Death Note

Summary:

Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects – and bored out of his mind! But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, and notebook dropped by a rougue shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal… or his life?

  

Thoughts:
Light Yagami is a brilliant young high school student who appears very serious and focused on his studies, getting ready to take his college entry exams (after already pretesting as the highest score in Japan). The only problem is that Light is completely, utterly bored. That is, until one day a mysterious notebook falls into his path. Emblazoned on the front of the book are the words “Death Note”. Intrigued, Light picks up the notebook and studies it in the privacy of his room, opening it to find some very rudimentary instructions:

At first, Light thinks the notebook is a joke–would someone really die if he writes their name in the book? Once he begins experimenting, however, Light discovers that the Death Note is the real deal. With so much power at his fingertips, the very intelligent Light decides that he wants to recreate the world in his image, as a god that will preside over a new-found utopia–and he begins to systematically kill the unjust, prisoners and criminals whose names and crimes he has seen on the news and researched online. Each criminal Light targets dies 40 seconds later of a heart attack.
As it turns out, the Death Note is a tool of the shinigami, or literally translated “death god”.

Each shinigami has a Death Note, in which they write the names of humans who will die. Occasionally, a shinigami will lose his Death Note, or allow it to be picked up by a human. Such is the case with Ryuk, the shinigami that owns the Death Note that Light has found. As Light soon learns, those who touch the Death Note can see its shinigami owner though no one else can–and Ryuk and Light become strange acquaintances as Light provides Ryuk with incredible entertainment. As Ryuk says to Light, “Humans are…a RIOT!”

Soon, the rash of mysterious deaths catches the eye of the International Police Organization (Interpol), who believe all the criminal deaths are related–and dub the murderer “Kira” (the Japanese katakana letters ?? and pronunciation of “Killer”). Interpol pulls its Ace-in-the-hole by setting their top agent, the mysterious, faceless and nameless man known only as “L”, on the case. Though Light’s murders are the ultimate untraceable crime, he is soon locked in a battle of wits, with L closing in on his trail, while Ryuk observes these interesting human behaviors with his shinigami eyes.

Death Note is a trip. Throughout the story, we see the cat and mouse game between Light and “L” as each formulate brilliantly elaborate plans to stay one step ahead of the grim reaper that awaits either one of them should they fail. While this may sound like just another detective story like Detective Conan - it’s NOT. “Death Note” is a much more complex tale than that of the boy detective, but it’s just as addictive.

 

Light

 “Death Note” goes beyond being a story about good and evil; it makes you question what exactly IS good and evil? Is Light evil for killing criminals and acting as judge, jury and executioner? Is “L” good for using whatever means to capture Kira, even if it means using morally unacceptable practices like forced interrogations? Who’s to say? That’s what makes “Death Note” so deliciously addictive; you don’t quite know who the heck to root for. Of course, you have your favorite character; heck, everyone does. But do you support what that character stands for? Just like politics: you have your favorite candidate, but do you support what that candidate stands for?

The interactions between Light and Ryuk, with Light not even batting an eyelash to the nightmarish figure and Ryuk’s growing amusement to the whole situation, are priceless.