Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421506302
Released: January 2007
Original release: 2005

Contact is the ninth volume in the ever popular manga series Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The book was initially published in Japan in 2005 before being released in an English translation by Viz Media in 2007. Death Note is complete at twelve volumes. Generally, the books have been well received although as with any series Death Note has its detractors as well. I really enjoyed the earlier volumes, had some misgivings about a few of the middle books, but have by now had my confidence mostly restored in the series. Overall, at least so far, I would recommend Death Note. It’s definitely more of a series for people interested in mind games rather than action, although there’s certainly some of that to be found in the books as well.

After the first attempt to take down Mello and his crew fails, Light is more determined than ever to regain the notebook Mello holds. Mello and his counterpart Near are much greater adversaries than Light first realized and now he has another Shinigami to deal with on top of them. Devising a plan in which the Japanese taskforce investigating Kira will raid Mello’s hideout, Light feels completely in control of the situation. But he didn’t count on Mello’s willingness to use unusual, unsavory, and drastic means to reach his goals. Outside of this violent battle of will, society has begun to accept and admire Kira and his work to make the world a better place. Even the members of the taskforce are no longer convinced that Kira is entirely evil even if he is a murderer. It looks as though the tide may be turning in Kira’s favor, but there is no way that Mello or Near are willing to allow that to happen.

It is Light that continues to fascinate me the most in Death Note. He is trying to balance three different personas—Kira, Light, and the new L—and does so mostly successfully, although the strain is starting to show. He’s beginning to slip up and make small mistakes and some of his previous machinations are proving to be problematic. While Light is still very confident in his own capabilities, he is no longer able to anticipate the results of his and others’ actions as well as he once could. Mello’s unpredictability in particular has thrown him off. Light remains very calculating and it is difficult to determine which of his reactions are simply for show and which are authentic, and even if he knows himself. There is a superbly executed scene between Light and his father that exemplifies this. He has shown repeatedly that he is willing to sacrifice those closest to him in order to protect himself. His true feelings and how these decisions are affecting him as a person are slowly being revealed.

Because Contact is one of the later collections in the series it relies heavily on the volumes that precede it, so understandably it doesn’t make a very good entry point for a new reader to the series. The first half of the volume is very quickly paced as Light and the remainder of the Japanese taskforce confront Mello and his gang head on. Even when there’s not a lot of action going on, Obata’s artwork captures the tension in the story. The emotional intensity and character’s stress is readily apparent just by looking at their faces. The second half of Contact, while still interesting, unfortunately bogs down a bit. Although, I do get the feeling that something big is going to happen, and soon. I want to be there when it does, so I’ll certainly be picking up Death Note, Volume 10: Deletion.

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421506296
Released: November 2006
Original run: 2003-2006 (Weekly Shōnen Jump)

Although I have been enjoying Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s popular Death Note manga series, I was mostly disappointed in Zero, the seventh volume. Still, there was plenty of good stuff going on and I definitely wanted to finish the series. I was looking forward to seeing where Ohba would take the story in volume eight, Target, especially considering the major plot developments that occurred in the previous book. Target collects chapters sixty-two to seventy of Death Note and picks up immediately where Zero leaves off. There are four more volumes after Target, five if you count the readers’ guide, but Death Note hasn’t shown any signs of slowing down yet. The series is in a very different place than when it first started, which is to be expected, but I still find the books to be engaging.

Four years have passed since the death of L. Light is now able to pose as his deceased opponent, making his secret identity as Kira even easier to maintain while serving as a primary investigator on the case. Public opinion has begun to favor Kira and Light has grown complacent in his relatively secure position. But L’s intellectual heirs have joined the game and Light will once again have to do some quick thinking. Mello has kidnapped his sister and is demanding the Death Note held by the Japanese police be turned over to him in exchange for her life. Light reluctantly join forces with Mello’s rival Near while striving to keep his multiple identities hidden. Near and Mello are both after Kira and the notebook, although for very different reasons, and Light will have to do all that he can to maintain his quickly dwindling advantages. And just as it looks like he might be in the clear, interference from the Shinigami realm changes everything.

Near and Mello make for interesting characters, but I’ll just come out and say it—I really miss L. The interaction between him and Light was fantastic and without L around to keep him on his toes Light seems to have lost some of his spark. Both Mello and Near come across as being rather young and I find their leadership roles and the amount of responsibility given to them hard to believe even considering their brilliance. The two of them will present Light with some decent challenges, especially since Light appears to be out of practice and Mello is more than willing to be ruthless in his methods to get what he wants. Although neither Mello nor Near are yet on par with L in regards to their intelligence, their general strangeness certainly is. Even with L gone, the conflicts between Near, Mello, and Light should prove to be interesting as they all try to outwit one another.

For the most part, Target hits on the major plot points from the previous books fairly well, but the series has progressed far enough now that it would be difficult for a new reader to jump in without being confused by some of what is going on. Death Note can be a bit text heavy at times since much of the story’s tension comes from characters’ internal dialogues as they try to out-think one another rather than from dramatic action sequences (although there are some of those, too.) However, readers are nicely led through the sometimes convoluted thought processes and Obata’s strong and consistent artworks greatly supports the story. I still prefer the series’ earlier volumes, but Target has helped regain some of the confidence I lost in Death Note while reading Zero. I’m not entirely sure where Ohba and Obata are heading, but I look forward to finding out in the ninth volume, Contact.

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421506289
Released: September 2006
Original run: 2003-2006 (Weekly Shōnen Jump)

Zero, the seventh volume in the wildly popular manga series Death Note, collects chapters fifty-three through sixty-one and picks up immediately were the previous book, Give-and-Take, left off. Like so many others, I have been very fond of the series thus far. And since Give-and-Take ended with a bit of a cliff-hanger, it didn’t take me too long to get around to reading Zero. The series’ premise is engaging and supported by strong artwork, making it easy to like. While Zero is definitely not my favorite installment, the book marks a significant turning point in the series. Several major and very important plot points happen in Zero which does make it difficult to discuss without spoiling things, but I will do my best.

The capture and arrest of Kyosuke Higuchi, determined by the investigation team to be acting as one of the Kiras, is the key to the return of Light’s memories of the Death Notes. The only thing that now needs to happen to ensure the success of Light’s plan and to initiate his endgame is Higuchi’s death. Much will happen before victory is guaranteed, but even then the question is how long will Light be able to hold onto it?

The first three quarters of the book are spent unveiling the details of Light’s plan (implemented several volumes ago) which have been a mystery up until now, even to him, and then watching how it plays out. Unfortunately, despite the rapid pacing of the revelations, the story has almost no tension. Light states at one point that he “spent every second thinking up every possible scenario and how to deal with it,” which is certainly impressive but a little boring when everything goes according to plan and he’s never shown to worry that there’s even a chance that it might not. Light and the story simply feel very passive at this point in the series. Through all of this, L remains convinced that Light is the most likely suspect contrary to much of the supposed evidence. He furiously continues to try and figure it all out before it’s too late. The last fourth of the book reveals the aftermath of Light’s machinations and manipulations, effectively fast-forwarding through five years. The Kira investigation is still underway, though not much is said about it, and new players enter to challenge Light’s control over the situation.

The artwork in Zero continues to be very good; I also appreciate its consistency. A few things that were done particularly well in this volume were the aging of the characters, the shift in Light and Misa as they regain their memory, and, as always, the portrayal of the Shinigami. Light really seems to have lost it in this volume and his facial expressions, while at times a little over the top and never nearly as subtle as earlier in the series, certainly get the point across and then hammers it home.

I knew when I began reading the Death Note series that there was a point about halfway through in which the tone of the story significantly changes and that fans are very divided over this. I will admit that I was mostly disappointed with Zero even though there is still some great stuff going on. However, at this point, I’m going to reserve my final opinion about the shift until I finish the series, which I fully intend to do. Because, while I found the seventh book ultimately disappointing, it wasn’t because of the major events in the plot. The story is still very strong and thought provoking, although some elements introduced in Zero really seem to come out of nowhere; it just wasn’t executed as well as I have come to expect from this series. I’ll just have to see how things go with the eighth volume of Death Note, Target.

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421506272
Released: July 2006
Original run: 2003-2006 (Weekly Shōnen Jump)

It seems that I’ve been putting off reading Give-and-Take, the sixth book in the Death Note manga series, and I’m not entirely sure why since I’ve really liked the books. Granted, I didn’t enjoy the last book I read, Whiteout, quite as much as the ones previous. So, despite having picked up Give-and-Take soon after finishing Whiteout, it took me a while to actually get around to reading and reviewing it. But, I’m glad that I did and I still have plans to read the entire series—not that that has ever been in doubt for me.

Give-and-Take follows directly after Whiteout. Light is still chained to L and Misa is still under strict surveillance. Even though they are both considered suspects for being one of the first two Kiras, they are doing all that they can to assist the investigative team in tracking down and capturing the third Kira. So far, the investigation has been able to determine that this Kira is connected to a small group of people at the Yotsuba Corporation, but narrowing down it down even further is going to be tricky without showing their hand. It doesn’t help that the team has split into two groups over a disagreement in how to proceed. But the closer they get to Kira, the more dangerous it becomes for all involved and the team members must decide how far they are willing to go and how much, and who, they are willing to risk to capture Kira.

Takeshi Obata’s artwork is as great as ever and continues to be consistent. Light’s personality changes come across very well, but I will admit that I miss the intensity of the old Light. I also miss Ryuk; the apple-loving Shinigami is nowhere to be found in Give-and-Take. However, the other god of death, Rem, does show up and has a fairly important role at this point in the story. It does feel like a personality shift may have happened with this character as well—and I’m not sure I completely buy it yet. I know that Light’s charismatic, but he seems to have an awful lot of control over others. Given that, it should be interesting to see how his plan to regain a Death Note works out, especially as he is currently unaware of what that plan is since he has no memories of being Kira, though he is becoming more and more convinced of that possibility. L doesn’t seem nearly as strange to me as he used to. I’m not sure if it’s just that I’ve gotten used to him, or if he simply isn’t acting as outrageously as he once was. He still has some rather odd, and amusing, moments though.

While I didn’t enjoy Give-and-Take as much as some of the earlier books, the series is making a strong comeback. The book did start out slow, but then I was never that interested in the “evil corporation” as Kira. Fortunately, Give-and-Take explores the individuals that make up the Yotsuba group, revealing just how freaked out they are about the whole situation—sure, they’re willing to go along while it’s advantageous for them, but they also realize how dangerous it is and they’re frightened for they’re lives. This more personal approach is what gets the series back on track. And once the third Kira has been identified, the pacing is put back into full speed and the tension skyrockets as the chase begins. Of course, it all manages to end in a cliff-hanger, so I suppose that it would do to pick up the seventh book, Zero, sooner rather than later. I’m looking forward to starting the last half of the series.

Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
U.S. publisher: Viz Media
ISBN: 9781421506265
Released: May 2006
Original run: 2003-2006 (Weekly Shōnen Jump)

I’ve only recently really been getting into manga but have definitely been enjoying my foray into the genre. Death Note has consistently been among the best series I’ve found so far. The first four volumes were fantastic and I was looking forward to reading the fifth, Whiteout. Although still very good, ultimately I wasn’t taken by it as much as I was by the previous books. But I’m not going to let that stop me from reading the rest.

At the end of the fifth installment, Love, Light had turned himself in to the investigation team for observation in an attempt to convince L that he wasn’t Kira. Whiteout begins with both Light and Misa imprisoned under suspicion for being one of the Kiras, which leads to the voluntary imprisonment of Light’s father as well. Eventually, all three are released, but L still hasn’t been completely convinced of their innocence so Misa is put under constant surveillance and Light is literally chained to L. While he was under observation, Light secretly gave up ownership of the Death Note (although I suspect only temporarily), resulting in the loss of all of his memories directly relating to it. Since he is still assisting with the Kira investigation, this puts him in an awkward position. He is now unknowingly trying to outwit himself while insisting upon his innocence, sometimes despite the evidence and occasionally even hiding it. And on top of that, the investigation is only going to get more complicated when the existence of a third Kira is discovered.

The pacing in Whiteout has definitely slowed from that of the previous books. However, there are still some absolutely fantastic and exciting scenes. Additionally, a little more humor is introduced into the story, though it still has a predominantly serious tone. Whiteout continues to develop and introduce human characters, but we hardly get to see the Shinigami at all. I expect the volume mostly serves as a transition between the feel of the first four volumes and what’s to come; while the still very interesting, it almost feels like a placeholder.

The art in Whiteout remains excellent. What especially stood out to me in this volume is how the character’s appearances change after they have been held in solitary for so long. In particular, the change in Light is subtle but extraordinarily effective in portraying his personality shift. I’m continue to be impressed by the artist’s skill. The Shinigami, which have always been the most interesting visually, don’t really make much of an appearance in Whiteout. Unfortunately, even Rem and Ryuk only show up briefly in a few panels.

Whiteout was the first volume of the series that I don’t feel improved over those that came before. (Don’t get me wrong—it wasn’t a bad book by any means.) I missed the intensity between Light and L as they each tried to outwit and out-think the other. While Light’s ploy was brilliant in throwing the investigation off, it results in a significant decrease in tension plot-wise. Which is not so say Light and L being chained together isn’t’ amusing and that there aren’t other interesting and intriguing developments—because there are quite a few. I’m certain that Light’s plan hasn’t completely unfolded yet, and look forward to seeing what happens. I still have great confidence in Death Note and have already picked up the sixth book, Give-and-Take.