Usually anything from Viz's Shounen Jump line is not my usual fare, but this is one hell of an interesting story. The art work is great and the storyline engaging. Borrow it or buy it you won't be disappointed.