Death Note Anime Review
Who says wordy Japanese animations are boring? Death Note is one of them, and it certainly isn't boring! In fact, I would dare say that it is the current epitome of the psychological thriller genre, and it is psychological thriller at its very best indeed.
Under the creative pen of writer Tsugumi Ohba, and praised illustrator Takeshi Obata, the manga series known as Death Note was born on December 2003. The critically acclaimed manga series became so popular that an animation adaptation was soon planned, and it finally debuted on October 3, 2006 and ended on June 26, 2007 in Japan.
The thought-provoking story centers around a highly intelligent Japanese youth by the name of Light Yagami (also known as Raito), whom stumbles upon a supernatural notebook inside school grounds on a seemingly normal and boring day. While skeptical of the notebook's “powers” at first, Light soon discovers that he is able to kill anyone he desired just by writing the victim's name and picturing his or her face; just like what the 'rules' in the notebook had said. The plot follows his journey from “For Justice!” to “I Am Justice!”, and viewers are able to witness his gradual path to a murky and twisted fate. This is one of the most successful aspects of this series, as although the series is wordy in itself, it is able to successfully immerse viewers in Light's complex thoughts every minute and make them feel as if it is them who are making those witty moves instead of the protagonist. The intellectual battlefield that Light shares with his equally intelligent nemesis, 'L', is also likened to a souped-up version of a game of chess.
How so? you might be wondering. Well, consider this: Both Light (Kira), and 'L' (the legendary detective) always take everything into consideration before their every 'move', and when they have taken their 'move', their incredulously gifted minds would immediately start formulating future possible moves in an attempt to get a few steps ahead of their nemesis. Watching two genii furiously battling it out in an intellectual way is seldom seen in animations, and this kind of silent but deadly battle is just so much more appealing than conventional anime fights whereby big swords or guns are usually involved in the fray(think Gundam, Bleach, Naruto, et cetera). In the universe of Death Note, words are your most powerful weapon.
Oh yes, as with the traditional Japanese anime storyline, there will always be more than one main nemesis for the protagonist. The total number of genius-level opponents Light has to face off against totals up to 3 in the series, and that is all I am going to reveal in order not to spoil the suspense for you.
Yes thriller fans, this is YOUR kind of animation, and if you are someone who enjoyed the likes of other thriller titles such as Monster or Code Geass, you will definitely enjoy Death Note too. That is not to say that casual anime-watchers, however, will not enjoy Death Note. Death Note is unique in its own way; the animation is superb, the soundtrack is fantastic, the storyline is subtle, and to top it all off, it even addresses the extremely controversial issue of “Good and Evil”. It really piques your curiosity, as surely everyone would like to know how the story of an intelligent youth searching for the true meaning of 'Justice', 'Good, and 'Evil' will eventually unfold? Hell yeah, it even has a cool notebook in it that has the power to kill as long as you know the victim's name and face. I mean what more could you ask for?
Anyway, Death Note is a must-watch for any anime fan, and I can guarantee that after watching it, you will never look at the world in the same way as you did before and will also ultimately change your perception of what is truly good or evil!
By Alyosius Boh