Mar 2, 2015
Death Note is the first anime that I have ever watched. At the time, I did not consider myself to be a fan of anime in the slightest, and it was my girlfriend that convinced me to give this show a chance. It did not disappoint, and it has changed my view on anime completely.
I will try my best to keep this review spoiler free, not revealing any major plot points, which could ultimately ruin the show for those yet to watch it.
I personally feel that the concept of Death Note is unlike anything I had seen created before, giving a good understanding to
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the viewer about how too much power can corrupt any man. The way that this descent into madness is handled is brilliant, and although the change begins very early in the show, it increases towards the end. The entire show is essentially one big, exciting game of cat and mouse between main characters, Light and L. After a few episodes, you will begin to "take the side" of one of these main characters. The show does a fantastic job of providing both sides of the argument positives and negatives. The way that Death Note constantly surprises the viewer is mesmerizing, what you are expecting to happen rarely ever takes place.
The characters in Death Note are the real selling point of the show. Two completely unique characters, unlike many others in media today. We decide which one we consider to be the protagonist and the antagonist. Both believing that they are fighting for justice, giving these characters their conviction, both feel that they are in the right. Ryuk is a Shinigami, he is responsible for Light being given the Death Note, and throughout the show provides comic relief. I do, however, feel that Ryuk was a bit of a wasted opportunity, and after the first 10 episodes he rarely appears. The concept of the Shinigami World having Death Notes is an interesting one, and I am upset that we did not learn more about it. Later on in the show, we also get to know the character Near, who I feel is an under appreciated character. His personality is very unique, and the actions we see him carry out, in order to find Kira are interesting. He is often seen playing with toys, which depict characters from the show. The show also introduces many other characters, however none of them are nearly as memorable as Light and L.
Like most people, I have to agree that the show begins to go downhill after episode 25. However, in my opinion, it does not become as awful as some people make it out to be. It is just not up to the same quality as it once was. I thoroughly enjoyed the finale, and feel that most of the loose ends were tied up. If the show were to have had a different ending, similar to that of the live action Death Note films, I feel the show would have received much more praise from viewers.
As I mentioned earlier, this was the first anime that I ever watched. Due to this, I did not have a great idea of what was good art and what was not. After viewing the art of other anime series, I feel that Death Note has good art for its time of release. However, I do not consider it good enough to be a sole reason to watch the anime. The show has a dark, dull colour palette, matching the theme of the series. We are very rarely shown a landscape of something to be considered "beautiful". I found that the show mainly concentrates on the story and the character development. If this is something that interests you, you should love Death Note.
For those interested in watching this anime with the English dub, it will not disappoint. There is not a single character who's voice does not suit them. The English voices of Light, L, Ryuk and Near are my personal favourites.
Overall, I feel I would rate Death Note 9/10. Almost everything about it is perfect, however as mentioned before, it does begin to go downhill later on in the show. If the plot were to have been altered, so that the second half did not occur, I feel this would raise my score to 10/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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