Death Note Volume 4

Rating NR Formats DVD Genre animated Directed by Shusuke Kaneko Publisher VIZ Media External Links Official Death Note Website

What do you get when you mix a plot full of mystery, intriguing yet creepy looking Death Gods, and a little bit of Law & Order thrown in? The result is Death Note. Author Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takashi Obata have collaborated to create a story that is increasingly popular; it’s chock full of murders and quick-witted characters, both good and evil.

Death Note 4 is really just an animated version of its printed predecessor, so I feel the need to first explain the saga to begin with. Its focus is on Light Yagami, a model student with a promising future who is fed up with the world around him. He happens to come across a ‘Death Note’, which is really a notebook dropped down to earth by a Shinigami, or death god. The Death Note is dangerously powerful, providing the owner with the ability to kill any person by having the victim’s name written down and the manner in which they will die. Light’s original plan is to use the Death Note to rid the world of criminals and form a perfect world. However, the Japanese police become suspicious of the mysterious deaths of criminals and Light begins to start covering up his tracks. He is referred to and feared by the public, being referred to as ‘Kira’ (which I assume is another variation of the word killer) and becomes increasingly obsessed with his mission and will kill anyone who stands in his way of accomplishing his goal.

The 4th volume of the DVD starts off with Misa Amane, a girl in her late teens who also happens to hold a Death Note and discovers that Light is the infamous Kira. Misa develops more than what would be considered a crush on Light and approaches him with the idea of working in cahoots to try and throw off the police. Light agrees, knowing full well that Misa can be used as a pawn in his plan to establish order. Meanwhile, the police are diligently working together to crack the “Kira Case” and form an identity of the silent killer.

The series holds true to the manga. The characters look exactly the same and the voice acting is well chosen. The animation is stunning and the music is very fitting to the type of story that it is. Volume 4 of the DVD includes English voice actor interviews and recording sessions, audio commentary and a look at production art, which are pretty decent offers considering the disc is not a special edition. Overall, Death Note is a very smart and uniquely written story. The details and plot twists are so intricate however, that it’s really best to get into the story from the start; otherwise it might cause way too much confusion. The DVD is worth viewing for those who are already familiar with the story, but probably not so much for a first-timer.