Death Note 1 story by Tsugumi Ohba, art by Takeshi Obata

ISBN: 9781421501680
Publisher: VIZ Media LLC (2005)
200 p.

Reading Level: 14 and up.

 Summary:

In this first installation of Ohba’s Death Note, Light Yagami is an over-achieving student who studies hard and gets superb grades. One day, as he is walking, he comes across a notebook, which was dropped by a Shinigami death god named Ryuk, with the words “Death Note” engraved on the cover. Light and Ryuk discuss the various rules and regulations of their time and place—the main one being that, if a person’s name is written in the notebook, the person will die. If no specifics are stated, then it will be a heart attack, but the one who writes the name down can specify the manner of death. After realizing that the Death Note is real, Light experiments with it by killing hardened criminals in jail. Light then believes he can make the world a better place by getting rid of the criminals of the world. The police are unsure how to proceed with their investigation, but with a mysterious detective only known as “L,” Light realizes he may have more trouble than he ever bargained for.

Critical Evaluation:

In this, the first installment of Death Note, the overarching theme is presented.

The notion of murdering someone takes shape in the main character’s mind. At first the reader may find him noble since he is only dispatching hardened criminals. But who is he, or anybody, to take someone’s life into his or her hands simply because of opportunity? Even in the first book, the murders escalate into harming “innocents.” Light seems to feel that anyone in his way is worthy of being entered into the notebook. By the end of this first installment, the reader is wondering to what extent Light will keep himself safe, if he only kills criminals, is that permissible and in order to keep himself safe who is he allowed to murder on his path to a “better world”? One could see how this Death Note could turn a gentle soul into a man hungry for power when through his will people live or die. I’m interested to see where this series will take me and if the line between good and evil will continue to blur.

Reader’s Annotation:
“The person in possession of the Death Note is possessed by a god of death, its original owner, until they die.” (p. 130). “The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven or Hell.” (p. 82).

Author Biography:

Tsugumi Ohba was born in Tokyo and, as with the character of “L” in Death Note,
his real identity is a secret. In the profile at the beginning of each Manga installment,
it’s written “Ohba collects teacups and develops Manga plots while holding his knees
on a chair, similar to a habit of L.” (Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba).

Ohba is also the author of Bakuman, a series that follows an artist and an aspiring writer about two ninth-grade boys who wish to become Manga artists. Both Death Note and Bakuman became episodic television shows, and Death Note has also paved way for some films of the same name.

Takeshi Obata has worked and mentored in the field of Manga. He’s been awarded the Tezuka Award for his 500 Kōnen no Kaiwa, and he’s also came to the forefront of Manga with Hikaru no Go, for which he’s received the Shogakukan Manga Award.

 

Genre: Manga - Suspense/Supernatural

Curriculum Ties: N/A

Booktalking Ideas:

-Does Light’s killing criminals, making him a vigilante, mean that he is as bad
as the criminals he is dispatching with the Death Note?

-How does Ryuk maneuver Light to further the story?

-What are Light’s expectations for his life and his future in his father’s footsteps?

Read-Alikes:

-Ballad of a Shinigami by K-Ske Hasegawa.

-Full Metal Alchemist by Hiromu Arakawa.

-Bleach by Tite Kubo.
-Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto.

Challenge Issue:

Parents may challenge the issue of a teen having the power to kill those around him with some words in a book, and “the series was banned in China due to various problems people had with children altering their notebooks to resemble a Death Note.” (Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topic/Death_Note).

This series was nominated for Best Manga at the 2006 American Anime Awards. In 2007, the first three volumes of Death Note were on the American Library Association's 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten list, and this series is held in high esteem by teens, and a great way for reluctant readers to start to enjoy the written word.

Reason to include in blog:

I wanted to include a Manga in this collection and, after researching the top teen picks and the most popular Manga in general, Death Note was one of the titles that appeared most often. I’m glad I found this series, and I’m looking forward to reading the rest and watching the episodes and films that followed its original publication.

References:

Bertschy, Z. (2005). Death Note. G. Novel 1.

Retrieved from http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/review/death-note-gn-1

Death Note (2011). In Wikipedia. Retrieved from

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note#Light_novels

Enotes. (2011). Death Note. Retrieved from http://www.enotes.com/topic/Death_Note

Ohba, Tsugumi, & Obata, Takeshi. (2007). Death Note 1: Boredome. Paw Prints.

Takeshi Obata. (2011).  In Wikipedia.
     Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Obata
 
Tsugumi Ohba. (2011). In Wikipedia.
     Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba