laceblade

I finally finished reading the Death Note manga yesterday. I started reading it a few years ago, and loved it. The premise brings up a number of possibilities and intriguing concepts: a brilliant high school boy finds a notebook left by a shinigami (death god) that allows him to kill any person whose name he writes in the notebook, so long as he can picture the person's face. After testing the notebook and succeeding in killing a known criminal, Light Yagami does not recoil in horror, but instead sets about killing those people he finds unworthy of life, while evading the suspicions of the government, the police, and his father, who happens to be a detective.

The series famously loses some momentum in volume 7, and it was shortly after that point that I fell off the wagon. I finished the 12th and final volume yesterday, and found closure in the series.

In general, though, I'd like to state a few thoughts on the differences between shounen and shoujo manga in general.

For the curious, "shounen" manga (ie, Death Note) is Japanese comics marketed toward boys. In general, the male protagonist fights against almost every person he meets, with the goal of growing stronger. Series focus on abilities and reasons for fighting. "Shoujo" manga, on the other hand, is marketed toward girls, and often focuses on relationships and drama.

I personaly have read a lot more shoujo manga than shounen manga. I've tried some shounen stuff, but overall find myself quite bored.

( Spoilers for Death Note and a bit of Code Geass lie behind the cut. )