Death Note Review: What Happens When a Genius Decides He Is God
by Tsugumi Ohba / Takeshi Obata
*Affiliate link — I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Quick Take
- 12 volumes, complete — one of the tightest, most perfectly paced manga ever written
- A chess match between two geniuses played across the entire series, with the fate of the world as the prize
- Will make you question what justice actually means — and whether you'd make the same choice as Light
Who Is This Manga For?
Death Note is for you if:
- You love psychological cat-and-mouse stories where both sides are genuinely brilliant
- You want a manga that's more thriller than action — the "fights" are mental
- You're interested in stories that seriously examine questions of justice, power, and moral corruption
- You want something short and complete that reads like a perfectly constructed novel
Content Warnings & Age Rating
Age Rating: T (Teen) Content Warnings: Death (the central premise), psychological manipulation as a major plot device, a protagonist who kills and believes he is right, themes of corruption and god complex
The violence is not graphic — people die, but the deaths are depicted abstractly. The psychological content is the disturbing part: watching a genius rationalize murder in increasingly convincing ways is unsettling in a way that lingers.
Yu's Rating
| Category | Score |
|---|---|
| Story Depth | ★★★★★ |
| Art Style | ★★★★★ |
| Character Development | ★★★★☆ |
| Accessibility for Non-Japanese Readers | ★★★★★ |
| Reread Value | ★★★★★ |
Story Overview
Light Yagami is seventeen years old, top of his class, athletic, universally admired. He is also bored. The world, in his view, is full of criminals who escape justice. He finds this intolerable.
Then he finds the Death Note.
The notebook belongs to Ryuk, a shinigami (death god) who dropped it into the human world out of curiosity. The rules are simple: write a person's name in the notebook while picturing their face, and they will die within 40 seconds of a heart attack. Other conditions can be specified.
Light doesn't hesitate. He starts killing criminals. Within weeks, the world notices a pattern: criminals are dying. Someone — the public names him "Kira," from the English word "killer" — is passing judgment on the world.
L, the world's greatest detective, takes the case personally. He is Light's opposite in almost every way: eccentric, antisocial, slouching, sugar-obsessed. And brilliant in exactly the way required to catch a criminal who kills with a notebook.
What follows is twelve volumes of the most relentless mental chess in manga.
Characters
Light Yagami — One of manga's most compelling protagonists because he is genuinely intelligent, genuinely convinced he is right, and genuinely wrong in a way that only becomes fully visible in retrospect. He is not a villain who thinks he's a hero. He is a person who was given power he couldn't handle.
L — The only character who can match Light intellectually. His methods are unconventional, his personality is deliberately alienating, and his fundamental decency — which he barely shows — is what makes him so effective. His relationship with Light, which is real in its way despite everything, is the emotional center of the series.
Ryuk — The shinigami who dropped the notebook. He has no stake in whether Light wins or loses. He is watching, as he says, because humans are interesting. His final action is the most honest thing any character does in the story.
Misa Amane — Light's devoted ally, who has her own Death Note and her own story. Her absolute loyalty to Light is as much a comment on the story's themes as anything Light himself does.
Art Style
Takeshi Obata's art is exceptional — precise, dramatic, and extraordinarily expressive. His character designs are iconic: Light's handsome confidence, L's perpetual slouch, Ryuk's grotesque delight. The manga doesn't have action sequences in the traditional sense, but the panels of characters thinking — close-ups of eyes, hands, notebooks — are constructed with the same cinematic precision as any fight scene.
The visual storytelling during the mental chess matches is particularly impressive. Obata finds ways to make scenes of people sitting in rooms and thinking feel genuinely tense.
Cultural Context
The shinigami (death gods) appear throughout Japanese mythology and folklore as personifications of death — not malicious, but inevitable. Ryuk's characterization as bored and curious rather than evil draws on this tradition, making him more unsettling than a conventional villain would be.
Kira as a cultural phenomenon within the story — the way ordinary people begin to support a mass murderer because he targets criminals — reflects real debates in Japan and globally about vigilante justice, public safety, and what people are willing to accept in exchange for security. Ohba treats these questions seriously rather than as simple villainous ideology.
The justice system's failures that Light cites as his motivation are drawn from real Japanese debates about crime, recidivism, and the gap between legal justice and moral justice.
What I Love About It
I read Death Note in one sitting the first time. It was three in the morning when I finished.
What I keep thinking about is not the plot mechanics — though they're brilliant — but a simpler question: would I have done what Light did?
I don't think I would. I hope I wouldn't. But I understand the argument. And the manga is honest enough to follow that argument to its logical conclusion, not flinching from what a person who truly believed they were doing right would become.
Light's final scene is not triumphant. It is not even dignified. It is the most honest ending the story could have had.
What English-Speaking Fans Say
Death Note has one of the most engaged Western fanbases of any manga, driven largely by the anime adaptation but sustained by readers who go back to the source. The manga is consistently praised for its pacing — the way each chapter ends on a revelation that makes the next chapter immediately necessary.
The most common discussion: the quality drop after L's exit from the story. Near and Mello, who replace L as antagonists, are less beloved than L himself, and some readers find the final arc less satisfying than the first half.
The consensus: the first half (through L's storyline) is flawless. The second half is still very good. The ending is correct.
Memorable Scene ⚠️ Spoiler Warning
L's death.
Without describing the mechanics: at the moment L dies, he and Light are alone together. L has suspected Light for the entire series. Light has been maintaining his cover for the same amount of time. In the final seconds, they both know.
What passes between them is not said explicitly. But Obata draws it.
It's the most emotionally weighted moment in the series — two people who were, in their strange way, the only equals each other had ever encountered, and only one of them will leave the room.
Similar Manga
If you liked Death Note, try:
- Monster (Naoki Urasawa) — Longer, similarly psychological, possibly even better; a surgeon hunts a serial killer across Europe
- Pluto (Naoki Urasawa) — Science fiction with philosophical depth similar to Death Note's moral inquiry
- The Promised Neverland — Children in a horror situation using only their intelligence to survive
- Liar Game — Psychological game theory, similar cat-and-mouse structure
Reading Order / Where to Start
Start from Volume 1. Death Note is a continuous, tightly plotted story with no filler arcs or stand-alone chapters. Every volume builds on the last.
At 12 volumes, it's one of the most manageable reads in manga. Most people finish it in two or three sittings.
Official English Translation Status
Status: Complete English Volumes: 12 (all volumes available) Translator: VIZ Media Translation Quality: Excellent
Also available as a single all-in-one omnibus edition if you prefer one volume.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Perfect pacing — every chapter ends making the next one immediately necessary
- The best psychological cat-and-mouse story in manga
- Obata's art is stunning throughout
- 12 volumes — compact, complete, no filler
Cons
- The second half (after L's exit) is less beloved than the first
- Some readers find the story emotionally cold — the intellectual precision comes at a human cost
- Near and Mello don't fully replace L as antagonists
Format Comparison
| Format | Volumes | Price per vol. (approx.) | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paperback (individual) | 12 vols | ~$9–11 | Standard read |
| Kindle | 12 vols | ~$6–8 | Fastest way through |
| Black Edition (2-in-1) | 6 vols | ~$14–16 | Good value |
| All-in-One Edition | 1 vol | ~$25–30 | Best single-volume option |
Recommendation: The All-in-One Edition is excellent value if you want one complete physical book.
Where to Buy
This post contains affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
*Affiliate link — I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Written by
Yu
Manga Enthusiast from Japan
I grew up in Japan and manga literally saved me during a tough time in elementary school. My English isn't perfect, but my love for manga is real — and I want to share it with you.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.