Story- 9/10
Death note has a very well written story. The two masterminds, Light Yagami and ‘L’ have realistic and intelligent conflicts, through testing each other’s resolve and pulling poker faces so straight I could hear Lady Gaga in the background. In crime genres, it is common for a ‘genius’ police officer to pick up some evidence and go, ‘hmmm, this gun has been scratched here. Therefore the suspect is male, 28 and lives in America!’ On the whole, this line of realism was never crossed and any plot holes in a particular method were quickly resolved. This all made Death Note feel more realistic and it enables the viewer to take the themes in the story that much more seriously, which is a huge bonus for something as serious as Death Note.
The story is really engaging. Throughout the anime, controversial viewpoints are presented to the viewer, which aren’t directly answered in the show itself. Although the different viewpoints are tested to a certain degree in the show, it is the viewer that is encouraged to answer the questions themselves. This changes the experience from watching the anime to actually thinking about it. In a show where there is little action, being drawn in by the dialogue and themes is of the up most importance, and Death Note does this very successfully.
The problem with the story of Death Note is that it feels like it’s not going anywhere. All of these moral themes are suggested, and the end ambitions of Light are clear, but the show ends up being bogged down by seemingly endless police/ investigation scenes. Whilst this isn’t an issue if you like that sort of genre, when the show did end, it felt kind of anti-climactic because it never did finish those interesting themes it touched on.
Finally, as you are probably more than aware of, the show has a huge drop in quality after episode 25. This is partly because of the reason above; that the police themes are needlessly extended just to stretch out the show, but mainly because the show had put itself in the position of having to kill a pretty much invincible character. The result of which will most likely end up in you hating the entire new cast of characters that are suddenly introduced, and make you painstakingly aware of all the plot holes that start to form. Saying this, a huge drop in quality in Death Note still means that it’s pretty blady good.
Sound- art 10/10
Masterpiece. There is a deep symbolism within the artwork which I greatly admired. The whole idea of playing God and death were well explored. The atmosphere created through the use of lighting and colours made those intense scenes that much more epic. The animation itself and character design is slick and realistic. Again, it all helps you to take Death Note that much more seriously. The soundtrack is nothing short of a masterpiece. The composers, Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi were able to make the simplest actions seem so impressive and were able to create some very intense scenes. There are more than a few iconic tracks, here are a few to whet your taste buds; ‘Low of solipsism’, ‘Light’s theme’ and of course ‘L’s theme’.
Characters- 8/10
“Misa: I can't imagine a world without Light!
L: Yes, that would be dark.”
The battle between Light and L is and will always be one of the greatest conflicts of all time…….. (notice the amount of full stops). Both characters were so epically awesome, but were never unrealistically awesome. They both developed at equal rates and voiced their arguments with equal power. As a result the fight could have gone either way and you would still be happy. The only proof I need to back up this statement is to look up the numbers here on MAL on character favourites. We’re talking huge numbers, and both L and Light are very close. The conflict between these two giants was certainly very entertaining and is definitely the main reason to watch Death Note.
The supporting cast was successful in bringing balance to Death Note. The two main characters are pretty much Gods of their own worlds. Whilst not entirely true, they do therefore lack basic human emotions as they have to become emotionally detached from the situation. The sub characters make up for this by adding very human reactions and emotions into the mix. Although generally overpowered by the awesome Light and L in terms of depth, they do have their time to shine and develop as individuals. So, as I said, they almost put the godly battle between L and Light back to earth which makes the whole situation that much more believable; which is key when presenting very real moral issues.
As mentioned, the only flaw in the characters is after the 25th episode. A twist in the story leads to the inevitable influx of new characters that are having to compete with already developed and incredibly likeable characters. This does not work. The final episodes are pretty much carried on the shoulders of already developed characters which makes the end result even more aggravating.
Enjoyment (awesomeness)- 9/10
Death Note isn’t something you enjoy, per se. You don’t exactly jump up and down when someone is killed in such a serious way. The overall awesomeness of Death Note is what I will mark this section on.
There is definitely a lot of media to find awesome in Death Note. As stated above, the soundtrack and art is nothing short of a masterpiece. Any given situation, no matter how menial is thus able to reach its full potential.
The different genres that Death Note is listed as, (crime and supernatural predominately) are represented with skill. In terms of crime, Light’s plans and L’s methods are very intelligent. Individual scenes are very intense, and the general feel of a police genre is evident. In terms of the supernatural aspects, ideas and themes are definitely explored, but weren’t given as much definitive screen time, (i.e. nothing much was answered). Which was a great shame because Death Note definitely had more to offer in this department.
And again, the conflict between Light and L was perhaps the most awesome aspect of this anime. There were so many memorable scenes that are the very definition of awesome.
Overall- 9/10
If the sheer popularity of Death Note isn’t enough for you, sufficed to say, I do recommend for you to watch Death Note. If it weren’t for a few short fallings, especially towards the end, Death Note would undoubtedly be at least in the top 5 animes of all time. But just falling short of perfection is still pretty damn good!
