Deathnote, v. 1 - 6

Story by Tsugumi Ohba, art by Takeshi Obata
Published in the U.S. by Viz



Slugline: It's simple: write someone's name in the Deathnote and they die. Getting away with it is the tricky part.

I know, Deathnote is old news and everybody loves it already, but this review is for everybody who hasn't tried it yet. I only just started it, myself.

It took me five volumes to think to myself that normally, this amount of dense exposition would be godawfully boring to slog through. With how short my attention span has gotten from reviewing manga, that should tell you something right there. The dialog is packed with information. There's not a lot of action. The plot is Byzantine, to say the least. The artwork is good but not what I'd call fabulous. And it's got a few blazingly unique characters.

The only thing I can think of that might turn readers off is the complexity, in fact, but everybody's actions are well documented beforehand -- which in itself ought to be godawfully boring, too. How is the writer getting away with this?

I think I'll need to read all 83 (or whatever) volumes to get to the bottom of it.

Check out our review of Deathnote vols. 7-10 also on Prospero's Manga


Death Note vol. 1, vol. 2, vol. 3, vol. 4, vol. 5 and vol. 6 are all available from Right Stuf, Intl., an online retailer specializing in anime and manga.

- Miranda