User rating of this review - 4.18 out of 5
Story/Plot - 5 out of 5
Characters - 4 out of 5
Drawing Style - 3 out of 5
Enjoyment - 5 out of 5
Overall - 5 out of 5
Plot/Story
Gods of Death live boring, neverending lives. Most are simply content to spend their days napping, gambling, and taking human lives. However, for one, this is simply not enough. This God of Death, Ryuuku, "accidently" drops his Death Note, the instrument through which he makes all of his kills, and it is found by the young genius Raito. When Raito begins to use it to purify the world of criminals, inputting his will like some mad god, a cat and mouse game between him and the law begins, with the God of Death Ryuuku laughing in the background. By all means, a brilliantly suspenseful story, that only gets better every chapter.
Characters
The characters are all interesting, but it is hard to find a way to like them... or, rather, I should say, hard to admit to yourself if you do. As Raito continues in the story, he begins to kill more and more, and for less and less reason. Yet, it can be deceptively easy to see things from Raito's point of view, something that can be better understood when one has actually read the story. This manga is not disturbing because of any blood or violence, of which there is very nearly none (Raito's chosen method of killing is generally bloodless) but rather for how greatly it blurs the lines between good and evil.
Drawing Style
Generic, but good. If you have read Hikaru no Go, its the same artist for this. Same artist, different story writer. Anyways, certainly pleasing to the eye, but not especially something that will astound anyone.
Overall
An amazing series, that seems to only grow better with each passing chapter. The amount of thought that went into this series story is truly impressive. Definetely not one to be missed, even if you only have a passing interest in suspense.
honestly i think deathnote is a priceless piece of art. it combines very intense plots without ignoring the art. obata takeshi's drawing style is amazingly beautiful & the way he draws raito's evil expressions is so realistic it scares me. however the magic of this manga (to me) is that not a single comic/manga have dealt with the issue of the existence of 'god of death' or 'deathnote' as intense, intelligent & shocking as deathnote. it is still among my favourite manga.
This is one the mangas that top my list at least. An original storyline (which is of course needed for such a successful manga), unique storylines and wonderful drawings. An excellent review of this manga you have done
I've been following this manga for a while, and it was a great story, it should have ended around chapter 35-37 or so. Beyond that, it's felt very forced. Already by that point, characters were making choices that were terribly out of character, as if the sole purpose of making those choices was to continue to the story rather then bring it to a proper conclusion. Namely the FBI's widow. I'll leave it at that, but right now, the story is just going completely silly.
Takeshi Obata has a gorgeous and unique drawing style. The characters look so real yet are animated. Although the storyline is not done by the same person, the drawings fit the story perfectly!
That's why I want to read Hikaru no go instead of watching it.
This manga really puts a new meaning to "thinking too much".
The scheming and plotting is too good to be true, but it makes sense when you consider the characters. Of course, you can only "try" to understand them, especially Yagami Light-kun because he is both complex and simplistic. His ideal is very simple--to bring justice to the world. But he will do -anything- to achieve his goal. He is a manipulative bastard, who certainly has no qualms in crossing the line. To him, there is no good or evil, just his dream of true justice, of righteousness in an ideal world, and the obstacles preventing him from fulfilling that dream. It is so scary to think that a human person can be this stone-cold heartless. He weilds his intelligence like a sharp sword, and he does not have a conscience. He only has his one, pure principle. Takeshi Obata did a very good job in bringing that to light (pun intended), or perhaps, just dragged us readers into the deeper realms of evil and darkness😕 (fu fu fu...crazy laugh) I like this manga because it deals with twisted psyches and subtly gives off thrills that wind deeper into your consciousness. At times, it reminds me strongly of MPD Pycho, in some level. Sometimes the story scares me, not because the plot suspense is scary, but because I seem to be compelled to read such a strongly disturbed plot, and to try to understand it.
Deathnote is so absolutely nice!! ahah. Never read takeshi obata's other works before but this manga sure got me interested! 🙂 Thanks for reviewing it! 🙂
I absolutly love takeshi obata's work. Hikaru go was a persnal favorite, and the art wasone of the things that drew me to death note. I had heard of this series metioned by others, but after finally coming across translations, i readt all in one sitting. I LOVE this series. it is, godly.
