Death Note was an anime that just changed things up in the 2000s. It was a fresh idea had an intriguing storyline to go with it. It has since become a something that just everyone has watched. In a way because of it you can think of it as overrated. Most people prefer the first part over the second and generally it’s well liked overall even if the ending can divide people. I finally decided to check it out again and see what my exact thoughts might be. I wasn’t sure if I’d find it not as good as I remembered it to be legendary and over the years have felt that it really wasn’t.
To begin the music is really a high point in the anime, each theme fits each character so well that hearing the familiar themes is such a treat. The whole cast is full of interesting characters and the thrill of two brilliant minds trying to outdo each other is what makes the show so great. At only 37 episodes it’s not a long series at all. With the first part being 25 episodes and only leaving 12 episodes for the second part. So there isn’t a lot of time overall and a lot of things happen in those episodes.
The Light vs L dynamic is fantastic, but it’s not realistic at all, you really have to not think about it too much or else. I’m not saying that’s necessarily a bad thing, I enjoy the ride but I can’t think of this being too deep of a series if you take that into account. At the end of the day so many things happen because of plot convinience and no other reason whatsoever. The characters sould’ve really reacted in different ways. Also in the effort to continue to oudo each other things start to get very ridiculous and I mean I love the show because of that, but you really don’t have to think about it too much or else you’d wonder why.
The second half of the show is not as good as the battle with L was the most interesting part. I do find Mello to be a great character and foil, sadly Near just isn’t different enough from L. Because of the short episode count things just happen quickly and that doesn’t help that he has to follow up L who was one of the best characters. The ending never sat perfect with me though I don’t hate it. Overall I’d say that the show is definitely overrated though it does deserve the acclaim it has at the same time, it’s not perfect but it’s a great ride.
The anime has such brilliant ideas that I’d love to see tons of “What if..” takes on certain points on the show. It’d also be interesting to see what happened in Light’s reign of terror. There was so much world building done on the other world that exploring it a bit more would’ve been fascinating. At least the compilation movies had a few extra tidbits.
I”m not sure if we could ever get a redone anime or what else could be done with the franchise. I do think a spin-off with a different eath note user on a smaller scale could be fun but who knows. This anime came out at just the right time. It will forever be quoted by me with the famous just as planned Keikaku Dori meme. No dub ever did the original voices justice by the way.