Death Note Anime Review , Episode-1 (Rebirth)
ANIME INTRODUCTION
So, this is the first analysis presented by the ICY REVIEWS P.S. DeathNote. The Japanese manga is a 37 episode anime series based on the manga series of the same written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata.
EPISODE 1
(REVIEW)
From the very beginning, the series holds the viewers' attention and the excitement lasts till the very end. In the first episode, we have been introduced to the two characters around which the story revolves.
The very first shot is set in the other world ( world of god of death ) and it is mentioned at the beginning too that the place is not very pleasing in fact filled with skulls where the other gods are seen to be playing something and when asked Ryuk to play he seems least interested and says that he will pass and in the human worlds we have been told about the main protagonist of Light Yagami. He is portrayed as a popular, brilliant genius. In the very beginning, we can see a clear likeliness between Ryuk and Light Yagami as they both are bored in their respective worlds and quote that " The World Is Rotten". Then, finally arrives the DeathNote, an other worldly supernatural Notebook that allows the user to kill anyone by knowing their name and face after it is dropped by Shinigami Ryuk.
Over time as the series moves forward, we have been told about numerous rules of the DeathNote. Light happens to find the Notebook as he saw it being dropped through the window of his classroom. Initially, he thinks of it as lame and pretty much a hoax non the less he takes it along. Curiosity is a very strong emotion and humans are all curious creatures. This attribute can be most seen in the protagonist in this case as he ultimately decides to test it by writing down the name of a criminal involved in a hostage situation on live T.V. After 40 seconds when he is about to switch off the T.V., the hostages can be seen running out of the building unharmed while the criminal has been reported to be dead due to Heartattack.
This leaves Yagami astonished and thinks of it as a coincidence. To confirm if the DeathNote is real or not he decides to test it again on another criminal but someone who is less likely to be known. For a while, he thinks of killing Sudou, a bully of his school, but decides that he should definitely avoid killing anyone that he actually knows. On the way home from cram school, he sees a motorcycle gang teasing a young woman.
After knowing the name of the leader, Takuo Shibuimaru, he walks into a shop and writes his name in a number of variations, to make sure he spells it correctly. In order to completely verify the Notebook, he mentions the cause of death to be a traffic accident. 40 seconds later, Takuo is hit by a truck, realizing that he has killed two people, Light feels sick of himself.
In the Shinigami realm, the other Shinigami makes fun of Ryuk for really messing up this time and dropping his DeathNote in the human world. By their conversation, it is known that Ryuk has two DeathNotes and it has been five days since he has dropped one of his Notebooks. Expressionlessly, he spreads his wings and flies through the portal which connects the other world to the human world.
Light arrives home from school where his mother eagerly waits for his results of the National practice exam. And out of no surprise Light tops the exam with A+ Grade. He denied any rewords for acing the exam and quotes that " he has already got what he wants ". It can be seen that he has filled numerous pages of the DeathNote in a short span of time (just five days). Ryuk appears, and Light falls out of his chair in surprise. Ryuk introduces himself as the Shinigami who happens to drop the DeathNote. Composing himself, Light tells Ryuk that he has been waiting for him. Ryuk is surprised as well as impressed by Light as in the past too several DeathNotes have made their way in the human world but nobody has ever written so many names in the DeathNote and that most are reluctant to write this much.
A conversation was established between Ryuk and Light. Light informs Ryuk that he has already prepared himself for the consequences of using the DeathNote even though he knew that it belonged to a Shinigami. Further, he asks him that now that the Shinigami has come what is going to happen with him? He sums all this and furthermore asks Ryuk if he is going to take Light's soul or something Ryuk in the most chilled way asks Yagami, "What does he mean and if it was some fantasy that humans have created ". He explains to Yagami that he is not going to do anything like this and that the Notebook becomes part of the human realm the moment it touches the earth, to clarify more he states that now the notebook belongs to Light. Ryuk puts up an option too for Light that if he does not want it he can give it to someone else but if he does give it away Ryuk would have no choice but to erase his memory of the Notebook. Ryuk tells Yagami that he will feel the fear and pain known only to humans who used the Notebook and when it's his time to die it will fall on Ryuk to write Light's name in his DeathNote. In midst Light's mom, Sachiko Yagami enters the room to give him apples but he is alarmed to his mother as she would come to know the existence of Shinigami but it is definitely not the case as DeathNote is a bond between Light, the humans, and Ryuk the Shinigami and that Light is the only one who can hear and see Ryuk. One thing is very obvious throughout the series that the Shinigami loves apples, not all maybe but Ryuk definitely and in many other episodes it has been seen that Ryuk is in fact addicted to apples. Light seems very anxious now as he asks Ryuk that why he is chosen for this but Ryuk cared less and tells him that it is all just an accident, he just thought he has been chosen because he is so smart or something. Light denies to accept the fact that it was all an accident and questions him that why did he drop it in the first place and that he even wrote specific instructions. Now, it's where the scene becomes all spooky as Ryuk's answer to Light's questions is that 'he was bored'. Ryuk is indeed terrific and he explains that it is because Shinigami haven't got much to do these days most of the time they are rather taking naps or gambling and even if they take the time to write names in the death note, the other just laugh at him for working so hard. Even if he writes the name of other Shinigami it will be pointless because they wouldn't die and since they live in the Shinigami realm, it brings them no amusement to kill those in the human world. This was the whole point of Ryuk's coming to the human world.
At last, Light explains that he has been killing criminals without specifying the cause of death or just with heart attacks as he expects people to begin realizing that someone is passing judgment over the wicked, he wants people to praise his existence, and that's why he takes it upon himself to clear the evil and make the world a better place. Here it can be seen Light's childish thinking of some people only being evil and some people only being good which is not appropriate. The world is neither completely black nor completely white. There are shades of grey which people need to understand. This is the broader perspective which the show focuses on. While Ryuk shows light the mirror of truth that if he keeps on doing it, it would make him the only bad person left which Light obviously ignores and claims that he is hardworking and considered to be Japan's one of the best and brightest students who will reign over the New World as the ultimate God. Ryuk appears amused that he has found something so interesting in the Human World.