Death Note Anime TV Series (7/10)

 

    "Death Note" is obviously one of the Greats of the Anime/Manga industry. It features the compelling story of a young man who finds a supernatural notebook that will kill whoever's name is written inside in 60 seconds. 

    The manga was written from 2003-2006 by Tsumugi Obha and illustrated by Takashi Obata and has sold over 30 million copies in Japan alone. It was made into a full-length anime as well as a live-action series, several films, and even a musical. I have two of the book spin-offs and a DVD of OVAs as well as the entire anime series in my collection. So that in and of itself is probably going to make my 7/10 review seem a bit odd, given how popular and how praise-worthy the story is overall. 

    I know my beef is probably very specific and I don't know if anyone will agree with me. But I'm gonna stick to my guns because that's just how I feel and I can't change how I feel. Before I get more specific, I think most people will agree with me on these couple things: The animation is lovely, the soundtrack is INCREDIBLE, and the quality of the voice-acting performances is top-tier. Light, L, and Ryuk in the English Dub are particularly iconic to me. 

    Like, it's a good show, I'm not dissing it's quality and the passion that went into it as a project overall.

    Most people also agree that the first season was the best. The second season is okay, or even good depending on who you ask, but it's not GREAT like the first season was. I adhere to that idea as well. So again, I'm reiterating that my views on the subject aren't completely absurd. I think it's just when I get specific about what my particular issue is with the second season.

    So here we go.

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MAJOR

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    In the fewest words possible, my beef is with the writing as it pertains to the death of the detective, L.

    I will admit I might be biased, seeing as he is my favorite character. 

I'm sure people who adore Light are going to immediately be like "well of course you didn't like that he died, that's the point. Get over it, Light won." But it isn't just that he was my favorite character and it isn't just because I think Light lost his nobility and dignity as soon as he started killing innocent people who were trying to stop him. I genuinely think I have a point about WHY it was bad writing, and that's what I will share here. 

    So essentially, the Kira task force is like, two or three days away from learning if the only rule in the Death Note that exonerates Light as the killer could be proven to be fake. They are literally INCHES away from solving the case, once and for all. And Light tells his girlfriend, Misa, to start killing criminals again to take the suspicion off of him while they all wait for the coming confrontation. Light essentially sets Misa up as a sacrificial lamb in order to coerce her Shinigami, Rem, into helping protect her. 

    So Rem does this very thing, because she loves Misa. She writes Watari's name in her notebook, then L's name, and in this act of killing others to protect Misa when it was otherwise Misa's time to die, she killed herself as well. All 3 of Light's biggest obstacles were wiped out all at once and there are basically no repercussions for it. That, to me, is absolutely absurd. 

    The best way that I've found to describe it as that it feels like wish-fulfillment fanfiction for itself. It feels like a teenager wrote it because they wanted Light to win so badly that they were willing to make it happen by any means necessary, and that was all they could think of. It would be one thing for it to be made-up by a fan, but it's the canon. IT'S THE CANON ENDING. 

    They introduce Mello and Near after L's death, but they don't make up for how good the rivalry was between Light and L. The whole second season is Light basically getting rid of everyone who opposed him all at once. NO ONE was suspicious when they lost L and Watari, and then - within what felt like a few days of that incident - we also lose the two other agents L brought in for help, Wedy and Aiber?? 

    SOOO many good characters died along the way while I waited for the story's conclusion when Light finally dies. It took so long, and it almost felt like a consolation prize at that point. Like the writer was like, "Well, I mean, we have to kill him somehow, right?? That's kind of the only place left to go..." The whole thing felt so forced and so improbable to me as a viewer. Genuinely, not just because I was a bigger fan of L than I was of Light. 

    The way I see it, a story can have ONE "oh my god this character got really close to the truth and just missed it right at the last minute" kind of death. 

    A "close shave," so to speak. 

    And "Death Note" already had that in season 1, with Naomi Misora. 

    She was a skilled FBI agent who had worked with L before on the Los Angeles BB Murder Case and obviously knew what she was doing, so to have Light outwit her like he did was incredibly brilliant and clever. It was sad but it was still entertaining. And it made sense, you can follow his manipulative tactics right up till the end, when he gets her. Everything that both of them did in this sequence made perfect sense. 

    But in season 2, it felt like the series was like "How about we get everyone who opposes our super cool OC out of the way all at once? Wouldn't that be fun??!"

    They had TWO "wow that character almost figured it out, too bad so sad," deaths and that was too many. 

    It literally doesn't make narrative sense. 

    Misa's Shinigami, Rem, is what tears it for me. 

    If Rem was really concerned with Misa's safety as she said she was, she would not have stepped in to get rid of L and Watari AND HERSELF. She was already suspicious and distrustful of Light. She knew he was a bastard. Did she really think that Misa would be safe and happy with literally no one to protect her?? She really thought "Ok I'll kill everyone in your way and also myself, but surely you will take good care of Misa after I'm dead" ??

    Every character in the show knew Light didn't really care about Misa. It was clear as day. So for Rem to step in like this ultimate Deus Ex Machina plot twist was so stupid to me. Maybe I wouldn't have been so angry if Light actually cared about Misa or if Misa had more agency and wasn't just a plot device for Light's victory? But the plot doesn't give Misa anything else to work with other than "swooning unrequited love interest" and Light doesn't care about her anyway so it all felt so useless.

    People might say "That's the point, it's not a happy story. Sometimes people use other people for selfish reasons. That's the tragedy of it." 

    It's still bad writing as far as the characters' fates turn out. Rem making the choice to kill Light's biggest opponent as well as herself was objectively dumb. She should've come up with some sort of plea deal to have Misa get off easier if she gave away the proof that Light was Kira. Misa was young and stupid, and she may have been sad about Rem "betraying" her and Light being thrown in jail at first, but she would have had so much time to grow and mature and realize how silly it was for her to throw her whole life away for a man who didn't care for her at all. 

    There were MANY ways to save Misa's life outside of killing L and Watari and herself. So many ways. She could've taken Misa and left Japan entirely, hidden away somewhere completely secret while the Kira investigation blew over. L wasn't above conversing with and making deals with gods of death. There were so many better options for Misa's fate with Rem choosing to intervene. 

    And then the aftermath - Light is like "Well, L's gone. I guess we will just stop all of his lines of investigation." 

    Like? I still can't understand how the Kira task force wasn't even remotely suspicious. 

    "Maybe we should keep testing the 13-day rule, since that is literally the only thing taking you off of the chopping block, Light. Your alibi is basically garbage otherwise haha Gosh it would be a shame if we just - made you the head of the investigation and forgot about everything else we were doing!" 

   I'm repeating myself but - L's death was just so stupid. Rem did it to save Misa but I really think Rem killing Light would have been better for Misa's sake. Light's existence was a threat to Misa, especially since he was obviously using her as a plot-shield and telling her to keep killing people, blatantly risking her safety. I just don't know how Rem could do something so stupid. 

    "But she loved her!" That was NOT the way to make sure the girl you love is safe. Rem left her alone when she needed her the most. It was incredibly foolish. 

    Given that it seems to imply that Misa took her own life at the end of the series, it makes me want to scream "What's the point?!" I like to think she and Rem could've talked it out and the poor girl could have gotten over the whole Death Note affair and had a life of her own after all of this hardship and fear. But no, she just follows this stupid boy to the ends of the earth, and he doesn't even care about her. 

    It's just such a bitter and pathetic way to go. 

    Misa deserved better. She even had Shinigami eyes, which Light didn't have. She was literally BETTER THAN HIM as Kira, but it didn't matter. 

    She is reduced to a giant, meaningless plot convenience. She never amounts to anything more and her whole character introduction is basically a sham to get rid of L in the long run. It's so dehumanizing to her character, which still surprises me given the manga was written by a woman to begin with. Maybe there's more to it than just simple misogyny but I haven't been able to find it thus far. I'm willing to hear the case, if there is one, that Misa's existence in the story had more of a purpose than I'm seeing, but I kind of doubt it. 

    Comparing the deaths of Naomi Misora and L once again: Naomi's death SUCKS but it's done well and it's amazing because it really shows how smart and manipulative Light is as a character. Because she HAD IT, she figured it out but of course you can't have someone figure it out this soon in the story. It's too soon and there's so much more to see. She would have solved the case in 5 episodes so she had to go. 

    But then they pull that same "trick" again and cut L off RIGHT when he was going to solve it. Like, it just sounds like the writing of a child that just wanted Light to win so badly that they made it happen any way that they could, even if it felt rash or nonsensical. They had a very small "bag of tricks" for the plot and had to reuse things that they had already used in the past even if it was repetitive. 

    So what if it had already been done once, people liked it that first time so surely they would like it again?

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    So yeah, that's most of my beef with the second half of the story. If it was just the first half of the anime, it would probably be up to a 9 or 10 out of 10. But because of the whole second half being so forced and so nonsensical to me, I've dropped it down to 7. And that's only because of the music and the voice acting and the cool visuals, like when Light appears as red and L appears as blue in this imaginary cityscape to contrast them and their goals. The first season was so suspenseful and dramatic, it was captivating - I just HAD to keep watching to know what happened next.

    If it was just the second season alone, I would be tempted to give it a 2 or 3 out of 10.

    I hope I've explained it well enough that it doesn't sound like I'm being a crazy fangirl and my feelings are only motivated by rabid passion for a person that doesn't even exist. But I won't act like I wasn't personally upset with the way the story ended, not just because the actions of the characters didn't line up for me. It was also because one of my favorite characters in anime was tossed aside so disrespectfully right before he saved the day. It was so rude and Light didn't deserve the credit for it. And it took too long for him to get his comeuppance in the end.

    But I know many people feel differently than me about how "Death Note" ended and that's just the way it is. 

    This is all just me "saying my piece and counting to ten." 

Thanks for stopping by.

More reviews to come!