Mono no aware

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.

Before I get into Misora fanboying mode the meat of the story I can’t not pass comment on the presentation: Viz have given it a bit of special treatment in that, unlike the manga volumes, it’s in a hardcover edition. The front and back covers are in matte black with silver embossed text; the printed pages are smooth, thick and textured; the first title page is translucent, showing the full-colour Obata-penned artwork of Misora and L on the next page; the chapter pages include black-and-grey art that carries a great grotesque gothic vibe and there’s even a silky ribbon bookmark, should you feel the need to put it down. As a book fan I love it when publishers go to as much trouble as this because the whole thing is classy as hell with the impression of no expense having been spared.

The story itself however is not actually written by Tsugumi Ohba at all; instead manga/light novel veteran Nisio Isin takes up the reins. I have to admit that I’ve never read any of his previous work in any form but in terms of picking up an existing concept and adding a new facet to it, his effort here is by and large successful. For one thing he seems to share my suspicion that Misora was cut from the story prematurely and had enough stage presence to carry a storyline of her own.

There are certain inconsistencies where artistic licence goes as far as contradicting the mechanics of the original Death Note premise, however: I don’t recall the Eyes of the Shinagami working in the way they are described here, for instance. I’m sure some diehard DN fans who are more clued up on the details of the franchise than I am may balk at this, but since they’re minor details I don’t see much of a problem.

The story itself is different in tone and progression too: because Misora is an intermediary between L’s deduction and Beyond Birthday’s killings it’s less of a direct match for the L vs Kira plot of the manga. In some ways it’s more in the vein of traditional detective fiction in that we have a serial killer, several crime scenes and more than one detective on his or her trail, often a step or two behind. The reasoning is a little convoluted at times but overall I found it to be a lot of fun second-guessing the patterns and trying to figure out how and when Beyond Birthday would strike next.

The other problem I had with Isin’s writing is his approach to character names. Considering the author prides himself on his knack for wordplay (even his name is a palindrome, interestingly) I expected names like Believe Bridesmaid, Quarter Queen and Backyard Bottomslash to have more significance in the story but in all honesty their oddness was a bit excessive and needless. Without giving too much away, their initials form part of the mystery and deductive process but to give them such unbelievable and outrageous names was both offputting and just plain weird. Honestly, what was the point?

That and the Shinagami Eyes issue aside this was still an enjoyable read which had the additional draw of tossing in some background to Misora’s character and even a few details concerning L’s origins. The best bit of all for me though was the twist towards the end, where the showdown with the killer looms and all is revealed: it takes the reasoning and logic of the manga to another level and delivers an explanation that reaches Jonathan Creek proportions of  surprising ingenuity, which left a huge grin on my face.

I’m not sure how non-fans would take this – the connections with the manga will be lost on them, although the inconsistences will obviously not be an issue either. For fans of the manga it’s a refreshing change in style but one that holds a somewhat different appeal to the variety of cat-and-mouse sleuthing to the original. Still, it features some entertaining crime-busting and a couple of familiar characters; I’m personally overjoyed that Misora gets her chance to shine.

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