Tired of stupid anime? Sick of seeing galllant heros and womanly villans?
This is the thing for you.
Deathnote. Okay, so basically, Deathnote is the first manga I've read in about... 2 years. Yikes, I know. I thought I was done with it, the whole reading manga in the book store thing. But Deathnote is SO good, that it just about revitalizes the genre.
| QUOTE |
Yagami Raito is a 17-year old kid who's top in his class and in the nation yet has a pretty normal life aside from his incessant studying. One day his eyes fall over a notebook laying on the ground outside of his school. Reading the English cover, "Death Note," and noticing that the writing inside is also in English, Raito decides to take it home to read it. Within the next 5 days, Raito has already killed many just by watching and recording names of criminals from the news. The Death Note enables him to kill anyone whose face and real name is known. To know more about the rules of the notebook read the terms of the Death Note. Picking up the notebook once more, a monstrous creature appears and speaks to Raito, introducing himself as a Shinigami (God of Death) named Ryuuku. Ryuuku tells Raito that only the owner of the Death Note can see him and that he, Raito, is now the owner of it and may use it as he chooses. If Raito does not want to keep the notebook, he may give it to someone else and Ryuuku will erase all related memories from his mind. The notebook bonds both Raito and Ryuuku, but any mental pain will be delivered to Raito alone. He then decides that no matter what it takes, no matter who gets involved, Raito will cleanse the world of evil criminals. Although Raito is doing a pretty good job gathering up bad guys, when he is interrupted by a top detective by the label "L."
Who is L? And who is the real antagonist?
|
Okay, so basically, Raito gains the power to kill off anyone after finding a book called a Deathnote, which actually has the power of death or something attached to it. Raito sets a resolve to purge the world of evil, but then, when his mission is threatened by such securities as the FBI and NSA, he starts to kill them to throw them off their trail and make sure he isn't caught.
What's amazing about this manga is that it's actually INTELLIGENT. I mean, the whole story is an underlying metaphor in the evils found in men. It also poses many deep questions, such as:
Is murder justifiable?
Can sacrifices really be made for the greater good?
Can the world really be happy underneath one arbituary power?
Also, the degeneration of the main character is awesome! As Raito kills more people, you see him eventually lose human emotion, and he becomes a hollow shell with each kill. Guilt washes away with every passing moment, and soon, it's as easy as writing down a name to kill someone. The way he carries himself out, his suspenseful plans, all well-thought out and exceptionally good for a manga.
In fact, the philosophy behind it is what really gets to me. Apparently, the statement of it is that the gods of death (or dieties or whatever) aren't the evils that cause deaths, but rather its the humans that sell their souls to kill.
I don't really know how to explain it without saying that it's AWESOME.
darn, I know it sounds nerdy.
But I love this manga, and I don't say that a lot.
It's anime for the goth kids. The real ones, anyway. =D
ShadowTheUnknown reads it.
Worth the read.
It's awesome isn't it Shadow!?
I just started reading it, and I love it!
^^
(Ahh, finally, anime has been revived for me)
