Heres my first anime blog post about.... (Drum roll please....)....... DEATH NOTE!!!

If you have never watched any anime and you're a new otaku, this I presume could be very helpful to you. I will be blogging and recommending a new anime in full detail once every week. 

WARNING SPOILER ALERT.

THIS BLOG/REVIEW HAS MAJOR SPOILERS OF THE ANIME'S PLOTLINE.

DEATH NOTE

Death note is a very popular anime, not without a reason. It's popular because of it's plot and ingenious twists. Whereas a lot of anime strategically relies on action packed battles and fights, Death Note is a refreshing change of pace. It's slick, clever, and witty with the eccentric "L" leading the investigation. It's a constant game of cat and mouse as the lead investigator and the suspected "Kira" (Japanese pronunciation of killer) always seem to be one step ahead of one another. The two brilliant minds constantly outwit each other. The plot is complex but easily laid out for you and the story is remarkably intelligent and inventive. All the while you're watching you think, "Wow, this can't possibly get any deeper," but each new episode proves you wrong. What I like the most is that this is very, very complex material but it's flawlessly and easily presented so each new development in the case comes as an excited shock. This is great stuff and I would definitely recommend it to anyone who might be looking for a change of pace in anime. It's not for everyone, of course since it's more of an intellectual thriller and not so much an action fantasy, but anyone who can appreciate the mental challenge of following along with this suspenseful battle of wits will be in heaven with Death Note. 

This anime is originally a manga, it was later developed into a live action movie (a movie in other words -_-). There's also a written book about L (that I of course have read) and it is a continuation of what happens after. It's called L saves the world, which was also made into a movie. It has a more science and forensics feel to it, than actual supernatural events. I really liked this movie and I might actually have liked this movie more than the actual death note movie, the reason being; actor L totally fits the description, and the events that happen in this movie aren't cut out from the events that happen in the novel. But i would still recommend reading the manga first, watching the anime with it's two whole seasons next and later on watching the movies for the death note anime and lastly watch the L saves the world movie. 

The protagonist of the series, but not the hero.

Light is a genius student who has one major flaw... namely, one hell of a God complex. He has a hatred of the criminal element of the world, but for most of his life took a "what can you do" approach. Then, he finds the Death Note dropped by the Shinigami (Death God) Ryuk and his world is turned upside down. He begins using the notebook to kill criminals, believing that in doing so, he could scare the world into becoming more law-abiding.He finds an equal and opponent in L, the elusive international detective hired to find and prove the identity of the mysterious string of murders. 

Light Yagami may one of the most dynamic "heroes" to grace the anime world, as Death Note turns the ubiquitous fight between good and evil on its face with a complex scenario of conflicting values and ideals. His character gives us a refreshing break from the existence of absolute moral truth. While light is clearly saving lives and creating his own form of justice by cleaning up the underworld, it is only "his" justice and not a democratic one, making him no more than the "Mass Murderer", which Near denotes him in the last episode. Howerver, it is feasible to argue that Light's opponents are acting in the interest of killing innocent people by preventing Light from executing those who might escape from the lenient legal system. Even though their position follows society's justice more diligently, isn't it possible that Light's system of justice is morally superior to the one enforced socially? His system enforces a "presumption of guilt" policy in society whose legal system prefers "presumption of innocence".

However, even if we do accept Light Yagami's actions as virtuous, his motives may not be completely sincere. He did not express a clear desire to do improve society prior to finding the Death Note, indicating that his actions may have been out of boredom, not moral choice. He later becomes infatuated with his own ability to change the world, not the net effect his actions have on others, as made clear in the final epsiode when he claims he is the only person who could have accomplished his legacy.

In the end, the view I find most consistent, is the one inwhich the story includes characters who are wonderfully human, with their own internal struggle over their own compliance to inconsistent social morals, and their quest for identity within this framework.

The second character i will be looking at is the second main character. L, who also uses the aliases Hideki Ryuga, Ryuzaki, Eraldo Coil and Deneuve, the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is quite secretive and only communicates with the world through his assistant Watari (he's an old man btw). He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in Cloister Black font. After meeting the Kira investigation team, he requests that the task force refer to him as Ryuzaki for discretion. The Kira investigation team never learns his true name.

L's disheveled and languid appearance masks his great powers of deduction and insight. He tends to second-guess everything he is presented with, and is extremely meticulous and analytical. He has several quirks such as preferring to crouch rather than sit, eating only sweet foods like desserts and fruits, and holding items very delicately. L stayed in England for five years, and during that time he was the champion in tennis for the England Junior Cup. L also secretly assumes the identities of the world's second and third best detectives, (Eraldo Coil and Deneuve respectively).

L suggests that even though he eats only sweet foods, he remains underweight because the brain uses the most calories of any organ in the body. He also says that if he sits normally, his reasoning ability would drop 40%.

 

Whenever L gives percentages to indicate how much he suspects a person of committing a crime, such as "five percent," in reality he means over 90 percent. Although L gives Light a low percentage indicating how much he suspects Light, in reality L is "pretty certain" that Light is Kira. Ohba (The author) said about L, "The truth is, he's a liar."

As some infinite fans may know Myunngsoo's stage name was actually based off of L (lawliet). It was mainly their personalities and how supposedly Myungsoo is silently cool and analytical (smart). This is a big contrast to his off stage personality.

I totally recomend watching this anime subbed instead of dubbed because the dubbed version doesn't really catch the emotion or frankly any of the feelings the subbed version does. :) It's also painfully awkward and cheesy to see a japanese anime and hear an overly american voice -_-

I hope everyone enjoyed my extremely long, and in some cases maybe even boring blog.... Sorry I know it's long and can look a little intimidating. Anyway, please tell me what you think and what you think about the anime after you have watched it. I might do a weekly manga blog... maybe. Anyway as always everyone recomends reading the actual MANGA first before watching the anime (animation), because the manga was made first so:

1) You can understand the plot better.

2) everything that may have been changed, you would know about so that nothing is left out.