Death Note

Xyik★ 10

Death Note is definitely one of the best anime series of all time, for it presents a deeply unique and compelling story rivaled by few. I can truly say it is one of the best, if not the best anime I've watched. Story: The story is unique. A notebook falls from the sky, and the human who writes a name in it is capable of killing the individual pictured in his mind (I left out the details that you don't care about). This presents the viewers with a highly debatable theme based on morals and justice. Yagami Light, who obtains this power to kill, utilizes itin hopes of creating a utopia in which he is god. Criminals, and only criminals, are to be punished in hopes of a perfect society. Is this however, right? Is it right to kill individuals who have done wrong, and will do wrong again? Can they be reformed? Death Note presents the viewers with questions such as these, questions which cannot be easily answers. This series challenges the viewers morals and for that, it deserves highly. But this debatable topic isn't the series strong point. Death Note gets a 10 in the story department, because of the way the plot unravels. With great and power and ambition, Yagami Light is forced to play a chair gripping game of cat and mouse with those who seek to detain him. The way L attempts to persecute Light is something I have never witnessed in an anime. The first 15 episodes will magically draw you closer and closer to the scene as suspense hangs over their individual methods for identifying the other. You will not be disappointed. The flaws begin once it is apparent that there will be a second arc. This to me, seemed like an unnecessary way of drawing out the anime, although arguably a change in situation was required to break the dead lock between Light and L. Anyhow, the series being to lose some of its luster at this point, and if I were to rate both arcs separately, the first would receive a 15/10 and the second a 9/10. Anyhow, this intelligent story deserves an overall 10/10 in my books. Characters: Light and L are the most interesting and intellectual characters I've ever seen in an anime. Although both are geniuses, they each possesses that certain something that will make you root for one of them to win the game. Light's charismatic, yet extremely demented character gives you reason to watch his conquests and failures. L's quirky, yet highly intelligent qualities does the same for him. They are both unique and likable in their own ways. Character development is also seen, particularly with Light as you witness his calm, calculating figure being to crack into a maddening and reckless mess. Obsessed and overtaken by his dream of conquest with the Death Note, he changes greatly from the beginning of the series. This change can be seen in various other characters as well, although not as notable. Anyhow, the characters are definitely interesting enough to give this a: 9/10 Sound: Yet another brilliant aspect of Death Note. I truly believe that if not for the soundtrack, the anime would not be where it is. All of those quick decisive moments with lives on the line are made intense, and the calm calculating ones even more so as the characters attempt to read each other. The opera, holy-like music also adds greatly to Light's character and goal of becoming God in his new world. The only flaw here resides in the second opening which at first, may seem disgusting to you. But as you continue to watch the series you will notice just how well it fits Light's demented mind and how everything he has achieved beings to shatter around his feet. 9.5/10 (rounded to 10) Art/Animation: And again, amazingly done. The dark colors suit the anime perfectly, and the characters and scenery are all done amazingly well. I mean, the anime made writing with a pen look cool. The way they made it zoom across that piece of paper ... In terms of animation, the pen wins. It truly does. But seriously, there isn't much action going on here, so there wasn't much to animate. Most of the scenes consisted of the characters talking or thinking, but the scenes there were filled with action (car chase and such) was done very well. A 10/10 Overall: I was watching the series since it first started coming out, and those weeks of waiting killed me. That was how good this anime was. The suspense was amazing, and it got me thinking. Anyone who finishes this anime will be forced to wonder about what they would have done with a Death Note. Many of them will question and argue about the actions of Light. It is this talkable and complexity that makes the anime shine, in addition to its ability to carve suspense and anticipation into its viewers. I have never seen an anime as good as Death Note, and I highly recommend this anime to be watched. You may hate it (although very few seem to), but it is definitely an anime you must TRY. 10/10

hontobaka★ 8

Death Note. Another famous anime. But this time there is one reason for it. In fact, there are lots of good reasons but they can be summed up in one thing: this anime is amazing. Want to know why? Then just keep on reading. Story (8): The first half of this anime is a masterpiece. The concept itself - the Shinigami's notebook which grants the person who has it the power to kill anyone by simply writing the person's name while picturing the face in his mind - is already brilliant to begin with as it presents the viewer questions like "What would I do ifI had that power?" The way it is developed brings us yet more questions and defies our morals. Light Yagami, the main character, is a brilliant high school student who's angry at all the injustice in the world. One day, he finds the notebook and he tries it out. At first, he's not sure about if what he did is correct but he ends up loving the power he got and trying to use it to build a new and better world. He's nicknamed as Kira by the citizens. Of course that would simply be boring if it wasn't for L, a detective that tries to discover Kira's identity. Both of them are simply genius and their counter clock run to find out each other's identity is full of intelligent moves and suspense which kept me trying to guess what each one of them would do next. Really, the simple ingredient that's so great about this story is that it manages to keep you thinking. But at several levels. Let me explain that to you. First, it makes you think about if what Light's doing is right or wrong. "Is it right to be the judge and executer simultaneously?" "Don't the circumstances of each crime matter as well and is it right to judge without knowing all the facts?" "Can't the criminals be reformed?" "Is a world where people don't commit crimes because they're simply afraid really desirable? Isn't what Light aims to achieve theoretically similar to a dictatorship?" Those are questions that ran through my mind. At one point, I was totally rooting for him. But as the story develops and his actions begin to change, you'll start to wonder... Second, it makes you think about what's going to happen next. Trying to follow Light's and L's line of though is both challenging and entertaining. Their move will surprise you and you'll keep trying to guess what they're gonna do next. This show will keep you on the edge of your sit through its entirety. Third, it changes the way you see the world and the people in it. With each kill and each action Light takes you can't help but wonder: "It may be wrong but what would I do if I were in his place?". People change, situations make us change. One different thing in your life and you could be going from a dedicated doctor to a serial killer (just an example). The only problem with the story is really the second half, for Near isn't nearly as intelligent as L, and Light seems to become way dumber and make pointless decisions rather than retaining control of the situation. The fact that the resolution didn't steam from Light's mistakes but from someone else's and was pure luck on Near's part in that regard was both a nice factor (I was rooting for Light to win because... no idea, I just was.) and a rather underwhelming one as well, for neither of them was the central piece that ended the puzzle. The story receives a 8/10. Art (9): The art is clean, the character designs are both unique and somewhat similar to reality. The backgrounds are detailed enough and the animation is really good. Even though there are few action scenes throughout the show, the car chasing scenes for example are really well done. A little exaggerated, yes, but nevertheless pretty good. But were the art really shines is in the coloring schemes. The dark and dull tones totally fit the anime. And Light's monologues, with the red hair also add a nice touch. Quite good for its time and genre. Sound (9): First, let's talk about the openings and endings. Well, I dislike both openings and love both endings. Quite wired isn't it? Because you know, the 1st opening and the 1st ending are both by the band "Nightmare" (they're a really good band by the way) and the 2nd ones are both by "Maximum the Hormone". Still, it's just my personal preference though some people may be turned of by the heavy metal sound of the last opening and respective ending. The ending song from episode 37 is really beautiful and fits the last scenes awesomely well. But that's not all. The opera-like songs that pass in the episodes really add to the scenes and were, with they're somewhat religious tune, the best choice to set the mood. I can't say much about the voice acting. I watched the english dubbed version and I thought it was good enough but I'm no expert on that matter. Characters (8): The characters are rather well portrayed. Let me put it this way. When I see an anime, there's always a character that stands out the most for me, that has characteristics that make me root for him/her. When that doesn't happen, I usually don't enjoy an anime. In Death Note, no character stood out. But somehow, I still loved it. I think no one stood out because they were all equally great. There was no one with fantasy-like characteristics. They all seemed like real people with real problems. No unneeded and exaggerated tragedies but no totally sweet lives either. The character development is pretty much nonexistent for most of the cast, but it doesn't need to be there, for it is really good for Light Yagami, the main character. Starting of as a genius, calm and collected high school student with a strong sense of morals and justice, he undergoes a slow but drastic change of character. The more he uses the Death Note, the more he slowly drops his morals because he finds it is needed to continue his work. He ends up an arrogant person with no consideration by the people who surround him. He starts trying to create a new and better world for people to live him but ends up obsessed with power and with being the "God of the New World". I love it when Light loses his memories about the Death Note. He turns back to his old self, refuses to use people as tools (what he had been doing all the time) and he even thinks Kira is wrong and wants to catch him. At that point, I also thought Kira's actions were going way too far but so did Light. And Light WAS Kira. So what if the notebook was real, what if I had pick it up? Wouldn't I do the same and end up like that? Moving on to L. He may seem like a plain character, but he is not. He tried his best to capture Kira risking himself a bit more in each attempt. He seems cold but deep inside I think he really didn't want Light to be Kira because he had never met anyone so similar to him in his ways of thinking and he saw Light as a friend, even though he was almost sure that Light was, in fact, Kira. The support characters are surprisingly interesting, despite not being all that well developed. I'm talking about the task force. At first, we didn't know much about them and they're development is not much noticeable but then at some point you realize you already know how they feel about Kira, what their line of thought is. The truth is, we subtly get introduced to their problems and internal struggles. This anime has an interesting cast of supporting characters. My least favorite character was Near. Even Mello was better developed than him. Near wanted to catch Light, sure. But it seemed like he was barely concerned about anything else that was happening as long as he could catch him. He was too cold and underwent none changes. Enjoyment (9): This review is getting way too long... Anyway, I really enjoyed this anime. Each episode got me craving for more. It made me think, it made me feel bad for some characters, it made me hate some situations... It was truly a great viewing experience. I enjoyed it a lot. Biggest problem was really the second half not being as intelligently scripted as the first one. But even now, one month after watching, I still think about Death Note and its moral changing story whenever I see some hostage situation on the news. Sometimes I'm just like "Damn, I wish I had one notebook like that! I could prevent so many bad stuff from happening...". And then, on those nights, as I'm in my bed the same questions I had when I was watching the show come once again to my mind. "If the notebook was real, wouldn't it bring even more bad things that it could prevent? Would it be right to use it? What would guarantee that I would not get corrupted by its power?" I loved this show and I still do. Overall (8): I may rate it a 8, but once again, that's largely due to the second half of the show. Nonetheless, I recommend this to anyone. Whatever genre of anime you like, you should watch this. It is a really intelligent story and even though you may not love it as much as I did, the chances are, you will. Even for people who never enjoyed anime, I would still recommend it. In fact, I am now in the process of making Portuguese subtitles so I can get my mom to watch it. Death Note defies your morals and enables deep discussions with yourself and others. It truly is a great show.