Under pressure Light finds a way to shine.
Master detective L has narrowed down the possible suspects of who can be "Kira". After reviewing the suspect list by the late Ray Penber. L has reason to believe that Kira could be among one of two families. Light soon learns that his home is under constant surveillance, with his room alone containing up to 64 micro cameras. Light must figure out a way to throw suspicion off himself, and at the same time continue his punishment of criminals. -summary
Written by Tsugumi Ohba with artwork provided by Takeshi Obata. Death Note Volume 3 continues to provide a great amount of suspense with more character development and interactions. Also, added to the mix are some very good scenarios as well. This third volume happens to be the best up to this point.
The two geniuses Light and L continue to wage their battle of wits. The cat and mouse game is so well thought out, and it's simply amazing watching Light come up with ways to evade L's surveillance. Death Note really does contain some of the best character development I've seen since Crest of the Stars and Neon Genesis Evangelion. The reader gets to know other sides of the characters personalities as well. One segment that definitely stands out concerns the pressure Light feels once he's directly approached by L.
L also gets a very good amount of attention, and at times, he actually outshines Light a great deal. His deductive reasoning and guess work is one of the major elements that keeps the story very interesting. Another feature of the series that works in its favor, is the reader not really being able to choose a side. Death Note loves to play with the readers emotions. To a certain level, we believe the path Light has taken is wrong. But, in all honesty, his actions seem very justifiable, because I'm sure there are law abiding citizens who would prefer a world without crime, and I'm sure some do believe most criminals deserve death before a trial. Especially, those who have already been trialed and convicted for serious crimes in the past, and also happen to be repeat offenders. However, some may also side with L, believing no one man has the power to decide who should live or die, and everyones fate should be decided by the law, even though the law isn't perfect.
The series continues to explore other themes. Another character is introduced whom appears to display the greedy hearts of man. There's a news company called Sakura TV, which is headed by a man named Demegawa. He seeks to increase the ratings of his company by exploiting Kira's actions, while in the process, completely ignore the cruelness of his decision, as well as more than likely spreading citywide fear. He seems to only care for his popularity and success, which is indeed very human and this is something that cannot be denied. This event immediately jump starts a new scenario, which begins to immediately cost lives.
The supporting characters aren't completely forsaken, but they could use more development. Light's father Soichiro Yagami, is the only one who receives any real attention. He's portrayed as a cop with a very strong sense of justice that is hard to ignore or dislike. He also displays genuine feelings, such as a parent's complete refusal of their child being remotely capable of performing these heinous acts. Soichiro is in complete denial of his son possibly being "Kira". The other characters are hard to relate to, because they aren't really developed, and it was difficult for me to care if one of them were probably killed.
The artwork is still very good, with lots of emphasis on facial expressions yet again. The writing format from panel to panel is still pretty easy to read. There was also a small detail added in the footnotes, which was the conversion of Japanese money "yen" into American dollars.
Volume three is a little more gripping than the first two volumes to me, but does have small flaws. The suspense is pretty over the top until the final events leading up to the end of the book. Once again, the cliffhanger pretty much forces the next volume to be a must read. This volume contains 193 pages, and is broken into chapters 17 - 25.
Pros: Intense situations, more character and story development, loads of suspense
Cons:Ends on another cliffhanger, needs more development on supporting characters