Episode 13: Death Note review
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to the show or characters of the show I'm reviewing as they are owned by VIZ media and the duo of Takeshi Obata and Tsugumi Ohba.
In a dark room sat a television set with a distorted voice in the background and a laptop the television screen then showed a shadow covered face which was supposed to be Airnaruto aka The Classic Critic. "Hello, I'm C squared; I remember it so you're not required to. Which is a lot cooler than "K" for Kira, "L" for L, "M" for Mello, or "N" for Near, now if we could find some super geniuses named Alfred, Barry, Dave, Elliot, Francis, Gary, Harry, Isabel, Jerry, Oscar, and Patty we could get the whole alphabet going." He said in a sarcastic joking matter.
(The World by Nightmare plays)
A black thin leather bound notebook drops from the sky; a young teenager named Light Yagami notices it from his classroom window as Airnaruto explained the plot. "Never have the expressions the pen is mightier than the sword or idle hands of the Devil's workshop proven more vividly accurate." He said as we see a Shinigami; a Japanese Death god leave his world and drop his notebook off in the human world. "Because boredom for an apple loving Shinigami means dropping a notebook of death on to human soil and boredom for one ambitious honor student means picking up said notebook and taking it for a spin." Airnaruto said before continuing, "Like most intellectuals Light Yagami initially thinks that the book is pretty much no different than a chain letter but he takes it home with him anyway." Airnaruto said as we see Light reading over a section of the rules in regards to using the Death Note.
Light: The person whose name is written in this note will die. This note will not take effect unless the writer has a clear picture of the person's face when writing his or her name, therefore all people sharing the same name will not be affected.
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name it will happen.
If the cause of death is not specified the person will simply die of a heart attack.
After writing the cause of death, details must be written within 6 minutes and 40 seconds of writing the person's name.
"However his natural curiosity and the temptation of power drive Light to put pencil to paper to prove himself dead fucking wrong." Airnaruto said as we see Light write down a random criminal's name and after 40 seconds he watches the news report.
Report: Okay we have confirmation, the suspect has been found dead inside, I repeat the suspect has been found dead.
"At first Light just shrugs it off as a coincidence but after 5 days and 90 or so dead criminals later he realizes that it's real, and while the average high school student would be horrified by this revelation, Light tries to show people just how above average he is." Airnaruto said as Light is sitting in his classroom again thinking about the Death Note and it's power.
Light: I wonder what if someone else had picked up this notebook, is there anyone else other than me who would be willing to eliminate the vermin from the world? If I don't do it who will? I'll do it using the Death Note, I'll change the world.
"Yeah and this would be a good time to call the guys with the white coats and nets to drag this kid's ass to the happy hotel." Airnaruto said wearily, "Anyway, his ambition to eradicate all criminals from the world turns the little Einstein into a little Hitler overnight and he goes about trying to recreate the world in his own image." Airnaruto said as we see Light meet Ryuk for the first time. "The Shinigami Ryuk finds this amusing and is content with just sitting back and enjoying the show while snacking on a bowl of apples but the Japanese police are not as criminals continue to drop like immoral flies left and right and the police realize that there has to be some method behind the chaos." Airnaruto said before the camera cut back to him. "I mean how do you catch a murderer that's everywhere at once and kills through random untraceable cardiac arrest anyway not that finding him wouldn't be that difficult for me, oh by the way did I mention that around this time Light has found out that he's garnered a cult following of people who share his beliefs and think that the criminals he killed are getting what they deserved and have given him the alias Kira which is just play on the Japanese pronunciation of the word Killer?" Airnaruto asked before getting back to the plot. "So they call on the assistance of the world's greatest detective." Airnaruto said as we see a photo of Sherlock Holmes appear on screen.
"No that guy." Airnaruto said before Dick Tracy's picture appeared.
"You're getting colder." Airnaruto said bluntly before a photo of Batman is shown.
"I wish he was in this and on any other given day I would say he is the world's greatest detective but not in this series." Airnaruto said before a computer screen of white background with a Cloister Black font L in front of it was shown.
"That's right in this series the world's greatest detective is simply known as L." Airnaruto said as we watch the press conference while Light is writing "L"'s name, "In a bold public appearance L vows to catch Kira and solve the case…" Airnaruto started to say until "L" ended up dead from a heart attack.
"On second thought never mind so I guess the show's over right?" Airnaruto asked until we see the screen show the L again and we hear a distorted version of L's real voice.
L: I had to test this just in case but I never thought it would actually happen. Kira, it seems you can kill people without having to be there in person. If you did indeed kill Lind L Tailor the man you just saw die on television I should tell you that he was an inmate whose execution was scheduled for today that was not me.
Light: What?
L: I assure you, L is real. I do exist, now TRY TO KILL ME!
"Nope it's just begun as Kira/Light dreams of remaking the world in his image and L dreams of putting him in the slammer. So who's really justice well I'll just say it will be whoever wins." Airnaruto said.
Light: L
L: Kira
Both at the same time: I will hunt you down wherever you're hiding and I will eliminate you!
Light: I am
L: I am
Both: Justice!
"And I'm C squared so now that we got that joke out of the way lets move on to the shows specs." Airnaruto said as we cut back to the show, "In terms of animation, I can't really say that Death Note has great animation since 75 to 90 percent of the show is dialogue and while everyone's blabbering on, the artists have a field day with lighting, masking, and presence of the carefully designed characters, and the show also has great psuedorealistic gothic art and backgrounds that are just a feast fit for a king to the eyes while the animation is hardly ever showcased but when it is the animators go a little over the top with it but hey it makes penmanship so epic and the music is really over the top here's a sample of it." Airnaruto said as we see numerous criminals dying from heart attacks thanks to Light writing their names in the Death Note while a gothic choir is heard in the background.
(Gothic choir singing)
"Everything in terms of animation and design regarding this series hovers somewhere around the top with it's heart stopping, too thickly layered and intentionally ludicrous flare fits in very well for moments of silliness and triple replay value." Airnaruto said as we several things occur three times.
"Now it's time I moved on to the heart and soul of the show the cast." Airnaruto said, "When it come to dubbing this melodramatic anime you really need to stick to V.G.A. (Very good actors), since the anime is 90 percent talking and more than half the time monolouging it would be a total disaster unless the cast is captivating, but fortunately great care was taken with the voicing for this dub bringing in several veterans for the main roles and several newcomers for the lesser side characters. You've got to love Brian Drummond as Ryuk especially his asthmatic laugh." Airnaruto said as we see Light and Misa talking to each other with Ryuk visible only to Light laughing while walking away.
Ryuk: (Laughing maniacally)
"However L and Light control this mental chess match so once again I'll say it again, Alessandro Julliani is L." Airnaruto said before explaining his reason, "Now I will admit that L's Japanese Seiyu Kappei Yamaguchi did a nice job of giving the detective a quirky and gnomish kind of monotone but Julliani blows him clear out of the water with the musicality he brings to the character. I find it stupid personally that while L is the hero for the bulk of the series; he's listed as a sidekick which to me makes no sense but that's a rant for another day, back to L, it's a rare thing to see the raw voice actors get blown away by their dub counterparts in anime because in every line Julliani does as L, you hear him saying one thing but he could mean several different things at the same time, which in some ways makes L a more three-dimensional character." Airnaruto said before we see L talking to Light's father and chief of police in the Kanto region.
L: Mr. Yagami
Soichiro: Hmm?
L: If I die in the next few days your son is Kira, here's another one.
"Yeah like everyone that was watching hadn't figured it out yet." Airnaruto said bluntly. "Now I'm sure you're thinking why L sits like that? Doesn't he know he'll screw up his posture?" Airnaruto asked for the audience, "Well according to him, L claims that because of his fruit and sugar based diet, if he sits in that position as oppose to a normal position his brain will burn most of the calories from the sweet stuff and increase his brain's reasoning ability by 40% which could be true but I haven't tested this yet myself due to medical reasons." Airnaruto said before moving on to Light.
"In contrast to Light, I think Mamuro Miyano is probably the best Seiyu in Japan. Like Light, he's a perfectionist in every subject heck he even played his own evil twin in the raw version of Vampire Knight though to be honest I've never watched that series or read the manga. I think Light's dub actor Brad Swalie may have noticed this in the first two or three episodes he seems like he was trying too hard but after a few more episodes he slips into the role perfectly to the point where he could stand beside Miyano laughing in perfect maniacal pitch." Airnaruto said before the camera cut back to him. "If you don't believe me about that then compare both laughs for yourself, here's the raw laugh by Miyano." Airnaruto explained before cutting to the raw version of the final episode of the series.
Light: (Laughing like a psychopath) Watashi no Kira (Rough translation: I am Kira)
"I bet you're thinking that was scary alright but now here's Swalie's laugh from the dub version of the same episode." Airnaruto said as we see the dub version.
Light: (Laughing like a nutcase) that's right, I am Kira.
"See what I mean folks?" Airnaruto asked before getting to the negatives of the show, "The only gripe I have with the show is that the characters are pretty underdeveloped and this especially shows itself after episode 25 when L gets killed and the series staggers up until the finale which is just a masterpiece you have to see to believe, I also didn't like how they never included the Death eraser in anime, if you're wondering the Death Eraser was something that was used in the pilot chapter of the manga." Airnaruto said before giving his final thoughts on the show.
"All in all, Death Note is one brilliant psychological rollercoaster, radio drama of a an anime and is Shonen anime at it's best, but I wouldn't say that it's something that challenges a persons perception on good and evil, but the plot is intriguing and be warned watching this anime or reading the manga make homicide…" Airnaruto said before Ryuk cut him off.
Ryuk: So much fun
"My final rating of Death Note you ask?" Airnaruto asked for his audience; "I give the series 4 stars out of 5, fans of psychological crime drama, murder mystery, and tragic dramas will be proud of this show." Airnaruto said, "Well that's it for now and I would like to apologize to the Anime Critic for going into his territory, but hey like Ryuk I was getting bored and decided to try a new genre to look at so until next time, I'm C squared; I remember it so you're not required to, now if you'll excuse me I've got to…" Airnaruto said holding a bag of potato chips before getting cut off by Light in one of his more over the top scenes.
Light: Take a potato chip…and eat it!
Death Note recap:
Pros: Very intricate character designs, great background art, a powerful plot line, and very good voice cast especially with the dub.
Cons: The series staggers to the finale after the two thirds point, the characters are really underdeveloped, animation is rarely if ever showcased.
Star rating: **** out of 5
A/N: Well there you have it follks so until next time read and review