There are a number of manga-based anime out in the world today, mostly because Cartoon Network has been putting them in their nightly line ups. Anyone who has seen this knows that Death Note is a popular title, which has made the manga a popular title as well. Death Note is a twelve volume manga that was first published in the United States from 2003 to 2006, and is written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. While this particular series is quite popular in America, it may be an example of something becoming popular in the United States that doesn’t deserve the popularity. While the plot has merit for an original idea and smart characters, the pointless exposition and lack of any real action can make this a tedious read.

Death Note opens with high school student Light Yagami coming across a notebook that gives him a special kind of power. If he writes down a name in the notebook and visualizes the person’s face, that particular person dies of heart failure in forty seconds, unless otherwise specified. Touching this notebook also allows the owner to see the actual owner of the book, which is a Shinigami, or a paranormal creature that exists in a dimension outside the human world, and survives for many centuries by killing humans. They are also called Gods of Death, and Grim Reapers. The plot of Death Note involves Light Yagami using the Death Note to create a world without crime, and the story of the people trying to catch him and end his reign of terror.

The art of Death Note is well done for what it is. People are not attractive or ugly, they are really just average. People who are supposed to be handsome could be people whom you simply see on the sidewalk, or walking down the street. The only truly beautiful part of Death Note, surprisingly, are the Shinigami, which are unusual, and all uniquely designed. The human beings turn out to be more horrifying than these grim reapers, because they have wide, haunted eyes for no real reason, and tend to look very similar despite the apparent attempts to make them look differently.

Anyone who has very little patience will find it hard to enjoy Death Note. Mostly because all of the dialogue is long winded and repetitive, and the story tends to mostly take place in two very sparsely decorated rooms. People who are supposed to be super-geniuses spend their days sitting in front of the computer, and seem to be doing absolutely nothing for very long periods of time. It is the minor characters who are more interesting in this particular series, including pop idol Misa-Misa, Teru Mikami, and the Shinigami, Ryuk.

While Death Note rewards successful readers with a surprise ending, slogging through one hundred and seven exposition-filled chapters to get to that point may not be worth it for most people. If you want to enjoy a good crime drama manga series, this author suggests looking somewhere else. Because Death Note, while popular, is not worth twelve long-winded volumes.