No sooner had the dust seem to have settled from the hype surrounding the Death Note franchise Viz published an English translation of the spin-off prequel novel, Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases. Sifting through the rants and raves surrounding the original story I still look upon it fondly as a series that had an air of suspense, excellent artwork and a premise that posed a number of interesting moral questions. Its quality was diluted later on when the writers were forced to stretch the narrative past the L arc and introduce two new (inferior) antagonists to pit against the story’s anti-hero but otherwise it was a series that was both exciting and intelligent.
My only other beef with the series was the way in which it featured one of the most under-used Awesome Supporting Characters of recent times, in the form of Naomi Misora. Another Note remedies this (IMO) glaring oversight by dedicating an entire storyline to an earlier pre-Kira investigation in which Misora, still working for the FBI in LA, is called upon by the infamous freelance detective L in solving a bizarre series of murders. Basically we don’t see any of Light’s deranged JUST AS PLANNED megalomania: just Misora teaming up with L and hunting down a crazed killer who dispatches of his victims in increasingly gruesome and deranged ways.
I know it’s a bit pre-emptive nominating a contender for Album Of 2009 when we’re only three months into the year but in recent days I’ve become so entranced by Mono’s latest effort Hymn to the Immortal Wind I’m pretty confident that we may already have a winner. It’s their fifth studio effort but apart from the EP compilation Gone this is the first time I’ve had chance to properly check them out…and I absolutely love what I’ve found.
