A short comedy section. This section shows small parts of the lives of the main characters in Death Note told through a four-panel humorous comic style. It was mostly for fun, even if some of the jokes were meh, and it came with a downside, they were incredibly short bonuses. It won't take you ten minutes to read through them all, and overall, I think this is the most unnecessary section in the collection. Then we get two stories, “One Day” and “Wammy’s House,” featuring the sweets-loving detective, L. These stories give us a glimpse of L’s life before his cat-and-mouse game with Light. It’s a mind-altering take on L’s personality and how he became the person he was. I personally felt sorry for this popular character and the life he’s led, but grateful that he had Wammy in his life. And lastly, the short story of Taro Kagami. This is the highlight of the book; a brand new story of the Death Note and Ryuk with a fresh concept, an extra rule, the eraser was a bit weird for me if I’m honest. But I do like another story of another new user of the Death Note. This is, I think, our first real glimpse of the Death Note world after everything went down. From the sounds of things, although Light isn't around anymore, his influence has persisted and the world is magically more peaceful. (Because killing people definitely stops war and crime.) I hated Near when I first read Death Note (I was sad that L was gone) but found myself invested in what he was doing and why he didn’t take on the initial case at the beginning of the story. Also Near is killing it with long hair 10/10.

This was a very strange reading experience for me, though. There are two longer stories within this collection, one near the beginning and one right in the very end. They were amazing! I really loved them. They had the same tone and suspense of the original story. I finished reading this one already when I reread Death Note through Death Note: All-in-One edition a few years ago. It was a good short story that shows the long-lasting effect of the Death Note being used in the main series. I also enjoyed reading about the respect people have for Kira, even when they disagree with his actions and methods. This book collects the short stories that are set in the Death Note universe that have been published throughout the years. Overall all the stories were great and added more depth to the world that has been established in the original novels. My favorite stories from this collection were that of a-kira and Taro Kagami. The first is set in more of a modern setting which causes complications in that surveillance and technology have advanced to the point of making it difficult for the new death note holder to get what they want. The second story of Kagami was interesting in that it added a new twist to the story and serves as sort of a prologue of sorts to the series. When Death Note Short Stories isn’t focused on different Kiras using the notebook, it offers a couple of different gag comics with the original cast. Along with the 4-panel comic strips that focus on things like “Ryuk’s existential crisis about Misa carving apples into bunnies” are stories that focus on everyone’s favorite “I sit awkwardly and live on candy” detective, L. It’s a nice little break between the main plots going on. Death Note: Short Stories is an anthology of short works set in the Death Note world that were originally published separately.

Tsugumi Ōba (Profile in Japanese: 大場 つぐみ), born in Tokyo, Japan, is a writer best known for the manga Death Note. His/her real identity is a closely guarded secret. As stated by the profile placed at the beginning of each Death Note manga, Ōba collects teacups and develops manga plots while holding his knees on a chair, similar to a habit of L, one of the main characters of the series. The a-Kira Story (aキラ編, a-Kira-hen), a Death Note one-shot sequel chapter, was released on February 4, 2020, in the March edition of Jump Square magazine. Original manga author Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata again teamed up to create the new chapter. One year later, it was re-released in Death Note: Short Stories. The Chapter then time-skips to 2019, and shows a high schooler named Minoru Tanaka sitting on his bed and leaning on the wall. Ryuk emerges from the floor and taps the notebook on his head, which shows him Ryuk and receives all the memories he had on the Death Note. Minoru then says how its been 2 years to which Ryuk responds by saying he came out of the floor like promised and says he's a shinigami that keeps his word. Minoru says that he knows that. No puedo irme sin destacar lo cuidado y bello que es el tomo: con una sobrecubierta a color y con las palabras "Death Note" en relieve transparente. Una belleza! 😍 Contains stories "C-Kira," "a-Kira," the Death Note pilot chapter, vignettes of L's life, and more.

While there isn't much action in this installment, there is quite a bit of lore added to the universe of the Death Note. There are also plenty of cameos from fan-favorite characters such as Near, and depictions of how Light Yagami changed the world. Being as L was and is my favorite character, I enjoyed the little snippets of him in this collection. I am desperately fascinated with L’s character and do intend to find papers that others have written about him because I think there are connections to be made. One paper could surely just be written about how we now know for sure, L was an iPad kid. But in between them were these very short, stories. They weren't even stories. Just sort of snippets of scenes really. Some of them were very, very strange. They didn't match the tone at all of the two longer stories. It was very odd. L--One Day and L--Wammy's House--These stories about L give more details about his life and quirks. Again, this doesn't really add anything to the overall story but is interesting and fun.Regarding the memories mentioned in Rule XLVII, the owner can have their memories of the Death Note erased if they so desire. This takes all the L jokes so far that it's tough to believe he ever managed to play a serious game of tennis against Light. Un par de historias cortas divertidas si te has leído (o visto, como en mi caso) el anime completo.

All in all, this was an okay volume for fans of the original series, but not essential reading unless, for some reason, you want to see more of Near in action (although "Near inaction" is probably more accurate). Now a high school student, Minoru accepts the notebook from Ryuk, but he has no plans to use it himself. With the Shinigami's help, and his own ingenuity, he auctions it off anonymously as his actions are followed and predicted by Near. The United States of America buys it for a sum that leaves every Japanese citizen under the age of 60 set for life, but the King of Death creates a new rule of the Death Note that thwarts Minoru and the U.S. President's plans.

It might be because of where my headspace is in 2022 compared to the early 2000s, but I found myself more invested in these short stories than in Light’s attempt at creating his idea of a more “just” society. It kinda reminds me of how I feel about The Purge’s setup of “for 12 hours, all crime is legal” and wondering why everyone immediately jumps to murder. The chapter is a continuation of the original Death Note manga series, which ended in 2006 and last had a one-shot chapter in 2008. The story explores the events that occur when a Shinigami comes down to Earth. In this complete collection of Death Note short stories penned by the series’ creators, discover tales of lives irrevocably changed by the sinister influence of the Death Note, with surprising and thrilling answers to the question of what it truly takes to use the Death Note…or fight it.

Overall, I think it goes without saying that Death Note Short Stories is strictly recommended to fans of Death Note. I don't think anyone who hasn't read or watched Death Note should start their journey into this series from here. But if you are a fan of Death Note, and you're reading this review, yes, you should read this. Don't expect something as mind-blowing as the main series, but this collection of short stories should suffice as an extra parting gift to fans of Death Note like I am. At the very least, you can enjoy seeing Takeshi Obata's spectacular artworks again, which is a blessing to this world. Siempre es interesante re plantear casos hipotéticos, qué pasaría si el Death note cayera en manos de cual o tal persona, cómo reaccionaría su alrededor, los personajes que ya conocemos, o cómo actuarían los propietarios bajo la presión de tener el control sobre cualquier persona. I'm going to combine my thought on these two short stories here. These are vignettes of L's life. Bizarre, wholesome, and somehow even shorter than the previous section I just mentioned. Although quite good, these two short stories probably won't leave you with a lasting impression due to their, at max, 5 minutes long reading time. Overall, Death Note: Short Stories would be great for any Death Note fan, especially the stories “a-Kira” and “Taro Kagami,” both of which perfectly illustrate both sides of the coin when it comes to human nature.The last story confused me a bit via the timeline. My assumption is it happened before Light or this is an alternate timeline? I might have missed something but I was confused about that story. HOWEVER, I find it fascinating seeing how other people would handle receiving the death note and how many books Ryuk has dropped. That not everyone is like Light. Some become horribly guilty over those they killed and kill themselves. Others realize the intensity of having the Death Note’s power and seek to destroy it such as Taro. a-kira is a new story for me. I didn't even know this story existed until I knew about this book's existence this year. And yes, this is the one portrayed in the cover art, and it's definitely the highlight of this collection, in my opinion. Similar to C-kira, a-kira still discusses the long-lasting, probably endless, effect of Death Note, and how it continues to make the world revolve around it. Among many things, one of the main elements I love most about Death Note is the cat-and-mouse chase and battle of wits between Kira and L. This short story gave that feeling of thrill and mystery again, and it reminded me once more why I continue to think highly of Death Note. From my perspective, I think every fan of Death Note should at least read this title. I didn't realize this until I started working on this review, but this was actually the Death Note manga pilot. A brief explanation of this prior to the story would have been very helpful. I was so confused, trying to figure out where and how this fit into the series timeline. Plus, it introduced a mechanic that never came up in the series, a Death Note eraser. One of the two biggest short stories in the collection, up there with a-kira. Taro Kagami was Death Note pilot chapter, and I could totally see why this pilot chapter sparked the interest that earned its serialization. It is far from being as good as the official first chapter of Death Note. But the one-shot shows the concept of Death Note nicely, which, to be honest, was a simple concept executed extraordinarily well. I enjoyed reading it, but also glad the duo decided to remove Death Eraser from the story. I don't think having that would make the story in Death Note as thrilling and phenomenal as it did. This particular story is tied to the ethics of euthanasia in a country with a growing percentage of elderly people, but it doesn't dig into the issue too deeply. It's resolved in a way that felt too neat and easy. It probably didn't help my overall opinion of the story that I'm firmly in the "Near will always be the lesser L" camp.