‘Death Note’ is an amazing Manga, a must-read. And for those who are not a fan of Manga or Comic Books or don’t enjoy reading, you can always stream the Anime. Chapter 2 is titled ‘L’. At first, you have no clue what ‘L’ means or whether it’s even a person. But the way the author introduced L as the true protagonist of the story was simply breathtaking. ‘L’ never reveals his true identity or shows his face. He likes to work from the shadows. He only works on cases that he finds interesting and solves cases for free for the Japanese Police. ‘L’ not only proves Kira exists but also tracks down the region where Kira resides in a matter of weeks. Something, neither Interpol nor the Japanese Police were able to do despite having thousands of people working together. You totally need to read Chapter 2, and then you’re hooked on ‘Death Note’.
Honestly, I didn’t dislike anything in Chapter 2.
But I have some questions regarding Ryuk, the Shinigami.
1. Ryuk comments that “Humans are a Riot” at the end of Chapter 2. And it raises the following question. Isn’t it funny that a God, even a Death God, knows so little about humans? Why would a Death God be so oblivious about the human world? What is it that’s so interesting in the Shinigami Realm that you didn’t care to learn anything about humans? I hope these answers are resolved later in the story.
2. Also, what’s the purpose of a Death God? I know a Death God extends his life by killing humans, but he doesn’t need to kill more than a few to extend it a 100 years. Anyway, my knowledge is a bit rusty at this point. But I’m hoping I’ll uncover more secrets about the Death God as I read more.
Likes:
1. I liked how the Police argued, interjected, and were all over the place, even though they made excellent points, they were at each other’s throats and disagreed with each other so strongly. I would have expected the police to be morally sound and know the clear distinction between right and wrong. But, I guess the Police were also unprepared and untrained for such a situation.
2. I understand the Police were thrown off their game since no one considered a Supernatural element to be a part of their case. But the entire Police System across the world didn’t have one single person to outsmart 2 kids, Kira or ‘L’. Pretty scary when you think of it. Also, the fact that the Police had to depend on an outsider to help them with this case was such a slap in the face questioning their competency to another level altogether.
3. I liked how ‘L’ had a strong opinion about right and wrong and concluded that killing these criminals was murder and needed to be stopped immediately.
4. I liked that the author mentioned a team of superheroes such as the X-Men. I’m a big fan of the X-Men.
5. I liked how Light points out the hypocrisy of humans. When in public they all put up a façade of being polite and righteous but on the internet, they express their true opinions under an anonymous avatar.
6. I liked how Light, despite being so intelligent, still made mistakes, his ego became his downfall. He assumed no one in the world was smart enough to challenge him, let alone beat him without any Supernatural powers, simply using his skills of knowledge, probability, and deduction.
7. The author equipped ‘L’ with 2 important attributes without which it would have been impossible for ‘L’ to beat Light. ‘L’ was rich and he had the full support of the Japanese Police and Interpol.
One more time, ‘Death Note’ is not meant for children or young teens, strictly 16+. We don’t want to introduce the harsh and cruel happenings of the real world to innocent children just yet. Moving on, Give ‘Death Note’ a shot. It’s not only a good story but an excellent Psychological Thriller with an amazing Supernatural Detective Investigation and a cut-throat battle between Kira and ‘L’. And I hope you’re team ‘L’.
