The Mainichi Daily News has a longish article on Death Note, which just ended its run in the Japanese Shonen Jump magazine. There are a few mild spoilers, none of which would ruin my enjoyment of the book, and some intriguing tidbits, like this one about writer Tsugumi Oba:
Mystery surrounding “Death Note” has been compounded because Oba’s true identity has been kept totally secret, even down to gender, with Tsugumi a name that can be used by either men or women.
The article notes that Death Note is popular with elementary school kids as well as adults, but that sales to older readers kept the series going strong. The first volume sold 1 million copies faster than any other Shonen Jump book.
And this is interesting:
Also essential in the success of “Death Note” was the attraction it received from bloggers. Blogging had only started to catch on in Japan when “Death Note” began its run in December 2003.
As the series continued, bloggers led the feverish online discussions about the manga. “Death Nokura,” a parody appeared online and became a hit, using the same pictures as the real series but adding comical dialog. Extensive probes into Oba’s true identity have also been carried out online.
I wonder if buzz from bloggers (as well as the personal efforts of David Welsh) has had a similar effect in the U.S., where Death Note is one of a handful of manga to appear on the USA Today top 150 books.
The article duly notes that part one of the live-action Death Note movie premiered in Japan on June 17, with part two to follow in November. An anime and prose novels are in the works, as well as a video game and tribute album.
I’m just thinking about how I got to be aware of Death Note and I think there was a mix of things in its favor.
I first noticed the series because it was one of the few untranslated titles the Union Square Borders carries and the covers immediately drew me in. Peeking inside, the art really made me want to know what was happening in this story. So I was excited about this title before it got liscenced.
This was probably because of the popularity in Japan as well as the work of scanlators who raised the title’s profile to the point that it got the manga buyer’s attention at that Borders.
This one did get a lot of blog buzz even before release and it seemed the quality generated even more WOM.
death note is a very nice anime…it had the movie…cool~ gonna to have movie part 2…jia you…when u found the bk…write down the name and within 40 sec…the person died…the storyline rock sia…hikaru no go also very nice….JIA YOU