Death Note (2004)

[デスノート]

Volume 1

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist: Takeshi Obata
Publisher: Jump Comics

Synopsis:
A disillusioned high school student comes across a notebook that allows him to kill people by writing their names in it.

Story/Characters:
Having already seen the TV series, I wanted to go back to the source. There aren't any major divergences that I've noticed so far, so it's not like you gain much that's new by reading the manga, but that doesn't make it any less worth reading. Honestly, this series seems a little too intelligent for Jump but maybe they have more things besides the hot-blooded shounen stuff they're best know for. Anyway, on to the story itself, we've got a good premise that really leaves an impression because of how the main character responds to it. Normally you'd expect something like a killer notebook to give a person pause and Light Yagami does pause... for only the briefest moment before transforming into a mass murderer with a god complex. He truly is one of the great villain protagonists in fiction. I like that while he's very intelligent and deliberate with his plans, he's not perfect and when cornered, he does have a habit of losing his cool. Ryuk the Shinigami is great too, an often immature troll who's set all these events into motion just because he was bored. This volume also introduces the world-class detective seeking to bring Light down. L is also a great character, but he's only teased for the most part here. All that gets established is that he possesses an intellect on par with or exceeding Light's, making for one of the best rivalries since Holmes and Moriarty.

Art:
Takeshi Obata has a very well-done, appealing art style. Particular credit needs to go to the design of Shinigami like Ryuk. There are lot of great panels that play up the creep factor not only of someone obvious like Ryuk but Light as well. Honestly, sometimes Light can be far creepier. It's great. The only thing I might criticize is that younger females tend to look mostly the same. It's almost like Obata got one good-looking face down and ran with it. Because there's much more variation among the male characters, it stands out a bit.

Conclusion:
If you want a detective story with a supernatural twist and an amazing villain protagonist, you're not likely to find much better than this story. I whole-heartedly recommend adding this to your collection.

Rating:
Own It