Death Note: Short Stories is an anthology of short works set in the Death Note world that were originally published separately.

It has been a very long time since I last read or even watched any of the Death Note series. For the most part, this wasn't a problem, but I'd advise anyone who hasn't read the original series at all to steer clear of this volume because it includes major spoilers.

"C-Kira":

The police know that the original Kira is definitely dead, so when a new Kira pops up and starts killing people over the age of 65, they know that the media's speculation that he's back is wrong. However, someone clearly has a Death Note, and the police hope that Near (aka L's replacement) will help them find and stop that person.

This is, I think, our first real glimpse of the Death Note world after everything went down. From the sounds of things, although Light isn't around anymore, his influence has persisted and the world is magically more peaceful. (Because killing people definitely stops war and crime.)

This particular story is tied to the ethics of euthanasia in a country with a growing percentage of elderly people, but it doesn't dig into the issue too deeply. It's resolved in a way that felt too neat and easy. It probably didn't help my overall opinion of the story that I'm firmly in the "Near will always be the lesser L" camp.

"a-Kira":

This takes place after the previous story. Ryuk sees to it that a boy named Minoru Tanaka gets a Death Note, figuring that a kid like him, who's done well on tests like Light, will last longer than the previous new Kira and provide him with more opportunities to eat apples. However, the world is different from when Light had the Death Note, and the tricks he used wouldn't work for Minoru. Plus, Minoru isn't actually interested in killing anyone...so he comes up with another plan.

This was reasonably clever. I winced a bit at the inclusion of a certain US president (no name, but he was definitely recognizable), although Ohba presenting him as a man who wouldn't sacrifice himself for his country but would absolutely lie to get praise from others was amusing. The setup was there to just kill him off, but I doubt Jump Square wanted that kind of attention.

If I remember right, there was some Death Note rule-changing in the original series, so the rule change in this story didn't bother me much. It made sense that, one way or another, the Shinigami would always win.

I'm still not a fan of Near.

Death Note four-panel comics:

Lukewarm feelings. None of these made me laugh.

"L - One Day":

It's a day in L's life. Find out how he sleeps, uses the toilet, washes himself, gets dressed, and entertains himself.

This takes all the L jokes so far that it's tough to believe he ever managed to play a serious game of tennis against Light.

"L - Wammy's House":

A few pages showing what L was like when he first came to Wammy's House and the period leading up to his reputation as a gifted detective. He was a creepy, creepy child.

"Taro Kagami":

A thirteen-year-old kid named Taro Kagami finds a Death Note and, not being able to read the rules written inside it (in English), uses it as a journal to write about his day. Specifically, he writes about the kids who bullied him. The next day he learns they all died of heart attacks. He gradually realizes what his notebook is capable of and then meets Ryuk. However, he's not the only kid around with a Death Note.

I didn't realize this until I started working on this review, but this was actually the Death Note manga pilot. A brief explanation of this prior to the story would have been very helpful. I was so confused, trying to figure out where and how this fit into the series timeline. Plus, it introduced a mechanic that never came up in the series, a Death Note eraser.

Now that I know this was a pilot, the ending bugs me a lot less.

All in all, this was an okay volume for fans of the original series, but not essential reading unless, for some reason, you want to see more of Near in action (although "Near inaction" is probably more accurate).

Extras:

A couple full-color illustrations.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Death Note is one of the most brilliant supernatural thrillers. I was so happy to finally get my hands on the short stories and oh boy! It was so fun to read about Ryuk and his mischief. Still one of my top 5 manga. ( )

2022 note as I manually shift my reviews from goodreads: I didn't read any short story anthology, but can't seem to find the manga itself I read, on here. I think my searching skills are lacking and don't intend to mislead anyone.

2020: This is a, I took notes as I read, and there were themes I wanted to expand on, review.
When I saw Ryuk, I was eighteen. When I read this manga thirteen years later, I thought he looked familiar but couldn't place him until I saw a panel of him walking. At the first sighting, I was at an anime convention. The opening ceremonies for the small convention were filled with eager audience members. The lights dimmed as every seat was quickly filled. The creaking door, eerie footsteps, and quiet notes for Michael Jackson's "Thriller" began as we turned to see a person on tall, tall curved stilts running down the center aisle. Running. On the tallest stilts I'd seen, and curved! As the music sting for the 80s synthesizer began, he confidently leapt onstage to join five other people. The lighting increased. Some onstage wore black robes and striped scarves, and bushy wigs or scars on their foreheads. They were huge fans of the book series about a wizard written by Emma Watson. Another wore orange, and had chains on his arms, and I didn't get the reference. For the next entire five minutes, they perfectly performed the whole dance of "Thriller" with additional choreography so it would fill the entire song. Dancing in robes and scarves is difficult. Dancing on curved stilts while wearing a huge black wig, and heavy makeup is even harder. Doing this for five minutes is a lot of dancing, and Michael Jackson had some complex dances in his videos. They must have rehearsed hours a day for months. The audience cheered loudly when the performance finished, and some stood up, myself included. The dancers had professional backgrounds, loved anime, and each of them was a keynote speaker for the introductory ceremony. I'm still amazed by the whole thing.

I thought the book would be as cool as that opening dance routine. My expectations were -way- too high. This was suggested for readers who liked Victoria Laurie's novel, "When." The two stories have pretty much nothing in common. The reason I read the book, for the theme of being able to see people's death dates on their foreheads, isn't revealed as possible until eighty percent of the book is over. I realize this is the first book of a series but -come on-. There were barely any transitions in the book, and no, I will not take "it's a comic book" as a reason. Some information and lots of reactions are repeated over and over again. I got them the first time. Can we move on, author? I constantly confused L and Light, although this may well have been because my attention span wasn't great. Maybe the art in the edition I read was off somehow, compared to other editions. L, the teen, accepts his circumstances unrealistically quickly, and turns evil too rapidly. Slow down! -Show- me more evidence. Convince me. He went so over the top with protecting the notebook that--what? What teen would think of all of that, and so quickly and efficiently? Maybe a super paranoid adult would, who was an accomplished engineer or scientist, and that's a maybe!

The pentacle on the jail wall was clearly supposed to be creepy. It has an entirely different meaning for me. I was not impressed. I wonder, though, what the Japanese equivalent would be. The book ends with L writing increasingly detailed deaths for people. Is he exploring the full power of the notebook or is he just bored? During the whole book, I was bored. It's not worth it to read the whole series if the first book is like this. At least I gave it a shot. ( )