Death Note: Rewrite

[Since writing this review originally, the two specials of Death Note Rewrite have been merged, this review refers to the first episode: Genshisuru Kami]

For all those who've seen the main TV series, this special episode is essentially a summary of all the events leading up until the end of L's arc in the overall story.

Story (8): Nothing new really. It simply takes the events of the main TV series and compresses it into the space of a little over 2 hours. I gave it an eight simply because it is essentially the overall story line which I was already familiar with. At first, I was ... a little bored to some extent with the story as I felt it was simply a bit of a cheat from the makers as, although it is meant to be the story told from the point of view of Ryuk, it just seemed like a shortened version of the story and didn't have the Ryuk-oriented spin which I expected. It does have some new scenes in there but they probably only constitute for about 15mins of the 2 hour 10 min running time. Unavoidably also, is because of the inevitable shortening of length you sometimes miss out on some of the more comical aspects of the show (in particular, that related to Matsuda and Misa).
However, if you can get past those facts, you can actually start enjoying it. If you watch it as though it is a summary of L's arc, then you'll likely enjoy it more than if treat it as some new item.

Art (9): All the same kind of animation from the show (which was very good), since it uses mostly the clips from the show.

Sound (9): Again very good. Uses all the original music and has the same voice actors for all the new, added parts. What I did like was the way that they managed to creatively use some of the music from the series to enhance certain scenes (e.g. the use one of the themes in the scene when chasing down the Yotsuba Kira).

Character (7): I gave this only a seven as I didn't feel the characters developed as wholly as they did in the series. For example, you didn't really get to the 'cleverness' going on in the battle of wits between L and Kira.

Enjoyment (7): I would say I enjoyed it a fair bit, but as mentioned above, it was nothing much new that I hadn't already seen.

Overall (8): If you're a fan of the series then I would say that this is probably a good recap for those who want to watch the series again but perhaps don't have the time to watch it all. A few more new scenes and maybe told more from Ryuk's point of view and it would have been a 9, but otherwise still a relatively enjoyable couple of hours.

Death Note Rewrite: The Visualizing God aired on Japanese TV on August 31st, 2007, and was produced and directed by Madhouse and Testuro Araki, respectively.

Death Note Rewrite is pretty much a recap of the first twenty-five new episodes compressed into two hours, with an alternate ending and a few minutes of new footage in the Shinigami realm added.

How much value you'll get out of it really depends on whether or not you've watched the series previously before going into this. If you're like me, and have seen the entire series leading up to this, then you'll find this pretty useless, ... except for maybe ten minutes out of the total two hours that's new footage, which is a pretty shit percentage. However, if you haven't seen the series at all, and are looking to get through the first half of the series in two hours instead of a half a day's worth of episodes, then this would be worth a watch, if you can figure out what's going on, as the recap doesn't really explain much.

Everything is pretty much the same as in the series, so I don't feel the need to reiterate what I said in my review of the series proper. Whether or not you get any value out of this "rewrite" really depends on if you've seen the show or not.

Hopefully, though, the next Rewrite will live up to its name and include more new footage.

Before I begin, I want to say that i'm not basing this review on the movie itself, i'm basing it on what it did differently from the anime. The reason being that the two movies are identical to the anime itself and there are no drastic changes.

If you've watched Death Note you'd know it's a spectacular show, one of the best Anime's out there. The movies don't change that at all, if anything the movies further show how good the series is, as well as fixing some things for the better. If you haven't seen the series, i recommend watching it because it's well worth ... the time. These movies were made for the people I assume don't have time to watch all 37 episodes. However this show is great and should be watched all the way through, consider these movies more like OVA's for people who already completed the show.

That being said lets begin. Both movies are essentially recaps of the series' two story arcs. Episodes 1-25 are captured in the first movie (Visions of a God), and episodes 26-37 are told in the second movie (L's successors). I'll first say that there is not much new content here, if you've seen the series you're not gonna see anything major that you haven't already watched. Still, both movies are an entertaining time nonetheless.

Visions of a God doesn't do anything major. At times the story can feel a bit rushed but it does help in the sense of eliminating any parts that felt slow during the series itself. It does change a few scenes, one being the way L and Light Yagami first meet. This was done to shorten it, however It doesn't take away from the depth of the story which is good. At the end of the movie there is a scene that we did not see in the anime, and it was cool to see something new. The story itself is told from Ryuk (The Death God)'s POV, I do wish we saw a bit more monologue or we could hear what he was thinking more often during each event. Aside from some other minor tweaks there's not much else to talk about, if you've watched the series or at least the first arc you're really not missing much by skipping this. Regardless i'd recommend it to fans of the show anyway. While it isn't the perfect recap I liked watching it nonetheless and enjoyed myself.

The second movie is the standout in my opinion, improving the second arc that I honestly didn't care for that much in the regular show. In terms of change, L's successors changed much more than Visions of a God did. It didn't change the plot, more or less changed some ways it was told. The movie actually made me appreciate the second arc alot more. There are a couple of parts to the story that are left out, but personally I didn't mind and if you haven't seen the show I don't think you'd realize you're missing much. Anyway, the pacing of the story is alot better than the first movie, even though the second arc is shorter, I didn't feel like the movie ever rushed itself. Just as Visions of a God did, the movie did add some scenes giving a bit more depth. There aren't many drastic changes even though I think the movie told the story of the second arc better than the anime in some ways. There are some things left out but like I said I wasn't bothered by it. Overall I did enjoy this movie more out of the two and It made me like the second story arc better than I initially did so that's a plus.

The movies aren't anything spectacular but I do think they're worth the watch just the same. They do add some cool scenes that we otherwise would've never seen, and the movies eliminate slow pacing issues even though there aren't many to begin with. If you truly don't have the time to watch the anime then this is for you. However if you're at least interested in Death Note i recommend watching the anime before these two specials. The movie had few plot holes but still, the anime is much more vast. Like I said though, the two relight specials are a good enjoyable watch if you're a fan of the series like me.

If you agreed give my review a thumbs up please (: thanks!

Due to this being a review of the second of two specials which condensed the entire 37 episode TV series into roughly four hours, I'm going to skip describing the story and covering what all semi-decent reviews of the TV series should by default, such as art/animation and sound. If I covered those aspects, I might as well be typing a review for the TV series instead. As I type this, I'm assuming the readers will already by familiar with Death Note, though I will hold back in order to avoid revealing all to those not in the know.

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First of all, don't assume I hate ... Death Note because of my 5/10 score. The reverse is true - I love Death Note, it being one of very few titles to receive top marks from yours truly. Madhouse did a wonderful job of fitting 50+ chapters into 11.5 episodes with the last half of the story. The sappy 'original ending' marathon aside, it's the best manga adaptation I've seen to date, it actually improving on the manga by removing the content that slowed down the second half of the story needlessly. However, when they tried to fit the entire second half into 90 minutes - INCLUDING an introduction and two minutes of credits - the writing was already on the wall.

Right from the start, I had a feeling it wasn't going to be very good.. or, to be more precise, I had a feeling I'd be here, trying to express why I hated it. It started with L making a 'surprise' return, summarizing the first half, with new... animation. But there were only two shots of L - one with him standing at a distance and one from the side of his face - and only his lips moved. At that moment, I couldn't help but think of how little effort went into this special. And this turned out to true in the case of nearly all of the 'new' footage created in a failed attempt to connect a butchered version of the story, with a lot of awkward looking facial art and limited animation.

...Oh, yes, I mentioned 'sappy' above. If you happen to approve of the Madhouse ending and are in desperate need of something else to complain about, Madhouse delivered with one of the few truly new scenes added - one not added to simplify the story. The scene in question involves L, via a TV screen, explaining to the kids at Wammy's House how he's an idiot (I'm quoting him here) and, because he's an idiot, how he's afraid of being lied to. He rambles for awhile, pointing out how he loves the human race for their idiocy (the kids all pay attention because of this dramatic speech), and then it was over. I'm unsure if the Japanese > French > Engrish translation improved this scene or not, but it added nothing of value.

Anyway, moving away from sappy goings on and onto inconsistencies. Because of the huge amount of content that was cut (removal > rewrite), there are numerous inconsistencies present. The most bothersome inconsistency occurred towards the end, when Aizawa entered THE warehouse. In the full story, he goes in to confirm the identity of those inside, him having seen them all already beforehand... but the scene where he saw those people prior to that wasn't included in this special. How in the name of God could he have known if they were the real deal or not when he'd never seen them before? Was he upgraded to a psychic in order to further shorten the length? HOW!?

Maybe even worse yet, Near knew right from the start the identity of Kira. Death Note fans should be aware that Near, though suspicious, only became certain of the identity of Kira after interacting with him for awhile and nearly getting burned as a consequence. But in this woeful attempt at shortening the story, he just knew.

There are many other points I could mention, such as Light acquiring the services of Mikami and Takada before Near came into the picture - the special not even showing why Mikami or Takada were selected - but I won't to avoid going on forever. Just believe me when I say it's as much of a mess as you'd expect an attempt at condensing an already condensed last half of a story to be.

Fear not, though, as we aren't done yet. Not even close. I've saved the best for last.

Remember Light's dad? You know, that guy you never remember the name of and instead just refer as Light's dad? Yeah, him. Did you like the drama involving him in the TV series, where the climax of his story resulted in Light showing his true colours, and later played a key part in Matsuda's anger towards the end? Well, too bad - he isn't even mentioned in this... you know what, I'm tired of calling this a friggin' special. He isn't even a part of this SHIT. No shot of him, no explanation, no nothing. Madhouse remembered to get re-voiced Light dialogue to work around Matsuda's rage, but they couldn't be bothered to explain why Light's dad vanished into thin air. If it was me, and I wanted to butcher one my favourite things in existence, I'd at least have the decency to pull a sudden retirement out of my arse.

Linking into this wonderful omission is Mello, also known by the name of a certain Al Pacino movie in certain circles. But, clearly, Madhouse are not fond of his other name because, like with the poor old father of Light, they forgot to mention how he got his scar. He enters the picture without a scar, the ENTIRE mafia story is removed and then he re-emerges with a surprisingly more attractive face. Why even bother explaining such things? It isn't as if a Death Note newbie is going to be unlucky enough to watch only the... not-so-special-specials and wonder why such an illogical story is so loved. No siree bob!

...You know what, enough of this. All you really need to know is that this is garbage, with a high average rating only because of fanboyism beyond even my Death Note loving understanding. Even the music placement is off, Light's marathon being made worse as a result. If you like Death Note, stay the hell away or you'll more than likely end up imitating me, maybe with a slightly lower paragraph count. If you hate Death Note, by all means watch it - you'll find a lot to moan about and fulfillment. But, whatever you do, don't make the mistake of judging the manga and/or TV series based on this or its slightly less disappointing but by no means special prequel.

Rating: 5/10

okay.. death note rewrite.
part 1: Visions of a God
from what i gathered from its title, i thought it'd be something different but it was not (see synopsis) but nonetheless, it was nice. i kind of regarded it as an overview of DN. i was kind of interested only because of the new character but there wasn't any development either. the story stops right after L and Watari died.

it's pretty much the same DN, only compressed. which leaves us now to just one question: should you watch it? uhmm... let's just say you wanted to rewatch DN.. then i'd rather watch the rewrite. other than for ... that reason, i think you'd find yourself disappointed like i was.

oh, but wait! i think there is a part there that you souldn't dare miss! hahahaha. yeah. another face-writhing reaction from Kira. other than that..no more :)

part 2: L's successors:
the second part is definitely better than the first..or so say. haha. i have a personal bias for L. if you like L, you'll like the second part.. or not; he does the narration for the first ten minutes. i watched it english dubbed, and it still is good.

it's the continuation of the first part, nothing changed except for a slight flashback at wammy house. i was expecting more of near's and mello's perspective but there wasn't enough. i think this version was easier to understand compared to the original.

my review doesn't justify for my rating, doesn't it? that's just me. haha.

owari :)

People who loved Death Note are sad because an epic anime came to an end. But for those fans, this anime movies (OVA) are like music in their ears and chcolate in their mouths. And I'm one of them. I have missed L and if you watch this, you won't regret it ever. Everyone is back in this. The music is great - it makes you want to stand up and cheer for L or Light - it's your call. Also, fantastic background sounds. The art is very smooth and clear. It makes you beg for more. The English dub actors make a memorable performance ... (L's sexy English voice is back, yeah!) that you don't want to forget. There are some scenes added which is awesome and this movies tells us that maybe there will be another Death Note coming I hope. I longed for this and I am fully satisfied and enjoyed it to the max. A must-watch masterpiece! I just hope that they make more anime like this because it gives newfound respect and quality to anime that makes us proud to say we are anime lovers.

If you watched the full Anime Series, watch the first and last 3 minutes of each volume. That is the extent of the newness in these volumes and I saved you at least 2 hours of your life. You are welcome.

If you didn't watch the full series, very calmly take these back to the store and get your money back then watch the full Deathnote series online or on netflix.
I promise that is a better investment of your time then watching these first or even at all.

I bought both volumes for $5 each and they look great on the DVD shelf, but that's really the ... best thing about them.

Part 1 is the story of a boy who had delusions of creating a world of only good people (as if!) - that is why he used the Death Note to eradicate those that do not conform to his ideal. And guess how he judges good and bad? the TELLY! Brilliant eh?

When he got cornered and released from the clutches of the demon, he suddenly turned docile, doe-eyed, compassionate, eager... WTF! it lost me there.

At least L was a saving grace. Or maybe Part 2 will redeem the show.

Well what should I say and where should I begin
Death note is one of the fewest Anime out there that can really make you believe in the brilliance of Animated shows for real

A serious show that is without extra needless fillings, not something you can find that easy

From plot to characters to art to soundtracks
it truly is the ultimate Anime, because by the end of it the viewer is guaranteed to be left with quite an impact

Aside from all the flattery I would say that what really makes Death note a masterpiece is its ability to make you think (and forcefully) you can never let ... a scene slide easily or you'll suffer the consequences of being left in the dark or being unable to clue out a primary piece of the plot

you see, Death Note is all about focus (and hard), and one of the few shows that made me really feel what I thought about, only rivaled by NGE (Neon Genesis Evangelion) this show is certainly not for people who want to have a good time watching some splashes on the screen

Not just that, Death note urges you to take sides, share in character motives, and finally feel (through understanding) what makes each person do what they do, that too shares in the magnificence that makes Death Note what it is

In my honest opinion, this is one show you cannot leave unseen

Of course if you haven't seen the series yet, I suggest you do so first, it is true that the Movie adds some new footage not included in the series, but the series complements the Movies so much that it becomes impossible to watch one individually from the other

Spoiling a masterpiece by chopping it up into clips instead of watching it for real. It does have about 10 seconds of new footage, but it isn't worth re-watching the show in such an incomplete manner. You would be better off just waiting a while until you've forgotten some of the show and are ready to watch it again, and then just get the full experience.

Youtubing the ~20 seconds of new footage is probably a better approach than watching these, if you want to be able to see everything.

You could argue "well I don't have time to watch the complete Death Note, so I'm better ... off just watching this since it's better than nothing." That's just like saying you should read 70 pages of little selected readings from a Harry Potter book. The book would be ruined. The climax of Death Note is so good that you can probably still get excitement from watching it without really seeing everything before, but the excitement is going to be heavily nerfed from the real experience, and once you spoil it, you can never get back the opportunity to see it for the first time.

Short version of the original Death Note anime.

The original Death Note has a absoloutly great story. The protagonist Light Yagami finds a so-called Death Note. If you write the name of a person in it and know their face, the person dies. Light begins with the plan to create a new world in which justice rules. He murders criminals with the Death Note, which all die of heart failure. However, the police soon notice this and start investigating him. A wild game of hide and seek begins.

Wish it would have included different material than in the Death Note anime (something new..).
So I only can recommand ... watching the Death Note anime if you want to enjoy the whole scenes. Even some of the good ones are missing in this summary. Don´t wanna spoiler so just go and watch the original Death Note.

Deathnote rewrite is the summary of th deathnote series but I can say that I enjoyed this more the the series and here's why.

Story:
The story is identical to the main series as it is the summary. But what I like about it is that only the important parts are tackled. I think that the main series actually contains parts that just make the series longer. The good thing with the summary is that it is intense right from the start and it avoided the boring parts of deathnote.

Art:
The art is improved a little bit from the main series. What I like from deathnote is their ... depiction of death gods. Another thing is the background and lighting that really gives a vibe and improves the emotions that can be extracted from you.

Sound:
The sou d is great. It sets the mood of the viewer. The soundtracks are ideal for the scenes with greatly improves the viewing experience.

Character:
The character development is quite fast because it is just a summary. The first part focused on kira vs L while the second focused on Kira vs N. The traits of characters are well shown and you will know their true nature.

Overall:
If you don't have time for the main series and you want to learn something about deathnote, this is a must watch because it only gives the important parts but it shows the whole story. You won't miss an important detail in the series because it is tackled in this summary.

Death Note is one of my favorite anime series of all time. That's why it pains me to give these specials such a low score.

Death Note: Rewrite suffers from many of the same problems as other similar adaptations. It's nearly impossible to take a 25 or 12 episode portion of a TV series and condense it into ~2 hours without having to sacrifice important elements. In Death Note: Rewrite's case, those core elements are character and pacing.

When rushing through the plot, important character moments often get cut down to a bare minimum in order to move onto the next plot point. When an audience isn't ... given a proper amount of time to get to know the characters, important emotional scenes will have far less impact.

Similar problems occur in the pacing of these specials. Death Note is masterful in its ability to make things like a seemingly normal tennis match or train ride into engaging and suspenseful events. Shortening things to such an extent deflates the tension and overall enjoyment of many once-interesting moments.

However, that's not to say that Rewrite is without value. The new scenes, especially L's speech, are a worthwhile watch for any Death Note fan. I also really enjoyed a couple of the music changes. Playing Zetsubou Billy during the car chase in part 1 really helped with the energy and pace of the recut scene. I personally wasn't the biggest fan of the ending of the original Death Note series, so the music choice in this version felt much more appropriate to me.

These specials are only really worthwhile to someone who wants a quick refresher on the plot of Death Note, or a fan wanting to see the new scenes/changes.

As you may know, Death Note is one of the most popular and one of the best animes of all time, and it's always the best choice to start watching anime. But since it's not the actual show, I'm going to write a review on this recap of the original anime.
Right off the bat, If you prefer watching recaps instead of the actual show (because you don't have enough time to watch the actual show) THIS WILL NOT BE THE RIGHT CHOICE.
Since there are 2 episodes, I want to start with the first episode Visions of God.
Story (6): Nothing is changed really. Except, there ... are 3 scenes added to the movie which are very interesting. One is the beginning, and the other one is the ending. (There is one more scene, but it might be a spoiler to the ones who didn't watched the actual show) It's still the same story, but the first movie Visions of God is the recap of the first 25 episodes of the show. They skipped alot of parts from the actual show. By alot, I mean they skipped the best parts of the show such as the genius parts where L hunts down Light with his little tricks. There is nothing more to say about the story.
Art (7): There is nothing changed either. Since it's a recap, they straight up took the scenes from the anime. But there is nothing bad about the art, there is just nothing special.
Sound (10): Voices were the same. But there were some new dialogues to make some scenes shorter since it's a recap.For the music, I LOVED the soundtrack of the actual show, so it's good that they included the same soundtrack in the recap. They changed the music at some parts, which made it BETTER than the actual show in my opinion.
Character (7): There is nothing changed either. Same characters.
Enjoyment (6): It was 2 hours and 10 minutes, so it was boring because you know what's going to happen.

Now let's talk about the second episode L's Successors.
Story (8): It was quite suprising acutally. This one is the recap of the episodes after the 25th episode. They changed the story alot in this one and they added alot of new scenes. There were some plot-holes but, you can figure them out if think more about the events. Some people hate this arc because of the new characters, but I was interested in this arc, so I loved it.
Art (7): It's just like the first one. Nothing is changed.
Sound (8): Sound acting was the same. Nothing special. About the music, there was nothing special about it.
Character (6): Same from the actual show. Some people hated Mello and Near, but they are good characters in my opinion. But, they ruined Mello in this movie, because we only saw him for 10 to 15 minutes. Since Mello is one of my favourites in Death Note, it pissed me off.
Enjoyment (7): It is shorter than the first one which is a good thing. Added scenes were more exciting, so I had more fun watching this one.

Overall (7): It was good overall, but don't watch this one before the actual show, and don't recommend people to watch this before the anime. But this is a perfect choice to experience the show again.

Feel free to read this while completely imagining the divine main OST playing over my head at the time of writing this review. Running my fingers across the keyboard, dramatically sliding my index from one side to the other while magically still type down a comprehensible sentence as my intense sweat evaporates into sparkles. Writing has never looked so intense before, such is the wonder of this majestic OST, and the latter is only a fragment from what the masterpiece called “Death Note” can offer.
It's undeniable that the show at review is probably one of the founding pillars of mainstream Anime, it has almost become ... a rule of thumb among the classics such as Cowboy Bebop, Code Geass, and Trigun that every Anime fan should at least give a chance to. Those shows specifically always infiltrate discussions that goe about saying that older shows are the supreme, and the new Isekai/Shounen trashy guilty pleasure is what your typical “normie” would be into. And that's a terrible form of gatekeeping.

Recaps come in all shapes and forms, mostly ending up being horrendously bad and unfaithful to the original, but never have I seen better-executed processing of recapping in the Anime medium, that I was so eager to dive in as soon as it was ReWiNd TiMe.
The OST in death note is one of the best, and have not seen the show in ages, probably what approximate to 3 to 4 years now, it was a shame that it was beginning to fade away from my memory, so much so that hearing it again for the first time triggered massive nostalgia and thriller to being back again, and don't get me started on the phenomenal voice acting too, the characters are so much felt, those of a presence that tells a genuine story, carry strong emotion, and their fear of death resonates with even your own.

For some reason, the visual credibility of the original show had me in constant fear of there being a great deal of age, after all, I only got to experience it for the first time in probably crappy 480p, potato sound output and horrible latency. But now that I have managed to lay my fingers on this almost remaster-felt pie, I appreciated more the fact that it came from no other than the fantastic folks over at MadHouse, it really shows even with over a decade from it first being serialized.

One of the most controversial parts in the fandom is the fight over which the superior part of the series was best, the L arc, or L's successors' arc. I would personally go always for L's arc and this recap shows it clearly to me again. Both episodes were solid retrospective re-telling of the story, but the first one had me head over heels in awes.
A total gem that's 100% worthy of many rewatches. Although it does not justify skipping over the parent show as you could only fit so much in a 3-something hours total of recap material.

Those two movie long "episodes", the anime Death Note is shown us once again. Death Note is one of the best anime series of all time, for it presents a deeply unique and compelling story rivaled by few.

Story: The story is unique. A notebook falls from the sky, and the human who writes a name in it is capable of killing the individual pictured in his mind. This presents the viewers with a highly debatable theme based on morals and justice. Yagami Light, who obtains this power to kill, utilizes it in hopes of creating a utopia in which he is god. Criminals, and only ... criminals, are to be punished in hopes of a perfect society. Is this however, right? Is it right to kill individuals who have done wrong, and will do wrong again? Can they be reformed? Death Note presents the viewers with questions such as these, questions which cannot be easily answers. This series challenges the viewers morals and for that, it deserves highly. With great and power and ambition, Yagami Light is forced to play a chair gripping game of cat and mouse with those who seek to detain him. The way L attempts to persecute Light is something I have never witnessed in an anime. The first 15 episodes will magically draw you closer and closer to the scene as suspense hangs over their individual methods for identifying the other.
10/10

Characters: Light and L are two of the most interesting and intellectual characters I've ever seen in an anime. Although both are geniuses, they each possesses that certain something that will make you root for one of them to win the game. Light's charismatic, yet extremely demented character gives you reason to watch his conquests and failures. L's quirky, yet highly intelligent qualities does the same for him. They are both unique and likable in their own ways. Character development sometimes lacks. Obsessed and overtaken by his dream of conquest with the Death Note, Light changes barely from the beginning of the series. This bit change can be seen in various other characters as well, although a bit more notable. Anyhow, the characters are definitely interesting.
8/10

Sound: Yet another amazing aspect of Death Note. I truly believe that if not for the soundtrack, the anime would not be where it is. All of those quick decisive moments with lives on the line are made intense, and the calm calculating ones even more. The opera, holy-like music also adds greatly to Light's character and goal of becoming God in his new world. The only flaw here resides in the second opening which at first, may seem disgusting to you. Sometimes overused, it still is on a very good level.
8/10

Art/Animation: Again, amazingly done. The dark colors suit the anime perfectly, and the scenery are all done amazingly well. Seriously, there isn't much action going on here, so there wasn't much to animate. Most of the scenes consisted of the characters talking or thinking, but the scenes there were filled with action (car chase and such) was done very well.
8/10

Overall: I was watching the series as one of the first anime, and those weeks are still great and heavy in my memories. The suspense was amazing, and it got me thinking. Anyone who finishes this anime will be forced to wonder about what they would think and do in the world. It is this talkable and complexity that makes the anime shine, in addition to its ability to carve suspense and anticipation into its viewers. I have never seen an anime as good as Death Note, and I highly recommend this anime to be watched. 9/10

For what they are, Death Note: Rewrite & Death Note: Relight are decent summaries of Death Note as a whole.

Death Note: Rewrite takes place from the story's start to about episode 25 and adds a few unique scenes here and there.
Overall, it's almost identical to the main series. However, I did enjoy the inclusion of the last scene after a particular scene occurs during the final moments of this movie. It added an extra element to the story, which was worth it.

Death Note: Relight, on the other hand, is the superior movie. Not only does it add completely new anime scenes but has ... better pacing overall. In addition, it cuts many unnecessary aspects of the anime and compacts them.
The starting segment of the movie is gold, and the addition to the ending was also fantastic.

Conclusion:
If you have already seen Death Note and want more, these movies will be a good reminder of the events that occurred and will engage you. The new addition of scenes will excite you as they're well done.
However, I suggest watching the anime first if you're new to the series! I say this because the anime will offer a much deeper understanding of the portrayed conflict :)

The movies are good, as expected, 7/10.

They aren't worth watching. The false narrative they suggest as a retelling from Ryouk's perspective is a lie. They're literally just condensed versions of the same story. And not done very well either. They end up just being a confusing vomit of scenes without everything properly connecting everything or explained like the original. If all someone were to watch was this, they would be confused out of their damn minds. Worse, the "new" scenes are basically nothing, and not relevant to the story. If you want to watch Death Note and haven't, watch the TV series. If you want to watch the new or different ... scenes (and there may be a total of ~3 minutes across both movies), just watch them on YouTube and save yourself 4 hours.

SPOILERS TO FOLLOW (for what little spoilers there possibly are)...





















































It starts out with some rando Shinigami going to Ryouk in the Shinigami Realm and asking him to tell the story of the interesting time he had in the human world and offering him a shinigami realm apple to tell it. Then the recap starts as confusing scene vomit that jumps too much and makes no sense. The next is the way Light & L meet, it's different in the recap and bizarre - some phone call then going to some weird hidden doors into some secret theater to meet with L and get shown the response the team sent to the second Kira. Just straight wtf stuff. Then after L's death there's a funeral scene.

The end of the second one is the worst. It just shows that Light wouldn't have died, that Ryouk killed him because he thought Light getting caught and going to prison would be boring and there's no telling how long it'd take for him to die. Which is all of about 30 seconds of him saying that. Which implies Light had a lot of life left and the bullet wounds wouldn't have finished him off, that he wasn't fated to die for a good long time.

The specials are sort of a series’ summary. I believe, however, that it would be somewhat confusing to watch the specials prior to the series because in the specials there are sequences so compressed and deprived of information by comparison to the series that someone who hasn’t already watched the series could have difficulties to understand some points, which, I personally, find relevant. Also, in the specials there are events completely modified, which, from my point of view, could lead to an incomplete understanding, and, to be honest, I’ve been pretty pissed by this aspect. The specials do, however, make a good recap of the ... series as well as they also bring some fresh explanations which I kind of missed throughout the series.

death note is the show that properly got me interested in anime (we do not talk about tokyo ghoul lol) and i have rewatched the series/episodes more times than i can remember.

this wasn't anything too exciting or different, but it was nice having something “new” related to death note that i could see. i'm still kind of amazed at how this series hasn't bored me yet, i keep coming back to it - but it just goes to show how compelling the story and characters and intrigue is :)

- part one -

i do like the theory that light is the shinigami at the start who ... goes to meet ryuk - he's even wearing some form of a suit and shows curiosity beyond that of the other shinigamis so that is cool

L and light's first meeting in this version is a little underwhelming. light accepts that L is the one calling him and goes to meet him without much question, which felt out of character. it also takes out all the internal conflict light had about acting on L's reveal, him saying his name is ryuga hideki and all that. but i like his red blazer look so am i really that mad

i actually kind of love the scene of light at L's grave. it's a very dark scene, and it gives me chills, literal chills, seeing the start of light's descent into fanatacism.

but but! i wish it showed the raye penber scenes in more detail, those episodes were some of my favourites. and they didn't show light's gradual smirk as he watched L die, i mean come onnnn

fitting 26-odd episodes into 2 hours obviously means not everything can make it in, so the tension isn't as well-maintained, and it can feel like a compilation of scenes rather than a coherent story in its own right

- part two -

L as a narrator was so corny dear god let the poor guy rest. but that intro to the characters with the little montages was kind of hilarious

this part was more rushed, it was a shame. no real introduction to mikami or takada and their involvement, and the timeline of near forming the SPK and what the task force has been doing for 4 years is a little more unclear in this. it helps having the knowledge of the series to fill in the gaps.

also mello is SO much more interesting than near, so of course they make the decision to hardly include mello in this film. smart. skipped all the cool mafia scenes, sayu's kidnapping, soichiro's death?????? instead this was near-central which was a little disappointing

the second half of the show is generally thought to be weaker than the first, a sentiment i agree with as well, and this film didn't really help clear things up much. had i not seen the show, i would have been very confused at what has happened and what is going on.

and near sucks xo

--- watched 06/02/2022 ---