Death Note

I'm one of the few people who would never say this is one of the best animes of all times and here is why: Although the plot of Death Note seems to be very interesting to me, I really belive it is painfully developed all over the anime. For me was pretty cool when the two main characters was presented has rivals (Light and L): I belived it would be really interesting to see which of them will defeat the other and how. However, all I could get watching it was fucking stupid monologues in which Light and L where ridiculously guessing each other thougts. Here it's an example of a joke I found on a spanish web (Inciclopedia) of an hypothetical battle of "Rock-paper-scissors" between Light and L: (YAGAMI LIGHT THINKING): "The most logical to do would be play rock; L must know this, because of what he would probably play paper, and to defeat him I must play scissors. But: what if he discovered my plan? If that's what it is, to beating my paper he would play scissors, and therefore I should keep playing rock. But maybe he tought that I would think this way, so I must play paper..." This is a fun example of what I belive is pretty much all you can find on Death Note. Really: this is what this anime is about. At the beginning is "ok", but then it just gets dummer and dummer, and in my case finished in the desire of killing the screenplayer. For the other hand, before watching Death Note you need to consider that you'd probably never expect to find what you will in the second half of the anime. And I'm not saying it in a good way: on the contrary, from my point of view the second half of Death Note is a big peace of crap. It is as if the writer had died, and a complete asshole had replaced it. About the characters I would say, although there are a lot of them, only a few has their own personality, and by the way, a non very deep one. In the particular case of the only important female character, Misa, I need to say she is hatefully annoying and do not have a will for her own: the only thing she does is adoring Light Yagami because he is hot, in other words: she is as shallow as she can be. Another thing: I have to admit I like L wiredness, but I hated when among the story more "wired" characters appear: for me they were just mediocre imitations. Don't make me talk about the guy that was always eating the beginning of a chocolate bar (you would never see him eating a whole bar: I belive he makes one bite, throw away the bar, open a new one, makes another bite, and so on). Finally I have to admit I enjoyed the music and also the animation: they were really good... but that's not enough to make Death Note a a good anime. So: this anime sucks, and the only think I really love about it is the way some people make fun of it. If you want to watch it... go on, probably you will like it because most people does. However, if you watch it and you hate it, have for sure you will make fun of it forever and ever. P.D.: yeah, the characters are hot, especially if you're a girl, or a gay guy.

“Dark and mature. A predictable physiological anime. A diamond that choose to stay coal” REVIEW FREE OF SPOILERS! DEATH NOTE one of the most well-known anime worldwide and highly ranked. Let's start! :) -STORY: 8- Don’t get carried away, the story isn’t really unique, after all it is –almost- your typical “vigilante” –or hero of justice- anime with a twist. The “lore” –to call it somehow- used in the story IS what makes it unique. Enter Death Note, a book that falls from the sky, a book that is able to kill people by picturing the person on your mind and writing his or her name on the book –probably the most original thing in the shows-. The story starts with a bang, a very well-grounded “myth” and focus but after some episodes it becomes dull, repetitive and unimpressive -thing that usually happens with some mystery/police/detective anime shows- losing the decent ambient showed on the first episodes. From the start of the “second” part of the show it becomes predictable. I understand what they were trying to do; displaying a bigger and more intricate situation and world but what the writers achieved was to create a boring way to create the climax that would lead to the ending of the show –a very predictable ending if I may add-. The beginning of the “third” part, “the real climax and ending” –the last 10 episodes- are probably the “best”. As I’ve stated before since the beginning of “part 2” the show becomes predictable and it doesn’t promise anything more but a great, expected yet graceful ending. The climax starts from the episode 30 –more or less- leading to an ending of “fireworks and explosions” –I mean this. You’ll need to see the show to know if it’s symbolically or literal-. To be completely honest, I was disappointed that the “myth” in which the story is based –the book and gods- doesn’t evolve it just gets “stuck in the back” of most of the story, like an inconvenient thing that will be used when it becomes convenient. The thing that saved –in my opinion- the story department in the show is three things: One: the ambition of the writers, a very interesting premise that will lead eventually to better things –in the end of the show-. Two: the suspense carried through the entire show. As I said before some episodes are dull and repetitive, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no interesting or good closing scene. And three: Something so small yet so important in the whole show the debate of what’s right and what’s wrong. Or in other words Light or L? -ART: 7- Outdated. That’s a word that I would use for the art in this show but let us remember that it was aired from 2006 to 2007. Death Note doesn’t have one of those art styles that “immerse” you into the show. It’s just generic. Does this means is bad? No, not at all, it just means that the art isn’t the most important thing in the show and that the art isn’t something memorable. The dark “palette” is good but it’s just there to give the mood and not to amaze the viewer. As a psychological show, most of the time the characters are talking and there isn’t really “that much” action making me believe that the ART team could have done something more or something better. In the last episodes the art becomes –really- much better, the “palette” changes from dark colors to brighter color giving a better sensation that in most of the show. -SOUND: 6- The voice acting isn’t a role model nor inspiring, it isn’t imposing something good. It’s typical and not passionate –until the last episode-. Meanwhile, the soundtrack is forgettable and uninteresting with some good choirs or piano compositions thrown at key moments. There’s nothing left to say except for the main themes that slightly save that department. -CHARACTER: 6- Disappointing, That’s the word I will use, other word would be “wanting”. The presentation of the characters is great. Here you have Light, a character that looks amazing and really interesting but the through the show becomes typical. The rest of the characters regretfully as it may sound, are boring and plain. With the understandable exceptions of “Light” –of course- and “L”. Characters that are incredibly smart, making the rest of the characters look dumb and ordinary with no business there; this in my opinion is short from all the potential they could have “squeezed” from most character (ex. Touta Matsuda). Being a show that depicts very intelligent people such as L and Lightning, to be honest, I’ve seen better portrayed “masterminds” in other anime -predominantly Lelouch vi Britannia (Code Geass) character usually compared to Light- The most disappointing part of the characters is their development which is your typical “development” in a psychological show. The typical cold and calculating characters that turn into the obsessive and mad characters, nothing new there. What started as a great mastermind character –Light- ended as an average psychological MC. -ENJOYMENT: 8 & OVERALL: 7- I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t enjoy DEATH NOTE, the waiting –through some boring episodes- to see how the -obvious and unavoidable- ending would unveil itself. The show isn’t bad, the premise as I told before is good, it promises something great, but the journey from begging to end its just boring in most episodes and the ending –expected I’m sure by most- is beautiful and as I said “poetic”. Would I recommend it? Yes, but it doesn’t reach the potential it promises.

Basically a brief summary of Death Note from my point of view: Death Note is a show that needs no introduction at all. The name is on pretty much everyone's lips, the people who have watched it or not and one thing which is certainly true is that if you aren't living under a rock all this time there's a very good chance you have heard the name atleast once in your life. It's one of the very few mediums that have crossed boundaries of it's specific origin and in this case, anime. Yes, Death Note is a name that has gone beyond the peripheral reaches of animation and is on a whole new level shared by a few. Dragon Ball Z, Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood etc. are some of the titles if named. Even so, there's a great amount of daylight between all these and Death Note, which stands atop the popularity section here on Myanimelist, with members flowing in and the number rising by the second. The moment you step inside the world of Death Note, it takes a firm hold of you, denying to let go. The adrenaline this show provides is immense, keeping the viewer on his toes for almost every minute of the twenty-three. This is one of the greatest assets and the very core of success for Death Note. With a mind-boggling storyline and head-twisting plot twists, Death Note leaves no chance for the viewer to look away and is captivating throughout the entire process. And thus it also provides a high rewatch value. Perhaps one major mistake the show made is by introducing the two antagonists in the form of Near and Mello. With the addition of these two and Light seemingly in reach of his motive, Death Note loses all its tension and thrill which was imminent in the first arc of the show. To put it rightly, the story gets all mixed up and moves away slowly from its path. This however is not a good reason to look down on the show as a whole, which is still extremely and incredibly well executed. The popularity of Death Note and the fact that is one of the greatest piece of art ever made goes hand in hand with over 669k members and growing by the second. Death Note's place is cemented as the show that lit a fire on the industry and produced an inferno that would last forever.

I have to say that even though some elements of this series can be a bit predictable, it is still effectively cerebral. It’s one of those stories where it’s not about the destination, but about the journey. This anime is very methodical with its approach to further openly re-defining the classic good vs evil battle, and keeps other aspects at a certain ambiguity that opens up a lot of legitimate debate and discussion, such as the morality in relation to this anime, though the creators of the original manga have admitted that wasn’t a concern or intention of theirs. At times, the anime will go beyond good vs. evil, but I felt can be seen as a battle about whose right will prevail. Everybody watching this anime, or maybe even reading the manga will naturally think that even though Lights intends to do the world away of criminals, does he have a right to take the life of another person regardless of the severity of their actions? Thinking about it, if you had the same kind of power, would you do the same? Do something different? Or try nothing at all? In addition to this, it’s not just Light that you will find yourself at odds with, but L will even stoop to some lows that will make him the poster boy for the Patriot Act. So even though L is on the side of the authorities, his methods at times doesn’t make him any better than Light when it comes to exceeding moral boundaries in the name of justice. While with Light being progressively preachy and power hungry, he will manipulate people and treat them as expendable that will make him detestable to viewers. At times, I felt the rivalry between Light and L went beyond who was right or wrong, but was more of a clash of who has the bigger ego, in which it has its own kind of entertaining value and really gets you immersed to the characters. The relationships between the characters and how they interact and relate to each other is another trait I love about Death Note. Even though L and Light are mortal enemies, the series excellently presents that they are the only people that they can relate to. And I also enjoy the moments where Ryuk can be a foil to Light. Even though Ryuk only sees Light’s attempt at conquest as cheap entertainment, there are times he will question his motives and exhibits he is disturbed by his behavior. And it’s hard to really imagine a Shinigami of Ryuk’s laid back attitude to really have the moral high ground when he only sees it as fun, but you can’t help but see he has a point. But moving on, the pacing is very fast and a lot happens throughout a majority of the show, but I think some things rush are a bit too much for the sake of convenience, especially approaching the end. But I’m pretty sure most people prefer fast over slow. The designs are very faithful to the manga so I can’t really complain. First thing I really like to talk about is the use of colors: due to the nature of this anime; not only is the presentation dark, it still exhibits very excellent resolution where you can see a good majority of the surrounding environment, and it greatly emphasizes the atmosphere and mood. The quality of the coloring makes the experience very significant to environmental and character details in which they all fit, and yet still stand out at a point where you can see virtually everything. What I also enjoy from this series is when certain characters such as Light and L are high lighted in blue and red when they are internally thinking. It easily conveys who is the aggressor, and who is on the defensive, and also shows who is calm and collected, and who is hot headed. Granted these use of colors are obvious with the meaning, the way it’s highlighted around the hair and skin tones really brings the presentation more directly immersing and charismatic. I also love the scene with Near and Light when they are on the phone and it also shows the viewers of those characters in an imaginary elevator at a construction site. It did feel very random, but I thought it really added a sweet sense of the intensity to that moment in the series. One thing I strongly believe is that bringing out a sense of intensity is what keeps people hooked on Death Note. I believe what further defines that trait in this series were the angles, movements and pacing when Light was writing in the death note in the initial episodes, and you just gotta love it when Mikami does it. The speed and angles along with the music appropriately emphasizes the divinity that the notebook has, and brings a cinematic feel to it in which only the magic of animation can pull off. Some(of those) scenes involving writing in the death note will be over the top, but I think it’s one of those moments where you have to accept the approach, even if over the top and exaggeration of certain scenes aren’t your thing. Especially in the episode where he opens up a bag of chips and eats it, and that scene alone since then has changed my outlook at potato chips for the rest of my life. I had no idea potato chips could be that dramatic and epic. I simultaneously found it humorous and entertaining, which makes that scene iconic. I would like to open this part of the review by saying I enjoy the dub, and think it’s great. I’ll admit I was skeptical about Brad Swaile playing Light at first. I’m used to hearing him playing generically nicer and regular characters like Youta from Video Girl Ai, Quatre from Gundam Wing, or Amuro from Gundam. And I’ll admit that he does a good job of playing cynical characters like Mousse from Ranma, but I wasn’t sure if he was going to make that work with Light. I came to accept him as Light, though I personally think he could have been better as L based on my previous exposure to the actor over my years of watching anime. But I’ll acknowledge he made that potato chip scene, while it felt wasn’t that emphatically dramatic in the Japanese version. I believe Allesandro Juliani was pretty good as L, but I think he sounded a bit too formal and not really childish enough to make the character feel complete. But with the intention that the character was raised in England, I feel the English portrayal brings it out in its own way where you can interpret the character in that way. I’ll also say that I was taken by surprise that Yamaguchi Kappei, the voice of Ranma and Inuyasha, was L in the JPN version. Despite playing loud mouth and rowdy characters, he really did well coming across as calm, quiet and intellectual and I thought that the pitch of his voice gave him those child-like qualities he has, and it gives him a different kind of charisma to why his character is unique. Brian Drummond as Ryuk really had a voice that went well with the grin and really made him sound cool, but I think he kind of lacked this bizarre friendly charm that I felt he has in the Japanese version which I think makes him appealing. I also think that both Japanese and English voices of Misa were perfect in their own way. Haruhi fans will rejoice that Hirano Aya plays her in the Japanese version - and she will sound pretty recognizable to you, and I think the voice does a great job of representing her bubbly personality, as does Shannon Chan-Kent’s portrayal. If anything, I think Shannon Chan-Kent could make a great Misa in a Hollywood live action Death Note movie, along with the actors who played Light, L, and Watari. The last portrayal I want to get into is Mikami’s. In the Japanese version, he is played by Matsukaze Masaya, the voice of Hazuki Ryo, the main character from one of my favorite games of all time, Shenmue. While in the English version, he is played by Kirby Mirrow, the voice of Trowa Barton from Gundam Wing, Van from Escaflowne, Cyclops in X-Men Evolution, and Miroku from Inuyasha. I think they approached the characters stylistically different in their own ways, but I think the portrayals in both versions work that really do represent the character. If I were to define the portrayal of the character by his introduction alone…

We always have this inkling feeling that we can change human nature for the better. That change would be to wipe all scum and villainy off the face of the earth to ensure that we can protect the ones we love and make the world a better place. Idealistic angst plays a role in it, perfectly fitting Death Note’s theme. The quote signifies the theme in such a way that characterizes the plot involving our protagonist, Light Yagami, who stumbles upon a notebook that can kill people by writing their names. At first, he uses it for justice to kill every criminal he sees on the News from their faces, at least what he believes to be justice in his eyes. Then we realize that he develops a holier-than-thou attitude with his incredible power and descends into pure madness. Death Note is a fascinating character study, thanks to its ability to give context to the plot. When we first get introduced to Light and the plot in general, we don’t necessarily know how we are supposed to view his intentions at a moral level. The writing does a splendid job of not portraying Light as a glorified statue of his heinous acts. It pieces all of the psychological aspects of his character in a way that makes him a very hateful person, but it feels fitting to how he portrays himself to the audience. Delving into how he manipulates people to do his very bidding gives him an anti-hero status from the halfway point, and we see him from a very different angle than before. How it paces this growth in each episode is very subtle but poignant when it reaches the climax and gives it a nice spark of genius. While not the most significant plot, it has some meat to its subject matter. Its only sufferings are how it skews over insightful commentary into its present theme and instead devolves into more extravagant drama. I wouldn’t call it out if the show didn’t bother to hint at doing one. The constant narration over Light seems to imply that it wants to add a message to its philosophy, but it doesn’t seem to explain itself any further than derivative narration. This style over substance makes it seem like mere preaching than actually trying to convey a message in any meaningful way. So, with that flaw on point, what does save it is the amount of tension it brings in the dramatic moments in sufficient depth. Direction and writing serve this case nicely where, yes, even a scene of a guy eating a potato chip and having a monologue about it still makes you sit on the edge of your seat. Death Note essentially comes across as a hard-boiled police story with elements of mystery to it. The only difference is that you know who the killer is in plain sight, which adds a slight problem to the story: it kills the mystery aspect. It would prove more fruitful on Death Note’s part to have L be the main protagonist, and we do not know who Kira is precisely, and we could then follow Light’s criminal methods later on to add a rich narrative. All that we have here is a simple drama piece with really halfhearted attempts at being a mystery. L and Light prove to be a welcoming duo near the middle portion of Death Note, whether they are secretly clashing with each other or working together to stop “Kira.” These characters are gifted with great intelligence and charisma to their characters that don’t seem like such a bore to experience in either drama or comedy. However, there is the issue of the typical “main protagonists are amazing, but the rest pale in comparison” syndrome in Death Note. One character even started pretty well until she eventually devolved into pure nothingness during the 2nd half of the series, which is Misa. She’s the antithesis of a character who has a pretty significant tragic edge to her archetype. Still, it seemed as if the writers didn’t give her the time of day to really shine and just become another pointless side character. Others that fall in the supporting cast are hit or miss. Except for Near, who is admittedly L 2.0, I couldn’t find any connection with other characters. They can all be summed up as having a problem with the lack of a unique identity and no development. And I’m not explicitly talking about the typical person in the police force. Yello and Mikami, in particular, have pretty significant roles in the story, but they aren’t given enough depth for me to earn my interest. Nevertheless, some of the people in the police force have more to offer in terms of actual presence. Light’s father, Soichiro Yagami, does have some nice-needed depth to facilitate the police side of the issue of things. With the dark overtones in the colors washed in the background and foreground, the art compliments the tone with supreme efficiency. What is also fitting is that it does not overshadow it to the point where it's hard to tell what is going on. Having a grand scope to its animation is pretty astounding with the advent of the fantasy aspect to Death Note in conjunction with the real world. Everyone has either seen Death Note or at least heard of it. Does it deserve to be called the best anime of all time because of this? Nope. It is most certainly good in its own right in many aspects. An intense and gripping drama are two things that define Death Note, and that can be enough to warrant one viewing. Don’t buy into all the hype that it has gotten, not even a little. Grade: B

"Ever get the feeling of being cheated" because that's what I get about "Death Note". Yagami Raito(Light) is your average high school student who just happens to hate the world (the reason, just because), one day he finds the death note a strange notebook that apparently can be used to kill people with just knowin their name, taking it as seriuosly as a chain letter he tries to prove the "functioning" of the book by writting in it the name of a criminal who saw in the news, short after that the criminal died of a heart faliure, surprised by that fact he tires the book again with a street gang member and again tha man died this time the cause of death that raito chooses is crashing with a car, after a "extremely" quick deppresion for taking the lives of another humang being he decides to bring judgement into al the sinners in the world. after a month and with more than 100 victims of the "note" the international police starts supecting that the deaths of the criminals are the work of a serial killer with that the world's most famous detective (does that not sound like a cliché to you) "L" decide to take over the case, at the mean time Raito gets the visit of "Ryuk" the shinigami who owns the book, and thet's the begining of a the game of the cat and mouse betwen L and Raito I'm not saying the story is not interesting it is really enyoyable at least in the beginning but the mayor problem with the series it's how the story is developed into a lame and predictable (Yes, I said Predictable) cop drama. it appears to me that the main iterest of the author was delivering a great amount of plot twists, in an intent for making it unpredictable but this ends in a big faliure especially in the second part of the series, insteadof taking his time developing L's investigation he just pump it up with a great amout of tecnological gatgets and other stuff you must heve seen in most of hollywood spy movies (and that's not a good thing), due to this non stop bombarding of bombastic action the mental battle of our main charcters just seems a little too unrealistic and some of the conclusions of our "great" team of detectives appear to be just taken out of nowhere I find most laughable when people label this series as "psycological" when there's no such thing as character developmet, if you don't believe me then tell me from when does Raito's hate for the world come he's the son of the chief of the police departament and he leads an easy life as a student and does not have a worry in the world, just as L, and most of the characters, stays in the shadow with no background or a true reason for their actions. In the end the creator of Death Note tried too hard to make something new and unpredictable and end with something we could see in one of the countless and stereotyped detective series and movies that you could see everywhere. if you're looking for a well paced series with realistic characters and events and a police investigation that makes sense you probbably don't want to see this, by the other hand if you're looking for some mindless fun this might do the trick

In fixed world, you won’t kill your neighbour because he ate your lunch, or kidnapped you daughter, but if he will threaten to kill, you might do that as self-defence, or even to kill to save other one. But when it comes for murders after the murder happen, usually the question if he’s deserved to be killed is divided, not because he’s not worthy of living but because he can kill others. Thing is, most people are afraid of dirty their hands, no one would wants to kill him, but if there would be psychopath that is ready to do that, would you ready to give him the right? Or you on the other side of the map, that prefer that man to live in prison. Wether what’s right or not, Death Note (in short DN, I will use it from now on) is attending that question, but not answering it. It sure presenting the two sides of the equation, but it either not answering it and nor trying to, the main story of DN is on another dimension, a mind game between two genius minds - Yagami Light and L. About the question above? Rather than DN isn’t attending to answer that it’s leaving to the watcher the choice to wether cheer on one of the sides and decide for themselves. Yes, there’s going to be dark sentences as “The world needs a better way”, and for the other side “Justice will always win”, but in the main story dimension it’s really doesn’t matter, there’s much more than psychological question for DN and that’s the mind game. And that’s what really makes DN story being notable, if the story would revolve about “who’s right” the answer would be too much expected as the story is published in Shounen magazine and not Seinen one, those who would want this kind of stories that mixing the two dimension of psychological question what is good and what is wrong plus the mind game dimension, can find it in Monster which is in my opinion feels like Seinen version for DN. But since DN isn’t concentrating on that level, it’s letting the two sides being favourable at the same time without worrying that “why am I cheering for the bad side”, in the mind game level the only difference is whether on what level the other side will use, and that’s what make the suspense of DN roll. Light for example, though to be the “dark hero” isn’t bad because he wants to kill people for the “Utopia” thingy, Ohba made his character being convincing enough that his way is sure the “good way”, he isn’t evil but have true ideology (though to have some evil aura around him). MadHouse truly succeeding in making Light background opinions clearly as being a high class student without any competition on the class, their introduction they made for us make us more recognise and realise where his ideology came from. One of the thing that’s so likeable in his character is mostly his believing in his action, some people can say he’s doing the wrong or good thing, but the way he presenting his ideas and making his “world” without evil making him deep enough character for anyone to love his writing (I was being careful not saying people will love his ideas, but how he’s wrote). L on the other hand, felt to me much less the other side character, it’s not that he isn’t but the way he’s presented making me less feel his ideology - I will try to explain. L is the world best detective, once recruited for the Kira case he doesn’t really showing his ideology, he may be in the “light side”, but unlike Light who had worked hard convincing us he really thinks he can be the “ruler of the world”, L doesn’t have much to answer that, he just good and that’s what he is and doesn’t gives us much else on that, just being in the other side of the map. Though that being said, L character is still interesting in his own unique way, and perhaps Ohba felt that “weakness” I mentioned in L character so he went ahead making him with unique personality - goofy and seriousness mix with good balance that makes honest and true character that will be close to our heart. But still, the difference in the ideology “building up” felt missing in L. In other two characters though, seems that Ohba didn’t had to sweat so much. One is Soichiro, the top detective of the NPA which doesn’t need to do much convincing why he’s on the other side of the map of justice, and besides have the feel of the more mature and adult character, these maturity is felt by his ideas and opinions, he really doesn’t need much to convince us why he’s sure in his way, and his actions along the series going through his “recipe” though lots going to happen. The other is Matsuda, though to be really side character he still have the most interesting balance of ideology, which in one way he isn’t sure he’s against Kira but still being in the other side of the map, all the together with his comedic personality adds a lot of spice to the kinda heavy of the series. He’s maybe not the most bright person of DN, but that’s why he’s one character to develop a lot and add a lot to the anime, and the fact the he’s “side character” adding that a lot. Might be little mention for kinda important character, but though Aizawa feels a true vessel in the detectives side, he have the more average feeling of them all, he have his development and good opinions alright, some major development his character alone is carrying along the story, but from all the characters he feels the more “stable but average” character. It doesn’t makes him bad, he sure have deep writing but he just feels like the more ordinary characters from all in DN. Though that’s to been said, I truly love his design along the series and how he can steal the show from time to time. The true pearl of character in DN though is Ryuk, his true goal in DN is only to have fun and seeing the mind game from the sideline, his character design together with half funny and half serious personality truly takes the story in interesting ways, sometimes for his side notes and sometimes for his helpless in the development of the story. His natural side is what makes Ryuk great addition to dark and serious story to lighten the mood and feeling less tense, his appearance also can from time to time to bring the watcher another view of the things. The first part of the story really makes what counts and how the story will be unfold in the next arc. Ohba truly does make great job balancing in delicate way of the supernatural of the Death Note with Light smartness without being seems like the Death Note itself is what makes Light crossing his obstacles on his way but his puzzle and detective mind. The more the story continues, the less the Death Note powers being used to his plans and more and more the mind game is unfold, ’till the first arc reaching it’s peak on ep10. Though the series is good after this point too, the first part will be reminded by everyone where DN truly makes Light and L shine. The next arc though, has the first feeling of downhill on the series. *spoilers alert from now* Well, it’s not that the story is being bad or anything, and it more like a feeling of the continuity that makes the 2nd arc feels little differ from the first one, especially with the appearance of new character to the cast Misa. It’s not that she’s bad character, but the way she were made at start let anyone feel little unease at start, her light and different style makes a lot of difference in the theme of the anime, and the way Ohba made her to be light minded and useable might angry some people. But as her characters makes twists in the story and makes Light work much harder, her unique characteristic start paying off, and as the story continues her character starting developing a bit though not being changed much she’s donating much more to the series, making her character maybe not the favourite but important and necessary. But apart of her appearance and her actions in this arc, the thing that maybe makes the “downhill” feeling is probably due the less crossing obstacles that was the main first arc theme to more detective like them. Apart from that,…

Overview: Death Note is one of the most popular anime ever to air on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It is obviously an anime that most otaku and even non-otaku are familiar with, but if you aren't I will give you some examples of the things this show did great and some things it could have improved on. Warning: minor spoilers. I mention a character dies, but I don't say which one. Story: 6/10 The story starts out with a very interesting premise about a brilliant student named Light Yagami that one day finds a mysterious book. The book called the Death Note allows you to write the name of any person along with a time and cause of death, and if you know what the person looks like than they will die in exactly this way at that time. This book was dropped by a shinigami, which is a minor god of death in Japanese mythology somewhat like the Western figure of the Grim Reaper. This shinigami named Ryuk, dropped the Death Not simply because he got bored and wanted to see what a human would do with the powers of a God. Unsurprisingly, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Light starts out with an almost admirable goal of cleaning up the world by killing all the "bad people". However, his definition of bad begins to shift towards anyone and everyone that opposes him as God of a new world crafted according to his ideology. In order to keep killing, Light must engage in a cat and mouse game with the brilliant detective L. Lawliet. This starts out somewhat like Crime and Punishment with Raskolnikov's game of cat and mouse game with Porfiry Petrovich following the murder of a "worthless" old woman that Raskolnikov believed he made the world better by murdering. However, this isn't a redemption tale where Light realizes his crimes and attempts to atone. Light is an evil psychopath who abuses power to the fullest and doesn't give a shit who he needs to kill in order to keep that power. Light's personality profile is similar to that of your average egomaniac, paranoid, sociopathic dictator. What bothers me is that it seems a bit of a stretch that Japan's brightest student could think that all problems can be solved by killing "bad people". That is the world view of a naive moron that doesn't understand the complexity of global issues. The problems of overpopulation, pollution, famine, disease, poverty, and most other problems can't be solved by killing a few bad people. Imagine I kill a brutal dictator in Africa like Kabila that rules the Democratic Republic of Congo. Would that make the Congo into a paradise? No! It would create a power vacuum and civil strife that will probably be replaced with another dictator. If I kill the replacement it will rinse and repeat. The Congo has all of the aforementioned structural problems that can't be solved with a simple murder or two. The second problem with Death Note's story is that it goes on for far too long. The manga was only 12 volumes and it really didn't need 37 episodes. This causes it to drag at times and I especially wasn't happy with the 2nd half. My last grudge with Death Note is something that was at least corrected in the movie. If your show or movie is almost entirely dependent on one beloved character to carry it on his back, don't fucking kill off that character half way through! Death Note suffers from the Full Metal Jacket syndrome, where it slides in the 2nd half at least in part because literally everyone's favorite character is dead. Characters: 6/10 The main lead is Light, who starts out like the Punisher, Dexter, and all those Texan justice characters that kill bad guys and we root for them. I really appreciate that Death Note does not condone this simplistic, apish cultural trend and actually shows Light to be an absolute bastard. Just because a sociopath kills bad guys doesn't mean he is a good guy or that we should root for him! We in the US rooted for Bin Laden and his ilk when he was killing Soviets and called him a freedom fighter and hero of liberty. In fact he was a despicable psychopath who just happened to be killing people we didn't like. This is no guarantee that the sociopathic killer is going to continue killing only bad guys, because you know...they're a fucking sociopath and have no concept of right and wrong. A rabid dog that just happens to maul and kill a rapist is still a rabid dog and should be put down rather than rewarded or praised. What astounds me is that some viewers still root for Light even though the show goes to every length to show that you are not supposed to. They even give him red eyes and a blood curdling evil laugh out of Austin Powers for God's sake! The best character by far is L, who is in the running with Lisbeth Salender as the greatest Asperger's afflicted detective in fiction. L is hysterical and simply adorable. When your main character is Joseph Stalin put in the body of a Japanese pop star, you need someone more amiable to keep people watching. Unfortunately, the rest of the cast kind of sucks and there isn't enough L. Special shout out to Misa, who is the suckiest of sucky. She is the Jar Jar Binks of Death Note. I have the FEVER! and the only cure...is more L Lawliet! Art: 9/10 The art is really top notch in this series. It had a huge budget and even though it has been a few years since it came out, it still looks just as good today. Music: 8/10 The soundtrack is quite good. I didn't really care for that death growl opening and thought it was a tad silly, but besides that thumbs up! Enjoyment: 5/10 I really enjoyed the first part of the series and thought it really had the potential to be great. However, as the series wore on I began to grow tired of it and wanted it to simply end already. I can't really give it high marks for enjoyment when I spend the last 15 or so episodes looking at Light and screaming, "Just fucking DIE already!" Overall: 6/10 Although I see the appeal and understand why people love this series, it isn't one of my personal favorites. It has a few flaws that made it somewhat lackluster for me personally. That doesn't mean its bad by any means or that you shouldn't watch it! It is in fact quite good and I highly recommend checking it out if you have been living under a rock and haven't seen it yet.

On the technical side of things, it’s hard to say Death Note has great animation because 90% of this show is dialogue. No one ever stops talking, and while they blabber endlessly, the artists have a field day with lighting, masking, and the poses of the intricately designed characters. Death Note has great, beautiful, gothic, faux-realistic ART. The background and character art is a regal feast for the eyes. The animation is rarely showcased. When it is, the animators have entirely too much fun, but bless ‘em for it, penmanship has never been so epic. (An A plus and twenty counts of murder in the first degree, Mr. Yagami!) Speaking of over the top, the music reaches new heights in gothic melodrama that makes shots of toilet paper seem epic...Forget over the top, every speck of this series is floating in orbit somewhere around “the top,” it’s heart-stopping and laid on entirely too thick, but clearly, the ludicrous flair was intentional and will color you impressed in its majestic silliness. When it comes to voicing these characters in all their bombastic melodrama, you have to stick to RGAs: REALLY GOOD ACTORS. This anime is entirely talking, half the time monologuing, and that is a complete disaster unless the voice actors are captivating. THANKfully, great care was taken with this dub, bringing in a few veterans for the main roles and several newbies with great voices for lesser parts. But rivals L and Light control this game and do most of the talking, so, I’ll be blunt: Alessandro Juliani is L. He blows away his Japanese counterpart who gave the detective a good gnomish and sometimes quirky monotone but comes nowhere near the musicality and nuance in Juliani’s delivery. It’s rare to hear a character say one thing but communicate several different things, but you hear it in almost every line L speaks, and I would recommend the dub for his performance alone. In reference to Light, though, I have to switch languages for a sec. I think Mamoru Miyano may be the most talented young seiyuu in Japan. Like Light, he’s a perfectionist in every subject, with breadth ranging from stalwart hero (Kiba) to comedic buffoon (Tamaki) to angsty hotty (Zero) and effeminate toady (Ichiru). He played his own evil twin so well in Vampire Knight that I thought it was a different actor for the entire show’s run. But nowhere is he more at home than in the part of the charismatic murderous mastermind. It’s scary how good this guy is, you’d think he had practice. Brad Swaille might have noticed this, because he starts off trying way too hard as Light. But within a couple episodes, he seems to slip into the role naturally, and by the end, his portrayal can stand up tall beside Miyano’s, laughing in perfect maniacal pitch. So if the incredible hype or the fact that the show’s almost a radio drama hasn’t scared you off yet, you’ll want to listen up: Death Note is one brilliant rollercoaster ride. It’s as Ryuk predicts: never boring. It’s not blah, blah, blah, car chase, fist fight, blah, it’s captivating revelation, melodramatic declaration of victory, brilliant deduction, holmes, and why are we watching a car chase, I want to hear them talk more! To give you an idea of the intricacy present, the original manga was illustrated by one man and written in fine detail by another, who I can only assume is one of those guys who sleep-solves Rubik’s cubes when he wants to give his brain a rest. He fills in cracks in the case’s web of logic that I didn’t even know were cracks until L is nice enough to explain it to us, and I find it astonishing how well the author remembered which character knows what and how he could use it down the storyline. It has the adrenaline fuel of a sports anime, but all anyone plays is mind games, brilliant mind games. This should offer a caution to some viewers though, because Death Note makes homicide “so much fun.” While it’s not irreverent, only impartial, the very idea of turning good and evil into a childish chess game turns a few people off, so be wary if you’re one of them. Be wary as well if you’re into complex characters, because Light and L are psychologically complex but emotionally underdeveloped little things subject to entirely too much speculation about what their relationship is like. (Yaaaaaoi fangirls approacheth...) Past their interaction, everyone else is a one-note pawn. None of them are unrealistic, and many are entertaining, but don’t expect to see any development, unfortunately. That would take away from the drive of the mindgame, so the show chooses quantity over quality with heaps of supporting characters. None of them can take a smear of the spotlight from Light or L, though, which is the death-knell for Death Note later on in the series when the focus is taken away from L for a time and the series spirals from masterpiece to barely watchable, saving itself only through a last episode so good you’ll want to rewatch it as soon as it’s over. In the end, these spare pages of imperfection are just papercuts on a masterful hand that guides this mystery in all the right directions, so if the phenomenon still hasn’t bitten your interest, make a note to see a show that for once, deserves its hype. All in all, Death Note is Shonen Jump at its very best, but it’s still just shonen jump. Don’t believe the rabid fans who tell you it’s some profound exploration of good and evil, because to give it false credit as a mature title would be to miss the point. This is a teen-aimed thrill ride that’s not too deep and it’s barely realistic, but dang, is it well-written, with high-gloss presentation and spare flaws you could fit on a post-it note. *THIS IS A PARTIAL TRANSCRIPT OF MY VIDEO REVIEW WHICH CAN BE FOUND HERE: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wdOV2Y0KAUk Thanks for reading!

In my opinion, Death Note carries a weight of suspense that I\'ve never experienced in most or any animes before. Its story revolves around a notebook that a Shinigami, (AKA Death God) Drops into the real world on account of a whim, one of boredom. The Shinigami, Ryuk, finds the book to be obtained by Yagami Light, a highly intelligent, even elite student, who takes it upon himself to see it as a higher calling to become God of a New World, without criminals or crime, with which he can kill anyone whose name he writes into the book with the image of their face in his mind. It is up to L, the legendary detective, to stop him. The anime is unlike any other. It manages to have a plot twist that uproots everything you believed up until that point and turns it around. Death Note will leave your palms sweaty and heart pounding as you experience a battle of epic proportions among geniuses.The music and art are so articulate and riveting that it "takes no prisoners" when it comes to the attention of the viewer. Each character has a specific and valuable role that is crucial to the series of events that comprise Death Note. The Viewer must choose a side of good or bad, that of the God-Judge of Mankind Yagami Light, or that of the defender of what is right, the legendary "L" and his arsenal of objective diligence and dedication. Their war holds the lives of many in its midst, it encompasses a delicate subject of the role of god and justice in the world into a war over what is right and wrong, and that a single error will create a downfall. Death Note is a Must Watch 100% Anime, I loved it for its sheer insanity and unpredictability as I held on to the edge of my seat for each episode. I Highly recommend this anime to anyone and everyone. Choose a side, and choose it wisely, for whichever you choose will be a thrill and an experience one will never forget. "Death Note w00t!! ^_^"

I know this is one of the anime “greats” but I’m giving it a low score because the writing of the female characters is just… so, so bad. The show runners generally are obviously wildly misogynist, which shows up most clearly in all the close-ups of cleavage and ass-cracks, but in what is easily the laziest writing I’ve seen in any "well-regarded" anime, every single female character of note is given the sole motivation of attachment to a man. Misa, Kiyomi, Naomi… the entire reason they exist in the show is because they happen to be in love with important male characters. Light and L are allowed to have these high-flown motivations sounding in justice and truth, they can spend hours talking about philosophy and playing intricate games of mental chess, but Misa changes significant allegiances at the drop of a hat because… Light told her to. I wouldn’t mind this so much if Misa had legitimate, valid reasons for 24/7 worship of Light (which I guess him killing her parents’ murderer provides SOME flimsy cover for - but even then, it’s bizarre to me to support a mass murdering psychopath just because they happened to do one positive thing for you - and that’s assuming you believe in the correctness of extrajudicial murder anyway, but I digress), but she’s like this even when she loses all memories of Kira. That behavior just does not make any sense to me, and I say that as someone who’s been in love with my fair share of male “genius" assholes. I would not follow them into serial killer-dom. Meanwhile, Kiyomi’s interest in Kira just goes… unexplained. We’re supposed to believe she agrees with everything he says because… ?? Writing like this would make sense with a new character who is properly introduced as prone to Kira-like leanings. The show did this well with Mikami - probably because it recognized that his motivations needed to be meaningfully fleshed out for his worship of Kira to be believable. With Kiyomi the writers apparently felt they could rely on the tried-and-true “woman who just wants a man” trope to explain everything she does. AND for some reason I’m supposed to believe she’s smarter than Misa, when both women's behavior and motivations are exactly the same - they're just packaged into different male gaze fantasies (Misa as the cute fun bimbo, Kiyomi as the hot sophisticated socialite). There’s also a massive difference in the treatment of Light’s parents. Dad is allowed to explore the pain and heartbreak associated with the (almost) realization that your kid is a mass-murdering psychopath. We also easily see how Yagami-san figures into Light’s understandings of the world and of morality and justice. His mom though? Mariah_Carey_I_don’t_Know_Her.gif. If the show purports to be a real exploration of how someone with strong ideals about justice morphs into a homicidal maniac with grandiose delusions, how can it devote multiple episodes to one parent while fully ignoring the other one, and especially when that parent is also 100% present in said maniac’s life throughout the entirety of the show?? Make it make sense (you can’t, without misogyny). There are good things about the show - I did watch the whole thing (but honestly towards the end I was just hate-watching it). There are more than enough positive reviews about Death Note out there though - I don’t really feel the need to write anything nice about it lmao. This is just a TLDR; to say that it’s a deeply misogynist show.

Look, I am not a regular viewer of anime. For all I know, I'm probably missing something that I would not otherwise if I viewed anime as regularly as you. Still, Death Note was an interesting experience that made me realise that following the culture surrounding it is a good way of losing whatever sense of taste I have apparently cultivated. Death Note is not a bad show. Its just a show that is too clever for its own good. Actually, "clever" makes it sound like a backhanded compliment- "paranoid" would suit it better. Paranoia swirls around in the mind of its protagonist, Yagami Light, telling him that someone might always suspect him, a teenager, of murdering people despite the means of the murders being untraceable- there was no real way the law would have caught up to him until he decided to take public requests. But he insists that he may be caught. So he builds an elaborate invention to destroy a goofy-looking notebook with rules written in a foreign language in case someone in his house or outside tries to reach for it. Egging him on is the Spirit of Death Ryuk, who acts both to applaud the pointless complexity of Yagami's thinking and to be an audience POV character, because, even if you don't understand what's happening, Ryuk affirms how the whole thing could only come from the mind of a supremely intelligent person so that you too applaud at what's happening on the screen. I followed this logic too, until I realised that such thinking is characteristic of paranoid individuals- the last thing they need is encouragement. Then there is L- the weirdo who's strange behaviour makes everybody uncomfortable, except for his butler Watery. No wait, its "Watari" or something. Anyway, he apparently comes from money and has a cult going in the background to make sure his "legacy" survives with M and N, in case something happens to him. Of course, something does, and how this happens is so convoluted that only people who have seen the show can begin to fathom. Regardless, Ryuk is there to prevent anyone from calling out the bucket-sized plot-hole as well as the horse-sized good luck necessary for such a plan to work and induce exhilaration at the completely artificial solution to Yagami's equally Byzantine problem, because of course another Spirit of Death would fall in love with one of the worst characters I've ever seen in anime, no matter how little I have seen of it. Maybe that's the point. This show is not about two geniuses fighting each other over their own ideas of justice- its about how the biggest geniuses in the world are paranoid people, and giving them Death Notes is like throwing petrol on a raging fire. Unfortunately, the original author had a lot of petrol to spare, as is visible in the problem called Misa Amane. The aforementioned "worst character", Misa is the kind of baggage an intrepid traveller is offended when asked to carry. Not only is she shallow and stupid, but her committing suicide was one of the best things that happened at the end of the show. While Yagami treats her like the pointless piece of garbage she is, it just reflects what a terrible view this show has of female characters. Why couldn't L have been a woman? Or anyone in the "anti-Kira" gang? Or "Near" or "Mello" (what amazing names)? At the very least, the show wouldn't have appeared to be contemptuous of women then. The pointless use of logic to substitute for characters shows how much storytelling has changed. No need for emotional development, just throw the closest approximation of intelligence that the writer believes he has on the screen. However, do not be fooled into thinking that this is actually intelligence, because the writing leaves a lot unsaid about the failures in intelligence made by the characters: How, for instance, does Yagami justify murdering people who weren't given a fair trial? What if he killed people who were wrongly convicted? He didn't have access to the evidence that those actually investigating crimes did, right? And even if he did, where did he gather them for criminals from outside Tokyo, let alone Japan? In short, Yagami's juvenile sense of justice remains unquestioned by his actions or his emotions. Both the Death Note and Ryuk prevent him from seeing anything other than what he does and the audience feels compelled to accept him because Ryuk will tell you how impressive all of this is supposed to be. But then comes the second season. I liked it far more than the painfully manipulative first season, because it was trying to discuss the consequences of Yagami's actions, with religions popping up around Kira and the anti-Kira gang realising what a big mistake they had made by trusting Yagami. That is precisely why I could tolerate Near and Mello- they came from a bigger world, not to be easily placed within the conflict of insulated geniuses who kept fighting among and decided the "fate of the world" for themselves. Yes, even Near, who is almost an L clone, except that he has a close friend in Mello. There was nothing I liked more than Yagami breaking down because that was the only time I heard the voice acting of Mamoru Miyano come to life in this show. I won't say that the second season justifies the first season, with the introduction of new Death Notes for no discernable reason other than to increase the list of characters, but I do feel that there was far more that was redeemed in this season. I still maintain that Death Note was not worth my time, but I am kind of okay with it existing. I nearly forgot about it and I am sure that, now I have written this here, I will forget about it within a few more months. I understand that reading this may likely incense you into writing some really mean comments. If you are going to insult my intelligence, please do: I found out that I am really insecure about it and I need as much of your salt as you can spare in order to get over it. At least that way, this show wouldn't have been a waste.

All I can say is wow. With the extreme amount of hype and popularity surrounding Death Note, it was only a matter of time before I watched it, and I must say it was everything I expected it to be and more. A tale of a perfect kid with a perfect life trying to play his own version of God and pass judgement to the wicked? This anime has suspense written all over it. I love how fucking original this plotline is. To be honest, I was getting bored of following the same underdog or "rags to riches" style story. Death Note was a breath of fresh air. You follow Light Yagami, a straight A student as he picks up a "Death Note", which allows him to kill the name of the person he writes in it within 40 seconds. After the initial doubt of the validity of such an object... Light is soon greeted by Ryuk, a God of Death or 'Shinigami". At first, Light uses his new found powers for what he thinks is a betterment of the world... that is until the police begin to track him down. Insert L, the man behind a computer screen and the lead investigator on the case to catch Light. What do you get when you cross the world's best detective with a blind-youth brainiac? One of the best iterations of a cat and mouse story around. Not to mention the fact that L may have been the best antagonist you could root for in an anime. At times during Death Note, the tension was so thick, you could cut it with a knife. I couldn't tell you the last time I was that on the edge of my seat while watching an anime... if ever. As devastated as I was once the first arc ended, the second one picked up with increased steam. Every time I thought Light was about to get caught, he would pull some magic plan out of his hat, and live to hide another day, and the writing was damn brilliant. A powerful, gripping piece of fiction, Death Note kept me glued up till and through its incredible conclusion. The story was so powerful in fact, that it even enticed real-life "Death Notes" to sprout up throughout Japan and caused Vladimir Putin to place regulations on the series in Russia. Death Note doesn't have the best animation out there, but I also had to take into consideration that it was created almost 10 years ago. Quite a lot of breakthroughs have been made in visuals since then. One thing I will say is that I was both terrified and intrigued the first time I laid eyes on a Shinigami. Ryuk's creepy stare would be enough to scare the living shit out of anyone who came across him in real life. I also like how introverted they drew L to look... socially awkward but genius, right down to the weird way he sat with his feet. I also really enjoyed both openings, even though I almost fell out of my seat in shock when I heard the second one for the first time. The death metal vibe did sit well, amassing the chaos between L and Light while getting you pumped up for the next episode. Situational sound effects were also present at key points during the show... adding to the suspense. The juxtaposition of Light and his actions during the series are incredible, and entirely believable. The transformation he goes through as a person and the degradation of his morality are showcased most often in the form of inner-monologue, and I couldn't wait to see what he would do next. He's the perfect villain, and it was nice to see a story through the eyes of one as the protagonist. L may very well be the greatest non-main character I've seen in an anime. I was pulling for him the whole time, and his ability to match wits with Light was incredible. Even when no one else believed him, L stuck to his hunches, and his weird mannerisms and love of sweets made him that much more interesting. Sometimes when he stared at Light you could just read his thoughts and then he would utter some spot on observation of the situation. I want to see more characters like this! The rest of the ensemble cast was great too. I really enjoyed how goofy Matsuda and Mogi could be, following the clueless Misa around as her bodyguards. Mello and Near also played great roles, and their vengeance rang loud and clear. I'm normally pretty critical as a reviewer, but there's not much to criticize in Death Note. It's an intense and mind-bending ride, and I enjoyed every second of it. It's "binge-watch" worthy for as I can neither confirm nor deny I finished it in 3 sittings. As the story neared the end, I tried not to look at the episode number in fear that it would end sooner. I would greatly appreciate more shows like this in the future!

Okay, I'm going to a review this time. So, as of a start I will be doing a review on Death Note since it's a fun anime to explain about. I've explained the plot of Death Note many times to the people who have never watched it. And if somebody is getting into anime, I'm sure they will love this anime. Death Note is an anime that really does a lot for me since it was very enjoyable. I review anime differently though. So, you have to follow along with me as I go along. Most my other reviews have got hatred. But, I really appreciate that since I think I could better on my other reviews. I hope this review gets very good since Death Note is a very popular anime as I see. And I'm bored and have nothing better to do with my time. So, why not write this review about an anime that I've been wanting to write about for a long time. So, I hope you like my review. And enjoy :D Death Note really is an anime that is for beginners. If you haven't just watched anime a lot, or are trying to get somebody into anime, I recommend Death Note. Since it's fun to watch. But, it's not entirely good. Still, it can really stand out as an amazing anime, not the best. You get the point. Death Note was created by Tsugumi Ohba[wrote Death Note] and Takeshi Obata[manga artist]. They have many other manga such as: Bakuman, Cyborg Jii-chan G[Takeshi's work], and many more I don't want to name. Takeshi though has been an artist for many of manga. But, I'm not reviewing the manga. But, I haven't started to review yet. This is more of a beginning. Death Note really has a lot of detail to explain, since I liked this anime. And it's one of my favorite manga/anime. I love the anime more, since I enjoyed how it went. Light really looked sweet in the anime. His animation was really good, I enjoyed the art a lot. It looked pretty realistic, that's why I loved the art. Anime with a good art makes me want to watch it. Or anything else with a good art. But, I look for the story even more. After I watched Death episode 1, I wanted to watch the rest. My chest gave me the feeling that I should go even more, since it got me excited. The story really got me pumped. To see what would happen. Usually, when I go to sleep. I would think about Death Note's plot all the time. The way I rate anime is very different then most do. For example, I don't care about the number. 10, really. Why not something else, like 12 or beyond? MAL won't let me for some reason. I go even deeper than the 5/6 things MAL gave me. But, in this I will really have to tell you that the anime Death Note is really heart-pumping. Really exciting, and with many things that are so practical, maybe I can go on beyond what happened. I will get onto the Story, Art, Sound, Character, and so on and on.... I want to review my way first. My interpretation of Death Note: Death Note starts with a teen named ''Light Yagami''. He is really bored throughout life[kinda of like I am], and he would ''browse'' anything to get out of boredom. He is very smart, but really is bored. And watches the news on TV everyday, he notices how horrible the world is. Crime, rape, murder, and etc. He hates it. One day, he finds something falling out of the sky. He has no idea what it is. But, that's where his curiosity begins. After he had to get out of class, he went there. And saw a book entitled ''Death Note''. In curiosity, he picks it up and really puts everything in wonder: ''What is this?'' He looks in it and it says: ''Any human's name who is written in this will die'' Really in not thinking, he just leaves it as a mere joke. But, he keeps looking at it. And wonders more...... Though, he takes it home and to ''research'' and ''test'' it out to see if it works. When taking home, he greets his mom and forth. While watching TV, talking about a man. Light writes the man's name down to see if the ''Death Note'' works. He writes the man's name, and waits[in seconds or so]. Forgets it, Light Yagami thought it is a flaw. Until, the man dies of a heart attack. Death Note says: ''Write the last name and the first name of the person, and you must think of the person's face at the time of writing it, and they will die of a heart attack in seconds or so. Unless you specify the death'', that's the best I got out of it. Light uses the Death Note to create a ''new world'' killing crime. But, then a shinigami[Japanese god of Death] comes(noticing that the Death Note is here. The shinigami lets him keep it, so Light can go on with his plan. I didn't want to tell everything for the first saga. More of just to get you the basic idea. Light can't get away with everything, so he has to hide from a Detective named ''L''. That's as far as I'm going. Not much here. In the second season: I will just tell you my opinions now. The first season was amazing, I just wanted to see everything that was going to happen after episode after episode. I just thought it was amazing. My heart got pumped up literally to see the anime. Just wanting to see more. And I loved the second season opening. It was strange and wild. Not going to talk about deaths or anything, but the anime gets sad too. In the ending and many parts near the second season. And I don't want to be ''open'' on this. It's just too much of the plot. And this is to get you into watching Death Note. Death Note is like a soul for anime, and as I mentioned. New anime fans should watch it. I consider it a very ''Practical'' and amazing anime. There are anime that might beat it, but it's a very good anime. I don't care if you watch it in sub or dub. Either way is amazing. The sub was funny, since I liked the voices on how they did this. And it was more fast-paced in the sub. The dub was very funny, and it really showed comedic flow. But, also made it very sad. Since, how much yelling was going on in the series. The second series should definitely be watched in dub, unless you want to go on to sad parts. I would say watch it in sub or dub. But, it gets very emotional in both ways since you're expressing a lot in the show. I would say due to its originality and its paced heart-pumping story. Watch the anime, I gave you a brief plot of the first season, the second season really could just be explained as if you watch it. Since, you've already watch the first season. The plot of the second season would just be amazing since you would know what was going on in preoccupation for the first plot. Same thing, but a different turn. Many of the characters emphasize their own role, many of them do. It really excites me to see that. And it really is a mixed anime, it's sad, funny, and heart-pumping at the same time. I have seen many anime like Death Note, but DN is a very original. Loved it! Death Note is a good show for beginners. So, watch it. Okay, now MAL's way: Story: 10/10 I would give it a 1000, but I can't since MAL is rude. Not really rude, but you could improve the system. Story is very heart-pumping and exciting. It keeps you motivated for the plot and very active into watching it. And it has an amazing balance of emotion, comedy, and excitement. Like its own aroma, the story is balanced in every way. [Read the manga too] If you want a good anime, watch Death Note. The story is a good part for everything almost in the series. Art: 10/10 The art is amazing, very realistic. And very balanced too. I loved the art, an amazing balance of sharpness, and a very legit art. The art looks very realistic as I said before, the art really compared to others is outstanding. The art is very good, the sharpest art I've seen in anime. But, I look for more. Sound: 9/10 The sound was good, especially this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hZYcApRm318‎ I love the theme, so exciting. But, really it could be even more of a variety in theme. I do wish that it made more themes. Hey, that's how they made it. I can respect that. Character: 10/10 All the characters emphasize thier own role in the series, and it really can't be beat that…

“This world is rotten. The rotten should die.” Story- 9/10 Death note has a very well written story. The two masterminds, Light Yagami and ‘L’ have realistic and intelligent conflicts, through testing each other’s resolve and pulling poker faces so straight I could hear Lady Gaga in the background. In crime genres, it is common for a ‘genius’ police officer to pick up some evidence and go, ‘hmmm, this gun has been scratched here. Therefore the suspect is male, 28 and lives in America!’ On the whole, this line of realism was never crossed and any plot holes in a particular method were quickly resolved. This all made Death Note feel more realistic and it enables the viewer to take the themes in the story that much more seriously, which is a huge bonus for something as serious as Death Note. The story is really engaging. Throughout the anime, controversial viewpoints are presented to the viewer, which aren’t directly answered in the show itself. Although the different viewpoints are tested to a certain degree in the show, it is the viewer that is encouraged to answer the questions themselves. This changes the experience from watching the anime to actually thinking about it. In a show where there is little action, being drawn in by the dialogue and themes is of the up most importance, and Death Note does this very successfully. The problem with the story of Death Note is that it feels like it’s not going anywhere. All of these moral themes are suggested, and the end ambitions of Light are clear, but the show ends up being bogged down by seemingly endless police/ investigation scenes. Whilst this isn’t an issue if you like that sort of genre, when the show did end, it felt kind of anti-climactic because it never did finish those interesting themes it touched on. Finally, as you are probably more than aware of, the show has a huge drop in quality after episode 25. This is partly because of the reason above; that the police themes are needlessly extended just to stretch out the show, but mainly because the show had put itself in the position of having to kill a pretty much invincible character. The result of which will most likely end up in you hating the entire new cast of characters that are suddenly introduced, and make you painstakingly aware of all the plot holes that start to form. Saying this, a huge drop in quality in Death Note still means that it’s pretty blady good. Sound- art 10/10 Masterpiece. There is a deep symbolism within the artwork which I greatly admired. The whole idea of playing God and death were well explored. The atmosphere created through the use of lighting and colours made those intense scenes that much more epic. The animation itself and character design is slick and realistic. Again, it all helps you to take Death Note that much more seriously. The soundtrack is nothing short of a masterpiece. The composers, Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi were able to make the simplest actions seem so impressive and were able to create some very intense scenes. There are more than a few iconic tracks, here are a few to whet your taste buds; ‘Low of solipsism’, ‘Light’s theme’ and of course ‘L’s theme’. Characters- 8/10 “Misa: I can't imagine a world without Light! L: Yes, that would be dark.” The battle between Light and L is and will always be one of the greatest conflicts of all time…….. (notice the amount of full stops). Both characters were so epically awesome, but were never unrealistically awesome. They both developed at equal rates and voiced their arguments with equal power. As a result the fight could have gone either way and you would still be happy. The only proof I need to back up this statement is to look up the numbers here on MAL on character favourites. We’re talking huge numbers, and both L and Light are very close. The conflict between these two giants was certainly very entertaining and is definitely the main reason to watch Death Note. The supporting cast was successful in bringing balance to Death Note. The two main characters are pretty much Gods of their own worlds. Whilst not entirely true, they do therefore lack basic human emotions as they have to become emotionally detached from the situation. The sub characters make up for this by adding very human reactions and emotions into the mix. Although generally overpowered by the awesome Light and L in terms of depth, they do have their time to shine and develop as individuals. So, as I said, they almost put the godly battle between L and Light back to earth which makes the whole situation that much more believable; which is key when presenting very real moral issues. As mentioned, the only flaw in the characters is after the 25th episode. A twist in the story leads to the inevitable influx of new characters that are having to compete with already developed and incredibly likeable characters. This does not work. The final episodes are pretty much carried on the shoulders of already developed characters which makes the end result even more aggravating. Enjoyment (awesomeness)- 9/10 Death Note isn’t something you enjoy, per se. You don’t exactly jump up and down when someone is killed in such a serious way. The overall awesomeness of Death Note is what I will mark this section on. There is definitely a lot of media to find awesome in Death Note. As stated above, the soundtrack and art is nothing short of a masterpiece. Any given situation, no matter how menial is thus able to reach its full potential. The different genres that Death Note is listed as, (crime and supernatural predominately) are represented with skill. In terms of crime, Light’s plans and L’s methods are very intelligent. Individual scenes are very intense, and the general feel of a police genre is evident. In terms of the supernatural aspects, ideas and themes are definitely explored, but weren’t given as much definitive screen time, (i.e. nothing much was answered). Which was a great shame because Death Note definitely had more to offer in this department. And again, the conflict between Light and L was perhaps the most awesome aspect of this anime. There were so many memorable scenes that are the very definition of awesome. Overall- 9/10 If the sheer popularity of Death Note isn’t enough for you, sufficed to say, I do recommend for you to watch Death Note. If it weren’t for a few short fallings, especially towards the end, Death Note would undoubtedly be at least in the top 5 animes of all time. But just falling short of perfection is still pretty damn good!

You may be thinking "Why has this guy given a low rating compared to everyone else?" Well, unlike the DN fanboys, I spotted the immediate problems in the story, which seems pretty big considering that Light and L are geniuses. Story: It got off to a strong start, with twists in the story being explained logically step-by-step, and without any repetitiveness. However, it began to get more and more illogical as the story went on. Someone watching the show might not realise it, but if you put yourselves in the charcters shoes and say 'What would L/Light do now?', you'll see that it gets more and more rediculous. If you want clarification, send me a comment/message, and I'll try and reply. Art: Seems good at some points, fantastic at others, and mediocre at others. Overall, pretty good with effects like the shaking camera and uses of shadows and colours. Some character art seems questionable (N and M), but overall pretty good. Sound: Death Note stands out here. The Gregorian chanting while Lights writes in the death note reallly sets the mood, and the drums and violins complement each other during dramatic scenes. Different instruments are for different moods (e.g. piano = waiting), but are not used so often that you get sick of it. Character: At the beginning, you can predict the kind of people L and Light are. But as time goes on, you realise that they have different facets. The character designs for almost every charcter is really good, from Watari to Matsuda to L himself. Only N and M look out of place. Enjoyment: I loved the first part of the show, but like I said, it gets more illogical until you want to strangle L yourself for not realising the obvious. Overall: Definately worth watching, regardless of the plot holes. It makes you challenge yourself to ask 'What would I do if I had a Death Note?'

Death Note is not what you think it is! Sure. On the surface, it’s a cat-and-mouse game between two investigative savants whom use their wits and cleverness to out-maneuver one another to claim psychological victory. But there’s a deeper story that is rarely, if ever, discussed. Which is unfortunate because it is central to not only understanding the main characters, but ourselves. Before we open that can of worms, however, let’s provide a little background knowledge, as it may have been a while since you’ve last seen the series. A young Japanese prodigy, Light Yagami, is a model citizen who excels at his school work and investigative undertakings. But despite his numerous successes and the acclaim he received from his family and academic preceptors, he could not overcome his state of cognitive ennui. Or, in other words: Light harbored a dissatisfaction for life and overall boredom from daily activities. The feeling of excitement had been zapped from his very soul, or perhaps he had unconsciously repressed it due to certain life decisions (more on this latter). But all this changed when fate granted him a blessing — or perhaps a curse — in which he could eliminate people with a couple strokes of a pen. The Death Note, as it were, was Light’s escape from his dull existence to an electrifying one with the power to influence humankind at his discretion. An existence where he judged humans as either righteous or evil. A line of thinking that dates back to between 1500 and 500 BCE to the ‘father’ of philosophy, none other than Zoroaster. A man whose influence can be seen in Judeo-Christian values and Greek Philosophy via the dichotomy of good versus evil. Light asserts that by using the Death Note in this manner, that he will create a world that is morally just. A concept that he believes he supersedes due to his superior intelligence and ‘God’ given ability. Light’s philosophy, then, stems from ancient principles that go as far back as the Code of Hammurabi, which was a Babylonian code of law that predates the Hebrew Bible. One law that stands out in particular, goes as follows, “If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye. If one break man’s bone, they shall break his bone…” The eye-for-an-eye paradigm in the modern culture is symbolic for inflicting an equal amount of pain to the instigator of said pain; thereby, creating a ‘just’ society via the fear of retaliation. But such a society that lives in constant fear can never truly call itself free. Nevertheless, this is the framework that Light operates under for the majority of the series. And because the outcome of any name written in the Death Note is human expiration, Light must determine if a certain individual’s crimes warrant deletion. Of course, due to his antiquated mind set — in which Light knows what’s best for everyone else — and his supercilious behavior, he quickly fashions himself to be the new God of this changed society. Which is quite humorous because if you’ve read John 1:5 it states: “God is [L]ight”…Yagami! But what is Light without an opposing darkness? Carl Jung, a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, eloquently calls this inner darkness the ‘Shadow.’ And I quote, “Everyone carries a shadow, and the less it is embodied in the individual’s conscious life, the blacker and denser it is. At all counts, if forms an unconscious snag, thwarting our most well-meant intentions.” Think of the ‘Shadow’ as a repressed, unconscious component of our very being that we divorce ourselves from because we reject/deny its very presence. But just because we reject that ‘rogue’ constituent of our being, does not nullify its existence; and far more importantly, does not prevent it from wreaking havoc on our goals and overall happiness. Before proceeding forward in discussing Light’s ‘Shadow,’ it should be noted that that term is not alluding to a malevolent energy or an evil alter-ego. The ‘Shadow,’ as Jung stated, means unconsciousness. Visualize it as a form of opposing resistance to the conscious self; therefore, it can either be considered ‘evil’ or ‘good.’ For example, if a person is cruel and condescending on the outside, we would expect their ‘Shadow’ to be a warmhearted individual who seeks to express empathy. Therefore, psychoanalyzing Light’s impeccable, Christ-like facade, would yield a ‘Shadow’ that is its direct opposite; that constituting a rancorous, narcissist who represents the antithesis of the symbolic Christ-like figure, that being: the Antichrist. This autonomous opposite is realized via Light’s unconscious creation of Kira. For the remainder of this discussion, think of what others see as Light Yagami as Light’s ego (or his conscious self), and the manifestation of Kira as Light’s inability to integrate his unconscious elements into his consciousness. Because Light has not found a method in which he can integrate his shadow into his outward persona, he has projected it onto the external world. To such an extent, in fact, that Light claims “This world is rotten, and those who are making it rot deserve to die.” And while we all acknowledge that atrocities occur across the globe ranging from common theft to all-out war, it should be recognized that the vast majority of people are not immoral, and in fact aim to live an amicable life. Hence, we can use Light’s statement about the world being rotten as potential indicator of a rotten element within himself. But he doesn’t acknowledge this element because he has permitted his ‘Shadow’ to dissociate from himself to the point that it has beget a split personality. “It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the lives of others yet remains totally incapable of seeing how much the whole tragedy originates in himself, and how he continually feeds it and keeps it going.” — Carl Jung We can go back to the first episode of Death Note to identify the beginning stages of this unconscious split. A scene occurs in which Light passionately executes all the worst criminals on the face of the earth via his judgment. After telling Ryuk that his plan will eventually culminate in a fair and honest world, where people work hard toward a brighter future. Ryuk, without equivocation, asks the most pointed question: “But if you did that, it would make you the only bad person left.” This statement, simple as it may seem, carries a great deal of weight. First, it confirms the premise we’ve been operating under in which Light’s ‘Shadow has projected itself onto the world, and, thusly, created a rift with his conscious self. Secondly, for Light to create the God character via his conscious ego, his subconscious, as a result, fostered the enantiodromia to balance out the imbalance — thus, birthing the devil. “The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.” — Carl Jung This notion is reinforced further through numerous symbolic clues. Take Light’s name, for example. As Misa points out in Aoyama, it can be pronounced as moon (which is a representation for darkness). Yagami, in addition, uses the kanji for ‘night’ and ‘God.’ Lucifer’s name, ironically enough, can be interpreted as light-bringing, and there was even an instance in the Bible in which “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” The integration of apples — symbolic for the original sin in the garden of eden — bestows Light with an ironic form of immortality, a temptation to kill that he can never quelled, and the fall of his moral virtue. Apples, of course, represent the cursed gift that is the Death Note. A gift conferred from God — a God of Death, that is — to tempt the individual whom dares to reap in its power. Colors are extremely important in conveying moods and intentions in Death Note. Light is often portrayed in a red hue to exemplify his indignation, bloodthirstiness, and callous nature. Lucifer is also depicted in red, especially when in the fiery embers of Hell. L, who is portrayed in blue, is the antithesis of everything L…

Death Note is a prime example how to start a show in a great way and drive it to the deepest abyss of the green hell. Anime viewers must be way too forgiving - Death Note indeed has a fantastic setup, but quickly declines and people tend to overlook the major flaws this show has. The cat and mouse game of Light and L works pretty well and is very entertaining, but the author reached the peak just way too fast. Instaead making the show 12 episodes, it is 37 episodes long. He solves this problem by various "Deus ex machina" moments, where something or someone appears completely out of nothing to enhance the story or to make a dramatic plot twist. As a viewer, I just feel cheated. This is poor storytelling. It's outright offensive at times. Considering this happens for a majority of the show, this is a big problem. The highly praised of the show really is on a pretty low level. It's a very simple question in ethics and isn't even handled all too well. It takes an kinda interesting phenomenon but does not explore it. This is especially shown in poor characterization of the whole cast, which may appear cool in the beginning, but does not have a lot of depth in general. Animation and soundtrack though are on a very high level. That may take a fun shonen show to an enjoyable level, but Death Note takes itself extremely seriously, therefore the focus lays on story and characters. Overall it's a poorly written show which is extremely pretentious and is lucky to have a big fan base which protects it with all its heart.

"However gifted you are you alone can't change the world". - L Preface: Grab a bag of potato chips, all you wannabe gods of the New World, cause I'm about to shine some Light on this review Note. ****Minor Character Spoilers marked with **** Overview: Light Yagami, resident high school genius and bored student stares longingly out the window, wishing something would happen in the tedium of the everyday. One day, a black notebook falls from the sky. He opens it and inscribed inside, "The human whose name is written in this note shall die". He laughs it off, a sick joke perhaps.. But sometimes curiosity gets the best of us. Light is no exception- a skeptic, he writes a name in the note, expecting nothing. A name of a criminal that was broadcast on the news, a man scheduled for execution. 30 seconds pass. Nothing. The man falls to the ground, clutching at his chest as though some specter has hold of his heart, squeezing the life out of him. He Dies. Is this real? What is this unholy gift? Art: 10 Very consistent character design, and excellent attention to detail, even for characters who get one frame of time in the scope of the show. Dark, gray palette meshes very well with the overall tone. Shinigami designs are grotesque and unique, and at times downright creepy. Sound: 10 Excellent dramatic and suitably epic soundtrack by Yoshihisa Hirano. With a title as pretentious as God of the New World, the music fits perfectly. The subtle tension it builds over the course of the show kept me engaged and on the edge of the seat just as much as the intellectual battle going onscreen did. Voice Acting: dub Top notch VA from Brad Swaile (Light), and Alessandro Juliani (L). The supporting cast also give very dynamic and heartfelt performances, my favorite among them (and favorite character of the show) Brian Drummond (of Vegeta fame) as Ryuk. Opening 1, "Alumina" and Ending 1, "The World" both by Nightmare are excellent tone setters for the show. Opening 2 isn't my favorite, but the Ending 2, "Zetsubo Billy" by Maximum the Hormone is phenomenal. ****Begin Minor Spoilers**** Characters: 8 (hear me out) Light Yagami, genius 17 year old, incredible investigative, manipulative, and problem solving skills- potentially the most brilliant character you'll ever see in animated form, and rightfully so. He thinks his way out of whatever is set in front of him, but not to a deus ex machina point where it was clear the writers were written into a corner and had nowhere to go, a mistake lesser shows make, but not this one. His motives are complex, and his means of achieving them moreso, but Light will stop for nothing to attain his goals. L- Counterpart to Light- mysterious, eccentric, and incorrigible sugar addict. A detective that, alone, has solved cases for the nationalities of the world, and has never failed to apprehend the suspect. His skills are every bit as honed as Light's, and with the most deadly killer in history on the loose, he has every bit as much to gain from its completion, as the ultimate price may end up being paid. *******************Spoilers************************ The only scuff on this tour de force would be two characters, who appear late in the show. The child detectives, L's proteges, Near and Mello, were, I felt, something of a ripoff of L, as if you took his persona and divided it in two, but with none of the charisma and aura of mystery/quirkiness that made L so outstanding and entertaining to watch. While not bad characters in the sense that they didn't break the established rules or come to untoward conclusions, they just were far less interesting to behold. *******************End Spoilers************************ ****End Minor Spoilers**** Story: 10 An absolute thriller of cat and mouse detective drama. Cerebral, mind bending, and importantly- never tries to be something it's not. Death Note prescribes to a set of rules introduced early on, and never breaks them. It stays within the confines of its narrative, and exploits it to the utmost. The story twists and turns, and never leaves you hanging with unanswered plot points or ridiculous cliffhangers. As mentioned above, though it seems sometimes that situations arise where there's no way the character can escape their situation, deft writing takes center stage and delivers with aplomb. Believable motives, heady dialogue, and stunning conclusions keep the wild ride rolling from start to finish. Enjoyment: 10 I'm going to be honest, this was the first anime I ever watched, and the show that got me interested in the medium as a whole. I have a lot to be thankful for- this show was my first 10, and has remained in my top 5 from day one. Death note was a great starter, and I'd recommend it to anyone who expresses even a passing interest in anime. It doesn't have ridiculous over the top action, it's not a fanservice machine, and it doesn't fall into the trappings that some anime seem to have to fulfill to get an audience. It's a an excellent, complete product that doesn't have to rely on filler and tropes to reel you in. The story is very well thought out, and comes to life on the screen. All in all, a blast to watch, and when each episode ends, you're left with a choice, albeit not much of one- "Do I watch one more?". The answer is always yes. Humans are _so_ interesting.

The pen really is, mightier than the sword. This anime is proof. [ 1 MINUTE REVIEW ] Death Note is one of the best anime out there and for many, it IS the best. This supernatural mystery thriller is simply amazing. With an extremely compelling storyline and a ruthless protagonist(s), this show keeps you at the edge of your seat with its exceptionally fast pacing. Watching the two main characters battle it out psychologically in a deadly game of cat and mouse is a real treat. With beautiful animation and a great background score backing this anime up, there really is no reason for you not to check this one out. The realistic approach to a supernatural concept is one of the main reasons for this anime’s success. It is a brilliant anime that will surpass your expectations. This show also serves as one of the best introductions to anime for casual fans. [ 5 MINUTE REVIEW ] You are given a notebook. You are informed that if you write a person’s name in the notebook, then that person will die. Now, what will you do? Assuming you don’t believe this note works, who will you test it on? You wouldn’t risk writing your name, would you? Even if you did believe in this notebook’s powers, would you actually use it to kill someone? Even if you wouldn’t, Yagami Light would. In fact, he wouldn’t use it to just kill one person, but to kill thousands. Yes, thousands. In Death Note, you follow Yagami Light in his quest to become the god of the new world. And how does he plan on doing that? Very simple – he has a Death Note. A Death Note is a notebook, carried by Shinigami(Japanese death gods) and is used to kill humans. Now, to kill someone with the Death Note, you just have to write their name in it and they will die of a heart attack within the next forty seconds. One day, Ryuk, a Shinigami, is bored out of his wits and decides to drop his Death Note into the human world. And Light, a high school student, stumbles upon this deadly notebook and decides to take it home, thinking that it must be a prank. Once he confirms that this notebook is the real deal and becomes processed by Ryuk, he decides to take the law into this own hands by killing the criminals in jail. So every day, this boy wakes up, goes to school, comes home and kills a bunch of criminals by writing down their name in the Death Note while munching chips and watching TV. And to top it all off, this guy is one of Japan’s top students and is an absolute genius. He must be unstoppable now, right? Not quite. A master detective called L decides to step in and try to deduce who the criminal is. And so begins an engrossing game of cat and mouse between Light, who hides behind the identity of Kira and L, the world’s greatest detective who has never revealed his name or face. Death Note’s story is, without a doubt, the best I have ever seen. The plot is filled with twists and turns, guaranteed to take the viewer on a rollercoaster. The storyline is completely unpredictable and even hardcore detective fans will have a hard time predicting the next move. The animation is excellent with fluid movements and seamless transitions. There is almost no recycling of frames and this makes for an enjoyable experience. The graphics are really good and the character designs and detailing are very well done. Modern Tokyo is drawn artfully and blends in wonderfully. The background score for this anime is stellar. The dark goth themes are dramatic and are orchestrated really well. There are also a few mild tracks which suit the mood perfectly. The first OP was decent, while the second was just painful to hear. The first ED was great, especially the video, while the second was passable. However, the average OPs and EDs are forgiven because of the otherwise neat job by the audio department. Light vs L is probably the best duel ever, easily surpassing Naruto vs Sasuke. On one side we have the merciless and untiring Light, who will stop at nothing to wipe the criminals off the face of the Earth and on the other, we have L, Tokyo’s white knight, who masterminds all the operations to stop Light ( to him, Kira) in his tracks. The rules of the game are very simple – The one whose identity is compromised, dies. While Light tries to uncover L’s true identity, L tries to uncover Kira’s true identity. The dynamic script makes sure that this duel never gets stale by forcing them into confrontations with unique stipulations. Now, I did have an issue with the characters. They were extremely shallow and there was hardly any character development. Neither Light nor L display any form of emotion and this does start to itch a little. The only character who displayed any emotions at all was Light’s father. Another problem I had with this show was that it failed to answer the critical questions. For example, Light’s philosophy on killing criminals is never explained. And although his ruthlessness is understood, the viewer never gets to know Light’s motivation for wanting to be a god or whether killing a person just because he has committed one crime is right. Right till the disappointing last episode, you do not get a clear idea on either of the two protagonists’ true mindset. The pacing becomes dreadfully slow in the second arc. I really felt that the second arc could be done away with and the series could’ve been condensed into a 26 episode one and that’s mainly why I’m denying this anime a perfect score of ten.