DEATH NOTE

Anime TV series

Directed by- Tetsuro Araki

Written by- Toshiki Inoue

Music by- Yoshihisa Hirano, Hideki Taniuchi

Original run- October 3, 2006 - June 26, 2007

Genre- Mystery, psychological thriller, supernatural thriller

Episodes - 37

Review

Even if you are an anime fan or not, you somewhere or the other have definitely heard of Death note. It is one of the most iconic and classic anime. Often, people who are new to the World of anime prefer to watch death note as their first one. It's so popular that over the years, it have been presented in different styles such as the Manga, the Novel(Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder case), Anime TV series, Anime TV film (Death Note: Relight - Visions of a God), and several video games.

Is Death Note worth watching?

Without a doubt, Death Note is so worth watching. The storyline is so unique and captivating, kinda different from other anime as some anime might take time to warm up but Death Note holds viewers attention, one cannot even blink an eye while watching as every scene, every moment is so good in itself. The story moves ahead of the watcher's imagination, as one can never predict what is about to happen the very next second. It is very clever, slick and suspenseful. Every episode pushes you over the edge of your seat. All this while you think that it cannot get better, but each episode proves you wrong.

Character build up

The character sketches are written in such depth and so excellently that you feel like digging more into it. The incorporation of mystery and fantasy is very clever. The constant game of cat and mouse between Light Yagami(the protagonist) and L(the investigator) intrigues the viewers. One would get goosebumps as the two brilliant minds always outsmarts each other. The contrast between Light and L's personality is laid out so beautifully, making them look so similar in a way while simultaneously growing them further apart.

The second half

People say that the second part of it sucks. To be honest, the first half is perfection and is one of the best things but second half is not equally amusing but in any case it isn't unbearable at all. After L's death the story kind of went downhill because L was such a brilliant character that his death is a literal shock. I remember watching L's death scene and its still one the saddest thing. Near( successor of L), it was really hard to analyse her because she was not as smart as L and the audience too don't get enough time to care about it. By this point Light turns into an absolute psychopath and it seems unbelievably stupid of him to fall in Near's trap. But still it provides a proper build up towards the eagerly expected end.

The Ending

As the story approaches its end, you sympathise with light in those final moments, simply because till the very end he remains adamant on his thought. Light's thoughts might be correct about the society of being rotten but in no way can this justify his deed of killing people. The mentality of dividing the World as white and black is childish cause the world exists in the shades of grey, which is a broader perspective which the show focuses on. Part of me didn't wanted the series to end cause I may be a follower of Kira, in a sort of way but I also cannot deny that Near and L were absolutely right - Light Yagami is just another serial killer, nothing more and nothing less.

Last thoughts

The plot of it is very complex but is presented so flawlessly and it is remarkable of the writer to lay out the complex material with such finnease. The fact that this show does not have a happy ending sets it apart from others. There are very few western animation movies that do not end on a happy note. Even after the show end, it leaves you pondering if light was completely wrong or not because at the end he was just trying to better the society.

Now what are you waiting for go and watch some anime, might start with the DEATH NOTE.