Anime Review :: Death Note [series]

Director - Tetsurō Araki
Written By - Toshiki Inoue
Language – English Dub
Run – 37 Episodes [2006-2007]
Genre – Thrillers Involving Godly Powers, Brilliant Detectives, and Obnoxious Girlfriends.

Imagine yourself in a perfect world. Not one where any evil-doer is immediately punished by death or that there are no wars or serious conflicts because of the ever-present hand of god… just imagine one where everyone is as cool as the characters in Tetsurō Araki’s Death Note.

The story follows Light Yagami, a brilliant student who stumbles upon a "Death Note" dropped to the human world by a bored Shinigami (god of death) named Ryuk from another realm. The notebook is capable of killing anyone who’s name is written in it as long as it fits into a whacky set of rules provided by the super-natural rightful owners. By just writing a name in it and picturing the victims face, the person in question will die of a heart attack, but, the user is able to get creative if they feel so inclined. Light decides to be the god of justice of his new world and is dubbed "Kira" by the media, killing criminals he deems unworthy of that world with a flick of his wrist. Eventually a connection between the deaths and this mysterious mass-murder is made and the police as well as L (a generally off-beat fella who happens to be the world’s top three detectives) get involved. From there, several years of shit go down in a murderous chess game between Light, L, and L’s successor Near.

Suffering a few year lapse from my anime intake, I accidentally caught one of the middle episodes of Death Note on Adult Swim and was immediately hooked by the sinister protagonist Light and the enigmatic L. My heart filled with the burning intrigue I haven’t felt since seeing Serial Experiments: Lain. What was this all about? What was the Death Note? What were it’s rules? Was I really watching a series where the lead character was the bad guy? Who wins? Why isn’t everyone’s hair spikier?

But, like many cases of love at first sight, eventually you’re waking up with a sore back from having to share your full-size bed and annoyed that their overnight bags take up so much room on your floor.

Now, before I got blasting holes in Death Note, which, for the record, I did enjoy a great deal, let me tell you about how cool it’s hair is and how nice it smells… maybe something about how cute it’s laugh is.

First off the interplay between Light and L is just wonderful. With Anime it tends to be difficult to actually create on-screen chemistry between non-existent characters, but here it’s really a sight to be seen. Truly a better set of onscreen rivals haven’t been seen in anime since Anyone You Can Do… I Can Do Better (a cinematic achievement if there ever was one, but that’s another post.) All kidding aside, though, it really is what drives the series until…

Sigh. well out of courtesy: **Spoilers**

L dies mid-late-series. From there, things take a turn for the mundane, but, I’m still talking about how cute the girl at the bar is.

The English voice acting is also notably well done. It’s funny to see how much English dubs have developed over my lifetime, from awkwardly phrased over-the-top dialog that wouldn’t be out of place in unlicensed Sleepaway Camp sequels to an actual art.

The plot itself is very comfortable to get into, and even when you can see the twists coming episodes away, you don’t mind, because you’re enjoying the ride and the interplay of the flawed, brilliant, and socially retarded characters. Death Note’s constant battle of wits with good and evil pushed into the background makes for some great viewing.

But…

Now here’s the part where I’m a jerk. For the record, I’m a lot better at being a prick than building things up, but, I think the most obvious question to ask after a complete viewing of Death Note is:

Why in god’s name did this need 37 episodes? Up until and including episode 25 ("Silence") the series is on task to be one of the best in years, but, since when does any anime story need an additional 12 episodes to wrap up everything in a neat little package? Personally, I’d have been content with a one episode wrap up and have Light go on to have his misguided desires of becoming a god come to fruition or be killed by Ryuk after vanquishing his rival L, but, unfortunately, I was treated to an additional five hours of hastily assembled characters and half-baked plot twists.

The book was fake! Well we knew it was a fake! Well we faked the fake!! Oh Noooes!

At very least, a second full season would have been necessary to further elaborate on the relationship between L’s successors, Near and the criminally underutilized Mello, but, instead we wind up in a 12 episode no-mans land with a new hero we couldn’t possibly care less about and who’s very existence seems to devalue all the mystery and brilliance of our once-breathing hope of stopping “Kira.”

Also, in the transition between L and Near, Light seems to go from an evil genius to sort of a dope, employing a cast of strangers to help in his plan to kill his new foe.

Truly, the last twelve episodes enter into Jaws II territory.

Where the early sins of the series were more than made up for, (the murky, relatively clichéd color scheme (I swear if one more thing on earth casts the color red versus the color blue… I’m looking at you Chelsea and Manchester U) and the neo-goth pandering with a race of gods dressed in Halloween costumes) the final 12 leave you sitting in front of your TV checking your watch while you’re stuck waiting for the predictable conclusion.

Even the tie-in to the two aspects of L’s personality split between Near and Mello seemed hackney. L liked elaborate, colorful sweets, so Near plays with toys and Mello is constantly munching on plain chocolate bars in aluminum wrappers. Get it?! Truly appropriate because these two crappy derivatives together probably could have made for one interesting character, while our delightfully evil Light suffers a mental lapse at the hands of the writing staff.

In the end everything gets phoned in and there’s a nice, predictable, blue bow on top. Ryuk puts the screws to our anti-hero everybody hugs as our secondary semi-retarded villainess jumps off a tower in the "smoke and sparks" region of Japan. A pointless clusterfuck if ever there was one.

Still, since 25 wonderful episodes easily outweigh 12 bad ones, Death Note is still a chunk of your life that’s well worth the effort.

[3/4]