Writer Tsugumi Ohba and Artist Takeshi Obata also teamed up to create Bakuman, another very good series but not one I've followed all the way to the end yet, and Obata also drew the manga adaptation for Hiroshi Sakurazaka's All You Need Is Kill, otherwise known by the name of it's hollywood remake The Edge of Tomorrow.
Back when I was but an early teen first discovering anime and manga, the typical kind of series I was exposed to were the kind found in Shounen Jump, or shown on Toonami. In those days, I was into manga way more than anime, and would spend my pocket money on the volumes stocked by the Waterstones in the Metro Centre in Gateshead, whilst visiting my mum who lived in the area at that time every weekend. My bedroom in that house was my dream room, books, manga and video games lined my bookshelves, and the room was the first room on the ground floor, so the window overlooked the fields of picturesque Northumberland country. From my sofa, I watched, read and played many of the things that shaped my childhood in that room. It was in this era that on a whim, I bought the Death Note volume 1 manga.
Upon first reading, I was in awe of the story. It's the kind of manga that absolutely kept me guessing. Each situation played out like a game of chess between Light and L, with victory being taken by some ingenious twist that shows off just how clever each character is. I've often felt that if I had the opportunity to go back and experience some piece of work for the first time all over again, it would be the Death Note manga.
Beyond just a manga, the series was adapted into an anime, a movie or three and given a spin-off novel. I think probably because I had read and loved the entire manga, the anime didn't quite feel right to me, but that wouldn't explain why I enjoyed the live actions movies quite so much. Perhaps for a mixture of the guy from Battle Royale and because Red Hot Chilli Peppers lent their music.
The series poses an age old ethical question that troubles whole governments. Is it just to execute criminals? I don't believe it is, but the story is one big argument about the subject. Sadly, this is mostly thrown out of the window halfway through, and like so many other things, carries on after it's logical end and suffers for it. At the very least the live action films take this in their stride and alter the ending somewhat to bypass the entire second half of the manga.
However, a large part of what makes the suspense of the series so exciting is the way that the show follows both Light and L, and whilst Light is mostly the main protagonist, we see how both sides interact with the problems that occur. I believe that's a large part of what keeps the suspense flowing in this odd crime horror and has made it so successful.
