Shaping up very well.
After Mello's assistance, Near is very sure Light Yagami is Kira. Now, it's time for Near to try and come up with a plan. He seeks to turn the task force against Light, but he's seeing very mild success. This is because the task force have plenty of reasons to trust Light, and not one reason to trust Near. This is primarily due to Near's association with Mello, whom has claimed many lives up to this point. Light soon learns of Nears whereabouts and he puts his plan into order, by manipulating the Kira worshippers in an attempt to kill Near and the surviving SPK members. -summary
Volume 10 is among the best in the series. The cat and mouse game has become deadly once again. Light is fully utilizing his new resources with purposes on winning the battle of wits, and in the process, finally become God of his new world. However, Near has proven to be a solid obstacle, and is providing Light with the competition he has been looking for.
Once again, the writing by Tsugumi Ohba shows its strength in depicting the behaviour of man. Yet, there's also another side being examined here, which happens to be mans faith in a god. One of the biggest arguments in history has always been, "Does God really exist?". In this series, the people were finally given a God who they can see in a sense, and he has been passing righteous judgement on all evil. That God happens to be Kira.
A majority of the public fully supports Kira because they believe in his power. The reason that supports their belief is being able to see his "miracles", unlike the unseen God, which people choose to follow simply due to faith. Kira is a God that people are fully aware of his existence. Kira/Light uses the peoples belief to his advantage. However, human nature appears to take over in a situation, and in this case proves that even though there is a God whose existence has been proven. It is still very possible that spiritual beliefs can be clouded. This occurs when God's power is matched up against the power of the almighty dollar. There is one segment in the very first chapter, which is completely unpredictable but is actually quite funny, and it's not completely in a "ha ha" type of way. In my view, Tsugumi is somewhat offensive when trying to make his point, or perhaps I'm just reading too deep into it. That's a very bad habit that I have but will not fix.
The plot continues to be suspenseful and gripping with more twist. The story receives a new spin after the fourth Kira surfaces, and this new carrier of the killer notebook happens to be the best so far, excluding Light. There are a couple of new, yet familiar faces featured in this volume. Many of them would go on to play significant roles. But one of the most important characters, in this case being Near, continues to shine by revealing his true and believeable motive to capture Kira. This was a major part of his and Mello's motivation that was clearly forsaken in the anime version.
This volume to me seems to have one mild problem. This happens to be the sloppy character development, which also effects the pacing in a big way. A new character by the name of Teru Mikami received a very forced introduction. The character development in the series was one of its strongest points, because it allowed the reader to get to know the character. We are given a new character, who appears out of nowhere with almost an entire chapters worth of crammed background that really slowed down the story. This characters introduction was poorly executed to say the least.
Background is very needed in many cases for characters with strong roles. But, background is something that can be, and should be worked into the characters development over time. Especially, in a series because it seems too last minute. A brand new character shouldn't have his complete origin bombarding the face of a viewer in one sitting. The way I see it, there must be a reason to care for this person. I see little reason to care for someones tragic background, if I never got a chance to know them.
The artwork by Takeshi Obata as always is still splendid. It's very detailed with great facial expressions and it's consistent. Overall, this is among the best in the second half of the series, with a conclusion that leaves the reader wanting more once again. This volume contains chapters 80 - 88.
Pros:Great plot, still very gripping, unpredictable, a new character
Cons:Forced character development, pacing issues