If you happen to get a power that allows you to kill anyone, regardless of who they are, for as long as you know their name and face, what would you do? Most people would probably use it for their own selfish desires, like to kill that noisy neighbor who doesn’t know where his own lawn ends, or that slave driver of a boss that just piles up more and more paperwork on your desk, or maybe even that fat bastard who won’t pay his debt. Regardless of your answer, I guess that every one of us has someone in their mind who you think should just disappear. This is the very same circumstances that happen in Death note. Light Yagami, an exceptionally smart student happened to find a notebook entitled as Death Note. Thinking of it as a prank, he decided to test it out and surprisingly, he found out that it’s real. Having a strong sense of justice, he decides that with this power, he shall create a new world order, and started his work by killing every single criminal in the world.
I know what you’re asking right now, is Death Note any good? The answer to that is yes, it is, and the reasons are that: Death Note has pretty much one of the most well thought out and complicated plots out there. It tells the story in such a way that it makes you want to keep an eye on every single detail as it might be the next thing to surprise you. Second, it makes use of very complicated yet very plausible logic that just leaves you thinking if it really makes sense. Lastly, it makes use of the element of suspense most of the time, leaving people glued to their seats while awaiting the next big revelation. Now, if you haven’t guessed yet, the thing that makes Death Note such a great anime is its plot. It makes you think deeply into the situations that the characters Light and L is thrown into, and when you try to predict what will happen next, most of the time you’ll come up with the wrong conclusions. This is the thing that makes Death note such an engaging anime. There are some people out there such as myself who find it pleasurable to try and guess what will happen next in the story, and when you do get it right, it gives a lot of satisfaction. And since Death Note is of the mystery genre and all, it really delivers well in the mystery part. Now, another thing that makes Death note so great is its unique perspective of the story. Instead of showing the story through the eyes of the good guy, L, it shows the story through the eyes of Light Yagami, one of the very few utter assholes that I’ve come to respect. He is in a nutshell, an evil anti-hero who is hell bent on creating a perfect world by committing mass murder. Seeing the story through the eyes of the evil MC can make you think about whether what he is doing is actually right, unlike in other animes wherein when the story is shown through the eyes of the good guy protagonist, the story seems to bias to the side of the good guy MC. But of course, as with all anime, none are perfect. Although this really isn’t a hole in the plot or a mistake by the creators of the anime, some people (most of them haters) points out that the story is too, well, perfect. They like to point out that everything just flows too smoothly, especially the plans that Light carry out. After reading the manga and watching the anime, I have also come to notice this. I’d like to reason out though that this is an anime, not real life. Seeing those plans unfold in seeming perfection is one of the most enjoyable part of watching this anime. If you take that away then Death Note would lose at least 50% of its enjoyment factor. Also, after the timeskip somewhere in the middle of the anime, the plot suddenly seemed to have dropped in quality a bit due to a major plot twist, though it might just be me. Despite that though, Death Note still has one of the best plot out there, and I’d like to see someone say otherwise.
Along with a wonderful plot comes an even better set of characters. From the evil scheming bastard MC Light Yagami to the good guy detective L, every character is just perfect. They are very well developed, with complete personalities and their own philosophies. You can really feel what they are thinking of despite both main characters being slightly despicable in their own way, you just can’t help but agree with them in some points. These things can really make the characters grow on you, and seriously, you’ll really come to love them. Another thing that I’d like to mention again is the fact that the roles of the antagonist and the protagonists were switched, making Light the main character and L as the antagonist. Now, the great thing about this is that the viewers are actually given insight into the mind of the evil MC, and unlike in the other animes wherein the MC just spouts nonsense about justice and peace while the author just hopes that the viewers will take such ideals with a grain of salt, Death Note actually takes time to try and explain the reasons as to why the MC actually does that and even provides us with his philosophies and beliefs. This is one of the things that make Death Note a couple of notches better than other animes. Also with regards to the how smoothly the character development goes, I’d say that they did a damn well job. The pacing was just perfect. You can really see the transformation from a simple high school student that firmly believes that cleansing the world of criminals is justice to a half-mad genius who has a god complex.
Now another thing that I would like to mention is the animation and music of Death Note. Although these things are not really needed to make a good anime, I’d really have to say that Death Note’s animation has aged pretty well. Made during 2007, its animation is still pretty good by my standard, all clean and slick. So to those who have phobias of 90’s animation fear not, it won’t kill your eyes. As for the music, the background music really makes things a heck lot more epic, especially during those scenes when Light is sitting in front of his desk and writing the names of criminals like a BAWS, then an orchestra-playing-epic-music-and-a-choir-starts-singing-in-Latin-or-some-other-laguage-I-can’t-understand type background type of music starts playing. Also, the second opening was really unique. Freaking screamo will really get you pumped for the stuff that will happen next.
So to conclude everything, I’d just like to say that Death Note is an exceptionally good anime. It has a beautiful plot, great characters, is quite long, about 37 episodes so you’ll be able to enjoy it thoroughly. For those people who are into detective and mystery type anime, I highly suggest watching this .I swear you won’t regret it.
As a summary, these are the pros and cons that I pointed out in my review
+Plot is really complex with lots of twists and turns that really hooks you in
+The Main characters are without a doubt, some of the most interesting characters out there, with personalities and beliefs that are well developed
+The suspense factor is great throughout the anime
+The intro and BGM were both very well done
+Quite unique by the fact that the anime was shown through the eyes of the Antagonist
-Gathered a few haters who claim that the story was too unrealistic because everything in the anime goes too smoothly
-has 1 filler episode
~First and foremost, thanks for reading my review. If you have any comments regarding my review or just want to have a discussion, then leave a comment at my page. I will greatly appreciate it. =)~
