I’ve been watching a lot of early 2000s anime and a lot of those art styles tend to be on the uglier side but this show has genuinely some of (if not the best from my limited knowledge) the best looking animation from that era. Everything from just the artstyle to the color palette really set the tone of this show. I love the use of the shaky cam and shots that convey how deranged Light is. Everything about this show (visually/colors) is so dirty and grimy, it really does depict how ugly this world can be and the actions taken by humans. Furthermore, the score for the show is nothing short of phenomenal. The intense pianos, the haunting Victorian choir really puts you into the show and gives you this horrifying feeling of what the characters are doing as well as putting you into the cat and mouse game between L and Light. I know the monologues are kinda memed on but I think they really add to the story, it’s nice to see how these characters are thinking and the steps they ultimately take to achieve their goals. I’m not religious but I have to mention the use of Christian symbolism as a strength for this show, it just adds so much more depth to it.
The themes of this story as well as the characters are similarly just as good. From the first episode I was hooked on the concept. Similar to Psycho-Pass this show is about morality and justice, what is truly right, and how far should anyone be willing to go to enact this if anyone should at all. Furthermore it’s a show about ideology and its destructive nature, all of the characters whether they’re good or evil have their own viewpoint on justice. I love the themes of justice and the destructive nature of ideology and this truly sells the show for me.
I really can’t stress enough how good the two main characters are. The supporting cast is good too but Light and L specifically stand out. Their dynamic is so good. The cat and mouse game between them was the best thing about this show and I loved stories where the good and bad guys switch throughout the series. Still characters like Misa, Ryuk, Rem, Izowa, Light’s father, and specifically Mikami to name a few are entertaining characters who serve an integral part to the story.
The story itself was both the strongest and weakest element of this show. The first third of this show is really good, from the first episode all the way up to where Light and Misa are about to be killed by Light’s father had this really interesting concept going as mentioned above, it flowed really well, and not mention, the cat and mouse game between Light and L is genuinely really good but I don’t need to explain it because I’m pretty sure everyone knows that by now. Just know every word, every action, and it’s like they’re reading each other. One wrong step and it all comes falling down. However the middle section of this story (particularly the arc with Yotsuba Group) was really drawn out and incredibly boring. It killed the momentum the show was building up and pivoted to telling a much less interesting story that lacked a lot of the aspects I really attached to in the previous arc. The game between Light and L is still present but to a much less degree, all of the characters feel sidelined in their own story, and overall it just feels like a B plot. Though I will say the actual idea of the Yotsuba Group is interesting. The arc did have a very nice set up and payoff but still, getting to those points felt tedious. I understand why that section of the story was in there but still, it was too long and too boring imo. The final 3rd of the show I feel like gets too much criticism, wasn’t as strong but I liked it. I do agree when people say Near and Mellow were forced in. It’s jarring they killed off L just to replace him with a character who walks, talks, acts, and looks exactly like him but lacks all of the charm and personality. Still I love everything else about this arc, I think it reverts back to what made the first third so good with a nice cat and mouse game and Light manipulating the world around him in his favor. The ending is satisfying and makes the story come full circle but still it just feels like Near won purely off of luck than intuition.
TL;DR- Great premise that doesn’t quite reach the heights in the beginning as the series go on.
While it may seem like I’m being really harsh on this show don’t get it twisted, this is a really good show and I enjoyed everything it did well far more than the things it didn’t. This show is a classic for a reason and while I don’t think it’s perfect it does deserve that status.
