Death Note: Black Edition (2011)
Author: Tsugumi Ohba | Illustrator: Takeshi Obata
Page Count: Approx 400 in each volume (2424 in total)
"We’re both using them as bait to lure each other out...and we’re both well aware of that…"
At its most basic level, Death Note is the story of two determined individuals, each of whom have people that support them in various ways.
The first is Light Yagami, a seventeen-year-old high school student with a high IQ, an elevated sense of superiority and a tendency to get bored easily. He wants to make the world a better place and doesn't care who he has to step on to achieve it.
The second is his nemesis, the mysteriously named L, a young, reclusive detective with a sharp, analytical and overly-suspicious mind. L never fails in anything he does but he's never been up against anyone quite as merciless as Light Yagami before.
What unfolds is a battle of skills, wills and wits between a pair of evenly matched masters of second-guessing and deductive reasoning.
When the line between who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist begins to blur, the question of what's right and what's wrong grows more and more difficult to answer.
Revelling in the chaos caused by the actions and reactions of the two main characters is Ryuk, a Shinigami (Death God). Ryuk's not the sharpest tool in the box, but that trait makes him arguably more interesting: there's the possibility of a false sense of security being developed between the Shinigami and the human it attaches to.
Obata's artwork is amazing. He gives every detail full attention, from the smallest car headlight to the largest building. I could fill an entire post about just it.
I must mention Misa Amane. The story doesn't have many female characters, but even if it had Misa would eclipse them all. For a time she's one of the most fascinating, tragic additions to any manga I've ever read. It's a shame that she gets shuffled to the side as the story goes on.
There are six volumes in the Black Edition that when collected together contain all twelve of the original mangas. Alternatively, you can buy a box set for only a few notes more that collects the same twelve books as individual editions. The box also includes a thirteenth volume of character profiles and production art, etc. The reason I chose the Black Editions is because they're slightly larger than the usual manga format (the same as a Viz Big) and seeing the art presented as beautifully as possible is infinitely more important to me than shelf-busting packaging.
Individual covers. Click for full size.
EDIT [01/23]: Death Note: Short Stories (2022)
A belated collection of short works was released by Viz in June 2022. There are six sections in all, written over a period of years. Five of them are self-contained one-shots, while the remaining chapter is comprised of a bunch of yonkoma. It's definitely not advisable to read the Short Stories collection if you dislike spoilers and haven’t read the main books, but for fans of the series it's a welcome return to the world. In the order presented:
01. C-Kira (2008) is set three years after the original Kira case has ended. It features Near and a new DN user. It was interesting to catch up with Near... and see his amusing finger-puppet.
02. a-Kira (2020) is set about ten years after the original manga. It features Ryuk, and explores how a DN user in the current age of CCTV surveillance and phone tracking might choose to use the tome. It's an excellent story for the most part, but a technicality utterly ruins it at the end.
03. Death Note Four Panel Comics (2004-05?) is a short collection of yonkoma, previously published in Death Note 13: How to Read. It's hit and miss, depending on your humour level.
04. L-One Day and 05. L-The Wammy's House (both 2008) are vignettes that show L as a youth. They're very short, clocking in at about a dozen pages of actual story, combined.
06. Taro Kagami (2003) predates the main DN series. It's sometimes referred to as a DN 'pilot', but it's not a part of the eventual continuity. I didn't enjoy it, personally. YMMV.
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