Reviews and Comments

Essentially did not finish. Had a friend from a social group I attended and mentored for who recommended Death Note while I was in high school. Initially wasn't up for it then partly because of the covers, but also since I thought that the idea of a notebook that can kill by inscription was kind of a cop-out.

Binge-watching the anime on Netflix proved me wrong on the latter and more or less got me to buy the omnibus in the first place. I can understand the appeal of the story at large, especially the cat-and-mouse game between Light and L in the first half. I liked L, who was like Dirk Gently in the way he believed in the interconnectedness of events that helped him to find Kira, and the manga gave him some internal monologues which was nice.

Light, whom I suspect, and to extent read in other reviews, has a lot in common with Macbeth as a semi-personification of Law from a Shin Megami Sensei game. Or put simply, righteousness self-defined by literally sentencing already convicted criminals to death regardless of the conviction as a means to create a society without crime. While I did not finish the manga proper, I did read from a point that I recently watched in the anime adaptation and loved how it ended. Won't spoil it, but Light's own paranoia at getting caught by L or anyone else who suspects him foreshadows an inevitability that will ultimately bite him back.

The Death Note also has some supernatural origins as products from the Realm of the Shinigami. However, there were only a few points in the book where I thought the rules and the Shinigami actually brought something to the plot. Not a bad thing, just a personal observation.

From a genre standpoint, I can also see why people were drawn to Death Note. Most Shonen manga I've read—Gintama, Fullmetal Alchemist, Hunter x Hunter, and JoJo's Bizarre Adventure among others—is mostly action in its most literal form while emphasizing the JUMP philosophy, "Friendship, Diligence, Victory". Death Note's is mostly cerebral in nature with mental battles over physical ones and any friendships are far and fleeting. As for the graphic novel scene at large, I can't say since I'm not an avid comic reader. The monologuing from every character does get tedious though.

In fairness, I will give Death Note four stars. I didn't finish it fully, but the anime closely adapts the manga with some tweaks here and there. It goes without saying, much like Akira the Don's 12 Rules for Life album, I would not have been to watch it were it not for the success of the original manga. If you have a craving for a good manga, I would give Death Note at least one chance.

*As in Shonen Jump, or Weekly Shonen Jump in Japan. Should note that Fullmetal Alchemist is not a Shonen Jump title, but does follow the genre closely.

It's Neil and Sue Perryman's last outing with classic Doctor Who as Sue watches through the stories of one Sylvester McCoy (The Crafty Sod) and the TV movie starring one Paul McGann (The One Night Stand). A series that started out on the web as a blog from one of the men responsible for the satirical science-fiction webzine and podcast, Tachyon TV, turned into a series of books with each one covering one of the classic Doctors. (With the exception of Tom Baker, the Mad One, whose tenure covers two individual novels.)

It was the the thing that got me into Doctor Who proper. Not just the classic series, but the fandom that kept the show alive and...I'll let Neil speak for himself about the rest. If you find yourself in love with the series, read these books! They'll provide you with a good laugh while exploring Doctor Who through the eyes of both a long-time fan and a newcomer.

Unfortunately, Tachyon TV is now offline. However, their blog on Typepad is still running and the site is properly archived in the Wayback Machine in case you wanted a glimpse (or want to give their podcasts a listen). There's also the Behind the Sofa weblog where Neil, his friends at Tachyon TV, and a few bloggers reviewed episodes of New (Doctor) Who until 2011, which was initially how I discovered Neil's work.

Disclosure: I was a Kickstarter backer of Wife in Space for three volumes (6-8) and as of this review am also a patron of his new podcast, Perfect Night In.

Re-read this one for a second or third time after a year of letting it sit in a bag waiting to sell it somewhere. I blamed Dio Brando for that as his efforts to bring Jonathan Joestar to his knees for the sake of inheritance went too far. My big gripe was the fact he incinerated Jonathan's dog Danny by the means of boxing him in with the rest of the trash. Brando's kiss with Erina also made me cringe similarly. It would be accurate to say that I "problematized" Dio and disregarded the fact that he was supposed to be this psychopathic leech.

I thank Netflix for bringing me back to JoJo with the help of his companion Robert E. O. Speedwagon. In this English translation, they call him Speedwagon the Meddler, but sorry I can't ignore the wordplay. It gets better in later volumes, but I won't spoil it here.

Honest review in sum: Volume drags out a bit to showcase Dio's lust for power and ultimately his role as the epitome of darkness-a point made by Araki himself in the end interviews. Star docked for the death of the dog. Cliffhanger promised a lot of action and had me ready for more.

Phantom Blood 1 and 3 where he talks about creating Jonathan Joestar and Dio Brando respectively.

**Animal violence is sort of a thing in this series along with straight-up gore. I would keep that in mind if you're interested in reading this.