Death Note is good


I don’t have a clever title for this or a clever lede, but I’ve finally found something to get me into that whole manga world.

I had an irrational hatred of manga dating back to the 90s when Joe Madureira ruined the X-Men and everyone (read: Wizard, because I didn’t know any other comics readers) praised him for his “manga-influenced style.” For some reason, everyone having big eyes and huge boots didn’t excite me the way it excited them, perhaps because I wasn’t paying them for advertising space, and I associated an entire world of comics with dingleberry Joe.

Years later, I think it was when re-reading Understanding Comics, trying to absorb concepts of storytelling as a slightly more mature reader, I came to accept that maybe some of that stuff wasn’t all about big eyes and huge boots. And maybe I should try to read it.

But where to begin? As mainstream bookstores like Barnes & Noble and Borders started increasing their graphic novel shelf space, the manga shelf space was exploding. And all those books were little, and there were so many of them, and you have to read them backwards…it was just too much to pick a place to jump in.

I was saved by Sara Sanders. One day during homework time in one of the after-school clubs I teach at a local middle school, I had nothing to read. I usually bring a newspaper or a magazine or something, and that day I had nothing. Sara had these books called “Death Note,” and she also had homework. That meant those books were sitting there untouched. I told her, I’d been wanting to read some manga but didn’t know where to start…that segued into “Can I look at these?”

She only had books 2 and 3, and I didn’t really want to start in the middle of something, but I read the premise: a teenager finds a Death Note, a notebook that allows its owner to take someone’s life by writing their name in its pages. The main character (I hesistate to use the term protagonist), Light, comes into possession of one of these books and decides to use its powers to rid the world of evildoers.

I was instantly intrigued. Noble intentions, obvious setup for dramatic complications. Knowing there were several books in the series, I went out and bought book 1. I loved it. Then I quickly went through books 2 and 3. When I started reading it, I didn’t see how it was going to last very long, but the series has stretched out very naturally without any contrived twists.

The dialogue is a little stiff, but somehow it comes across as forgiveably translated and not just wooden and devoid of characterization. This is very much a plot-driven story; while two reasonably-defined characters drive the action, their necessarily-guarded personalities offer a built-in excuse for a lack of too much depth. I guess the best analogy I can say is that it’s like watching a chess game, being able to know what both players intend, and just watching how it all unfolds.

But I only realized while on the last page of book 3 – that this series was still coming out. So I finished book 3 in January and learned I was going to have to wait until March for book 4. I’m not sure how early it came out, but on Monday (Feb 28) I was at Barnes & Noble and checked, and sure enough, there was book 4. Now I’m going to have to wait until May for book 5…

I have to say, the ending of book 4 was the first time that I found myself somewhat questioning where the series was going. On one hand, how long can this be stretched out? On the other hand, it’s been handled so well so far, it has earned my faith that it’s going to be worth continuing.

It’s been successful in getting me to realize that some of this manga stuff is great (even though I am admittedly hooked on a book aimed at teenagers), but I haven’t evolved too far; I love Death Note, and I’m curious to try more…

…but I have no idea where to go from here.