Death Note Short Stories

Product Information

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. The fourth and fifth actually went deeper into the character of L which was very interesting to see. I love anything that develops and deepens a character. So yeah, these were good, super short but good. 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.)

Also spooky that no matter how smart you are, you will always die at the hand of a shinigami (if you hold the death note). The first one was the bonus chapter that the all in one copy of Death Note so yes it was good but also I had only just read it.

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. Then we get two stories, “One Day” and “Wammy’s House,” featuring the sweets-loving detective, L. These stories give us a glimpse of L’s life before his cat-and-mouse game with Light. It’s a mind-altering take on L’s personality and how he became the person he was. I personally felt sorry for this popular character and the life he’s led, but grateful that he had Wammy in his life.

The chapter did not have a title until its publication in Death Note: Short Stories. Prior to its re-release, it was referred to as the 2020 one-shot chapter or the "Never Complete One-Shot" due to its partial manuscript release at the Never Complete Exhibition in 2019.

SLJ Blog Network

Four Panel Comics--These are some short, newspaper-style comics that are fun jokes but don't add much if anything to the greater mythology. They are worth reading for fans. 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). I'm going to combine my thought on these two short stories here. These are vignettes of L's life. Bizarre, wholesome, and somehow even shorter than the previous section I just mentioned. Although quite good, these two short stories probably won't leave you with a lasting impression due to their, at max, 5 minutes long reading time. A short comedy section. This section shows small parts of the lives of the main characters in Death Note told through a four-panel humorous comic style. It was mostly for fun, even if some of the jokes were meh, and it came with a downside, they were incredibly short bonuses. It won't take you ten minutes to read through them all, and overall, I think this is the most unnecessary section in the collection. Overall, I think it goes without saying that Death Note Short Stories is strictly recommended to fans of Death Note. I don't think anyone who hasn't read or watched Death Note should start their journey into this series from here. But if you are a fan of Death Note, and you're reading this review, yes, you should read this. Don't expect something as mind-blowing as the main series, but this collection of short stories should suffice as an extra parting gift to fans of Death Note like I am. At the very least, you can enjoy seeing Takeshi Obata's spectacular artworks again, which is a blessing to this world.

The last story confused me a bit via the timeline. My assumption is it happened before Light or this is an alternate timeline? I might have missed something but I was confused about that story. HOWEVER, I find it fascinating seeing how other people would handle receiving the death note and how many books Ryuk has dropped. That not everyone is like Light. Some become horribly guilty over those they killed and kill themselves. Others realize the intensity of having the Death Note’s power and seek to destroy it such as Taro. Now a high school student, Minoru accepts the notebook from Ryuk, but he has no plans to use it himself. With the Shinigami's help, and his own ingenuity, he auctions it off anonymously as his actions are followed and predicted by Near. The United States of America buys it for a sum that leaves every Japanese citizen under the age of 60 set for life, but the King of Death creates a new rule of the Death Note that thwarts Minoru and the U.S. President's plans.

This manga includes a variety of stories that are adjacent to, but not part of, the main narrative in the Death Note series. Here is what's included:

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. I hated Near when I first read Death Note (I was sad that L was gone) but found myself invested in what he was doing and why he didn’t take on the initial case at the beginning of the story. Also Near is killing it with long hair 10/10. Being as L was and is my favorite character, I enjoyed the little snippets of him in this collection. I am desperately fascinated with L’s character and do intend to find papers that others have written about him because I think there are connections to be made. One paper could surely just be written about how we now know for sure, L was an iPad kid. The Chapter then time-skips to 2019, and shows a high schooler named Minoru Tanaka sitting on his bed and leaning on the wall. Ryuk emerges from the floor and taps the notebook on his head, which shows him Ryuk and receives all the memories he had on the Death Note. Minoru then says how its been 2 years to which Ryuk responds by saying he came out of the floor like promised and says he's a shinigami that keeps his word. Minoru says that he knows that. While there isn't much action in this installment, there is quite a bit of lore added to the universe of the Death Note. There are also plenty of cameos from fan-favorite characters such as Near, and depictions of how Light Yagami changed the world.

All the rest

Death Note: Short Stories is an anthology of short works set in the Death Note world that were originally published separately. It's a day in L's life. Find out how he sleeps, uses the toilet, washes himself, gets dressed, and entertains himself. And lastly, the short story of Taro Kagami. This is the highlight of the book; a brand new story of the Death Note and Ryuk with a fresh concept, an extra rule, the eraser was a bit weird for me if I’m honest. But I do like another story of another new user of the Death Note.