Death Note

I'm glad I finally got around to watching this. The show has some of the best moments I've ever seen in TV, and I'd recommend it to anyone, with an asterisk. spoilers.

The writing in the show is truly amazing. At first glance, I would probably say that the general idea doesn't have legs, but great characters keep it feeling (mostly) enticing throughout. I don't know where the trope originated, but Death Note seems to be the biggest "offender" of the lengthy internal monologuing that anime has a reputation for, but it's probably the first I've seen where this monologuing feels deserved. Generally, "show don't tell" storytelling is much more interesting to watch but if Death Note operated in this way, it would have mostly gone over my head, but particularly for Light, knowing where his psyche is adds a lot to his character and makes him incredibly memorable. The Shinigami are also something that I questioned, and presumed would be used as a Deus Ex Machina at some point in the show, but this is mostly avoided (maybe Sidoh gets close).

The grungy look of the show is very mid 2000's, but the animation is high quality, so it doesn't feel dated at all, although I do feel like the animation suffers when there is more movement involved, like when Light and L fight in the hotel room. On the other hand, the soundtrack is flawless, and I think it is a big part of why the show has stuck around for so long. There are so many memorable tracks that perfectly suit the feel of the show, but my favourite tracks are "L no Theme", "Kodoku", "Kitai", and "Light Lights up Light".

Now, the asterisk. My opinion here basically boils down to the same thing that everyone else says. Everything up to and including episode 25 is fantastic, then the show slows right back down. I can't hate on the writers for this too much. Light beating L is an essential part of the story, and then either Light has succeeded and the story ends (bad), or Light is overcome by someone else (Good), but it proved to be a pretty tall order to write a new character as interesting as L. As Near says in the final episode, he can never be L, but him and Mello combined can! Unfortunately, the show barely attempts to flesh Mello out at all, and his participation at the end feels like nothing. The show then has to spend some time rebuilding the suspense it had to get to where it was at episode 25. This section of the show feels like a slog, but nevertheless, I think episodes 36 and 37 are a return to form, and I would put it as one of the best wrap-ups in anime.

I think Death Note is some of the best that anime has to offer. If it were slightly more refined, it would have made my favourites for sure.