Time to give it an actual review after rewatching the show.
Note: I will have * with a number placed inside which mean there will be some text at the very bottom that contains spoilers. So if you don't mind the spoilers you should check that.
Story: Deathnote is about the best character of all time, Light Yagami. He finds a notebook and inside, it states "The human whose name is written in this note shall die."
Deathnote is one of a kind really. Very few stories I have seen come close to it, not even FMA: Brotherhood. It has great pacing thanks to the 37 episodes giving it the chance to be a true adaptation of the manga. Nothing feels rushed. Originally I had read a bit of the first manga volume and had the ending spoiled by my friends. This did not ruin anything. The story has great build up in every moment to that final point. The writing of it is superb and the concept is amazing.
The show has lots of exactly as planned moments.*1
Ending thoughts*2
Art: Art is done by Madhouse who have made quite a few anime. The show looks good for 2006 and looks like the manga.
I would like to give special mention to the Second Ending which contains the best animation Madhouse have ever made.
It's top quality in short.
Sound: I am one of those people who prefers the dub of this to the sub. It feels more natural to the characters appearances.
As for music Nightmare provide the first Op and Ed which are wonderful to listen to.
The second Op and Ed is made by Maximum the Hormone. The second Op is a mystery to me. As for the second Ed it is beyond perfect.*3
As for soundtrack music there are quite a few repeats but these are mainly L's and Light's themes.
Character: Light Yagami is the perfect model student. As the world’s greatest serial killer known as Kira.
L is the mysterious detective hell-bent on arresting Kira.
The character development is excellent. You start to understand Light's thoughts. You will start to support him or root for his downfall.*4
You go inside of both L and Light's thoughts as they think their plans through. *1
Enjoyment: Despite having the ending spoiled for me I didn't see what happened/how it happened. The build up to the point was what was important.
*1
*2
If you had this show spoiled or not it will not affect your enjoyment.
Overall: Deathnote is my favourite anime and I doubt that will change. It changed something inside of me yet I don't know what. My life felt empty when I finished it.*2
Deathnote is a near perfect anime with stellar art, sound and story. It is one that will go down as a great with the likes of Neon Genesis, FMA and Code Geass.
Overall I would give Deathnote a 10/10. I would recommend it as a person’s first anime.
For legal streaming you go can go to Netflix for the UK. I can not confirm but I believe you can stream it on Hulu for the US.
Alternatively you could buy the DVD or the Blu Ray that is been released (I believe). In addition I would recommend getting the Death Note Manga which can be bought in volumes of 1 or Death Note Black Edition which includes 2 volumes totalling 6 books for £10 each.
Anything on from this point will contain spoilers for the show and my personal thoughts and feelings of the show.
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*1 Exactly as planned: These moments occur quite a bit. The most memorable being Just According to Keikaku. This is when Light has regained the Deathnote and tricked L into thinking he is innocent. During this point character development takes place between L and Light.
Before this happens Light does not explain his plan other than that he wants to get rid of the Notebook. He then flashes back and explains how he will prove his innocence.
The main one is the ending showdown. In short Light tried to trick Near into thinking Mikami had the real notebook but it was actually a fake. He explains this in the final episode after proclaiming "looks like I win." It was working until Mikami made a fatal error in revealing the location of the real notebook.
There are other plans in the show as well.
*3 Ending 2 "Symbolism": I have interpreted the 2nd Ed as Light's rise to being a God with the literal Stairway to Heaven. The elevator scene has great build-up and shows his rise to the heavens as God of the new world. But only for him to fall to the ground.
Side note: The flipping of the notebook, writing the name and seeing Light in the watch is beyond amazing.
*4 Kira: Kira is the "mass murderer" in Deathnote. His real name is Light Yagami. My normal thoughts on him would be that I would disagree with him because I don't think we should have a death penalty. But I didn't. I supported for Light because I realised this is the only way to clean the world.
*2 The End of Kira: So the ending happened. I watched it just last night. Yes as the title says, The End of Kira, his downfall, his death.
Well firstly I should say the only change I can recall from the manga to anime is the ending being changed slightly.
In the manga Light gets shot and begs Ryuk to write the SPK and Taskforce's names down. (Just got the book at so I can quote it.) So yes. Light gets shot and is now crawling on the floor away from Taskforce. He is begging Misa, Mikami and Takada to write their names down. He eventually reaches the feet of Ryuk where he says "Sure... I'll write it." And then reveals he was talking about Light. Here Light insanely shouts "I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"and has a flashback to when he first met Ryuk. Subsequently Light dies of a heart attack 40 seconds later.
This is different to the Anime ending which you should have seen. Light peaces out and dies on some stairs.
When I first watched I will admit I felt sick. It was a pathetic end for an amazing character. I assume you would have been disappointed if you didn't know beforehand. But was this foreshadowed? Ryuk told Light he would write his name in the Deathnote.
Although I prefer the manga ending this one was complete and well done.
The performance by Brad Swaile in this episode was excellent.
Deathnote is a masterpiece. Nothing will come close for a long time.
