Death Note: Tokubetsu-hen

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

It's kinda difficult to talk about this without spoiling. But suffice to say, this takes place after the original Death Note, with a new death note on the loose. How is the new L going to take this challenge on?

I liked it. It's a fairly simple story but gives some extra content after the manga ended. There's a bit of exploration towards the aftermath the original story had to it's remaining characters. I'd say it feels canon enough, not really like a fanfiction or anything.

I'd give it a read if you're a Death Note fan, you'll like the thing. From me it gets a 7/10.

Ah, well, I seriously just finished reading this, so this is what I have to say about it:

I saw this and I had never known that it was created, so of course I was going to jump straight into it. Now, let me just tell you now, ever since the second arc of the actual Death Note, I've hated Near with a burning passion. And I mean HATE. I've rooted for Mello since the beginning. So when I saw that this was based around Near, I got a little nervous. But I went ahead and read it. So, this is my opinion on it:

Story (7): ... Well, since it's Death Note, I can't really give it that low of a scoring. Because, well, it's Death Note! But the oneshot as a whole (which isn't a lot) wasn't all that great. It was a little upsetting, because it didn't really have anything to do with Death Note, except to just give the Death Note fans 46 more pages of Death Note goodness. But I think that it kind of failed. The best part about the whole thing was the Wammy flashback, when I about had a panic attack when I saw young Matt and Mello off to the side. (I seriously love them that much... XD) So, yeah. This is a long paragraph, so I'm gonna move on now.

Art (7): Now the art made me kinda mad, because all of a sudden, it was supposed to be three years, yet Near and Lidner looked really different. Either they were trying to give the look of time passing, or it had just been too long since Death Note had been written that they lost the touch of the Death Note look.

Character (6): Like I said, they featured two of my least favorite characters throughout the whole thing: Near and Lidner. I never liked them, and I never will. The only reason it's getting a six is because of the Wammy flashback and it had the kickass characters that everyone loves. (Except for the crazy people that really do like Near... no offense. =P)

Enjoyment (6): I enjoyed it, I guess. Although it could have been a lot better. There were times where I just plain skipped a few pages, because they bored me half to death.

Overall (6): This could have been a lot better than it was. It didn't really feel like the Death Note that we love, because there was none of that amazing suspence that Death Note is famous for. There wasn't really a point to this thing, except for maybe trying to make a bit more money off of the Death Note franchise. So, overall, I say just skip it. Read it or don't, 46 pages of random won't really change anything, except you might lose a little bit of respect for Tsugumi Ohba like I did.

Quick version: Read for the characters, but definitely not the story

As someone who has loved Death Note for a long time, I was pretty excited when I found out there were 2 one shot spinoff chapters that I hadn't read yet.
It was fun to see some of the characters again, and they feel like the same characters they were in the original series, even though the only ones who I felt really got to say anything worthwhile were Matsuda, Near and Ryuk. Not only that, but this story also serves as a way to show that L and Light were on whole levels above ... everyone around them in the way it portrays the characters that now try to fill their respective shoes. The characters are the only reason I would recommend reading this.
Unfortunately, despite seeing all the classic characters again, this story was pretty boring for a pretty simple reason; nothing really happens. The entire thing feels like a set up to something else until the last couple of pages where everything gets resolved instantly. None of the mind games, suspense, crazy plot twists or long term plans that made the original great are in this, so don't go in expecting it to be anything like it.