Death Note Anime Review
Let's say you find a notebook that claims to provide you with the ability to end the life of anyone you want. Do you take it and use it, or do you just leave it, passing up the chance to kill off all the evil in the world?
PRODUCTION INFO
Death Note began as a manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The manga ran from December 2003 to May 2006 and consists of 12 volumes. A light novel was released in August 2006, and an anime produced by studio Madhouse premiered October 3, 2006. It continued airing until June 26, 2007. Since then, there have been three Nintendo DS games, one more light novel, two animated movies, and three live-action films.
SUMMARY
Death Note tells the story of a teenage boy who becomes corrupt with power. Initially, Light Yagami is an honour student who achieves the top grades in all his classes. Having become bored with this lifestyle, he starts to wish for something interesting to happen. That's when he finds the Death Note; a notebook that grants its user the power to end any person's life in, quite literally, a heartbeat. Taking full advantage of this opportunity, Light writes numerous names of criminals in the book, thus killing them. Light may think that what he is doing is just and righteous, but in the midst of it all, he doesn't even realise that he too is now a killer and a criminal himself! Leaving behind a trail of suspicious deaths, Light is dubbed the name "Kira", whom the police of several countries are desperate to lock up, including L, a top-ranked investigator. Can Light evade the police and put an end to all unlawful activity in the world, or will his identity be discovered, resulting in his arrest? This suspenseful plot will keep you on the edge of your seat!
WHAT TO EXPECT
Death Note is intriguing not in action, but in plot. Light and L use a lot of psychology against each other, so you will definitely be forced to think while watching this show. The art is nicely shaded at the expensive of little animation, but this type of show is more centred around thought-provoking dialogue than it is action, so extensive animation is not required for the full experience of the story. There are many psychological twists throughout the series which left me feeling a bit dumbfounded at times. There is absolutely nothing ecchi in this title, but there is obviously some violence. It's relatively low on the disturbing scale, but it can get a bit bloody.
CHARACTERS
Light Yagami can be considered as either the protagonist or the antagonist of Death Note, depending on your point of view. The story is told from his perspective. Light starts off as a highly dedicated honour student, achieving the top scores in his school. Bored with this type of slow-paced lifestyle, he begins to daydream in class of a more exciting world. Promptly after this wish, he notices a notebook on the ground with an eerie title: Death Note. His yearning for a more interesting life immediately ceases. Light is a genius who has a very cynical yet cool personality. Inside, he can assess and criticise everything with ease, but on the outside he displays an act of being sincerely interested in getting high grades. His fans nicknamed him Kira and he became known as such worldwide.
L is a mysterious character. He is Light's rival, and debatably equal in intellectual brilliance. He is extremely wary of the so-called Kira, yet smart enough to find ways to advance closer to him without being in too much danger. Nonetheless, he does take many risks for the sake of his job, as is required to uncover the identity of Kira. L's personality is lax yet cautious. He is very blunt about his theories and beliefs and isn't modest about his high intelligence. L moves in an awkward fashion, and is almost always barefoot. He has an immense sweet tooth and is often seen eating sugary snacks such as cake.
Ryuk is a shinigami who purposely dropped his Death Note in the human world. He shares many similarities with Light, such as how they are both bored with their worlds and want to see an interesting change. Since Light picked up his Death Note, Light can see and hear Ryuk, unlike most people. Only people who have touched a Death Note are able to interact with its counterpart shinigami. Ryuk has a very laid-back personality, treating Light's use of the Death Note to be a means of entertainment. Even though he spends all of his time with Light, he refuses to help or take sides with either Light or the police (specifically L). He also has a taste for apples, claiming that he will turn twisted if he does not eat enough of them.
BASIC RULES OF THE DEATH NOTE
The Death Note has several rules for its usage. The most basic of which is the guidelines for killing; you must picture the face of the person you are killing as you write their name in the Death Note. This means that in order to kill someone, you must know only their name and face. Next, after you write their name, you can write the cause of death in 40 seconds and a description of how it happens in 6 minutes, 40 seconds to control exactly how the victim dies. If you don't write a cause of death, the victim dies of a heart attack.
OPINIONS & RECOMMENDATIONS
Death Note is a very intriguing anime that I would recommend to almost anyone to try at least once. The only people I would not recommend this to are action buffs, as there is little action in Death Note. This series really enjoyed playing with my mind, and I couldn't care less about the lack of much animation. The appeal of Death Note is definitely that it makes your brain work, and too much animation would distract the viewer and interfere with that. Of course, it's not like there isn't any animation in Death Note; there just isn't an excessive amount of it. In any case, Death Note is a show that can be enjoyed by most people! It is hard to stop watching once you start because of all the suspense. It leaves you wondering what will happen next. I highly suggest that just about anyone watch it if they haven't seen it already. If you enjoyed Death Note, I recommend Code Geass for a similar main character and plot.
RATING
9/10
