Death Note Afterthoughts

Volume One of Death Note held character development, plot development, and more questions left unanswered than given a solution. I think one thing notable about the end of the manga was that there was no immediate cliffhanger. While the author could have easily cut off right after Light found out there were cameras in his house, or where L learned about Naomi's FBI past, he didn't, and instead left the end of the manga on a happy note (well as happy as it gets for Death Note).

For a first volume of a series I'd say that Death Note starts strong. As a Death Note fan and trying my best to remain unbiased I think the author did a good job of keeping a reader's interest by keeping action pretty consistent throughout, not leaving slow periods. Even though I knew what was going to happen I still enjoyed the manga and would seriously considering buying the next volume to reread some of my favorite scenes.

To discuss a little bit more in depth the end of the manga, I think we saw something new in Light. When speaking to Naomi Misora (before he knew her real identity), Light was genuinely struggling to find a way to get her to give him her real name. If Light hadn't have been able to come up with a lie on the spot we don't know what kind of trouble Naomi could have put him in. I think Light was actually worried in that moment, and that probably won't be the last time in the series he faces the same sort of challenge.

Comments

  1. David HOctober 13, 2017 at 12:32 PM

    As a long-time fan of the series myself, I couldn’t agree more with how the first volume is set up. The author does an amazing job of keeping the action maintained. Unlike many other action based manga I’ve read, Death Note can keep my interest even without direct fighting or combat. Instead, Death Note has always been interesting to me because its action is much more cerebral than physical. The constant back and forth of what Light and L are thinking helps the reader stay connected to both of the main characters, while also giving readers some conflict of who they might be rooting for (go L!). Definitely going to be continuing this series outside of class.

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  2. UnknownOctober 14, 2017 at 2:04 PM

    I found the first volume of death note awesome. It seems like a very solid foundation to a captivating series. In reference to your last paragraph, I feel Light works well under pressure. If he were to misstep during any point of his persuasion, he would've been toast. He was definitely afraid, but I feel the way he handled the situation shows us that his silver tongue works as a great defense mechanism.

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