If you liked
Death Note
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...then you might like
Utsuro no Hako to Zero no Maria
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After reading Death Note, I thought to myself that a series that matches up to its fantastic thrilling murder-mystery does not exist (that is not to say that Death Note is free of plot-holes because it is full of partial ones, but it manages to achieve its premise), that is, until I discovered Hakomari. The unpopular Light Novel surpasses Death Note in its best aspect -- complexity. While the two are fundamentally different -- 'a story of a genius who accidentally comes upon a murder notebook', against 'the story of a rather normal folk who is dragged into a bizarre reality by mere circumstance', there are a lot of similarities between the two that are simply too eminent. The most obvious similarity is of course the mystery aspect. Both series to progress the plot through events that can be described as carefully plotted. In Hakomari, this is achieved through a scattering of accurate and truthful red herrings throughout the plot that gets even more impressive as the author reveals the reasoning behind each one. The difference in this is, in Death Note, the viewer/reader is a spectator to the plot who only follows the direction of the plot, while in Hakomari, the reader is dragged to the pace of the story as you try to figure out the happenings of the story. ----- Do take caution when reading Volume 1 though as the beginning is intentionally confusing due to its atypical progression. But it'd be a shame if you'd drop it because of that because Volume 1 has to be the single best story I've every read. The immense entertainment value it brings will only be available to those who are patient enough go through it. In the end your efforts will be rewarded. Generally, if you liked Death Note's thrilling mystery aspect, you'll definitely like Hakomari, especially volume 3 & 4 since it probably bears the most semblance among all of the arcs since it features a direct battle of wits with rules accurately written down. The only downside that might cause some to misevaluate Hakomari's greatness is that it is too complex that some readers have trouble understanding the entire plot. Again, that is not to say that Hakomari is perfect. Like any show, I could make a list of endless plot-holes and unrealistic instances, but given that Hakomari is too complex but very well delivered, it is indeed a masterpiece and Death Note fans would probably enjoy this a lot