Death Note

[xparrot]

So. Yeah. I am the last manga fan on the planet to finally get around to reading Death Note. And I gotta love a manga that can do this to me.


AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I was hyperventilating from holding my breath for about three chapters before 53, because you know what's coming, you know what's coming and it's still as brutal as a backhand from a lover, to see Light's smile.

And yeah, I had ch.58 spoiled for me when it happened last year, the meltdown on the flist was hard to miss. Didn't help much. You almost want to stop reading, because you know exactly what's going to happen, like a horror movie when you're screaming at the girl, Don't go there!!!, except it's not a ditzy dumb co-ed but L, who is more brilliant than anyone, except the one person he needed to be. And what could he have done, anyway, when even Light wasn't smart enough to figure himself out in time?

But you don't even get to hear his real name for yourself!

Even Light doesn't get to hear it.

I wonder if that ever bothers him...

Comments

[applejill.livejournal.com]

Heh.
Well, I read it last week. And I'm probably the only anime fan on lj who wasn't spoiled for the big one.

It was pain and anger. Worse than Serenity, I'm telling you. And honestly, I think, a narrative mistake.
But despite that--Death Note rocks!

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Heh. Now, Serenity I think was a mistake, a totally pointless death done entirely for shock value with no impact on the story. This, on the other hand - there really were only three options, either the manga would end - which would be classic, but short, and leave so many unturned stones - or this - or else L would become Kira with Light chasing him. Which would've been fascinating in its own right, but I think this was the most unexpected route, and I'm very interested in where it's going next...

[applejill.livejournal.com]

I've got respect for killing L-- I don't think it was in any way a lame choice, and in the end, dragging it out very much further would have been the wrong choice. But for me, what made Death Note great was the battle of wits; without it, it's just The Light Show, and I don't like Light that much. I think it should have been brought around to a resolution and ended; or else, I think that (this may still happen) there must be something that L did to entrap Light from beyond the grave. The arc, the whole comic, *was* L vs Kira; killing L kills the story. A new story is running now, but it isn't quite the story I loved. (unless. Unless... I'm still waiting for L's posthumous punch! N and M don't count.)

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

WAAAAAAAH! Yes. Absolutely. Well discribed, the emotions right there...

When I saw the original from that page at JF, I... I couldn't stop staring. Stop thinking - how does it feel to draw something like that? How is it possible to spend so much time lovingly developing a character - a PAIR of characters - and then do THAT to them. Owww... pain.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Ahhhh you saw those pages? With Light holding L? waah *JEALOUS* Holy shit I love the art of this manga - what it lacks in spontaneity it more than makes up for in detail and clarity. You witness the moments like they're being projected direct onto your cerebellum. When L drops the spoon - if/when they make an anime of this, it better have a movie-high budget, because otherwise it won't have a chance of matching what's already played out in the readers' heads.

You know, as bad as L's death was, I think as bad or worse for me was the moment that Light first touches the Note again. There might be one instant there that he really understands what he's become, and then the memories murder the Light L became friends with, as surely as Rem murders L...

[ex-naye320.livejournal.com]

Yep. Those. I think they were the only DN b/w originals they had up. There were a bunch of the color images too (from covers and such), but fewer manga originals. And... it was kind of cruel to have it all big like that, up on the wall, because it was kind of a shock when I first saw it!

Mmm. Obata is really something special. When I visited the originals with my friend lalala_zombi, who's a really good artist herself, I asked her which art she thought was best, and... yeah. It's hard to surpass the quality. (Let's leave Oda aside for now, because you can't really compare the two series anyway, and so it only makes sense that their art is so... different.)

That really was what got to me. That Light... that he lost what he had found, and I actually liked him for a while there, with L. Because he seemed to be developing into a... non-psychopath. And for a moment I thought I saw remorse and horror and then he was just triumphant and I wanted to slap him! It makes me sad. :(

[immicolia.livejournal.com]

Oh god. I read all those chapters about a few months back (spoiler free no less, although it kinda becomes obvious what was going to happen) *wibbles* And actually it was right there that I flat out stopped reading Death Note. I got up to the end of 59 and haven't downloaded anything since. I just can't do it I think I'm still mourning. L had to be my favourite *sniff*

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

About the only thing I knew about DN going into it was that it was the basic premise, and that L bit it. And I still ended up falling for him anyway. Telling myself that I shouldn't. But it's L *wibbles* May his neurotic genius rest in peace...

[immicolia.livejournal.com]

I don't have much else to add except for an idle thought I just had on L's real name. Okay, It's been a good long while since I've read these chapters, but from what I recall Light picks up the Note (or a Note... actually, I think it was Rem's wasn't it?) out of the pile of dust that is Rem's remains, right? Now, I don't think they mystically clear themselves when they change hands becauseI think L was checking names in the Note the fake Kira was using, was he not? So, provided my reasoning is right, in theory, Light could have checked that note to ultimately find out L's real name.

Of course. Even if he could, I bet it would bother him that he never figured it out on his own. ^^ (there's totally a creepy ficlet in there somewhere)

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Ahhh, you're right, he does pick up Rem's note (hey, doesn't that mean Light has two Death Notes now??) and so he could've checked. Unless the Shinigami write the names in their own language...?

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Isn't it wonderful?

I have my doubts about its permanance though, given SJ series' histories in that regard. Still, I hope they stick with it, because man do I love a story with stakes.

And yes, welcome aboard the addict wagon. We hope you have a pleasant stay.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

While there's some stories that I'll argue don't need character death to make them stronger, that kill characters for emotionally manipulative shock value and are, at least to me, ultimately as much or more satisfying when it's not the real deal - this isn't one of them. It's a fascinating twist, and I don't see how else it could've gone, really. Am looking forward to seeing where it goes from here.

...That being said, I'd be insanely curious how they could bring L back, all things considered...

[lebateleur.livejournal.com]

Which stories, do you think? (Aside from like CoMC...) Nine times out of ten I think character revival is a copout, if only because you can't get people back IRL, and it thus strikes me as over the top wish fulfillment. And besides, it takes GUTS as an author to kill off one of your series' favorite charas.

That said, I can see them bringing L back through a total deus ex, if it will counteract flagging readership. "How did I survive the Note, Yagami-kun? Don't you just wish you knew..."

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Well, some of it depends on how they die, and whether they were actually meant to be killed and then returned because of, as you say, flagging readership; or whether it was all part of the story for them to be presumed dead and then revived. And I'm biased here because honestly, I love 'presumed dead' stories; I have an odd simultaneous love of angst and love of happy endings.

For me, there's type-A and type-B fandoms, of which type-A I get into more for the story, and Type-B I get into the characters more; Type-B are the fandoms I fic for, generally, and I tend to be happier with them remaining more status-quo...lose my favorite characters, and I've lost my interest in the series. (as happened with a lot of people with DN, I've noticed)

But then, I also have the anti-Aristotlean attitude that fluff and comedy and happy endings are no less intrinsically worthy than angst and depressing finales. And while I agree it takes guts for a creator to kill off a favorite character, sometimes it is done just for shock value, to prove that they can do it, or for sweeps' week advertising (see Lost)...

--The original pilot Death Note story had a way to revive people killed with the Note - a Death Eraser, conveniently enough. It 'upped the stakes' quite a lot to remove that, and I think was a good choice for the story they're telling. At the same time, should L reappear - well, yes, cheating death is unrealistic, but--it's a story about using a notebook to kill people in order to create a twisted utopia. While its otherwise realistic grounding gives it dramatic weight, Light is already a larger-than-life protagonist/supervillain, so I don't feel it would be that great a betrayal of the story for his archenemy to be the same.

[luxetumbra.livejournal.com]

I couldn't read DN anymore after IT happened. All the fun seemed to go out of it. ;_;

And I actually thought that the IT in Serenity wasn't meaningless - raised the stakes immensely - I had doubts that anyone would make it out alive after it happened.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

I need to read more, see if it keeps up the pace. the "fun" of Death Note to me is less in L & Light's cat & mouse, and more in the whole idea of a mystery being told backwards, from the killer's point of view and often before he's killed, and you're trying to anticipate what he'll do...of which L's role was significant, but not essential. Though I'm gonna miss him sorely.

The Serenity IT I had provisionally spoiled as well, so that might have affected my reaction to it, but I was annoyed because it felt like a million other action movies in which the wisecracking sidekick is violently and abruptly killed to prove how OMG DANGEROUS what the heroes are doing is. It felt like a waste of a good character to me. But then I loved the Zoe/Wash, I've got a thing for married couple romance that is rarely fulfilled, so some of my feelings are residual broken-pairing bitterness...

[applejill.livejournal.com]

Being a wisecracking sidekick has got to be THE MOST DANGEROUS job in all of adventuring. There should be danger pay for that. Seriously. (Add black skin and a red shirt and it's a triple threat.)

*thinks about this*
Oh, sh!t... Sokka!
(Luckily everyone in One Piece is humorous, whew.)

[shayera.livejournal.com]

Oooh yes. I read it myself not too long ago (I'm in Japan, so I'm finally catching up on my manga! Due to lack of internet, though, I'm behind on my anime ^^)

I had no idea that was going to happen. I kinda suspected it would... but on the other hand I also kind of expected something to come up in the last moment to prevent it... And then it doesn't, and L dies, and the Light's EVIL smile, and L's "I wasn't wrong", and... Waaah.

Then again, I could never bring myself to be completely attached to the characters in Death Note. It's a damn good series, but the main characters are just scary...

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Yes, that's why it didn't bother me as much as it would've otherwise - I'm fascinated by the characters (Light as much as L, really, if not more, and now I'm becoming intrigued by L's successors) but they're too, hmm, extreme to really fall in love with. Though some of that for me might have been because I had that spoiler, I was emotionally keeping my distance, as it were...at any rate, yeah, it's an amazing scene!

[kotoshin.livejournal.com]

I've only recently STARTED reading DN, (eng vol. 1 & 2) and went and DL'ed all the scanslations I can find today, so I'm missing a BIG chunck in the middle (most of the stuff you'd read).

I DESPISE Light and keeps wanting to rip up the book while reading it due to his smugness.

Frankly, L himself + his two successors (Near & Mello) attract me more.
Near most. There's one scene in the later pages (90+, I believe) where Near illustrates what's going on with LEGO figures that's ... ADORABLE. XDDDD

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

You can find scanlations here for the whole thing (if the downloads aren't working now, try again in a day or two, the site comes and goes.)

Light fascinates me, but then I have a thing for the brilliantly manipulative evil ones, especially when there's a certain unacknowledged tragedy to them. If you missed the middle then you probably missed the time you see what Light would be without the Note, and it really is, well, tragic...

I didn't care for N or M at first, but I'm becoming increasingly fond of Near - the bit with the finger puppets? heee! and then there was the motorized rubber ducky...

[kotoshin.livejournal.com]

Oh, I managed to find a chinese scanslation site I'm robbing now (and now am fully caught up with one piece too! Hurrah!)

So give me about 48 hours and I'll probably be able to talke more coherently.

Power CORRUPTS, and Light with the note = me want to stabbity stab him.

I mostly like Mello for the dynamic that he HAS with Near, where Near is (IMHO) the more fitting successor to L as he's trying to defeat Kira using L's principles, whereas for Mello, it doesn't matter if he becomes closer to Kira as long as he defeats Kira.

But, at the same time, Near also recognizes the limitations his morals/legitimate methods puts him in and admits to the results Mello has gotten by illegal/immoral means. While Mello might still be miffed at him for NOT using them, Near recognizes the fact that Mello's free to MAKE HIS OWN CHOICES AS HE SEES FIT and that he couldn't have gotten as far in secondL=Kira=Light Yagami WITHOUT Mello.

I believe Near's going to use his life as bait to draw out Kira and let Mello finish the rest, if worst comes to worst. :O

I'm mostly "Meh" at the author since he seems to be UNABLE to deal with multi-viewpoint battles of intellect a nd keeps "dropping" characters to get it back to one-on-one.

Lastly, not the fingerpuppets! The lego figures and the painting and the pop gun shooting over L-Kira and X-Kira. XDDDD That was so cute, as was the tub full of rubber duckies. (Other M&N highlights for me were: Shidou going "Chocolate is good!" and Near asking Lester to 'babysit' him since he'd never taken a long plane ride by himself. XDDD)

L's Name

[(Anonymous)]

When you read the 13th book you find out L's real name is Lawliet.