Death Note

When one thinks of quintessential anime. This one is almost always there. You cannot find someone who doesn't think highly of Death Note. Even if there are people who dislike the second half. The anime itself is a classic

From the very first episode we are thrown into the unrealistically smart shoes of Light Yagami, a student who happens upon a Death Note, and finds out he can kill just by writing someone's name in it. The moral dilemma is immediately established. Is Light right by wanting to cleanse the rotten world from criminals by killing them? It becomes something of a power fantasy until the also unrealistically smart detective who goes by L suddenly happens upon Light's trail

From there the anime begins what is in my opinion one of the greatest rivalries as a whole. The standoff between L and Light turns into this cat-and-mouse tension, every episode brings something new and threatening to Light, now known as Kira to the world. L ever closing on his tracks. The episodes are extremely well-paced, new characters get introduced, stakes get raised. But nothing feels rushed.

The second half keeps this good pacing, but introduces some characters out of nowhere and it leaves the whole thing feeling rather shoe-horned. This is not only a detriment to the story, but it feels so strange, since the majority of the series uses only what it needs and does so incredibly naturally.

Despite this, the second half is still quite enjoyable, as long as you are willing to overlook the above. Without it Light's character would feel incomplete, as in the second half we see him getting pushed to his absolute limits, which i would say is one of the best parts.

The voice acting is fantastic, with every character's voice showing their emotions and personality. Again, it isn't over the top, but a lot of effort went into it.

The animation is pretty good, considering that it's a relatively old series.

The script is great too, allowing the series to unravel its mysteries in a way that feels both complex and understandable.

This Anime has a great amount of well done symbolism with the use of colors or with the Christian symbolism especially with the first opening.
The philosophical debate that the show introduces is one of the best you'll ever see, it makes one think a lot about what the true objective meaning of "good" or "evil" truly is or even if there is one.

Altogether, no matter your opinions on the second half, avoiding Death Note will cause you to miss out on one of the greatest anime experiences you can have. It's definitely worth your time, and you should make it a top priority if you haven't already.