Is Death Note worth finishing?

[gn6me]

I started reading the Death Note manga a while ago and got addicted to it. I quickly finished off volumes 1-4 and then got onto 5. It was around that time when it started to get uninteresting until the end of volume 5 and the beginning of volume 6.
SPOILER: Highlight text to read: I felt that once L died the plot got weak. The only reason I have for finishing it is seeing what happens at the very end and right now I'm tempted just to skip to the end.

Before I do that, I want to know if I am just in the slow part and it gets better. Is it worth reading the manga in its entirety? I am only halfway through, but I wonder just how long the manga can go on.

[Atria35]

There's such a thing as spoiler boxes- you put [spoilers] in front of what you want to hide, and [ /spoilers] behind (I put a space in the end so that it wouldn't actually hide the instructions.

I read it all, and while I do feel it lost a lot of steam after that, it was worth the ending. I enjoyed the ending.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

I've read it all, and I don't think any of it is worth it, because it's a pretty mediocre manga, but since you liked the first half my opinion is probably invalid.

[Yamamaya]

I've read it all, and I don't think any of it is worth it, because it's a pretty mediocre manga, but since you liked the first half my opinion is probably invalid.

Explain yourself mongrel.

Although I will agree that the first half is the best. The second half drops off a bit in quality.

It's pretty good if you like psychological thrillers imo.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

For starters, it's the fact that the only likable characters are Matsuda and Light's dad. Light's only real characteristic is "Oh I'm a genius" and L's is "Oh I'm quirky because I'm smart." L is pretty unlikable for the fact that he's just doing this because he's bored, and we're supposed to root for this guy? Heroes should be heroic, not apathetic losers. Misa is incredibly annoying, and most of the other cops are just kind of there to be plot devices. Near and Mello are the split versions of L, who already didn't have any real personality, so they suck too.

It also tries to be pretty meaningful, which I guess it succeeds at for the first volume of so, but then it just becomes "Let's watch L and Light battle in increasingly convoluted plans, where the only real justification for how convoluted they are is that L and Light are smart." There's some pretty atrocious pacing issues, especially in the second half of the manga, and this is the first thing I've ever thought "Oh, that's pretty sexist."

So the characters suck, it fails at being meaningful, the pacing is bad, and the shonen mind battles are pretty dumb. I also think the ending is really awful.
[spoiler]Light is taken down by other people's incompetence, not through his own faults? What kind of ending is that?[/spoiler]

If you really want to go for it, though, watch the anime, which manages to have better pacing. This is ridiculous when you realize how it is People Talking: The Animation.

[gn6me]

Sorry about not using the spoiler boxes Atria. I put them in there.

@Mr. Hat
It's funny. I actually don't like Matsuda or Light's Dad and love Light, L, and Misa.

I'm thinking I might read it all just to enjoy the ending that much more.

[Yamamaya]

For starters, it's the fact that the only likable characters are Matsuda and Light's dad. Light's only real characteristic is "Oh I'm a genius" and L's is "Oh I'm quirky because I'm smart." L is pretty unlikable for the fact that he's just doing this because he's bored, and we're supposed to root for this guy? Heroes should be heroic, not apathetic losers.

Likeable is pretty subjective. Not to mention that some characters aren't meant to be likeable.
So no mention of Light's god complex, boredrum, selfishness, competitive nature then? I fail to see how his only characteristic is his intelligence. L is simply an apathetic Light. He has a vague sense of justice, but mostly just does things out of boredom and a silly childish desire to compete and win. The main difference between Light and L is that L actually admits he's totally just doing this for himself while Light tries to deny that he's childish. In addition, Light isn't apathetic like L.

My main issue with this post is that you assume that the writer want you to root for L. The writer is just showing the battle between an apathetic genius and an active genius with a god complex. You are never given any indications as to who you are supposed to root for at least in the story.

"Let's watch L and Light battle in increasingly convoluted plans, where the only real justification for how convoluted they are is that L and Light are smart." There's some pretty atrocious pacing issues, especially in the second half of the manga, and this is the first thing I've ever thought "Oh, that's pretty sexist."

.

I found that enjoyable though. And to be fair, they did show what the world that Light was ruling was becoming like after [SPOILER]the death of L[/SPOILER]

I never thought about the manga being sexist, but I can see why you say that. The only female who really had any degree of the intelligence exhibited by the lead cast was Naomi. However her husband Raye Penbar was rather sexist with his "get back in the kitchen" attitude.

[Mr. Hat'n'Clogs]

Likeable is pretty subjective. Not to mention that some characters aren't meant to be likeable.
So no mention of Light's god complex, boredrum, selfishness, competitive nature then? I fail to see how his only characteristic is his intelligence. L is simply an apathetic Light. He has a vague sense of justice, but mostly just does things out of boredom and a silly childish desire to compete and win. The main difference between Light and L is that L actually admits he's totally just doing this for himself while Light tries to deny that he's childish. In addition, Light isn't apathetic like L.

My main issue with this post is that you assume that the writer want you to root for L. The writer is just showing the battle between an apathetic genius and an active genius with a god complex. You are never given any indications as to who you are supposed to root for at least in the story.

If we aren't supposed to root for L or Light, then there isn't anyone to want to win. Neither Light nor L are people you should like, as you can see from their character traits you described, but a story needs to have people you should like. You read because you want the people you like to go and win. Again, Matsuda and Soichiro are both good people that you have a vested interest in seeing win.

Consider Fullmetal Alchemist's main character, Ed. When we first see him, he isn't exactly a nice guy. He's brash, rude, and maybe even a little arrogant, but as we see him we also see a young man who loves humanity and is looking out for the best of other people, even at the cost of his own happiness. We learn to like him and care about him, even want him to succeed. If none of the characters in Death Note are meant to be likable, then that is a failure on the manga's part.

I found that enjoyable though. And to be fair, they did show what the world that Light was ruling was becoming like after [SPOILER]the death of L[/SPOILER]

I would like it more if it was portrayed in a more ridiculous way than it was, though that would clash with the dark mood it was trying to convey, and, well, again, if it was happening with someone I cared about. The suspense of it would be much better if I actually cared about the characters.

I never thought about the manga being sexist, but I can see why you say that. The only female who really had any degree of the intelligence exhibited by the lead cast was Naomi. However her husband Raye Penbar was rather sexist with his "get back in the kitchen" attitude.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not some raging feminist or anything. If there's a female character who is dumb/useless, I'm not going to get mad and call it sexist or anything because there are a lot of male characters who are useless/annoying. But Death Note is the first time I noticed that every single female aside from Naomi, a bit-part minor character, was useless and was only there to hold back Light, even I can see the sexism.

[SierraLea]

I would say so. It does go a bit downhill after L, but the ending chapters were pretty cool.