Death Note is, and will continue to be, one of my favorite animes. Then why rate it so low, you ask? Well... I'm trying my best to review honestly, and not let the hype get in the way. (If the above sentences made no sense at all, well... think of it like this.. I'm very critical of animes that receive endless applause and praise. There must be /something/ wrong with it. XD Take, for instance, Twilight. Why's it so popular if the writing's truly, academically disgusting and the plot nonexistent, not to mention the characters? It's the same here, except with smaller differences, of course.)
So... let's get to the review, shall we?
Story/Theme: 7
To the untrained eye it is a rollercoaster full of ups and downs and drama and people kicking the bucket- or rather, clutching their chests. To a person who's read and watched such masterpieces (or, at least, know a close someone who's passionate about them) as Jane Eyre, 1984, Macbeth, (not to mention Discworld, Ender's Game..), and such like, it is full of holes. Like cheese.
Take, for example, the theme of corruption in Death Note. It is, has anyone noticed, remarkably similar to Macbeth (which, in a nutshell, is about a guy going insane for power after he gets promoted and gets a whiff of it). However, Macbeth is done in a way that is totally realistic, in a scenario where you completely understand the character and what he's gonna do. In other words, the corruption part and all that follows is imaginable, within the "human spectrum", and godforsakenly human. All this without having to rely on a Death Note.
No, I'm not saying this series would be better off without the actual killing tool- that would defeat its entire purpose. All I'm saying is, the story takes you to a point where you just enjoy the ride and not think about what it means to us, as humans, anymore- especially doing the "deduction" and "masterplan" scenes. And that's all they are. Scenes to make you go "Wow! These people are SMART! I wouldn't've thought of that!" Basically, the show loses its "true" focus often (that IS my opinion, despite what others have said) and doesn't rely on, say, our conflicting morals to advance the story as much as really intelligent people playing mind games. What I mean is, they should've put more scenes like the "Money means all" thing that Near did. It unveils the human condition while being realistic to the situation at hand.
I also have a huge, huge problem with how the world "accepts" Kira- which is, luckily for the show, not expanded upon very much. What the author's trying to say, I think, is that humans, at their root, are cowardly and corrupted. Face it. Not many characters are acting on "good" morals (aka the ones we live our daily lives by), and when they are, they never get anywhere. Truly, is this what the world has come to? Acceptance of Kira?
Don't forget, it doesn't matter if the author/artist didn't choose to put that explicitly in the anime/manga, "they didn't need to, it was implied"- But why is it that in the entire plot, not one character achieves something good while being simultaneously good? I'm very, very confused about what they're trying to say here- that humans all all corrupted? (That's the easy "moral theme" for a series, for sure.)
And this is where Death Note fails- it fails to look at how things actually are, instead looking at how they /appear/. The world accepting Kira is something that the watcher almost subconsciously EXPECTS- they go, OMG, this is the true humanity! This is totally, like, deep and profound! when in actuality, the sort of thing might not happen. That is the difference between a masterpiece and a plot built upon a contrived, superficial theme.
Plus, the actions were coincidental enough themselves. It was almost as if the characters were playing parts in a play.
Okay, enough with the story, let's move on. :)
Art: Solid 10
Nothing to qualm about here. The art is simply beautiful, and the subtle tones delicate and succint, pushing the story wonderfully.
Sound: 9
Very good here, too. Just one thing, though. Remember that guitar note pattern we heard in the first or second episode? It started with, "da da dum dum dum"? (And I think later it became L's theme...)
Is anyone else reminded of the "Brothers" song from Fullmetal Alchemist? It starts with the same five notes, I'm pretty sure, so all the time I was waiting for the sixth note- it's coming, it's coming.. uh, no it's not.. Aww..Wait.. it is, but it's not THE RIGHT ONE!!!. And it annoyed me 'cause I felt like the composers might've been plagiarizing.
Character: 7
Points for L!!! Yay!
...Not so many points for Light. :( Sorry, but the whole evil genius thing didn't strike any chords with me. I mean, if the authors couldn't imitate some aspects of Ender's Game, at least they would've created a character we could've connected with more successfully. Most of the time he was a gibbering, conniving megalomaniac- an awfully stereotypical sort of character, and not interesting at all. His intelligence is almost like an afterthought.
L was a bit better, although I would've liked to get into his head a little more, and have kind of a sense of the isolation he must've been in, not being part of society and all that. (Seriously, just one word... Ender. L /must've/ been Ender in a past life.)
(Oh yeah.. to the person who wrote about 1984... SQUEEE!!! I love that book! It's like one of my favorites of all time! I wish we could talk about it together.. there are so little people online who know about it, and even less who could connect it with anime like Death Note. XD)
Enjoyment: 9
One thing kept it from being a ten, and that's the lack of humor- a purely personal preference. (Terry Pratchett, anyone? ;)) I enjoy a story most when it has the capacity to make fun of itself- things tend to get... bad... if the show takes itself too seriously. Death Note started well in that aspect, until the later eps, when things just... dragged on, and there was nothing funny plot-wise or character-wise at all. In the beginning there was the entire absurdity of the situation (something that the Discworld series is very well known for), which was appreciated. Then, L with his quirks. Then, people died. Then, MORE GENIUSES. Holy crap, Artemis Fowl must be irritated. XD
Overall: 7
I'm going to be honest and different. :) I would give it a seven, without hearing about the hype and all that jazz. Death Note's biggest faults are its story and character development, although it is far better overall than a lot of shows I have watched and books I have read. So.. let the anti-personal bias curtain be raised...
But it'll always be my cherished fan object! -hugs L- Fics and fanart galore! Death Note is AWESOME!!
L: Not... A... Plushie....
