▪	RELEASED BY:		VIZ MEDIA
		▪	ASPECT RATIO:		16:9 ANAMORPHIC WIDESCREEN
		▪	AUDIO:		ENGLISH AND JAPANESE DD 2.0
		▪	RUNNING TIME:		100 MIN
		▪	RATING:		T+
		▪	RELEASE DATE:		02/19/2008
		▪	REVIEW DATE:		02/04/2008
		▪	REVIEWED BY:		HOLLY ELLINGWOOD

L’s efforts to find out if Light is actually Kira has turned up no evidence to confirm his suspicions. So L ups the game and enrolls in the same university as Light. Pretty soon these two are head-to-head and at last face-to-face in the deadliest game of cat and mouse ever seen in anime.

Each keeps trying to trip and trap the other, their thought processes so parallel it’s frightening how closely matched these two characters are. And that’s what makes this entire series so riveting, absolutely mesmerizing. They are neck and neck in the race to achieve their own goals. L’s is to capture Kira while Light’s is to become the god of the new world order he plans to create through mass murder. Their most serious game takes a new twist when L invites Light to join the Task Force to capture Kira just when a second Kira shows up. Both determined for different reasons to capture this second Kira, a whole new dimension opens up in this anime about the nature of sin, death, and the hubris of pride.

On top of the pivotal evolution of the dynamics between L and Light, there is also the mysterious appearance of the second Kira and an intriguing beautiful young woman named Misa. Some surprising back story to the woman is given in the final episode of this volume and ties into the nerve-wracking events unfolding in the Kira investigation. Her character could put quite the wrench into the plans of both brilliant men. Her storyline also serves to enlighten viewers to even more secrets of the Shinigami.

Naturally being an anime, the show is moving along much more rapidly than it did in the twelve volume manga series. However, the anime has done an ingenious job so far of condensing the story and capturing the essential elements of the saga and the characters. 

EXTRAS:
The DVD case has great Gothic cover art with red foil stencilling for the title and a black translucent DVD case. It features reverse cover art and inside is a mini-fold with striking imagery. DVD bonus features include trailers and ads for Viz manga and video titles, production art gallery, and part 3 of the Behind the Scenes featurette with the English ADR Director Karl Willems and voice actor Brian Drummond (Ryuk) who discusses their take on the anime and Ryuk’s character and shows behind the scenes of the recording sessions. There is also audio commentary on episode 11 with Karl Willems and Stephen Hedley (English Language Adaptation Writer)

This volume comes in a regular disc edition and a limited deluxe edition with an exclusive L figure. The figure is of L crouching in a relaxed pose very quintessential to how he looks not only in the anime, but also in the manga. It is a must-have for hard core Death Note fans.

IN SUMMARY:
The latest volume of Death Note sees Light and L comes face-to-face with astonishing results as a new character complicates the matter further. Grand designs, homicidal plans, and twisted souls with warped genius make this anime one of the most riveting thrillers in anime.