Death Note

Death Note is one of the best animes I have seen, whether it's because of the animation, the characters, the plot or voice acting, this is one of the best things I have seen, to date (November 9th 22:49 of 2023).

Of course we have to start with the animation, the animation style of Death Note is grim looking, not what I would usually watch, but in this case it is infact fitting, the art style clearly reflects the general mood and vibe of Death Note. And the animators working on this really worked overtime, at first glance it would seem impossible to make writing names into a notebook somethinig as intensive as it was done in the show, simply put probably one of the most breathtaking animations I have seen to date. With the camera movements and camera shake combined with the effects, it truly creates a sort of intensity and tension that wouldn’t be there if you just animated Light writing names onto a book.

The characters in Death Note actually seem incredibly thought out and fully fleshed out, whether it be Light, L, Ryuk, Amane, they all seem like characters, with full motivations, feelings and driving forces rather than just a shallow box.

However, we have to talk about the writing, the story in Death Note is incredibly good, not much is wrong with it, you can watch Death Note all the way from episode 1 to 37 and feel complete by the end, it is a great narrative, everything is consistent and watchable, it is possible to follow the narrative. Unlike many shows of similar nature, it is not entirely possible to predict what Light or L is trying to do, which makes it amazing when the conclusion finally hits.

Unfortunately, the ending, or the last arc of Death Note, seems to throw the great parts of the show out the window, right after L dies, Death Note loses most of its actually great narrative, it turns from what it once was, to something that’s not satisfying to watch, sure the new character Mikami is a great addition, he adds so much with how punctual he is and he nearly completely fools Near and all of the SPK, but then theres Amane, who is completely ruined in this new arc, completely turned from a character who has motivation, who has actual usefulness in the story, to a blank box who is annoying to watch.

And then it all adds up to the finale, the climax of Death Note, which is satisfying to watch, but why does it end with such a forced ending, if Light had won, which was built up, and not just torn down to pieces by a coincidence, a mere momentary lapse of judgement from Mikami, which completely contracts EVERYTHING that the character is for.

Death Note could really have been the best anime I had seen, were it not for this ending.