"The human who becomes the owner of the Death Note can, in exchange of half of his/her remaining life, get the eyeballs of the God off death which will enable him/her to see a human's name and remaining lifetime..." (How to use it before chapter 6 of death note vol1)

First impressions. The front cover is dark and mysterious. It contains our protagonist wielding a scythe large and powerful looking which in theory could only belong to the grim reaper.His name is Light and he is seventeen years of age.

Behind him stands a shingami or demon who brings death in the human world. His name is Ryuk. He looks like a cross between Frankenstein and one of Time Burtons characters from "Beetle Juice" or "A Night Before Christmas".


The plot comes together when Ryuk decides he is bored. He drops his own death note in the human world outside Lights school. Light picks it up and reads through it. He takes it home not quite convinced that this book has the power to kill anybody he desires to kill in anyway he wants.

A few chapters in Ryuk appears in Lights bedroom. Initially to inform Light of how the book works, then just to observe what he does with it.

In the first volume Light starts to get to grip with his powers and does start to kill off people with bad criminal records while his relationship with Ryuk develops further.
Which seems quite bizzare as Ryuk is 6ft+ tall and incredibly creepy looking! Most people would get rid of the book straight away, but Lights intelligence proceeds him. He is also bored with life and wants to make a big impact on the world.

Although from the outset of their actions they develop a powerful enemy by the name of "L" who wants to put a stop to Lights random Death Note murders. Mainly as he gets mistaken for someone called "Kira", who was said to reappear and has a large following on the internet.

Over all I am generally skeptical of shonnen Jump manga productions (the company which produced this series as well as naruto and dragon ball z). However this one does seem to hit a higher level and is quite original. It is a fairly interesting read if you are into the whole Death and Gloom idea.

The illustrations are very original and detailed too and fall away from the stereotypical generic big eyes spiky hair technique. Light actually looks like quite an attractive young man so far in this series.

This manga was another one of those overnight success stories which was put into anime (Japanese animation) production straight off the mark. I was never very into the whole long running Shonnen Jump anime sagas so I intend to just stick with the manga it generally seems to be better.

This sort of plot maybe isn't my sort of thing but I would still give it a worthy 4/5 for plot and individuality among other Shonnen Jump mangas. This one is rated "older teen"which generally means 16+.