DEATH NOTE: ANOTHER NOTE - Book Review (6/10)
Written by the palindromic NISIOISIN, “Death Note – Another Note” is a prequel novella set two years before the original story by Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba. It covers the first introduction between Naomi Misora and L and the murders that brought them together. This is a pretty decent murder mystery. Most of the book is spent at the three murder scenes, slowly piecing together the clues left by the killer, Beyond Birthday. As is ISIN’s style, the story is littered with dialogue, which makes it a breeze to get through. The exchanges between the ever-bitter Naomi and the socially inept Ryuzaki make for fun entertainment, though the main draw is their back-and-forth style of deductions. Getting into the mystery itself, ISIN manages to leave enough breadcrumbs at each scene for the audience and Naomi to puzzle over, and it never feels like she knows anything more than we do. This keeps you guessing yourself as to what the endgame will look like, making for a fairly engaging story. Though, it isn’t without flaws. The first decision I question was the choice of the narrator. Making another character retell the story of “LA murders” leaves many questions as to his intimate knowledge of Naomi’s thought process, as well as of the certain scenes we see of BB himself. The other comes from the fact this story was originally written in Japanese, so I have to blame the translations for some of the most absurd names ever (Believe Bridesmaid? Really?) and other awkward moments of prose. Though it is a very cut and dry mystery book, I would have liked to see NISIOISIN to flex his complex character writing ability more (check out the “Monogatari” series for examples of his work). This fairly limited cast of characters leaves much to be desired in terms of depth, and his attempts to give Naomi greater characterization near the end falls flat in terms of the “show don’t tell” department. Overall, Another Note is a fairly standard yet fun murder mystery that manages to leave an impressive twist at the end. I don’t want to spoil it, but the way he uses the audiences’ background knowledge against them is fairly ingenious. Check it out if you would like, but it’s in no way required reading for fans of the original.
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