N.B.

I'm not a manga guy, but high recommendations led me to pick up the first half dozen or so installments of Death Note, a fun, sometimes clever detective story set among absurdly overachieving Japanese high schoolers. A bored god of death drops a notebook into the human world; the document allows its bearer to inscribe and thus describe the time and method of death of a given victim, provided the victim's face and name are known. The (manga's) reader is given a new rule for the book's operation at the start of certain installments, when the notebearer learns it through scientific or serendipitous method.

A high school kid (later dubbed "Kira," or the Japanese approximation of "killer") finds the note; his efforts bring him into a battle of wits with a teen supersleuth called L. Soon, the rules multiply, new death gods appear, dropping new death notes, people are trading for super-eyes, the detective enrolls in the killer's university and is revealed to be a tennis superstar, and the whole thing uzumakis rapidly out of control. It's fun, but if the pace of the first six or seven issues are any clue, it must all be an unholy mess by the end, if an enjoyable one.

Death Note has a sizable following, and last year was made into a pair of live-action films, Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name, both directed by Shusuke Kaneko. Shortly after the manga completed its serialized run (December 2003 through May 2006 ), the first film premiered in June. The second hit mere months later in November, meaning it's more properly a two-parter than a film and a sequel. Both hit #1 in Japan, with The Last Name winding up the year's #4 grosser. An anime series premiered just before The Last Name hit theaters and ran through June of this year.

In production now: a prequel, featuring the earlier days of the detective L before his foray into the world of perfect-bound supernatural murder books. Announced as L: Change the WorLd and now being referred to as The Last 21 Days of L, it'll be helmed by Hideo Nakata, the director of Ringu. After seeing the first two Death Note flicks, Nakata hoped to work with the actor who played L, and so Ken'ichi Matsuyama will return in the lead. It looks like we won't see the return of Takeshi Kaga, who played the lead cop (and, of course, father of the prime suspect) in both installments, but there're always Iron Chef reruns.