Death Note, Volume 7: Zero

Things are getting very complicated and I am reluctant to give too much of the plot away. Basically Light gets back his Shinigami and Death Note powers and continues his games with L whose time on the investigation into Kira is now numbered. Two new characters are introduced who join the investigation, but go about their roles in very different ways. Misa continues to be a pawn in Light's greater goal and a whole new storyline opens up as a major chapter closes and a new one opens.

I really liked the first half of this manga, but events happened which I don't believe to be true (or at least I hope not). I'm not sure about the new characters but will see how things begin to unfold in the next installment. It's still very clever, but if show more the plot twist is true I may start to lose interest sadly. show less

I will be doing a series review of the full series on my blog soon.

I really enjoyed this installment of the Death Note series. Full of action and exciting twists, this volume kept me on my toes.

Although all my favorite characters in the series thus far have died (Rem and L), I really enjoyed the plot twist that this volume held. I cannot believe that Light is taking advantage of Misa like he is. I hate Light, but I love his character.

I cannot wait to read more of this series.

Zero, the seventh volume in the wildly popular manga series Death Note, collects chapters fifty-three through sixty-one and picks up immediately were the previous book, Give-and-Take, left off. Like so many others, I have been very fond of the series thus far. And since Give-and-Take ended with a bit of a cliff-hanger, it didn't take me too long to get around to reading Zero. The series' premise is engaging and supported by strong artwork, making it easy to like. While Zero is definitely not my favorite installment, the book marks a significant turning point in the series. Several major and very important plot points happen in Zero which does make it difficult to discuss without spoiling things, but I will do my best.

The capture and show more arrest of Kyosuke Higuchi, determined by the investigation team to be acting as one of the Kiras, is the key to the return of Light's memories of the Death Notes. The only thing that now needs to happen to ensure the success of Light's plan and to initiate his endgame is Higuchi's death. Much will happen before victory is guaranteed, but even then the question is how long will Light be able to hold onto it?

The first three quarters of the book are spent unveiling the details of Light's plan (implemented several volumes ago) which have been a mystery up until now, even to him, and then watching how it plays out. Unfortunately, despite the rapid pacing of the revelations, the story has almost no tension. Light states at one point that he "spent every second thinking up every possible scenario and how to deal with it," which is certainly impressive but a little boring when everything goes according to plan and he's never shown to worry that there's even a chance that it might not. Light and the story simply feel very passive at this point in the series. Through all of this, L remains convinced that Light is the most likely suspect contrary to much of the supposed evidence. He furiously continues to try and figure it all out before it's too late. The last fourth of the book reveals the aftermath of Light's machinations and manipulations, effectively fast-forwarding through five years. The Kira investigation is still underway, though not much is said about it, and new players enter to challenge Light's control over the situation.

The artwork in Zero continues to be very good; I also appreciate its consistency. A few things that were done particularly well in this volume were the aging of the characters, the shift in Light and Misa as they regain their memory, and, as always, the portrayal of the Shinigami. Light really seems to have lost it in this volume and his facial expressions, while at times a little over the top and never nearly as subtle as earlier in the series, certainly get the point across and then hammers it home.

I knew when I began reading the Death Note series that there was a point about halfway through in which the tone of the story significantly changes and that fans are very divided over this. I will admit that I was mostly disappointed with Zero even though there is still some great stuff going on. However, at this point, I'm going to reserve my final opinion about the shift until I finish the series, which I fully intend to do. Because, while I found the seventh book ultimately disappointing, it wasn't because of the major events in the plot. The story is still very strong and thought provoking, although some elements introduced in Zero really seem to come out of nowhere; it just wasn't executed as well as I have come to expect from this series. I'll just have to see how things go with the eighth volume of Death Note, Target.

Experiments in Reading show less

I got the feeling some bad stuff is about to go down! If you haven't read the previous volumes of Death Note, there's spoilers ahead...

The third Kira. Higuchi, has been tracked down and this volume opens with him surrounded by police, including L and Light. When he reveals the secrets of the Death Note, police confiscate it and are suddenly able to see the shinigami, Rem. Light also comes into contact with the Death Note and all of his memories return, revealing an elaborate plot that started several volumes back. Without letting go of the Death Note, Light must kill Higuchi or risk losing all his memories again. As this volume goes on, there's a huge plot twist that leads to Light's biggest victory yet...

Unlike many other Death Note show more volumes, this one plunges into the action with the tense standoff between Higuchi and the police. The task force must grapple with the fact that they're dealing with a supernatural being, but they seem to accept Rem and the Death Note's properties fairly quickly. If you were ever on the fence with liking Light or not, this volume will probably push you over the edge... before it's finished, a few major characters will be gone and the story will have advanced to the year 2009. We learn more about L and Watari's background and meet two of L's protegies. This is a major turning point in the series! show less

2014 Review:

Death Note #7-9 (Manga Monday)
This review is written with a GPL 3.0 license and the rights contained therein shall supersede all TOS by any and all websites in regards to copying and sharing without proper authorization and permissions. Crossposted at Bookstooge.booklikes.blogspot.wordpress.com by express permission of this reviewer

Synopsis
Light and L's battle comes to a shattering end but Kira's dream to rule the world is still being opposed by geniuses who take up the fight.

My Thoughts
L was simply out maneuvered by Light/Kira. And pays the price. Contingency plans are brought into play and L's successors, Mello and Near, come on board as main characters.

Mello and Near are L divided into 2 people. Mello show more is passionate, willing to go to extreme ends to prove his point and he has a sweet tooth. Near is much more emotionless, taking a disinterested view of everything and he likes to play with toys.

These 3 volumes were an almost literal wall of text. I felt like I was reading a novel instead of manga.

A couple of things struck me. First off, guns. Or the lack there of. Watanari had a sniper rifle and you see the police force having hand guns, but they never get used. And Light's father preaches about it not being legal for him to carry a gun when he resigns from the force. Made me thankful for our 2nd Amendment.
Second, the whole right and wrong of what Kira is doing. Everybody takes the stance that popular opinion is what makes something right. So if Kira can convince enough people to support him, then he'll be in the right and his cause just. What a pack of bologna! That pissed me off.

Thirdly, Light is getting more and more willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his goals. He is willing to sacrifice his dad, his sister, his girlfriend, everyone in fact, to get what he wants. Selfish beyond belief.
I felt kind of burnt out after reading volume 6 and wasn't sure how I was going to react to more volumes. And when L dies and Light has won, and then successors to L show up, my first reaction was "Come on, get it over with". But with 2 volumes of Mello and Near, I am liking this. They "do" so much more than L. And this series needed an action villain.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Author: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist:Takeshi Obata


2007 Review:

L dies, Light takes his name, but there is a whole orphanage filled with talented youngsters being trained as potential "L"s. The 2 front runners take over where L left off, in trying to uncover Kira. Another Shinigami enters the picture, but is dispatched quickly enough. The new two "L"s are young, and not truly "L"s, but one takes the name of "Near" and the other, who turns out to be a practical sociopath, goes by the name of "Mello". " show less

After chapter 58, I found it to be a slog. Just cause they're suddenly introducing new characters that are dubbed to be L's proteges and nothing else. Except that they're tasked with solving the Kira case as they're characters Light wouldn't have known about. Plus one of them is very much a copy and paste version of L while the other has mafia ties. I will wait till the next volume to cement this judgement as neither have had much screen time. Feel it'd be too soon.

Edit; Nvm, I saw a tiktok where someone had the same thoughts & a bunch of the folks in the comments agreed w/ the sentiment. Ik the actual ending is probably more satisfying seeing as it’s quite literally Light’s downfall. But I genuinely don’t care about who wins. show more It’s was more the tit for tat that L & Light had going on. Right now, it feels as if they’re about to unnecessarily drag it out. So yea, to me, the series ends w/ chpt. 58 or episode 26 show less

Sometimes I get frustrated with this series. Sometimes I think there is far too much explaining of the plot lines and the different theories that all of the characters have which has a tendency to slow the action down. Then I read other manga books and remember that this series is far superior to anything else manga. It's as simple as that. If you want to try manga out try this.