Even though its ship may have sailed when it comes to popularity, I'm still proud to own all twelve volumes of Death Note in manga form. Though the second half had many weak moments, it's still an engaging story that addresses the death penalty in an interesting way, and I'm a big fan of artist Takeshi Obata's style. Of course, beyond the anime adaptation - which, from the portions I watched, was an excellent production that didn't constrain itself structurally to the manga like most Shonen Jump anime do - and live-action films, there isn't much activity left in the franchise beyond supplemental material and anime recap movies.

However, with Warner Bros. pushing forward with their own live-action adaptation, Viz is planning to repackage the manga into a more compact collection in order to draw in new fans potentially made by the American adaptation. (The American adaptation is slated to be closer to the manga than the Japanese films were, though I could see them changing the setting to America with almost no impact on the story.) Starting in February 2011, Viz will be releasing a Black Edition of the series: each volume will contain the material of two original volumes in a oversized trade paperback size with black trim. No pricing or release schedule has been announced, but I'd be surprised if they didn't release a volume every month or two.

So basically, it's a Viz Big release, but not quite as big. I'm certainly not going to go buy the series again, but for new fans (especially if the American film moves into production), this seems like it could be a good deal. If you haven't read the series yet, is this repackaging (and my recommendations) enough to push you over the edge?

[via Mania]