Lost+Brain

Lost + Brain is a complete Death Note knockoff that is inferior in every conceivable way. That is all you need to know and it doesn't deserve much more to be written about it. The main character is less intelligent than Light and has even less depth. Death Note's art was one of it's best qualities. This has bad art and even the character designs are nothing but a pathetic imitation of Death Note. Kira's ability was interesting in its limitations. This MC's hypnotism is as interesting as watching a beige stick figure painting dry. Death Note went downhill halfway through. This started out bad,and got worse and worse, culminating in one of the worst endings I've ever seen. That's all I have to say about it. That is all there is to say about it. Avoid it. Especially if you are a Death Note fan.

First, if you read this manga, don't be an idiot and keep relating it to Death Note. I'm a Death Note fan too. You want to compare? Let me compare for you. We all know that DN is distinctly good but as someone who has read it all over again in both English and Japanese three times over I found a good deal of loopholes in the story, which I will list them down in a future review, simply because the story is too long and complicated for the author Tsugumi Ohba to handle. On the other hand, in case of Lost+Brain, the story is verycompact, right to the points, and virtually free of loophole. Okay, I strongly believe what makes most of you keep ranting about this manga, despite all the little interesting implications about hypnotism, is the very method the protagonist chooses to change the world - MEMORY ERASURE. Most of you may think it is unfounded, but no, it is exactly what had been happening in the world since the last half of the past century in the name of the neoliberalism crusade led by the U.S.'s economic mega-guru Milton Friedman, as described in details by Naomi Klein in "the Shock Doctrine." He craved for what he called blank slate of the society and the human mind, on which he can literally rewrite everything. Ewen Cameron was the world leading psychiatrist who share the same views and the two men's ideologies converged during regime changes throughout the world. In torture, human were made regress to infantile state, with their memory erased, mostly irreversible. Instead of hypnotism, which is more time consuming and requires extreme mastery, electroshock was used to erase memory and remake human. I found a rather clear echo of the book in this manga. The bottom line is if you are good then you are more likely to do right more than wrong, so "as planned" is never a necessary phrase to blurt out any more and things should just go smoothly, even though it went all wrong in the end because of a single mistake. That's the narrative that Lost+Brain chooses, to let us follow a well-planned operation until its very end without inserting too much unnecessary twists to confuse readers. The ending might be kinda bad though. You should read this manga if you are a disciple of LOGIC, not a disciple of some "death note cult."

(To skip ranting and get to the point, head to overall c: ) So many reviews were dissing this manga because they were comparing it to Death Note and I can see why however I don't feel like comparing it to Death Note is fair at all. Sure, the main character has a Light personality however if I were to compare this I would much rather compare it to Code Geass (and Lelouch's MIND CONTROL Geass) or to Zennou no Noa. Story: The story was quite captivating. Of course the idea of hypnotizing people is quite silly but, then again, a Death Note is ridiculous and aGeass is just wtf. I read this series in half a day, it's quite short and quite captivating. I did, however, feel like the ending was slightly rushed however I'm grateful that the ending was not awful. Good endings are, in my opinion, the hardest thing you could achieve in any written piece so 7/10 (because, like with many manga, it does have it's flaws but it's quite the captivating story) Art: The art did not disappoint. It is quite fitting for the genre and the designs fit the mood as well. I did feel like Kouji was slightly out of place design-wise since his character seems like someone from out of a shoujo manga but nevertheless the art does its job well. 9/10 Character: The protagonist was strong, but sadly he did not have a strong antagonist going up against him. Kouji did his role well however if he used his little brain of his, as well as his powers a bit more often, that would've been nice. Otherwise, no complaints 8/10 Enjoyment: This kind of "rule the world and rid it of its evils" story is not that uncommon however I felt like the sheer use of hypnotism made it unique. The plot kept me turning pages and I had not realized that I had spent most of my day reading it until I glanced at the clock for some random reason. 9/10 Overall: Those who like Death Note, don't expect a Death Note. Those who like Code Geass, this will seem quite similar (however our main protagonist isnt much of an antihero) and those from Zennou no Noa (which may be just a few), expect something to that level however, preferably, while reading this don't compare it to anything as it may ruin the experience. For those that are unfamiliar of this type of plot, I recommend you read it. Hopefully all those other reviews wont scare off readers ;n; 9/10

basically a vary bad and pathetic version of death note. the main charator even looks like light. it seems like they are just copying death note untill the hypnotysm part which was the hilight of the story and yet still vary dreadful.