Death Note Another Note: Los Angeles BB Renzoku Satsujin Jiken
Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases

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Death Note: Another Note – The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases is a solid addition to the Death Note franchise, offering a fascinating look at L as a detective before the events of the main series. It provides a great deal of insight into L's psyche and adds layers to his character while delivering a compelling murder mystery. While the slower pacing and lack of character depth for specific figures might be a downside for some, the novel is a must-read for fans of Death Note and anyone interested in a well-crafted mystery. One of the novel's strongest aspects is the portrayal of L’s character. ... Another Note showcases his intelligence, his often odd behavior, and the difficulties he faces in interacting with others. The novel emphasizes L's reliance on his intuition, and it builds on the persona established in the main Death Note series, adding layers of depth to his character. The novel takes a dark, almost noir-like approach, with a palpable sense of unease. The Los Angeles setting adds an international flavor, giving the story a global scope. The murders themselves are unsettling, and the novel's atmosphere is charged with suspense and intrigue. For those who love crime fiction, detective stories, and the Death Note universe, Another Note is a satisfying and thought-provoking read that adds richness to the world of Death Note.

Death Note: Another Note was my ray of hope in my search for more official DN related works after I watched the anime and bought the entire manga. Out of curiosity, I just looked up the BB murder case for fanfictions, but I ended up finding this book instead, and I immediately bought it By the way, this book isn't manga, this is a novel written by Nisio Isin, of Monogatari fame, so my hopes were quite high. Again, did not disappoint.

STORY - 8
This is related to Death Note, so what else can you expect? This story isn't about Light, in fact, it has nothing ... to do with Light or the Kira murders case. Instead, this book is about another case the master detective L tackled, that is briefly mentioned in the main story itself. The plot-line is quite typical, L and FBI agent Naomi Misora work together to catch a serial killer. The way the characters are killed, and the clues it leads to the next victim are extremely interesting and well thought out. So despite the generic plotline, I give this an 8.

ART-7

The art was by Takeshi Obata, who illustrated Death Note. Nothing much to see here, but still, well done.

CHARACTERS - 10

As usual, we have our brilliant detective L, his character hasn't changed. He's still the same as he is in the main series.

The true star of this book was in fact, Naomi Misora. In the main series, we see her as an ex-FBI agent and Ray Penbar's fianceé. However, this book gives us an insight into how brilliant she was. In the short time in this book, she truly shone like a star.

Another very interesting character is B.B, I won't spoil much though.

This story was narrated by Mello, and I'd say, although he changes his style of narration, it was still fun to read.

ENJOYMENT- 8
Fun to read, and Mello's narration makes it twice as enjoyable to read.

OVERALL -
I enjoyed this story! It helps us know the characters from Death note a lot better. Not to mention, some parts of this story rub off on the main story. (My choice of words wasn't very good, I know)

When I rewatched Death Note, I felt like I could empathise with Naomi Misora a lot more. Her death felt a lot more emotional, and the fact that Light had outwitted such a brilliant FBI agent made me love him more. (Light was already my favourite anime character of all time)

I recommend Death Note: BB murders case to anyone who's watched the main series, and wants to know more about L, since he literally stayed in the shadows, revealing almost nothing about himself during his appearance in the main series.

Before starting the review of the novel... Spoiler Warning for those who haven't read the novel.

Hmmm where do I start? There are so many things to talk about.

First of all... Let's talk about Mello being the narrator. Unfortunately, him being the narrator did not make any sense nor made the narrating any different.

The story told in Another Note takes place in 2002, L dies in 2004. Mello was 15 when L died, and he was still in Wammy's House. So, when did L see Mello and tell him the story about Beyond Birthday and 2 others? It does not make sense.

In the book, Mello ... speaks as if the battle between L and Kira was over. Of course, he might be referring to L being dead. But he made it sound like he was writing all this after everything was over and everyone knew who Kira was. But he did not actually see Kira die. He died 2 days before Kira did. So, when actually did Mello write Another Note?

The novel introduces Rue Ryuzaki as a side character. Ryuzaki presents himself as a private detective. Naomi is a bit suspicious of him at first, because he has strange manners (sitting around hugging his legs, eating sweets all the time and crawling around on the floor), but L tells her to work together with him, so she does.

The thing is, the reader (as the he is meant to be) immediately assumes that Ryuzaki is L. This makes sense, because not only does L present himself as "Ryuzaki" in Death Note, but the way he acts is also strikingly similar.

Of course, the author wants the reader to think that Ryuzaki is L, but Ryuzaki is actually Beyond Birthday, the killer. That would have been a great twist, had it only been logical. But it wasn't. Another Note clearly states that B.B. doesn't know L personnaly. Which means he doesn't know anything about his habits or about what he looks like. So how come he guessed all of it? - doesn't make sense.

Also throughout the book Misora and Ryuzaki (I mean B) work together to solve the three crimes B has commited. Most of the time, Misora was led by Ryuzaki to find the answers. Even the smallest stuff, she needed Ryuzaki's help. I was frustrated because that's not the image she represented in the manga. She was originally portrayed as a very clever woman. Her needing Ryuzaki's help in every step she took did not make sense. (I must add that I actually liked the setup of the crimes. I only did not like the way they were solved.)

This book could have been good if only the author had at least tried to be logical. I usually overlook that kind of thing, but in this novel, I simply couldn't. Death Note: Another Note was starts promising but end with failure.