Death Note is among the 'godly' realm of anime, right up there with Full Metal Alchemist, Steins;Gate, HunterXHunter and Gintama.
The thing that separates Death Note from the others is 100%;
The Story.[10]
The story, holy hell man, this is one of the only anime that makes a plot twist, hides it, and lets YOU discover it on your own. This story makes you question your own beliefs and can change your view on the world, and none of that was an exaggeration, I can assure you.
Being slightly in the realm of anime watching, you've probably heard about Death Note. Even if you haven't, Death Note has found its way into western culture, and not in the most desirable ways. The story revolves around Light Yagami, THE brightest student in Japan. He discovers a notebook named the 'Death Note'; written inside are the words; 'those whose names are written in this book shall die.' sounds like crappy chain mail from the late 90's right? wrong. The consequences of those 10 words reak havoc throughout Japan and the rest of the world. All because of a goddamn notebook that some lazy-ass Death God (Shinigami) dropped, to have some 'entertainment'. I am glad this isn't real because damn, its some scary shit.
[Manga] - compared to the manga, the anime trumps it. The manga had some story issues about halfway in and it got a bit boring for a few chapters, but the anime, they just gloss over the irrelevant shit, and they gloss well. Nothing is lost, and nothing is unneeded, perfect even.
The Art. [9.5]
Personally, I love the art, you knew what everything was, everything was almost identical to how Takeshi Obata drew it. The *only* thing not giving it a prefect 10, is that there are a few scenes throughout the series where the characters just look really strange, like its only for half a second or something but yeah it's not noticeable enough to waver your thoughts on the amazing animation done in this anime
In the first episode, the art comes of as incredibly saturated, very bleak and very plain. In my opinion I see this as how Light views the world around him and as the series goes on, it gets brighter and more vivid as more of the story unfolds.
The Sound.[10]
Holy ambient batman.
TRUMPETS, GOTHIC CHURCH CHOIRS, HEAVY METAL. EVERYTHING IS HERE AND AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, the score throughout the anime was perfectly written and especially throughout the battle scenes, it didn't feel intrusive, it just felt so natural.
The Characters [10]
To maintain my spoiler free [exc. ep 1] review I'm just going to say a few things.
Ryuk; easily a hilarious necessary addition. Comedy is spot on and really plays the whole 'are death gods actually bad though?' card very well.
Light; INCREDIBLY INTELLIGENTLY written, he embodies our natural thought processes and seems like he does the natural, logical things anyone would do...
The other characters that are revealed later on in the series are easily some of my favourite characters and I'm yet to see someone disappointed in how the characters are written in this show.
Enjoyment [10]
I thoroughly enjoyed this show, its philosophical, it provokes you to think about it almost every episode and its JUST SO DAMN GOOD.
If you're hesitant to watch it YOU'RE MISSING OUT ON EVERYTHING, WATCH IT.
OVERALL: [10/10] (Rewatch potential [10/10])
Lastly;
Impact on The World:
Death Note has been banned in several places, most reason revolve around the 'Makes students take an interest in death' chant. As with video games, scapegoats are aplenty and this anime & manga series, being the 'controversial' story it is, is no exception. This should not be a reason to not watch the show, I REPEAT, DO NOT MAKE THIS A REASON TO PASS ON THIS ONCE A GENERATION SHOW.
Thank You for reading my 'review/recommendation! Arigatoo Gozaimasu~
-Zukosfireyass
