Death Note: My Take 1

Death Note is an amazing anime about a 17 year old student Light Yagami who is bored and disgusted with the crimes in the society. One day, Light encounters a book called Death Note and its owner Shinigami (God of Death) Ryuk. When Light knows that he could kill anyone by just writing their name in the Death Note while having their face in his mind, there is no stopping him. He decides to kill all the criminals and create a ‘New World’ free of crime where only honest people can live in peace. This earns him the title ‘Kira’ (Killer in English). It’s not long before the police realize that they are witnessing a mass murder. They call in ‘L’ a detective with extraordinary intellect.

From here it becomes a cat and mouse chase between Kira and L. The mental board game between these two becomes mind blowing. The constant battle of wit comes down to ‘Will he outthink my outthinking?’

What I really love about Death Note is its impeccable suspense. Just watch two episodes and then you will not stop till you see the last one. My heart skipped a beat in the last but one episode. It also raises some curious questions about ethics. If you had the power to kill people without getting caught who would you kill? Is it alright to kill criminals? Do they deserve it? Is that considered as murder?

Even though Death Note is an astounding series in the recent anime history, it is not without plot holes. For instance there is this scene where Sidoh takes the Death Note from Mellow. Mellow says that the notebook flew from his hands. It has been said that anyone who touches the Death Note can see its original owner, the Shinigami. How come Mellow couldn’t see Sidoh even though he had touched the book? Is it like they can only see the God of Death after the original human owner has touched it?? Or did I miss any point? Ok I will watch it again just to make sure :D. And Teru Mikami suicides with a pen? And the blood flows out like a fountain? Oh give me a break.

Another flaw is the character development. We really don’t get to know the characters much. For me everyone seemed kind of shallow with no deep emotions. If you consider Light, he never regrets while killing and neither he has any deep emotions towards any other character nor he has any romantic interest. All he cares about is his ‘I-am-justice-I-am-God-I-create-New-World’ perception. That was kind of dreary. Still I love him :D

Keeping the critic part of me aside, I think Death Note is awesome. Simply fascinating. Totally Love Love Love :D :D :D. I could watch it everyday. Hell I am watching it everyday.