Thoughts

Death Note Anime Review

on/20 comments

In the fall of 2006, Death Note released which quickly became one of the most popular anime of its time. With over 8.6/10 on My Anime List, it is definitely one to look into. The premise is very interesting as its debut brought forward a number of mediums including a Netflix exclusive movie, which I reviewed here.

Lets go ahead and talk about this classic. So after a book falls from the sky into Light Yagami’s hands, he quickly realises that such things as Shinigami’s exist, also known as god of death, he can use the book to kill anyone he desires, just by writing their name on the pages of this Death Note. After getting the attention of Light’s counterpart, L, we see an intricate match between both as they try to prevent Kira!

Lets go ahead and begin with the story. Well, from my experience, it’s a unique tale that brings together Shinigami and humans. We’ve seen Shinigami’s multiple times on this blog and in the anime universe, so that isn’t really something new, but Ryuk (main Shinigami) gets bored with his own world and tosses his Death Note to get a human to pick it up.

The world is full of people worth killing, thus Light takes his persona as Kira to rid these people from the world cleansing and setting everyone straight to not even think about committing a crime. Story itself begs the question of who the real killer is, if Kira is actually doing a good or bad thing when it comes to killing all of these people.

The story develops really well from the get go, from Light becoming Kira, to meeting L and thereafter. The only problem I found was when Light was facing his opponents within the second season, it felt a little dragged out and the ending wasn’t quite what I personally wanted, it felt a little short of overwhelming. Regardless, it was solid.

The characters alongside the story were superb, a solid and varied set of fantastic characters. I can’t believe Kira/Light met so many character throughout his journey. From having his own father involved in finding out who Kira really is to dedicating a whole episode to Naomi Misora who find out the real identity of her husbands killer right before her death.

As I am already hyping up the show, might as well talk about the sound. Again, not a lot I can say except that it was very well used and kept me immersed in the story. Something so underrated, which has a very large impact is sound, and Madhouse definitely pulled it off with Death Note.

As you can imagine with any anime in 2006, the art and animation in 2018 wouldn’t compare. But for its time, it was fantastic. The dark colours definitely suit the anime and what it stands for. In terms of animation, there wasn’t a lot the anime was working with as most scenes were very flat had a lot talking, so they could really develop the mood of the scene well.

Overall, I think Death Note was an anime I really enjoyed, it became an anime I couldn’t really stop watching as the cliffhangers really put me on the edge. The only thing I’d like to nitpick would be the ending, I personally felt that it was unfinished at that point, and even after the time skip, I would’ve liked to see the society and Kira’s effect on it a little more. Nevertheless, I’d like to rate Death Note:

9.0 out of 10!

So what did you think? Would you agree with my decision or do you think there is something more the anime wanted to convey which I missed? Go ahead and comment down below telling us what you think!

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There are 20 comments

  2. nickdunnaquatic

    your score is right for me. I very much enjoyed this anime and now that I’m older, I can appreciate the core themes of questioning morality and wanting to ran the world so no harm can be done. I love how Light goes from a intellect, polite, and somewhat reserved person into a manipulative, egotistical and apathic mastermind that is Kira. I also very much enjoy the lore of the Shinigami, especially with characters like Ryuk, a bored Shinigami that loves the transformation that the main character goes through, or Rem, a Shinigami that separates herself and it’s cruel for the sake of it like the rest of the Shinigami. I also would have loved to see the aftermath of the world after Kira’s death. Especially questioning if what he did was morally right or if he just got mad with power in the end.

    Liked by 1 person

      1. nickdunnaquatic

        That’s probably because their isn’t any. I’m surprised more anime don’t use the Shinigami lore from mythological Japan to tell their stories. The only ones I know that do are Death Note and Bleach.

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          1. Hiyori

            I am a newbie in cosplay community I will upload some of my pictures. Mostly are costrials or trial make up and selfies because im a shy type of a person. during convention i took selfies from senpais tho

            Like

  6. storiesdotdot

    One of my favourite anime. I have watched it over many times still don’t get bored. Personally I’ve become a fan of light .

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  7. ステファノ

    It got boring after L died. The ending was superb tho. This reminds me of the code geass sequel that is to come out this year.

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