Somnia Memorias

Death Note’s Spin-off

May 31st, 2008

Title: Death Note: Another Note – The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases
Author: NISIOISIN
Pages: 176
Original Concept by: Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata
Translated by: Andrew Cunningham
English Version Publisher: Viz Media
Price: Rp. 205.000,- / $17.99 USA / $21.99 CAN / £9.99 UK

Yesterday I went to Kinokuniya bookstore in Grand Indonesia, Jakarta. I was shocked when I saw this Death Note: Another Note – The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases novel in the middle of some non-manga fictions. As a big fan of Death Note manga/anime (and a rabid fangirl of L, *lulz*), of course I bought this novel immediately.

I’m really happy to know that Viz translated this book into English (I don’t understand japanese ). This mystery/thriller novel’s is a must read if you claimed yourself a hardcore Death Note fan. And I think you could still enjoy the story even if you’re not a manga/anime fan and haven’t heard anything about Death Note in your life.

So what’s so special about this novel?

No no no.. it’s not a novel-version of the Death Note manga, but this is a brand new story (a prequel of Death Note manga, actually.) about L & Naomi Misora. In other words, it’s a spin-off of the successful Death Note manga by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. The timeline is before the events on Death Note manga. Returning characters are L, Naomi Misora and Raye Penber.

And here’s a piece of information about the author, NISIOISIN:

Born in 1981, NISIOISIN made his writing debut in 2002, winning the 23rd Mephisto Prize in 2002 for Kubikiri Cycle (The Beheading Cycle). This eventually became the first book in his best-selling Zaregoto series. His subsequent novels have earned him a passionate following throughout Japan.

I don’t want to create any personal review about the story yet. Well I’m still on Chapter 2 But if you ask Google, I’m sure you’ll find a lot of plot information about this novel. Anyway, this is the summary, written on the flip cover:

There’s a serial killer loose in Los Angeles and the local authorities need help fast. For some reason the killer has been leaving a string of maddeningly arcane clues at each crime scene. Each of these clues, it seems, is an indecipherable roadmap to the next murder.

Onto the scene comes L, the mysterious super-sleuth. Despite his peculiar working habits- he’s never shown his face in public, for example-he’s the most decorated detective in the world and has never tackled a case he hasn’t been able to crack.

But this time he needs help.

Enlisting the services of an FBI agent named Naomi Misora, L starts snooping around the City of Angels. It soon becomes apparent that the killing spree is a psychotic riddle designed specifically to engage L in a battle of wits. Stuck in the middle between killer and investigator, it’s up to Misora to navigate both the dead bodies and the egos to solve the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.

Another cool thing about this novel is the packaging. I love the cover so much; it’s like a simple, normal mystery/thriller novel. Thank God they didn’t put some edgy, anime-ish Death Note artwork for the cover! I think it’ll destroy the overall look and feel for yes-it’s-a-novel-not-manga concept. But if you’re really a big fan of Obata-sensei’s artwork, don’t worry, there’s a very cool artwork of L-Naomi Misora in the front pages. Obata-sensei also put his adorable artworks at the beginning of each chapter.

Well, I bought this novel from local bookstore, but I think you could find one here on Amazon.com. I wonder if the (free) e-book version already available.. hahaha.

Entry Filed under: Daily