REVIEW - Death Note (2006)

Well, it's time to do an anime review, and it has certainly been a long time since I did one. Rather than look at something more contemporary and modern, I decided to go into my list of anime that i needed to watch and I found one particular anime that's nothing short of a legend in the community. It's one anime that if you find an anime website or fan page on something like Facebook or Twitter, you're bound to hear about it very soon. Which anime am I talking about?

MADHouse's Death Note.

Death Note's story spans a whole seven years, beginning in 2006 and ending in 2013. Light Yagami - our main protagonist- is a genius schoolboy who despises Evil. Unfortunately for Light, there's not much he can really do about it, so he's pretty damn bored. One day, out of sheer luck, he sees a black Notebook falling from the sky (why no one else notices this is beyond me). After his afternoon classes, he goes outside and picks up the notebook, which is entitled "Death Note". Inside the front cover, he sees rules, the most striking of which is "The humans whose names are written in this note shall die" Light, like any normal person, doubts the books power until he tests it on a robbery being aired live on the evening news. To his honest surprise, the notebook actually causes a heart attack towards it's victims 40 seconds after their names are written into the notebook. Light then makes it his mission to rid he world of evil and "become the God of a new world".  Light can now also see the notebooks real owner, an apple loving God of Death known as Ryuk. Unfortunately for Light, to do that, he has to kill people, and of course as we all know, Murder is a crime. The UN Notices all of Light's killings but have no idea what's causing them or who. They realize that they are all not a coincidence and that something must be done. However, with a case of this nature, the police force can't do much, so they turn to the world's greatest detective, someone who's never lost a Case before: L. L is an unusual genius who finds out the region where Light is almost instantly. This starts a game of cat and mouse between Light and L, with Light being determined to kill L as he is "defying the God of the new world". The story is great at times and then average at others. The highlights of the whole show are definitely when L is just being so damn weird that you can't help but think he's broken, but he's not. It's just the way the characters work. I've heard a lot of negative things about this shows later episodes, and let me try to clear this up now: Episodes 26-37 aren't that bad, they're just inferior to the rest of the show, and for good reason but for the sake of spoilers I'd rather not say why.

The characters are easily the highlight of Death Note. As per usual, I'll talk about the main character and my personal favourite (who I think is also everyone's favourite)

Light Yagami (AKA Kira)
Light was  a normal teenage boy heading into his final year of high school on a low. He was getting great grades sure, but he was also extremely bored of the same things happening every day of his life, until of course, the Death Note is dropped into the realm of the humans. Light's motivations are as clear as day: he wants to rid the world of evil. I personally can't blame him for this I mean I'd want to live in a world where I feel safe no matter where I went. However, as smart as he can be (trust me he thinks ahead like nothing else), he can also be kinda arrogant towards others, especially women and members of his team later on in the show. I actually like Light a lot, but there's one character that stands out more than Light in Death Note.

L (AKA Ryuzaki)
Where do I even begin with the world's greatest yet most unconventional detective? L is an odd character that's for sure. The way he sits, reads books, talks on the phone and deals with people is extremely different and odd, but it's one of the reasons he's so likable. The way L can figure out what Kira (Light) is doing is just extra-ordinary. He'll take no prisoners apart from the man he wants (unless they're needed to get the man he wants). The way he speaks is also really funny, and for an anime character, I have to admit I like the way he's designed (well, technically he's a manga character but let's forget about the Manga for a few minutes). He's funny, methodical and just an overall likable character and it's a shame that he's not in the entire show.

On the animation side of things, for something drawn in 2006 Death Note is pretty good, even if it's animation is it's shortcoming. It's very detailed, stylized and the expressions are hyper-realistic at times like Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (was 2006 the year of hyper-expressiveness in anime?) however, there are times when characters are speaking and their lips aren't moving or the lip movements don't match the voice over (I watched the Japanese version just for clarification). The animation's not bad but there were some scenes that were definitely over looked. The characters are well drawn however, and are true to the manga source.

Sound wise, I personally think that the soundtrack to Death Note is probably my second favourite behind Shingeki no Kyojin. I can remember every one of the songs and how well they are used. The soundtrack is extremely diverse and well done. As regards openings and endings, they're all great - minus the Second Opening. the WORLD by Nightmare is an amazing song and works really well with the first opening animation, and while What's up People? is well timed with it's animation, I personally find the Death Metal and screaming vocalist a bit too much.

Overall, I think Death Note is a brilliant anime that just falls short of being a masterpiece. A Great story, brilliant characters and soundtrack are marred by a questionable later half and some animation issues. Death Note is not flawed, but rather skewered away from it's potential of being the best anime ever made. You should all definitely check this one out, in English or Japanese since both dubs are excellent.

Story: 9.5
Characters: 10
Animation: 9
Soundtrack: 10
Personal Enjoyment: 10

FINAL SCORE FOR DEATH NOTE: 9.7/10