Showa 1944-1959
I read and enjoyed the first two volumes of Shigeru Mizuki's comprehensive history of both 20th Century Japan and his own life about a year or so ago. At the time, the library didn't have this volume so I put it on hold only to forget about it for a while. Yesterday I happened to look again and they had the final two volumes, so I checked them out.
As someone who’s familiar with immediate post-war history this volume didn’t teach me quite as much general world and Japanese history as the earlier ones did, but it was still fascinating to read Mizuki’s personal account of the time. What an amazing (and amazingly lucky, how many times might he easily have died during the war?) life he lived. I think it’s fantastic to read personal accounts like his, what stories would all the other people who lived through these times have had to tell if they had put pen to paper as well? Looking forward to the final volume.
Death Note One-Shot
Glad I'm not the only one who paid attention to the creeping surveillance state. When I heard this featured world leaders I thought the new MC might actually have taken up my own long-imagined best use for the Death Note (seriously, someone who attempts to use it to influence world events by manipulating the actions of and killing off people in positions of power is still a story I'd love to read) but Tanaka’s clearly more about the money than the power. Interesting enough a concept, but I feel like it deserved more time, wrapped up as it was far too quickly and neatly. Plus, I feel like national governments would be far more likely to use those surveillance powers to track whoever bought the Death Note and simply take if from them rather than openly bid for it themselves. Also worth bearing in mind should Death Note ever receive a proper sequel: Donald Trump is now one of the few people able to see Ryuk.