Or...The Tragedy of Light Yagami.

[Spoilers all throughout].

This is probably the first series I went into knowing of how the main protagonist was also the full-blown villain. The prodigious and devilishly handsome teen Light Yagami picks up a black notebook that falls out of the sky, and by the time the first episode ends, it's clear as day what kind of character this is. As the rest of the series chronicles his 6-year long war between those who he sees as his enemies, all as the notebook brings out the delusion, megalomania, twistedness, and brokeness that was waiting to spring out.

The writing is as tightly-written as you could ask for. It'd have to be for a story that acknowledges (some) real-life implications of what would go down if the most convenient murder weapon was unleashed. Mix it with an unhinged protagonist and everyone's favorite reclusive detective, and you've got yourself a show that keeps you on the edge of your seat, keeping you keenly aware of how everything might go down. One strength I found, evident in the first seven episodes I watched, was how it jumps straight into exploring the little caveats, rules, and intricacies of the Kira threat. There's no dilly-dallying; it impresses you with its attention to loose ends, and makes each episode feel just as important as the last. It gives you everything you want and didn't know you wanted given the premise. You play alongside Light and L's mind games which are baked in layers of wits. All L needs is for Light to slip up, and it's game over. Until then, Light managed to outsmart his way through every obstacle, always getting the last laugh, but L swoops on him like gunk he can't get stuck out of his brain. And the memorable intense choir laced score, creeping clean guitars, and sharp art style and animation (in key moments anyway) help give the show its consistent, cinematic edge. To lightly get ahead of myself for second; Soichiro's threat to shoot Light and Misa, and Mikami's cliffhanger countdown are absolute masterclasses in building suspense and tension.

Buuuuuuttttt, a few episodes after Misa and Rem are in the picture, I thought overall quality takes a bit of a detour (don't worry, we'll get to the last 11 episodes too). In the show's most elaborate, complex, and downright convoluted arc involving the Yotsuba Group. Which to paraphrase, hinged on Light revoking his ownership of the Death Note to erase his memories, leaving him purely innocent, to wait long enough for it to end up back in his hands, returning his memories, now having thrown the cops off his trail with Higuchi. This isn't to say this arc is bad by any means. After all, best boy Matsuda gets a spotlight episode, which even plays a bigger role towards the end of the arc. But the whole while, I felt like the show's intricacy tricks got a bit overbearing (which does crop up in the post episode 26 episodes as well). There comes a point where you throw your hands up in the air and have to just go with it, only working off a basic outline of reasoning you piece together. I remember the biggest question I had being what was up with this Light, who now had his inner thoughts come off as genuinely innocent. I probably misremembered, but the tidbit about losing memories (for Light, not Misa) somehow flew over me, as I thought all Light did was swap 'n' return the Death Notes, solely for Misa, thinking the memory wipe was exclusive to her. So until then, I had to fly under the assumption Light was an incredible actor, which L of course can't not pick up on either. Either way, the whole situation succeeds in coming off as off, but it did halt some of the immersion I had up until then. We spring into this Yotsuba syndicate very randomly and we're already investigating them like we've been doing it for years. But once again: it pans out by the end. And this is serialized-no s**t everything isn't going to be handed to you in a single episode. It has the advent of being stretched out to tell the story as time-generous as possible.

Alas, episode 25 comes along which brings L to his end. And like Light's other key targets, his final conscious thought is finally confirming once and for all who Kira is. And so the fairly ridiculed 2nd part of the series kicks in with episode 27, with the proper introduction of Mello and Near (the better character imo). Despite outward appearances, I ended up liking most of what these final 11 episodes had to offer, and even without L, I was still engaged. The sheer worst I can say about it was the whole Sidoh arc which felt like an excuse to get rid of the original Death Note and have Misa's be the main one. By mere comparison to how tight the series was early on, season 2 felt more unfocused, and not nearly as fleshed out (this is the part where you tell me to read the manga). Mello for example I feel wasn't characterized enough to make me believe he was a true successor to L's blunt side, compared to Near perfectly capturing his reclusive, oddball traits we all know and love. Mikami was an excellent new addition, if anything so I didn't have to keep up with Misa (she serves her role well as the impulsive, carefree, tragically impressionable girl, but I still thought she was annoying), and was characterized very well in "Selection." Like Light, there's clearly a noble motivation behind him, but all it takes is the Death Note to bring out their warped view of justice.

And then the series ends on the poetic high note that puts it over the top. After "1.28"'s masterfully crafted cliffhanger ending (it's been a damn while since I've felt a level of suspense as immense as that), "New World" feels like a wave of earned satisfaction that washes all over your body. Near manages to beat Light, and the jig is finally up after all these years and episodes. Light's rage turns into demented laughter, and takes his frustration of the world out on everyone in the warehouse. As professional looking and genius as he is, there's still a childish immaturity to his ideals. Wouldn't it truly be better if every wretched soul on Earth could just go and conveniently die? Only what would that make Light? The former is a question that's scarily plausible, no doubt, but even going that far makes you think back on every bridge Light burned to stay at the top. All the murder, the ego, the power...it'd be enough to drive anyone mad, but this kid puts aside all doubts as he laughs his heart out at his new weapon. All of it could've been avoided if he never picked up that notebook, let alone committed to storming through it. Yet, I still can't shake the notion Light's rotten core was always there. He's not innocent, he sealed his fate the minute he gave in to the temptation. While the series does attempt to garner sympathy for him (and succeeds no less, at least here), his sin is too great for any audience member to simply write off. Though his final flashback to his school days cuts deep as a reminder of simpler times. Considerably less to worry about, no burdens nor guilt to handle-nothing to be tainted. And yet after everything....the only way I could see this series ending was if he properly died....he was always like this. The cursed notebook brought and grew the worst out of him was all.

And so after a deeply hurt Matsuda shoots Light, he runs off, shaking and teary-eyed, the most broken we've ever seen him, falls down, looks up at the sky, closes his eyes, and embraces his fate. As he sees L in front of him, Ryuk writes his name, and a melancholic D major piano plays in the distance...

I couldn't have asked for a more appropriate end to Light Yagami's story than this. Crushingly bittersweet. A tragic, but ultimately deserved fate for a troubled young man. Certainly no Heaven, but no Hell for him either. All you can do is stare at your screen, watch, and maybe start to ruminate on how you'll handle your final thoughts and breaths when your time comes.

A series that brings out the edginess in all of us. A plot that keeps you locked in at all times. And an ending as fitting and well realized as you can get: that's Death Note. A seminal anime that captivated audiences everywhere, and whose influence is still being felt all these years later. By the end, I understood why this is consistently shown to be a pretty reliable, textbook gateway anime. Maybe not my first choice, but still reserves its right to be checked out at least once.

Best episodes: 1, 7-10, 19, 25, 32, and 35-37.

The dub was fantastic. You gotta hand it to those Canadian folks. Whenever I listen to Matsuda, all I hear is a wide-eyed Kai, and Mikami is a deranged Cole. Never realized how unrecognizable Michael Adamthwaite is. Somehow was surprised Takada was Skylor.

Song of the day: "Gone Forever" by Three Days Grace (it was the late 2000s, and tell me this band doesn't fit Death Note. I dare you).

Oh yeah, and Raye Penber's boss is David Fincher. That's neat.