0
0
Year: 2007
Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Psychological, Supernatural
Episodes: 37
Rating: 4.5 out of 5
Have you ever been so bored that you needed excitement in your life? What would you do and where would you go? Would you go to watch a football game? Go to the movies? Maybe go to an amusement park. I would personally rob a bank and see if I could get away with it. Ok, perhaps not rob a bank but I sure as hell would go to Disney World and have an epic dance-off with Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. I want to see Donald Duck breakdance. That would be entertaining.
What if you stumbled upon an item so grand that it could wipe away your boredom? If you found the Trident of Poseidon, would you go control the seas? What if you found Mjolnir? Would you control the lightning above? What if you found Excalibur? Would you rule a country? What if you found the scythe of death? Would you go around, taking people’s lives? I would personally want Mjolnir. I would be a god. Someone makes me mad, and I would zap their dumb ass.
With any weapon, would you try to create a world that you see fit? Who would be allowed to live in your world? How would you make it happen? How would you judge people accordingly? Would you decide to become a god amongst all those in your way?
Overview:
Death Note follows the story of Light Yagami. A young man that is considered the perfect high school student. He is handsome, a genius, and excellent at everything he does with minimal effort. His main issues are that he is bored with life and despises everything evil. He views the world as sick and corrupt. One day while sitting in class, he sees a black notebook falls from the sky out of nowhere. Light pays no attention to the notebook, but his curiosity overtakes him as he finds and takes the notebook.
Light’s life takes a dramatic change as he learns that the very notebook he has obtained has the power to kill anyone whose name is written in it. Light begins experimenting with the notebook coming to realize that the very notebook is real in every way possible. As he continues his experiments, Light meets the previous owner, a Shinigami named Ryuk. Ryuk explains his reason of dropping the Death Note as a form of entertainment. In turn, Light explains his plan to rid the world of the unjust and wicked until only the kind and honest are the only ones left. Light explains that he would create a utopia, and he would proclaim himself as its new god.
Light believing his intentions are good embarks on his mission to cleanse the world by killing all that he sees is evil. As the death count rises, he soon is called “Kira” by the known world. Soon he catches the attention of the world-famous “L.” An equally genius detective that rivals Light in every way possible beside looks. Through a live broadcast, “L,” deduces that Light is located in the Kanto region and can kill a person without direct contact. During the broadcast, “L” challenges Light by stating he will catch him.
With the stakes set of life and death, Light accepts the challenge and states that he will not only become a god but also kill “L.” Thus begins a cat and mouse game the world had never seen before. At stake are the lives of the population of the world.
Review:
Death Note. Oh, Death Note. An all-time great anime that manages to screw up. Death Note is honestly a top 10 anime. Hell, it can be a top 5 anime, but it manages to screw up so bad that it makes me disappointed. I would let everyone know that season 1 (episodes 1-25) is absolutely AMAZING. Some of the best storytelling I have seen, but when season 2 (episodes 26-37) come around, it fails again and again and again.
There are so many things that I love about this anime, I don’t know where to start. I guess we can start with the storyline. Death Note has one of the darkest but most entertaining storylines out in anime. It is intense, complex, compelling, keeps you on the edge of your seat, amazing and best cat and mouse game one will witness. The first 25 episodes are that. I will get to the second half in a while.
Death Note presents a story about a notebook that has the power to kill anyone by writing their name in it. Pretty intense if you tell me. What truly makes this story go is the cat and mouse game between the two main characters. Can Light reach his true dream of a utopia, or will L stop him at all costs being called the world’s greatest detective? The back and forth games these two mighty forces play against each other is staggering. When you think Light is finally caught, he turns the tables. When you think Light has finally outsmarted L, L turns the tables back on Light. A true masterpiece of mind power. It honestly reminds me of Sherlock Holmes against James Moriarty. Overall, the story presents one central concept, whether killing is justified if you’re only killing criminals. If criminals do a horrible crime like rape, murder, etc., is it okay to judge them and eliminate them? As you watch, you will either start rooting for Light to succeed or fail. You might even question your own morals with questions on what would you do to change the world and is it, fine killing criminals.
The downside of this anime is the second half (episodes 26-37). They ultimately felt rushed and repetitive. You pretty much know how the story will play out, you are just wondering how they will get to the final outcome. I felt like the episodes were a waste of time, along with a sense of urgency to finish an already perfect anime. Yet, I must admit that the overall ending (final episode) is terrific, with the story coming full circle for all the major players.
The characters are amazing in this anime. The creators do a great job in creating both Light and L. How both characters are both the same but also entirely different from each other. Two great minds that are presented in two different extreme ways. A perfect analogy to describe these two is the great detective Sherlock Holmes (L) versus his arch-nemesis Professor James Moriarty (Light).
Light is presented as a handsome, sophisticated, intelligent, perfect person. Light’s outward appearance is what one might think a person like him should have. An evil genius donning sophisticated clothes, can excel at any sport, brilliant in the classroom while being charming, cunning, and manipulative. What is significant is the overall transformation of Light. Light ultimately becomes a tragic hero in his own play. Light starts out as a once-promising and innocent high school student that has a strong sense of justice, along with wanting to make the world into a utopia without evil. Light soon becomes an individual who is tainted by the Death Note into thinking that the world needs him to rid it of all evil so he can become a god. One that only knows the correct way people should live.
L, on the other hand, is presented as a gloomy and dirty person who is a genius that no one can take seriously. He is the literal sense goes by the phrase, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” He wears a dirty, baggy white t-shirt with blue jean pants and no shoes. His hair is all over the place, and he looks like he hasn’t slept in weeks. He has an insane appetite for anything sweet, has the strangest way of sitting in a chair, and is the complete opposite of Light only in appearance.
Finally, there is Shinigami Ryuk. The original owner of the death note. A god of death that is bored with the Shinigami world, so he decides to drop his death note in the human world for some fun. Ryuk plays on no sides and just wants to be entertained. Rather than some person as a human being, a god of death, Ryuk is presented in a terrifying way. If I saw him, I would probably die of fright. Ryuk has a humanoid appearance but is slim with light gray skin, spiky black hair, blue-grey lips, and sharp, pointed teeth. His limbs are unusually long, and he has large, round yellow eyes with bright red irises. Not someone I want to meet in a dark alley
Two other areas that the anime does so well is with the overall animation and music. The animation is flawless in this anime. One example of this is the portrayal of good and evil. L is represented as the good and noble character. When he is deep in his own mind, a blue aura comes over him. It shows when the blue is contrasted against a black L. On the other hand, as Light’s personality changes from the influence of the death note, so does his aura and color scheme. His once golden aura, representing his gentle side, changes to a dark red. Whenever he knows he has won, his eyes become red like a demon.
The music is excellent in Death Note. The music adds an engaging appeal to the storyline. It becomes intense when Light’s sadistic ways come out. The song that Misa sings is downright creepy as lives are taken. I also love the ending theme, “Zetsubō Billy.” The song is hardcore, and the animation for it tells the perfect story of Light as a fallen angel/soul from grace.
Anyone who watches Death Note will thoroughly enjoy this series. The series is full of twists and turns that are thrown at you in Light’s grand plan to rid the world of all evil but becoming evil himself. You will be on the edge of your seat, trying to see if Light can actually fool and get away with his plan against L. As stated before, episodes 1-25 are a masterpiece while the rest of the series falls flat. I will say that the ending was fitting for a series.
