DEATH NOTE (VOLUME 11 & 12)
June 30th 2009 02:15
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Story by: Tsugumi Ohba
Art by: Takeshi Obata
Translation & Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Touch up art & Lettering: Gia Cam Luc
Design: Sean Lee
Cost: AU$12.95/US$7.99/CAN$9.99/UK£ 5.99
And so we finally come to the conclusion of this saga, the story of a new world order being forged solely through the efforts of one individual. It has taken me some time to get this point, though this is more due to the fact that I know that the local library had the entire series of Death Note but I have never managed to get my hands on these particular volumes…until now. Now when I did manage to get my hands on the penultimate concluding volumes of what I have found to be a finely crafted saga the first thing I did after taking the time out to set up the Men’s Club was head to local hostelry, enjoy a cold glass of that places finest and a bag of chilli & sour cream flavoured crisps in a comfy spot and sat down and read for a while. Ah bliss…
If the Death Note manga has a flaw it’s the fact that you just can’t empathise with the primary character, Light Yagami, a genius intellect who has taken up the mantle of L, the legendary detective who is intent on brining mass murderer Kira to justice. Of course it doesn’t help that Light is Kira as well as being L so perhaps this is what makes things just a tad bit problematic. When the main villain in the tale is also the primary protagonist it makes you wonder whether or not there is anything redeeming to the character whatsoever – in the manga it seems as their isn’t although after having seen the movies I must say that Tatsuya Fujiwara who plays Light gives the character some much needed humanity that is lacking in the manga.
Assuming that you have no idea what Death Note is about and have never read any of my previous reviews on this series I’ll take time out here to give you a brief fill in on what the whole series is about. Essentially a bored Death God or Shinigami as they are referred to drops his death note into the mortal world, a death note is a note book that a shinigami writes down the names of people so that they will die and provide the Shinigami with a further extension to their own lifespan. Light Yagami picks up the death note of the Shinigami Ryuk and immediately senses the potential this thing can have for changing the world. Thus as soon as he starts writing names down in the book it all becomes a case of ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’. Now Light gains no benefit to killing people via the death note and one has to wonder what Ryuk gets from it all – simply enjoyment, his own world is a place of stagnation and mind numbing boredom, he has committed this simple act as a means of alleviating the mindless tedium.
Naturally knocking off a lot of people day in day out is going to attract attention, even if they are some of the most reprehensible criminals known to man. Murder is still murder regardless of the nature of the person who has died; it’s something that the various law enforcement agencies of the world cannot tolerate under any circumstance. So Kira, as this mass murder swiftly becomes known, is a key target for both the Japanese National Police Agency (NPA) as well as the International Council of Police Organisations (ICPO) if they are unable to capture this criminal then they are certainly going to look very foolish. Of course rather than flooding the world with police operatives they opt to call upon the services of L, the world’s greatest detective as well as being the second and third best detectives as well.
Unfortunately though L proves to be no match for Kira, he ends up falling to his enemy. Upon L’s demise Light Yagami becomes L and is an integral part in the Japanese task force’s operation to catch Kira – which is exactly how Light wants it to be. What Light had not taken into consideration is the fact that L had a fallback position, upon his death someone would take up the mantel of L and continue on the fight against Kira. Unfortunately of the two potential candidates who could become L there is no agreement on who will assume the role, instead Near and Mello, the potential successors both opt to go their own unique ways in order to attempt to bring Kira to justice.
So now we have a situation where both Near and Mello are closing in on Kira, in fact Near is fairly certain that Light Yagami who is the current L is also Kira, although he has no definitive proof to back up his case. Of course finding that particular evidence is going to be something of a hard slog, it will be no cake walk; yet the young Near and his comrades in the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) taskforce are well aware of this very fact. And so in essence the drama that unfolds in these two volumes of this twelve volume saga are almost akin to the finishing moves of a game of chess played at the grandmaster level. But one of the player’s in this gripping and intense competition does not realise that there is a wild card element that can potentially throw everything out of whack; and so it is that Light feels that in the final move he has the upper hand.
But it is precisely in such situations that unforeseen occurrences crop up, as one wise master once said “hmmm hard to see the future is, always in motion it is”. Light does not realise the implications that Mello’s precipitous actions in kidnapping Kira’s spokesperson, Kiyomi Takada will have on the eventually face to face confrontation between himself and Near. In fact to his way of thinking it even plays into his hands just that little bit more and renders his eventual ascension to godhead all that more easier. Ah those the gods wish to destroy they first make mad, and unfortunately Light has been consumed with what is effectively madness he just hasn’t’ the good sense any more to realise what the heck is happening to him and how outclassed he has been in this the conclusion to his saga.
When the last crisp in the packet had been eaten and the last drop of amber fluid drained from the schooner glass I knew that I had enjoyed reading a superlative piece of work and artistry. Death Note – Volume 11 and 12 are well worth getting a hold of and reading at your leisure, especially with a glass of fine amber fluid.
Art by: Takeshi Obata
Translation & Adaptation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Touch up art & Lettering: Gia Cam Luc
Design: Sean Lee
Cost: AU$12.95/US$7.99/CAN$9.99/UK£ 5.99
And so we finally come to the conclusion of this saga, the story of a new world order being forged solely through the efforts of one individual. It has taken me some time to get this point, though this is more due to the fact that I know that the local library had the entire series of Death Note but I have never managed to get my hands on these particular volumes…until now. Now when I did manage to get my hands on the penultimate concluding volumes of what I have found to be a finely crafted saga the first thing I did after taking the time out to set up the Men’s Club was head to local hostelry, enjoy a cold glass of that places finest and a bag of chilli & sour cream flavoured crisps in a comfy spot and sat down and read for a while. Ah bliss…
Assuming that you have no idea what Death Note is about and have never read any of my previous reviews on this series I’ll take time out here to give you a brief fill in on what the whole series is about. Essentially a bored Death God or Shinigami as they are referred to drops his death note into the mortal world, a death note is a note book that a shinigami writes down the names of people so that they will die and provide the Shinigami with a further extension to their own lifespan. Light Yagami picks up the death note of the Shinigami Ryuk and immediately senses the potential this thing can have for changing the world. Thus as soon as he starts writing names down in the book it all becomes a case of ‘power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely’. Now Light gains no benefit to killing people via the death note and one has to wonder what Ryuk gets from it all – simply enjoyment, his own world is a place of stagnation and mind numbing boredom, he has committed this simple act as a means of alleviating the mindless tedium.
Unfortunately though L proves to be no match for Kira, he ends up falling to his enemy. Upon L’s demise Light Yagami becomes L and is an integral part in the Japanese task force’s operation to catch Kira – which is exactly how Light wants it to be. What Light had not taken into consideration is the fact that L had a fallback position, upon his death someone would take up the mantel of L and continue on the fight against Kira. Unfortunately of the two potential candidates who could become L there is no agreement on who will assume the role, instead Near and Mello, the potential successors both opt to go their own unique ways in order to attempt to bring Kira to justice.
So now we have a situation where both Near and Mello are closing in on Kira, in fact Near is fairly certain that Light Yagami who is the current L is also Kira, although he has no definitive proof to back up his case. Of course finding that particular evidence is going to be something of a hard slog, it will be no cake walk; yet the young Near and his comrades in the SPK (Special Provision for Kira) taskforce are well aware of this very fact. And so in essence the drama that unfolds in these two volumes of this twelve volume saga are almost akin to the finishing moves of a game of chess played at the grandmaster level. But one of the player’s in this gripping and intense competition does not realise that there is a wild card element that can potentially throw everything out of whack; and so it is that Light feels that in the final move he has the upper hand.
But it is precisely in such situations that unforeseen occurrences crop up, as one wise master once said “hmmm hard to see the future is, always in motion it is”. Light does not realise the implications that Mello’s precipitous actions in kidnapping Kira’s spokesperson, Kiyomi Takada will have on the eventually face to face confrontation between himself and Near. In fact to his way of thinking it even plays into his hands just that little bit more and renders his eventual ascension to godhead all that more easier. Ah those the gods wish to destroy they first make mad, and unfortunately Light has been consumed with what is effectively madness he just hasn’t’ the good sense any more to realise what the heck is happening to him and how outclassed he has been in this the conclusion to his saga.
When the last crisp in the packet had been eaten and the last drop of amber fluid drained from the schooner glass I knew that I had enjoyed reading a superlative piece of work and artistry. Death Note – Volume 11 and 12 are well worth getting a hold of and reading at your leisure, especially with a glass of fine amber fluid.
| 29 |
| Vote |
