Death Note

Death Note is one of the most well-known anime of all time. It is responsible for broadening the appeal of the media, piercing through the mainstream and consolidating itself as a relevant piece of pop culture. Moreover, the series helped to reaffirm the space that mystery/thriller manga could have in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump.

In that same sense, Death Note’s appeal is evident on its premise alone: a note that can kill people. It may seem simple at first hand, but when you look at it, it’s a genius concept in and of itself, mostly because of the many narrative ordeals that the writer could take us in, like in how the murders would be investigated, assuming that this was an all-new method of killing.

Since coming up with a good premise and actually executing it well are two distinct things, a vibrant cast of characters is necessary for the show to shine. Some impressive work is done here, both on the design and characterization levels. Light Yagami, as an example, is a character that could be easily projected by teenagers who think they have above average intelligence, find the world around them to be boring and in need of change. Add to that a distorted sense of idealistic sense of justice and you’ve got the perfect main character for this kind of story: an immature genius with a distorted worldview.

With that in mind, you must be thinking: “now this could easily turn out to be a bunch of teenager bullshit about changing society and all that.” Well, you’re wrong. But I get that the beginning of the show could give off this impression, particularly when the scale of the murders is small. However, the show successfully punishes the main characters on his idealistic endeavors, gradually showing the danger of uncontrolled power with the subtle decay of Light’s character, sinking deeper and deeper into a rabbit hole that proves to be too late to get out of. In addition to that, it is precise in depicting the incoherent and selfish acts on society’s side, frequently longing for a hero like Light to purge evil, regardless of ethics, morality or even justice.

Although the show succeeds in creating tense, thriller-filled moments, especially throughout Light Yagami and L’s (the main antagonist) conflicts, it is also guilty of other overly complicated, drawn out and derailed segments. As a prime example is the whole Light losing his memory plan, that was too long for its own good, even with a superb but expected conclusion to a masterfully crafted plan. It is also unbelievably annoying when side characters who are aware of Light’s crimes, like Misa and Teru, act more as a handicap to his plans then as accomplices of some sort. Therefore, it feels like they were the main culprits of Light’s mistakes, always acting as some kind of obstacle in his path.

It is nice, however, that the writer knew exactly when to stop giving too much otherworldly aspects to the narrative. Not giving too many details on the Shinigami world, their kind or any of that is certainly a good thing, as it could’ve indulged in some pointless arc about the origin of the notebook or of the Shinigami themselves, which would only wrongly shift the focus of the main story in the first place, unnecessarily adding layers to an already interesting main story.

Although it’s a common opinion that Death Note gets worse after L’s death, I’d argue that it’s just a slight change of tone. When facing L, Light was in a different position: trying to obtain dominance in the world by extinguishing his biggest threat. After he does just that, it’d make no sense to keep the thriller inducing scenes as frequent as they were before, because it’s a different moment in Light’s character arc, when things are seemingly under his belt, and the tides have calmed down. However, as time passes, Near and Mello start to become an increasingly dangerous threat, like a pebble on Light’s foot that gradually evolves to a huge stone that would eventually crash him. The last stretch of the show is just as suspenseful as the conflict between Light and L, with the two final episodes setting Light’s end in stone.

Death Note made me reflect about concepts that are taken for granted in our everyday lives. What’s justice? Who determines what’s just and unjust? Are people in any position to judge? Would they not do the same thing, or even worse, if met with the same circumstances as Light? I don’t know, but it’s a profound analysis on the dangers of overwhelming power, both to an idealistic individual and an idealistic society, both refusing to see the dirt on their clothes before trying to change the world around them.