Death Note – manga
Dec. 2nd, 2009 11:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
narcasseHaving watched the Death Note live action films since I’d given up with the anime a long time ago I did finally get around to finishing the manga a little while ago. I’d stopped just prior to the major plot point in the middle since I’d spoilered myself and it rather took away the surprise. And since I knew what was going to happen next I ended up skimming over plot summaries which persuaded me for the longest time that I probably wasn’t going to care that much about the rest of the series.
Part of my issue stemmed from the fact that the first half of the series was very insular in so far as it focused on Light and L for the most part to the exclusion to everybody else. I had a vague notion that Misa might well have been dangerous by herself if only she didn’t focus all her energy and cunning on winning Light as her be all and end all. Misa after all while not nearly as devious as L or Light had managed quite well to get to the point of attaining her goal. Soichiro equally had been suitably heroic and Watari was interesting as well but beyond a few segments of interaction between the investigative team and a few outsiders the focus was squarely on the two main characters. It set the tone of things with Light and L at the centre and everything else around them being ancillary details. For the first part of the series this worked well but it also created the impression that there really wasn’t room for anything else, especially in the second half after L’s death. I had no idea how the rest of the series was going to work since the claustrophobic environment of the first half didn’t seem like it would be repeated so it was with some confusion and a little trepidation that I read on, and at last I’m quite glad that I did.
The second half of the series placed Light in a position of supremacy over his foes and turned the Japanese police force into his unwitting allies. He should then in theory have become untouchable. He’d defeated the great L and had taken his place: what possible opposition could there be left? L had been such a cerebral character who had both calculated theory as well as acted to try to bring Kira down but he’d failed, and in retrospect I do suspect that at least some of my apprehension stemmed from wondering just what kind of overpowered detective genius could possibly be brought in to finish the job if L himself had failed. Even without having all that much of an interest in the character, which I didn’t have up until I watched the movies, I’d still bought into the in-universe idea that L was the greatest detective in the world it seemed. Besides, Light was at the top of his game and he was now capable of using the mantle of L as cover so toppling him really would need some kind of Übermensch to do it.
And then along came chocolate eating, overemotional, rather snappily dressed Mello. He pulled the sort of faces that matched Light’s spectacularly ugly ones for his overreactions, he was completely, pettily determined to achieve his goals and over a matter of pages I really did develop an appreciation for his clothing choices. Quite possibly his clothing is the least of Mello’s virtues but in a sea of reasonably dressed or sloppily dressed individuals he stood out as a nice variation. I was delighted by his overreactions and his utter cold-bloodedness when it came to sacrificing other people’s lives and yet there was something missing. He was dramatic and certainly went out in style, boldly and with a bloody minded determination to do what he was going to do without flinching at the cost but he was, as Near states at one point, too emotional. Thus to shore up Mello’s overemotional nature there was Near who didn’t seem to have much by way of emotions at all other than a particular eerie serenity. Near, like Mello, was a character that I liked immensely though perhaps more on an intellectual level than a visceral one. He did an awful lot of sitting about, which admittedly L himself did in the first half, but Near appeared all the more stationary simply because unlike L his suspect wasn’t immediately on hand in the same room for the most part. Still, Near was an equally enjoyable character especially when it came to the small glimpses of childish smugness that showed through on occasion. While Mello’s emotional reactions and action made him a dynamic character it was Near’s almost static nature with flashes of brilliance and intellectual superiority that won me over in regards to him.
Of course in the second half of the story Light’s supremely competent persona came crumbling down. This was especially highlighted when it came to the fact that once in America he started to flounder because suddenly there were things far beyond his control. In fact it’s not the lack of control entirely that seemed to be the problem but rather the sudden change in tone: he’d gone from focusing all his energies on fighting a single opponent in a very closed environment to suddenly having to deal with managing both L and Kira personas as well as two new opponents that he couldn’t analyse on the spot in an environment that he couldn’t actually control. Even when he did claw back the advantage through the persona of Kira and Kira’s various allies there was still a huge element of unpredictability that he just couldn’t anticipate because not only was he attempting to read and manage his opponents but also his allies as well. In fact in reading the second half of the story it struck me that Light’s greatest weakness was that he had to manipulate everyone, friend and foe alike, and simply didn’t have the support that L, Mello and Near had through their allies. Even Mikami who initially appeared to be the perfect subordinate did eventually trip up.
Interestingly the problem with Mikami was the same problem that Light had in the end when it came to Matsuda. Light had, at least in Mikami’s case unwittingly to a point, capitalised on their idealism but didn’t seem to have made much of a serious study of either because if he had, or at least had taken Matsuda a little bit more seriously, he probably would have realised just how dangerous broken idealism can be. That said, considering Light’s character he probably was aware of the dangers but chose to overlook them believing that he could manage both men so that they’d never actually reach that point where their faith in him shattered. And for the most part Light’s ability to read those around him was flawless, his problem wasn't in fact perception but rather not allowing himself any margin of error. Light simply didn’t plan for any eventuality occurring other than the one he desired. Of course from his perspective allowing for any deviation from his plan would probably have been viewed as a weakness but since he was playing for such high stakes and with such unpredictable elements involved it would really have been the most sensible option.
Still, despite the unravelling of Light’s cunning plans I really did enjoy the second half of the story thoroughly, perhaps even more than the first half because of that unravelling. During the first half of the story while L was an interesting foil for Light I was definitely more interested in Light’s over planning and invariable meltdowns while during the second half I was more engrossed in the overall story rather than focusing on Light specifically. The second half of the story also gave me a wealth of sympathy for Misa due to her hopeless love for Light and her treatment by him which I hadn’t really considered too much during the first half of the story. And while I wasn’t particularly fond of Takada she worked well to drive the plot forwards and I was at least amused by the morning after scene that Light had with her rather than Misa, though the fact that he lived with Misa probably meant that such a scene wasn’t necessary.
Overall I found Death Note highly enjoyable since it more or less consisted of convoluted intellectual battles between individuals who in any other situation would be nothing but highly dysfunctional, supported by a well rounded supporting cast who each had suitable virtues and flaws in equal proportion. Death Note is one of those cases where every character gets a chance at heroism or villainy, respectively, in equally dramatic proportions. It’s a series that turns the conception that the story has to follow the hero on its head and instead gives the reader a well-intentional villain who doesn’t even come across as a villain initially: Light is after all an idealistic, though somewhat unstable, genius to begin with and it’s his actions that transform genius into villainy. Likewise, L is a very bizarre individual whose motivation is petty but whose actions turn him into a hero. The same goes for characters like Mello and Near. Perhaps then Death Note is a good illustration of actions meriting consequences, illustrated especially by the fact that Light’s goal seems to be tempered by a hefty dose of egotism which robs it of it of any moral arguments and means that Light himself doesn’t commit entirely to his objective, instead focusing his energies on keeping himself alive because of course as he is well aware, Kira’s ideal would collapse without Kira to manage it.
Part of my issue stemmed from the fact that the first half of the series was very insular in so far as it focused on Light and L for the most part to the exclusion to everybody else. I had a vague notion that Misa might well have been dangerous by herself if only she didn’t focus all her energy and cunning on winning Light as her be all and end all. Misa after all while not nearly as devious as L or Light had managed quite well to get to the point of attaining her goal. Soichiro equally had been suitably heroic and Watari was interesting as well but beyond a few segments of interaction between the investigative team and a few outsiders the focus was squarely on the two main characters. It set the tone of things with Light and L at the centre and everything else around them being ancillary details. For the first part of the series this worked well but it also created the impression that there really wasn’t room for anything else, especially in the second half after L’s death. I had no idea how the rest of the series was going to work since the claustrophobic environment of the first half didn’t seem like it would be repeated so it was with some confusion and a little trepidation that I read on, and at last I’m quite glad that I did.
The second half of the series placed Light in a position of supremacy over his foes and turned the Japanese police force into his unwitting allies. He should then in theory have become untouchable. He’d defeated the great L and had taken his place: what possible opposition could there be left? L had been such a cerebral character who had both calculated theory as well as acted to try to bring Kira down but he’d failed, and in retrospect I do suspect that at least some of my apprehension stemmed from wondering just what kind of overpowered detective genius could possibly be brought in to finish the job if L himself had failed. Even without having all that much of an interest in the character, which I didn’t have up until I watched the movies, I’d still bought into the in-universe idea that L was the greatest detective in the world it seemed. Besides, Light was at the top of his game and he was now capable of using the mantle of L as cover so toppling him really would need some kind of Übermensch to do it.
And then along came chocolate eating, overemotional, rather snappily dressed Mello. He pulled the sort of faces that matched Light’s spectacularly ugly ones for his overreactions, he was completely, pettily determined to achieve his goals and over a matter of pages I really did develop an appreciation for his clothing choices. Quite possibly his clothing is the least of Mello’s virtues but in a sea of reasonably dressed or sloppily dressed individuals he stood out as a nice variation. I was delighted by his overreactions and his utter cold-bloodedness when it came to sacrificing other people’s lives and yet there was something missing. He was dramatic and certainly went out in style, boldly and with a bloody minded determination to do what he was going to do without flinching at the cost but he was, as Near states at one point, too emotional. Thus to shore up Mello’s overemotional nature there was Near who didn’t seem to have much by way of emotions at all other than a particular eerie serenity. Near, like Mello, was a character that I liked immensely though perhaps more on an intellectual level than a visceral one. He did an awful lot of sitting about, which admittedly L himself did in the first half, but Near appeared all the more stationary simply because unlike L his suspect wasn’t immediately on hand in the same room for the most part. Still, Near was an equally enjoyable character especially when it came to the small glimpses of childish smugness that showed through on occasion. While Mello’s emotional reactions and action made him a dynamic character it was Near’s almost static nature with flashes of brilliance and intellectual superiority that won me over in regards to him.
Of course in the second half of the story Light’s supremely competent persona came crumbling down. This was especially highlighted when it came to the fact that once in America he started to flounder because suddenly there were things far beyond his control. In fact it’s not the lack of control entirely that seemed to be the problem but rather the sudden change in tone: he’d gone from focusing all his energies on fighting a single opponent in a very closed environment to suddenly having to deal with managing both L and Kira personas as well as two new opponents that he couldn’t analyse on the spot in an environment that he couldn’t actually control. Even when he did claw back the advantage through the persona of Kira and Kira’s various allies there was still a huge element of unpredictability that he just couldn’t anticipate because not only was he attempting to read and manage his opponents but also his allies as well. In fact in reading the second half of the story it struck me that Light’s greatest weakness was that he had to manipulate everyone, friend and foe alike, and simply didn’t have the support that L, Mello and Near had through their allies. Even Mikami who initially appeared to be the perfect subordinate did eventually trip up.
Interestingly the problem with Mikami was the same problem that Light had in the end when it came to Matsuda. Light had, at least in Mikami’s case unwittingly to a point, capitalised on their idealism but didn’t seem to have made much of a serious study of either because if he had, or at least had taken Matsuda a little bit more seriously, he probably would have realised just how dangerous broken idealism can be. That said, considering Light’s character he probably was aware of the dangers but chose to overlook them believing that he could manage both men so that they’d never actually reach that point where their faith in him shattered. And for the most part Light’s ability to read those around him was flawless, his problem wasn't in fact perception but rather not allowing himself any margin of error. Light simply didn’t plan for any eventuality occurring other than the one he desired. Of course from his perspective allowing for any deviation from his plan would probably have been viewed as a weakness but since he was playing for such high stakes and with such unpredictable elements involved it would really have been the most sensible option.
Still, despite the unravelling of Light’s cunning plans I really did enjoy the second half of the story thoroughly, perhaps even more than the first half because of that unravelling. During the first half of the story while L was an interesting foil for Light I was definitely more interested in Light’s over planning and invariable meltdowns while during the second half I was more engrossed in the overall story rather than focusing on Light specifically. The second half of the story also gave me a wealth of sympathy for Misa due to her hopeless love for Light and her treatment by him which I hadn’t really considered too much during the first half of the story. And while I wasn’t particularly fond of Takada she worked well to drive the plot forwards and I was at least amused by the morning after scene that Light had with her rather than Misa, though the fact that he lived with Misa probably meant that such a scene wasn’t necessary.
Overall I found Death Note highly enjoyable since it more or less consisted of convoluted intellectual battles between individuals who in any other situation would be nothing but highly dysfunctional, supported by a well rounded supporting cast who each had suitable virtues and flaws in equal proportion. Death Note is one of those cases where every character gets a chance at heroism or villainy, respectively, in equally dramatic proportions. It’s a series that turns the conception that the story has to follow the hero on its head and instead gives the reader a well-intentional villain who doesn’t even come across as a villain initially: Light is after all an idealistic, though somewhat unstable, genius to begin with and it’s his actions that transform genius into villainy. Likewise, L is a very bizarre individual whose motivation is petty but whose actions turn him into a hero. The same goes for characters like Mello and Near. Perhaps then Death Note is a good illustration of actions meriting consequences, illustrated especially by the fact that Light’s goal seems to be tempered by a hefty dose of egotism which robs it of it of any moral arguments and means that Light himself doesn’t commit entirely to his objective, instead focusing his energies on keeping himself alive because of course as he is well aware, Kira’s ideal would collapse without Kira to manage it.
