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Death Note
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Alternative Titles

Japanese: DEATH NOTE

Information

Type: Manga

Volumes: 12

Chapters: 108

Status: Finished

Published: Dec 1, 2003 to May 15, 2006

Genres: Supernatural, Suspense

Theme: Psychological

Demographic: Shounen

Serialization: Shounen Jump (Weekly)

Authors: Obata, Takeshi (Art), Ohba, Tsugumi (Story)

Statistics

Score: 8.69¹ (scored by 228,488 users)

¹ indicates a weighted score.

Ranked: #57²

² based on the top manga page. Please note that 'R18+' titles are excluded.

Popularity: #13

Members: 397,963

Favorites: 32,015

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Reviews

Filtered Results: 78 / 101

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Aug 17, 2010

awsum_rose

Recommended

This was an incredible manga!! I loved it and i think anyone would love to read this anime. The suspense is incredible! i found myself trying to skip some pages but every page was so important to the story and you will regret it if you skip a volume. there is always something going on. you will love the suspense and thrill it will give you.

The story is awesome you never know whats gonna happen next. the art is outstanding its just so modern yet new the way the characters are drawn. The characters are awesome you just have to love all of them. ...

Oct 2, 2018

RustyPenny

Recommended

I watched the anime before I read the manga, and I suggest you do the same.

The level of voice acting, along with the outstanding soundtrack just makes this manga SO much better.

Don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with the manga. They're equal as far as enjoyment is concerned. But, I feel like if you enjoy reading manga more than watching anime, then you might just enjoy the manga a LOT more if you watch the anime first.

When it comes to the mind battles, you can hear L's or Kira's theme play in the back of your head as you read... It's really an amazing ...

Dec 6, 2008

figure8life

Recommended

Preliminary (28/108 chp)

since this series is written by the same person who wrote Hikaru no go i thought i would give this series a whirl. I was surprised to find a array of compelling characters who who at once enthrall and disgust you. Raiko a boy who meets a shinigami and wields the power to kill just by writing down a name in a notebook, sounds cool but at the same time you have to think about the terrifying power that this boy commands. Though out this series you follow one boys journey to eradicate crime by killing those who commit them with the police hot on ...

Apr 23, 2024

Shinowabakadayo

Recommended

Preliminary (12/108 chp)

WHERE DO I START WITHOUT SPOILING IT FOR YOU OMG OKAY-

soo okay the characters are SO WELL WRITTEN LIKE WHAT O_o

I GOT SO ATTACHED TO EVEN THE ONES I WASNT SUPPOSED TO BE ATTACHED TO THEY FEEL REAL ;-;

Bro istg if you pick up this book it *WILL* change the course of your life im not even exaggerating you'll LOVE IT

THE PLOT WAS SO W TOO LIKE NOT PREDICTABLE AT ALLL ITS SO TWISTY AND TURNY BUT U CAN STILL UNDERSTAND THE STORY WITHOUT GETTING CONFUSED-
:,3
...

Aug 22, 2022

armhxx

Recommended

What can I say? The immense popularity of Desu Nōto/Death Note is absolutely warranted. Its story is magnificent with twists and turns that leave you speechless, the geniuses on show are unprecedented, the characters themselves all felt real - each with their nuances, giving each individual a feel; by the end you can tell which character is which just by the things they'd say. The art style is great, and the story had good pacing, plot twist after plot twist yet it always surprises you... Death Note is a manga for the ages, absolutely great.

I recommend this manga for sure as you'd feel from my ...

Jun 11, 2024

Dotanuki

Recommended

Death Note was a blast to read ! I prefer the excitement created with this kind of battle of the minds shonen to excitement created with physical fights, battles in most of the shonens at my age. The intricate plans set in motion by Light, Ryuzaki, Near and Mello were alot of fun to read.

There were some parts i said ''eh this is too much'' though. That is why Death Note doesn't get a 10 perfect score from me. Light and Ryuzaki were both being champion tenis players was too much. It is shonen, but still being geniouses in mind and being genious athlets at ...

Feb 21, 2022

Br0dee

Recommended

*contains spoilers*

Death Note was (like for many others) one of my first anime experiences ever. The core dynamic between Light and L had me completely hooked the entire way through, but I found the second half to be severely lacking to the point of genuine hate growing for that portion. About 8 months or so back, I decided to give the manga try (having been about 4 years since first watching the anime) and re-evaluate my thoughts on Light's journey at creating an "ideal" world. Now, finally putting the journey to rest, my opinions have evolved into something much more convoluted then I could have ... imagined.

Perhaps unfair to the series, but for me to really explain my thoughts, I need to view Parts 1 and 2 as separate entities to first lay out my thoughts. Despite my opinion evolving, there's undoubtedly a difference between the two present for me still.

Light Yagami is genuinely one of the most intriguing protagonists I have yet to experience so far in animanga. From just the first few chapters of the series, Light never changes his ideals, philosophical viewpoints, and means of action. By establishing himself as the God of the "New World" he is to create, he creates a level of consistency in his actions that serves as an incredibly solid foundation for the moral conflicts that serve as the main "food for thought" of the series. At the same time though, there's never a moment to easily predict his next action. It's an absolutely perfect balance of execution that only works as well as it does thanks to his rival L, who's similarly fascinating in his background. A lot of similar points I've brought up regarding Light are also applicable to L; there's an argument to be made for L's questionable morals and drive for HIS justice. In the end, when all is said and done, this battle between the two is nothing more than a game for both of them, and never really forces the reader to pick a side. The definition of what it means to truly be just simply does not exist in this world, and it's for the reader to interpret and figure out that answer. Defending an aspect of one character's morals doesn't negate their other actions though; by having the main character be the "worse" character out of the rivalry clearly establishes the fact that there is a line drawn to some extent by the mangaka. That level of ambiguity though is the core of Death Note's specialty, and what I still value the most out of the experience.

It would be a disservice to ignore the impeccable art that the manga version also applies though. It's incredible to believe this is the product of a weekly shounen jump series. The western inspiration for the noir/crime comic artstyle is clearly present and mixes perfectly well with the more Japanese-inspired character designs. It allows for character emotions to be delivered in such a visually expressive and unique manner; while dialogue is a big hint towards how Light is usually feeling, the use of shading is brilliantly applied to show the reader which side of Light we're looking at in any given moment, just from visuals alone. The use of biblical imagery is simply the icing on top of the cake; it's a shame that the anime didn't make a stronger push to apply it more often, because it's such an important core to Death Note's identity. I simply can not gloat more about how much I loved its art.

This is unfortunately where the "ideal" image that the mangakas had for the series blossoms into a product much more troublesome. With how dialogue heavy the series is, there's bound to reach a point where the plot begins to take a hit in pacing and feels more like trudging through a muddy pit to reach the finale. Too many moments, such as Light's memory loss period, became an absolute bore to get through. It's also where the cracks in L and Light's seemingly perfect dynamic began to show.

What is it that makes L and Light's dynamic so compelling? As said earlier, the similarity in morals, lack of right/wrong answers, and the "game-like" structure employed. A lot of these defining points though can purely be boiled down to a conceptual understanding of the characters and their usage though. While these are incredibly profound themes to explore, the dialogue and actual story beats taking place between the two is what the majority of your experience plays out to be though. As I kept reading though, I couldn't get past the point that the plot only progressed in the interesting manner it did because of one critical aspect - both characters are always on the same wavelength of thinking. And if they aren't, it's for short bursts of moments that are soon very quickly patched out. This is a double edged sword - for one, it makes whatever slip up that eventually takes place to make one "beat" the other all that more satisfying. On the other end, it takes away from the cleverness of the writing so much. I loved scenes like their tennis match so much until I began this core component. Are these scenes really that special when for the most part are designed like "One character is presented with a challenge or way to overcome the obstacle, and the other character thinks the exact same thing but the opposite to what the other character plans on doing". You could argue this is even more egregious in the second half when there were simply too many moments where it felt like both characters lacked a unique perspective on the situation and it simply boiled down to "I know what you're thinking, and I'm going to win", for their to only be a handful of times where they differed. It comes off as completely unrealistic and I'd go as far as to say lazy at certain points. This is something I could see my perspective changing on, but at the moment, it makes me feel like I'm being tricked by the reader to think how "clever" and "smart" the dialogue is, when in actuality, isn't truly written that way.

To best end my thoughts off, I need to talk about the second part. I think for the most part (besides the "boring" portions happening way more often here than in the first part, and way more instances where the plot fails to progress in an impactful manner) I liked it a lot, and seeing the downfall of Light felt realistic and incredibly well capped off with the finale.

There's one thing that hasn't changed in my mind though since the first viewing - I still believe that the series would have fared better by ending off with L's death and for Light to win, and it really boils down to one particular grievance. It's not that I believe Light losing to be unrealistic - the complete opposite in fact. At the same time, Light winning fits within the themes of the story in an equally realistic way, so that's not really the issue here. It all boils down to the existence of Near and Mello.

I don't think Near and Mello are particularly bad characters, and I don't think they can be boiled down to simply "L 2.0" (They have SOME unique aspects to differentiate the characters enough). L and Light's dynamic was only so interesting because of the stakes that existed. It truly was the battle between two God-like figures; the winner of the battle was going to be the savior of the world. So when one of the opponents finally comes out victorious, what does the plot decide to do? Introduce a school designed to create the next L's of the world that was not once mentioned through the entirety of the first part. Why do stakes even exist if there's an ENTIRE school of potential L successors that when banded together have the power to defeat arguably anyone that stands in their way?

Does it ruin the plot? Far from it. But does it take so much away from the anticipation and high stakes that arguably make Death Note in the first part what it is? Absolutely.

There's a lot more that could be discussed with Death Note, and despite my harsh critiques towards the end, it's impossible for me to doubt the enjoyment I was able to muster out of the text until the end. There are critiques I could see myself changing my opinion on in the future (Like my issues with how the dialogue/scenes between Light and L aren't as clever as they make themselves out to be), but I'm severely disappointed with the potential that's lost with the existence of Near and Mello's characters. At the least, when all is said and done, Ryuk is a pretty cool character though.

Feb 3, 2022

SalazarAzulon

Recommended

So, there are lots of things to say about Death Note but I won't write too long about it. I watched anime version of Death Note before I read the manga and I'll be honest I just liked it, that's it. But when I began to read manga my thoughts about it began to change as well. I finished the manga yesterday and I can finally say that Death Note is a masterpiece. It's really a masterpiece. The characters of it, the scenario of it are well written. Even though I knew what would happen in the next page, I was soo excited to see ...

Sep 5, 2021

Stealth012

Recommended

The characters (especially the antagonist) are hyper-intelligent in their ways and design, a 10 for great villainy. However, they did not grow well in their development enough to lead to this number of manga volumes, which leads me to believe the Artist should have combined at least a couple of the later works in order to be a perfect manga. Who cares about that when anyone who hasn't already will enjoy this series and all it has to offer the globe, especially non-manga readers.

I will re-read this volume set soon enough, since it has solid re-read-ability.
This unique and brilliant story has sadly many pacing ...

Sep 1, 2021

kiinntannn

Recommended

I must say the first half of the story is good, no, amazing. that is until the time skip where Light being a great actor fooling the police department for years. It started off real strong, but the second half isn't as awesome as the first half.

L and Light's rivalry is entertaining, enjoyable and thrilling. I love how they predict each other's thoughts. I was supporting L, I feel L is superior in everything except for the Death Note.

Ending is not good. I was expecting a huge mind battle but the build up for that final showdown was a no for me. It feels ...

Apr 6, 2021

0NEp1ec3

Recommended

Usually I hand out 10s in the enjoyment category, but even I have to admit that after vol 7 I did not enjoy Death Note nearly as much. Vols 1-7 are a masterpiece of clever, engaging, and intense writing. After that, the story falls off. Though it should be noted that the ending is actually pretty solid by all means. It may remain divisive but it brought conclusion to the characters and did not leave a bitter taste in my mouth so I appreciate that. Another strong suit of Death Note is its great characters. Yes, there are a few characters not as good as ...

Mar 1, 2021

nigihayam1

Recommended

hauntingly intricate and beautifully suspenseful.

i absolutely enjoyed the shit out of this manga. from the quirky characters, to the scary shinigami's - i loved every moment. the bit where (SPOILERS!) L died, was so shocking yet so melancholic, i had to stand up and take a break to breathe.

in my mind i was like, "maybe if the circumstances were different, L and light would have been good friends." that thought bugged me throughout the entire reading of the manga. the more i thought of it, the sadder i became. maybe light did consider being friends with L, for just a split second, maybe. but ...

Feb 19, 2021

litxrxlly_gxd

Recommended

Hands down the best anime I've ever watched, with an art style I find superior to Code Geass and an equally as impressive story it takes the place of my favorite anime. Would recommend as it is captivating to this day. Keep in mind the show does die down a bit for the second season however the manga does not make the same mistake. Haven't been this captivated in years and even in the past 3 years nothing has come close, attack on titan included. I still rewatch it from time to time and must say the show holds up.

Dec 13, 2015

aredessa502

Recommended

I completely fell in love with this manga. I loved the way the two main characters faced off with each other and their intelligence. I loved how the story line basically talked about one of the world's most asked questions and whether or not L's side was right or Light's side was right. However, after a certain main character died (people who have read the series know who I am talking about) the series just fell out for me. It wasn't as nearly as fun to read anymore and I felt Light was making too many mistakes than he was before and that the way ...

Nov 3, 2016

WhimsicalWhy

Recommended

"Absolute power corrupts absolutely": a quote that Light Yagami would have done well to understand. In Death Note, the question of the value of human life and the solution to crime is presented to Light in the form of the Death Note in question, and the events that ensue are one hell of a ride.

The story of Death Note grips you at every single stage, and never lets you go. Even when the main cast of characters change into slightly less-enjoyable counterparts (cough Near), the excellent story-telling is preserved. The story begins with a young Light finding a mysterious notebook while on his way ... home from school. Written inside are rules that state 'whoever's name is written in this book will die'. Believing it to be a hoax, Light jokingly tries it out on a criminal that he can see on a nearby TV. To his surprise, the criminal is found dead of a heart attack. This is all it takes for Light to be convinced that he has a higher purpose in life: to become a god of the new world. Soon thereafter, news agencies begin to see a trend developing and realize that there must be murder plot, and so they call in the world's greatest detective, 'L'. He becomes Light's prime enemy in the series, and the intellectual battle between the two geniuses is quite simply one of the greatest stories put to paper. When Light's secondary antagonists come onto the scene, they seem to pale in comparison to 'L', but if you can look past that , they are enjoyable on their own merit. The ending is a source of much contention to many fans; I will not spoil anything but whether or not you are on team Light or team 'L' will drastically change your reaction to the ending. I found it very satisfying, all things considered, and the tension in the final confrontation is again some of the best written in manga.

The art, as always with Takeshi Obata, is absolutely stunning, and it only gets better as you go along. There is so much detail in every panel that you may find yourself getting lost in each and every scene, admiring the way his hair and faces just appear perfectly natural. If you pick up the black edition like I did, you are greeted with some beautiful colour pages at the ends of the volumes.

The characters are a perfect mix of likeable and hate-able, which makes it very hard to choose sides in this manga. Even though Light is a bat-shit crazy serial killer, I can't help but root for him through every step of the way, just like how 'L' is trying to stop my favourite character and arrest him; I still get excited for 'L's' victories, because they are all equally enjoyable. The Shinigami, basically gods of death who grant Death Note's to humans, provide most of the comic relief in the manga, and all three of the main Shinigami are done very well, each with their own distinct personalities. This is also true of the Japanese Task Force, which is present through ought the entirety of the manga and thus you get to know each of the characters and their tropes very well. The only slightly weak characters are the aforementioned second antagonists to Light; they aren't terrible, but they pale in comparison to 'L', so they end up feeling like a useless waste.

I actually watched the anime first. In fact, Death Note was my first anime and remains to be my favourite. This was also the manga that got me into reading and collecting the medium, and I couldn't have picked a better series. With the manga, I got to experience Obata's gorgeous art and Ohba's story in their original form, and it was very interesting to see how the endings differed and the theory that Matsuda presents at the very end totally changed my perception of the ending.

Overall, Death Note has treated me, once again, with a fantastic and thrilling treat. I can safely recommend both the anime and manga to anyone even slightly interested in either, as they are nearly perfect. And hell, I know its great for beginners because it totally converted me. Death Note is one of the few mainstream series that is actually worth the hype, and nearly all snobby anime elitists will even agree with that sentiment. If you want an engaging story that treats you like an adult, then this manga is for you. 10/10

Jul 25, 2018

comiclove

Recommended

As a modern classic that also helped me get into the medium of manga and anime, I hold Death Note in warm regard. This naturally led to me deciding to reread the entire manga when I got back into said mediums two or so years ago by purchasing the Black Editions. While I still enjoyed myself, I found myself developing new opinions and feelings regarding this title.

[Story - 7]

In case if you don't know what this manga is about, here's the elevator pitch: A high-school kid finds a notebook that can kill people, and decides to become a god with it. From there, he is ...

Feb 22, 2018

Frosty

Recommended

Everybody pretty much knows what happens in this story. A battle of wits between "L" and Kira. I'll keep it short and straight to the point: the art is incredible, especially the hair, but the plotlines with the different tactics was awesome to read, especially towards the end where "N" and Kira give their big monologues about how they got the advantage on the other.

While reading the story, you may come to understand Kira's side (evil needs to be wiped out, but can only be done by a divine presence. I believe that's a truth in this world.), but you will love L even more ...

Feb 7, 2018

diezmiluno

Recommended

Esta obra cuenta con el maravilloso estilo de dibujo de Takeshi Obata que le hace verse muy bonita a la vista ademas el guion esta muy bien pensado,la accion de este manga se basa en las acciones inteligentes de los personajes lo que puede llegar a sorprender a muchos lectores.
Esta obra no es abta para aquellos que les de la palo leer muchas letras en las paginas,para mi una de las mejores cosas que tiene esta joya esque quien es el protagonista y el antagonista lo elijes tu el lector, en mi opinion lo mejor de este manga son los personajes principales y el dibujo ...