Death Note, Chapter 1

The Death Note concept derived from a rather general concept involving Shinigami and “specific rules”.[6] Author Tsugumi Ohba wanted to create a suspense series because the genre had some suspense series available to the public. After the publication of the pilot chapter, the series was not expected to receive approval as a serialized comic. Learning that Death Note had received approval and that Takeshi Obata would create the artwork, Ohba said, he “couldn’t even believe it”.[7] Due to positive reactions, Death Note became a serialized manga series.[8]

“Thumbnails” incorporating dialogue, panel layout and basic drawings were created, reviewed by an editor and sent to Takeshi Obata, the illustrator, with the script finalized and the panel layout “mostly done”. Obata then determined the expressions and “camera angles” and created the final artwork. Ohba concentrated on the tempo and the amount of dialogue, making the text as concise as possible. Ohba commented that “reading too much exposition” would be tiring and would negatively affect the atmosphere and “air of suspense”. The illustrator had significant artistic licence to interpret basic descriptions, such as “abandoned building”,[9] as well as the design of the Death Notes themselves.

When Ohba was deciding on the plot, he said, he visualized the panels while relaxing on his bed, drinking tea, or walking around his house. Often the original draft was too long and needed to be refined to finalize the desired “tempo” and “flow”. The writer remarked on his preference for reading the previous “two or four” chapters carefully to ensure consistency in the story.[6]

The typical weekly production schedule consisted of five days of creating and thinking and one day using a pencil to insert dialogue into rough drafts; after this point, the writer faxed any initial drafts to the editor. The illustrator’s weekly production schedule involved one day with the thumbnails, layout, and pencils and one day with additional penciling and inking. Obata’s assistants usually worked for four days and Obata spent one day to finish the artwork. Obata said that when he took a few extra days to color the pages, this “messed with the schedule”. In contrast, the writer took three or four days to create a chapter on some occasions, while on others he took a month. Obata said that his schedule remained consistent except when he had to create color pages.[10]