Customer Reviews

Death Note, Vol. 2

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After Light Yagami finds a way to kill all of the FBI agents that are tracking potential Kira suspects in Japan, including his own private tail, Raye Penber, he's feeling pretty smug. That is, until Raye's fiance, a former FBI agent herself, starts to piece even more parts of the puzzle together and when she runs into Light himself, things get a little hairy and suspenseful! Meanwhile, realizing the severity of the situation, L agrees to reveal his identity to the handful of cops still working the case.

This second volume of Deathnote was far superior to the first installment. While it still had some plot holes, the otherwise fine writing was able to overcome any shortcomings. While Ohba is no Dostoyevsky there are some real moments of suspense and excitement in here. It almost makes you want to skip pages to get to the climax, but not because it's bad. Because it's that GOOD! In a reverse of the handsome Shonen-ai hero, L is a weird looking guy with simian mannerisms while Light is the handsome school boy. The pressure on Light continues to ratchet up, but who will make the first mistake in this battle to the death, L or Light?

Death Note is a fantastic manga. I would recomend it to anyone who likes pychological suspense, a story with a good plot, all with a scifi edge.

In the first volume of Death Note we are introduced to Light, a bored high school student. He finds the Death Note, a Death God's notebook. When you write a name in it, the person whose name you've written dies. Light decides to use the Death Note to kill criminals in order to create a world free of crime. When Interpol catches on to the fact that dozens of prisoners are dying for no apparent reason, they recruit L, a mysterious sluth who can solve any crime. This is how the dangerous game of cat and mouse begins.

In this volume L is revealed, we get to see his face for the first time. FBI agents are sent to Japan to secretly follow the Japanese agents who are working on the case in order to rule them out as suspects. Light's father happens to be heading the task force. When Light discovers that an FBI agent is tailing him, we get to see just how cunning he truely is.

I don't want to give too much of the story away, so I'll just say this: Death Note is one of the best manga I've ever read. The plot and characters are well developed and intriguing. I highly recommend it!

Volume 2 of Death Note picks up right where the first volume left off. Light has just discovered that he has been followed by an Agent of the FBI as members of the NPA and their families are under surveillance for suspicious activity to see if anyone might have a connection or in fact be the serial killer known as Kira. L is becoming more and more frustrated especially after all 12 of the FBI agents assigned to surveillance all end up dead. This sparks a massive uprising in the NPA as most of the detectives assigned to the case quit in fear of their own lives.

Out of desperation, L decides to reveal himself to the remaining members of the NPA task force in order to gain their trust and cooperation. To make matters worse, one of the agents killed by Kira has a fiancée who is also a former FBI agent and has information that could eventually lead back to Light. Now, Light must find a way to silence the fiancée in such a way as to keep from arousing any kind of suspicion. As L and the NPA close in on Light, he must now try harder than ever to avoid being captured by the authorities, and as the volume closes, two households are narrowed down by the task force, one of which is Light's house. As bugs and cameras are placed throughout the house, Light must try to act the typical college bound student or else face capture and almost certain death for his crimes.

There is plenty of use of the Death Note in this volume as Light begins killing anyone who has information that could lead to his capture and the suspense really begins to pick up as the Task Force closes in on the identity of the killer Kira. The cat-and-mouse game expands quite a bit more in this volume as Light tries to carry out his "goal". Plenty of suspense in this book, though there is not an additional comic in this volume, it is composed of 9 chapters (but starts at Chapter 8 and continues from there). I can't wait to read volume 3.

Tsugumi Ohba, Death Note: Confluence (ViZ, 2005)

Ryuk and Light are back. I wondered, at the end of Boredom, how this series could be as long as it is-- Ohba crammed a whole lot of action into the first volume of Death Note, and killed off (no pun intended) most of the original story arc pretty fast. So, what now?

Note: the following contains spoilers for Boredom, so stop reading now if you plan to read the series and haven't started it yet.

The FBI agents sent to Japan are all dead, thanks to Light's acquaintance with Raye Penber (what is it about Japanese manga artists coming up with "American" names no one in America would ever have, anyway? The roster of FBI agents here is hilarious!), and the task force investigating the killings is deserting out of fear for their lives. It seems as if Light will never be caught-- except that Raye's fiancee, an ex-FBI agent herself, is out for revenge, and L decides to break his rule of no contact and head up the police's investigation personally. Everyone's using unorthodox methods, so what's a boy to do? Stay one step ahead of the game, of course...

In Boredom, I liked Ryuk because, as a Shinigami, Ohba could really do anything he wanted with Ryuk's character; Ryuk wasn't confined to needing to be human-like to be a three-dimensional character. In Confluence, paradoxically, I like Ryuk even better because, having established some guidelines for him, Ohba now makes Ryuk somewhat more human. There are rules to being a Shinigami, it seems, and boundaries to what they can and cannot do that are just as binding as those on humans. Ohba reveals these to us a bit at a time, and thus continues to make Ryuk one of the more interesting characters in manga these days. Great stuff, looking forward to volume 3. *** ½

I really enjoyed reading the sequel to the first Death Note because they managed to keep the plot line fresh and original and to me, it didn't feel like a rehash of the first in the series. Death note continues its reputation of thick plot line, beautiful art and intriguing characters. I love seeing the task force meet L and their reaction to him which was pretty funny. I am currently waiting for the next two in the series to come in the mail, because after reading one and two, I want to read the whole series. I also enjoyed the crop of new characters that are beneficial to Light's story because it adds an extra element of suspense. I would recommend this series to any manga fan because there is so many different themes that could appeal to all walks of life.

I am a big fan of the Death Note series, so I have already read the manga, seen the anime, and watched the live-action films. My boyfriend, however, had only seen the live-action film and liked it, so I decided to let him start from the very beginning. Now he's hooked on it, too, and so are some of my co-workers whom I've mentioned it to.

very good book. it was hard cover as described and it shipped in a fair amount of time. I was very happy that it was in perfect condition as described. hope to buy from you again

I find this Manga series one of the most absorbing I've ever read. It is very interesting and enjoyable. I am a teacher and will allow this series in my classroom. They will love it too!

Manga did a terrific job in putting together the Death Note volumes. They are so well written and are a lot of fun. I don't think I will read a standard book the same again. I highly recommened the books to anybody probally thirteen and over. I will own all of the volumes when all is said and done. One volume just gets better than the next.

In the second volume of Death Note, we get to see Light Yagami further experiment with the powers and capabilities of the Death Note. Raye Penber, the FBI agent assigned to investigate him, and his fiance, a former-FBI agent herself, become inextricably wrapped up in the Kira mystery. L, an enigmatic recluse pursuing Kira, reveals himself to the task force and begins closing in on Light as a suspect.

Things progress nicely in the second volume of Death Note. We spend a bit more time with L, learning about his thought process, habits, and his theories about the Kira case. We also begin to see the lengths to which Light will go to follow his dream of a utopia, even if that means killing innocents. You still get that Encyclopedia Brown-vibe with L and Light (they figure things out with so little to go on and then have to explain to you, at length, how they did it). But Light is also able to play the charismatic teen who only wants to help, and it's disturbing how he can go from this to serial killer within a matter of seconds.

This is a great manga... I can't wait to keep reading!