User rating of this review - 3.9 out of 5
Story/Plot - 4 out of 5
Characters - 4 out of 5
Drawing Style - 5 out of 5
Enjoyment - 4 out of 5
Overall - 4.2 out of 5
Plot/Story
I am sure by now this manga have become a well known manga that made itself a name in history. If you like mind playing stories, suspense, thriller, time killer, a challenge, or simply a good read, then let me tell you Death Note is the one you should get your hands on.
It is about what happens when a teenage boy with his own strong sense of justice do when he picks up a black notebook one day at school. This notebook belongs to a shinigami whom had dropped the deathnote in the human world. Ratio, with his strong sense of justice and strong belief that the humans now are rotting and he, genius boy and first son of the police chief, can change it all, by threatening everyone with terror, that is.
This is how the deathnote go, write someone's name in the book, if you don't write how the person will die then after 40 seconds when the name was written, he or she will have a heart attack and die. Now that's something. With such powers comes a great responsibility, and Ratio knows just how to use the deathnote to his advantage. For a teenage boy who not freak out when faced with the owner of the deathnote, the shinigami who went in search for the deathnote, he really means something.
Too bad the elite "L" is out to get him with his own "Justice"
Characters
Ratio is an elite high school boy. He is smart, handsome, good with girls and very reliable. If someone or some people around him just open their eyes they should be able to see that Ratio is not really deep with them. He have his own way of thinking things, things that are too deeply some times too. Because of his not-a-care-in-the-world attitude, it is not a surprise to see him using the deathnote so ruefully while calling it "Justice". And in some weird sense, his justice really seem...well..."justice-ly". His personality darkens a few volumes into the series that make you shudder with horror to read of such a main character. Ratio uses anyone he can to get this ways. A true hero who fights for his justice. Ratio is also a true painful main character that captures you heart while at the same time twisting it into knots of pain.
Misha, a character many learn to hate, is not really that hateful when you think about it. She do anything for the one she loves, even if he is insane cough Just like how Ratio is right in his weird way about killing to open a path ofr this justice, Misha will kill for the path of love. Though her personality really gets on your nerves from time to time.
The shinigami is just scary, creepy looking, personality really scary and creepy, but hey, we all love him.
Drawing Style
From the same artist who did the infamous "Hikaru no Go", you really can't say anything bay about the drawing style. The characters are well draw with a sense of "seriousness". There are many cute scenes that lightens the mood of the manga a few times. The shinigami looks scary enough, with this i really give a 5!
Enjoyment and Overall
I really enjoyed this manga and believe anyone who have yet to get their hands on this really is missing out! This isn't really a long serie, the plot and art are all good. If you are in need of a suspense manga then check Death note out! I really enjoyed this manga and know that it will be sometime for me to forget about this manga and how it ended. Really now, can you imagine a perfect ending for the main character when he is good and evil at the same time? From the beginning you can see he will not be able to change into a good person. A twist is waiting and the suspense are calling out!
I totally agree with friedo.obrain, how come the plot doesn't get five?! you've got to be kidding.
Good review. I'm tired of all those perfect 5s. Death Note isn't one too. There are far too many of those reviews on this site, and, frankly speaking, hardly any of those deservses it. At least compared with each other. And Ratio is just a type-o. And it's nothing wrong calling him Raito.
To be pirky I would set story and drawings to 4.5...
the story it's complete and perfect. the main character ( light ) is a great person who try to make a better world.
the plot/chars dont need a higher ranking as after the "L arc" the chars and the plot get worse (imo even a lot worse)
hum i agree for the most part... The characters and the drawing are great but i can't understand why that plot doesn't get a 5... It's just awesome... Not everyday you see such a plot-centered manga ( and with a good one for the matter)
If you wanna get -really- technical, it's not even Raito. It's meant to be Light.
And personally, I think DN is a really difficult series to rate and/or review because it evolves so much throughout its run. While the plot twists are fascinating at first, at some point it begins to stagnate, and it becomes difficult to sit still and continue until the end. It might be easier to read through to the end now that it's complete and available in full, but while it was still being written, it was a bit difficult to keep up with the intrigue when you only got a chapter a month.
Overall, this is still a very high quality manga; it's just that when it starts out so great, it's hard to maintain that level of quality throughout, and you can tell when the story begins to struggle with itself.
Wow. This review isn't in accordance with my opinion of the manga. This manga probably deserves a higher rating for plot and characters. Everything is well thought out and, when reading it, one actually says, "Hey, this sequence of events makes sense realistically." The characters are memorable. The angle at which this manga is portrayed is through the antagonistic protagonist. It's very well pulled off. =)
And yes, Raito instead of Ratio.
I've read the first 2 books already. =) It's good and it's not as confusing and difficult to understand as what others might say. This has to be read when you're alone and relaxed. (LOL! That's for my start.)
