Desu nôto, 2006 - 2007

Death Note is very difficult to pin down. It had so many good things going for it, and yet so many times, these good things are not used to their full advantage. The good things in this anime are the animation, the music, the voice acting and the first 25 episodes. The bad things are the misuse of characters (and not just the main ones) the timing of plot twists. Before I begin to fully explain/rant, from this point on here there be *SPOILERS* In the story Light and L balance each other out. Light has a more than worthy (and probably superior) opponent. It is enjoyable to see them playing the mind game with each other because it has all the grace of olympic fencing. When L is no longer around to oppose Light, Light loses much of his interest. He does not have an equal opponent anymore. He admits himself that being Kira isn't fun anymore because L is not there. (Guess he should have thought of that ). In addition, Misa (who was only bearable with Rem around) is now unbearable without her wise and caring shinigami. If she was annoying before, she is now at Jar Jar Binks levels of stupid. Later, the audience has many characters foisted upon them as if to cover up the fact that L is missing. Here is where many of the problems lie. Taking away a major and favorite character with 12 episodes left in a 37 episode anime was a terrible idea. 12 episodes is too long to go without a replacement, but too short to make the audience care about the replacements. I am not specifically opposed to the idea of taking away the character of L. Taking away beloved characters can be done with much more grace than shown in Death Note. In my opinion, the death of L should have happened either around half way through the story,which would give the audience enough time to recover and to care about any replacement characters, or with only one or two episodes left,which would create suspense regarding how this renegade group of former policemen were going to catch Kira without L's help (no replacements required). I say this because despite all the times I loath Kira for his despicable ideas, there is one point which I whole heartedly agree with him. When Light meets Near, Near is wearing a mask with L's face on it. Outraged, we hear Light's thoughts question the right of this interloper to wear L's face. He declares Near unworthy and further states what a superior mind his former opponent had. My thoughts exactly. It's not that I dislike Near. I want to like him. He simply has way too many things going against him. 1. Near is only half of L. Near and Mello are supposed to be working together to find Kira and that would have been fine, but Mello doesn't want to work with Near. 2. The writers keep bringing up L. Every time this happens, it takes our attention away from Near, and simply reminds us that L is not there any more. 3. Near is fighting Mello and Kira. If Mello and Near were supposed to replace L, then one would assume that their combined minds would have been able to work on a level similar to L's and therefor similar to Kira's. But Near is left to be the lead brain on his own. If Mello was just out of he picture, that would mean half of L's total abilities was fighting against all of L's abilities. Since Mello is in competition with Near, however, Near is fighting against 3/2 of L's total abilities. Although both N and M are still trying to find Kira, Light only has to fight with a little less than what L would be not counting that the two halves have conflicting interests. Too many characters in this show were wasted, and it severely hurts the story. Alright, now the good stuff. This anime is beautiful. This is one of my favorite shows on the basis of its use of music. The use of choir is rich and unsettling. I love it. I also adore the voice acting. Cathy Weseluck makes Near so believable. Her work on his character is my favorite Woman-as-boy casting for pretty much anything. Colleen Wheeler also gives Rem's voice such care. You simultaneously feel warmth and terrible power in her voice. Alessandro Juliani is amazing as L. He gives a monotone that is full of meaning and it comes off as subtle instead of bland. I could go on and on. The animation is lovely and engaging. My favorite parts are when moments are more quiet. As much as the actual death of Naomi Misora frustrates me, the animation they use from the moment Kira sends her off to die to the moment she leaves our vision is beautiful and respectful. It is a noticeable change from the normally raw and abrasive death scenes the show offers to us. This anime has a lot going for it and is definitely worth a glance. Just don't expect it to be the perfect anime that some fans claim it is.

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