) The Anime Otaku Survey #3: Death Note · 4:43pm Dec 9th, 2018
Welcome to another episode of the Anime Otaku Series. I know that I promised Hellsing Ultimate for this episode, but due to extenuating circumstances, I was simply not able to dedicate the time to watch it this past month. The details can be explained in my previous blog about being diagnosed. No worries, though. That review will surely be available come the new year. For the time being, though, I shall review Death Note!
Warning! This review contains spoilers. I will place a spoiler around the areas where it’s most sensitive. However, If you want to get the full effect of my review, I recommend watching at least through the first season.
Death Note was one of the first shows that I had been exposed to when I started watching anime. Aside from Dragon Ball Z (let’s face it: who didn’t see that back in the day?), it is the anime I remember most fondly among my top early experiences with this media. It is right up there in my mind along with animes such as Fullmetal Alchemist and Cowboy Bebop. It is a show about a young college student who sees the acts wrought by the darkness in human nature as unforgivable and wants to do something about it. And, after acquiring a notebook which can kill anyone whose names are written into it, he utilizes it to exact retribution upon the world.
What is it about Death Note that I find so appealing though that I’d place it that high up on the pedestal? There are definitely some areas where suffers from pacing issues, particularly in the opening act of the show and its second season. This might be something that genuinely turns some people away from it; my husband, for instance, had a difficult time getting past it, as he found some of the events in it to be too perfectly orchestrated to come across as authentic to him. This is surely indicative of not allowing the events in one or two of its episodes enough time to develop.
I was personally not turned away by it, however. The cat and mouse mind games played out by Light Yagami, the protagonist, and his nemesis, L, were delightful to watch. I perceived the leaps in logic each of them makes due to their vast intelligence, while extreme, to be well-grounded in sound deduction. This battle of the minds scratched an itch for me that I hadn’t known I had; it succeeded in a way that other shows I watched later simply couldn't. To this day, there has only been one source of entertainment I found to come close, and that is the movie Searching
Whenever the track it's most notably acclaimed for, it was just as satisfying to hear as the impact it had on the big reveal it was played with. To put simply, it was well orchestrated and effectively used.
This show arguably has one of the most famous scenes in all of anime history, as well. There is very little chance you don’t already know what I’m talking about if you’re an avid watcher of anime but just haven’t gotten around to this gem yet. Hell, it contributed to the revolution of Memes and even made its way into some famous artworks within the MLP fandom. I am, of course, talking about the potato-chip scene. You can seriously type that phrase into Google and the scene is the top result, which is an indicator of how masterful its impact had on the show. I cannot do the show justice here without talking about why this scene is so good.
Each frame was carefully planned and executed. From the angle of the camera to the mannerisms of each of the characters as Light feigns having the life of an ordinary college student. As L watches Yagami, the student works on his cram school homework with one hand while he secretly writes the names of his victims into the Death Note in the other. Ryuk, a shinigami (god of death) who has been following along with Yagami since he first acquired the Death Note, takes a sickening delight in humanity’s darker nature which comes out in full force. Every moment is packed full of dramatic tension, culminating to that final moment where Light declares, “...I’ll take a potato chip… and eat it!” I could conduct a frame-by-frame analysis of the ingenious planning behind this scene, which would generate some two thousand words on its own, but if you want more on that right away, you can check out Mother's Basement's breakdown of it. It is highly informative and gives us a much better idea behind this show’s success regarding this scene.
Yagami’s declaration is the passionate cry of a demented man who believes he is doing right by the world and the power to exact his narrow-minded vision upon it. It shows that the power has gone to his head, that he will never be caught by the likes of the ace detective pursuing him. He has thought of everything and had the composure to follow through with his plans.
Little does he know, his innocent act comes across as a little too perfect for L. There are little things that stand out to the detective. Take for instance the Playboy magazines the student purchased to fool L. Yagami reads them in an attempt to throw off the investigation and appear as a normal teenaged boy, but his body language clearly shows he is disinterested by it. It all culminates to L’s final conclusion. Yagami is incredibly intelligent and also hiding something. And it’s not his porn stash.
With this epiphany, L also makes the deduction that his only chance of uncovering the truth is with a face-to-face encounter. One of the follow-up scenes in a later episode, which is spectacular in its own right, L uses his aloof nature to stand out in front of a crowd as ‘Ryuzaki’ and make it abundantly to Light that he is L. With his actions, he is essentially telling him, “I dare you to come get me. Kill me!” And to add insult to injury, when he sits down next to Light, he whispers something to the effect: ‘Kira–’ (a name invented by society everywhere for the Godly acts Light committed) ‘–I am L, and by the way, I am not really Ryuzaki.’
As far as I’m concerned, the writing and thought put into this story are on-point, framed by its interesting and unique concept. The stunning visuals and soundtrack add to the show’s charm. The characterization is very well-done, and as you follow along with Yagami, you can see him develop into the man you want to see succeed and, at the same time, fail. As you follow along, it's hard not to think to yourself, "No, Light, there’s another way!" That is just plain good writing, and it really shows in its execution.
It is for all of the aforementioned reasons that I am giving this anime a 9.5/10.
Score:
Concept: 9/10
Storytelling: 8/10
Visuals/Soundtrack: 8/10
Characterization: 9/10
Subjective: 10/10
Final Score: 9/10
Side note: I would like to point out that the second season is not necessary to watch in order to attain the fullest gratification in watching the anime. After the resolution in the first season, which wraps up succinctly and beautifully, I do find that it can sort of impinge on the charming effect on some of its audience. It is a continuation they provided to the fans that wanted more, but the desire and expectations were ultimately very different for me. I believe the show’s most defining moments all lie within its first season.
If you’ve watched this anime, what were your thoughts on it? Also, if you have any animes you would like me to review, feel free to let me know in the comments below. Stay tuned for next month’s issue of the Anime Otaku Survey, where I will for sure cover Hellsing Ultimate. And as always, thank you for your support.
Definitely one of the best. It's rare to find animation that actually does something with the medium. I assume you're aware of the live action version?
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Which one? There are at least two Japanese live-action films from what I recall as well as the Netflix version. I've watched them all by the way. I can discuss them with you individually about them.
The Japanese live-action series was more or less mediocre and ruined Light's characterization. Half the cast was also unbearable to listen to. At the same time, I found the Japanese live-action movie to be aweful because there was simply no soul to it. That movie was truly a money-maker.
The Netflix live-action movie was actually the truest adaptation of the anime series with regard to the piece's soul, despite making many leniences in the focal plot points. Some fans really criticize the Netflix version for that, but for all the other flaws it has, I enjoyed it the most because it paid attention to those same character details and shots to express Light Yagami's motivation, his intelligence, and the internal strife he has with his father. I'd love to do an individual breakdown of the dinner scene, which is another VERY powerful scene despite only being around a minute long. There were about four layers of depth to it, for they crammed as much detail as possible into a short time span. It's easy to miss for the untrained eye. If the film had actually been a little stricter on their adaptation of the anime series, it surely would have been critically acclaimed.
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Huh. You've convinced me to give the Netflix version a try. My attitude thus far has been "why?", but you're right: the Japanese version took liberties.
You know, it's odd. Part of me wanted Light to win. What he was doing was wrong in that it denied the possibility of redemption for criminals, but he came across as an underdog given the magnitude of the forces that were trying to stop him.
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That isn't to say that the Netflix version didn't take liberties as well. They took the most out of the three that I saw, yet it remained true to the core message behind the anime. And I'm glad I was able to pique your interest with it. I hope I have not steered you wrong.
One message this show sends is those who carry the sole responsibility to exact capital punishment on others which have wronged is doomed to become precisely what they set out to prevent. You can see this in Light's deterioration into mania to satisfy his God complex.
I absolutely loved the first episodes of Death Note. The plans were intricate and clever - even though it never was important later, one of my own favourite scenes was where Light prepares his study drawer to ensure that the Death Note will not be found, or the entire arc of the FBI investigation.
Unfortunately all too soon i found that the author - Ohba Tsugumi - just quit holding himself to rigorous standards. A lot of the later "plans" rely on ridiculously low chances to succeed or ignore obvious facts. Just think of when L invites Light aboard the investigation because Misa is threatening to kill him. L himself openly says that at this point he is pretty screwed - all that Light would have to do was to say that he did not want to work with L because L had clearly stated that he did not trust Light.
There is also just absolutely no commitment to character integrity. One of the examples that were most annoying to me was when Misa Amane is imprisoned and tortured. This is in clear violation of Japanese law, and not one of the Japanese police officers - who were displayed as being so devoted to the justice system that they are willing to lay down their lives for this - prevent or report this. Light's father is even later stated to be so strictly adherent to Japanese law that he refuses to carry a gun because it would be illegal - but hey, torturing a woman who might not even be guilty is fine. It's pretty obvious who the author was trying to pander to here.
Around this time the focus on well thought out plans and analysis completely goes out the window, and Ohba instead solely focuses on trying to coax an emotional response out of the readers. Doesn't work for me when the rest of the plot is plain shit. Just think of the very end of the series. Light is not taken down through analysis and intelligent planning, but pretty much solely from a random incident that wasn't even shown on screen.
For me Death Note is on the list of animes that started out brilliantly, but unfortunately utterly disappointed in the later stages.