Death Note

Death Note is a considered a cult classic that can seen as a gateway anime series. Although Death Note is probably among one of the first series that people typically watch when first getting into anime due to great critical acclaim however it is not my first. I actually stirred away from it due to the eerie art depiction of the Shinigami. I only recently watched it after I overcame my fear of the Shinigami and was surprised by how much I loved the series.

Death Note is based on the 2003 manga Death Note, the series was written by Tsugumi Ohba, directed by Tetsuro Araki and animated by Madhouse. Death note premiered in 2006 and ran until 2007.

Synopsis

Death Note‘s main storyline follows a teen prodigy Light Yagami, a high school student with a bright future ahead of him who has a strong sense of justice and detests anything that is evil. One ordinary day, he discovers a supernatural notebook called the Death Note that was dropped by the previous owner Ryuk, a Shinigami (death god) in the human world. 

The ordinary high school student’s life changes drastically as he learns that the Death Note is used to kill anyone by knowing his or her name and face. Not too long after, Light encounters the previous owner of the Death Note, the Shinigami Ryuk. Light reveals to Ryuk that he intends to cleanse the world of evil by purging the world of all it’s criminals by using the death note and leaving behind those whom he sees as worthy capable of living a noble life in the new world.

He wishes to also become the God of the new world while not revealing his true identity. The Shinigami Ryuk mentions he does not intend to intervene with Light’s plan as he finds Light to be very interesting and sees it an opportunity to be entertained.

Light soon embarks his new double life, a high student during the day and a “God” during the evening. The sudden deaths of criminals of both major and petty crimes catch the media’s attention throughout Japan, Light is dubbed as Kira. 

Due to all of the sudden unexplainable deaths of criminals of both major and petty crimes, it catches the attention of law enforcement who suspect foul involvement of a higher power. Soon the world’s best detective, L, starts to investigate Kira and declares war against him, vowing to bring him down by all means. 

This now develops into a cat and mouse game as L tries to track down whose behind the Kira killings and Light attempts to keep his true identity hidden at all costs even it means killing those who intend to reveal his true identity. 

Review

Death Note is apart of a small handful of anime series that I have watched that have me on my seat as it has an unpredictable series of events. The series dives into action within the first couple of episodes which lured me in automatically. 

As the plot unravels, the show becomes more immersive as the theme of the shows appears to revolve around the idea of justice and what it is according to the different character’s perspectives. What is proper justice? Do humans have the right to judge others for their crimes? Should humans act like God when it comes to punishing fellow men? Do humans in law enforcement deserve the right to take the lives of criminals? 

The show pins the viewer to choose sides between the main characters L and Light. L’s perspective, on one hand, believes that taking a person’s life, no matter what crime they committed is seen as an offense and that Kira is a serial killer despite his objective of wanting to get rid of criminals. Light’s perspective, on the other hand, killing criminals guilty of both petty and major offenses as fast as he can is seen as just what he views as righteous or divine judgment. 

Although I can understand Light’s perspective of wanting to rid the world of all evil, it is entirely impossible and Light trying to play God by deciding who dies and who gets to live is inhumane. No man should ever have all that power. 

As long as humans roam the earth, there will always be a bad batch of apples. No matter what laws are put into place, there will always be people who break them or find loopholes in them to avoid getting in trouble. I more or so side with L, it’s wrong to kill anybody and I stand against it despite their offense, that is why we have jails and prisons put in place to deal with lawbreakers. 

The ending of the series left me a bit disappointed as the ending was not as exciting as the beginning. Overall, I do recommend the anime to anybody who is looking to be entertained.