Death Note
Manga
2003-2006
Anime
2006-2007
Death Note was unusual in a few major ways. The author was Tsugumi Ohba who worked with artist Takeshi Obata. Following this they also worked together on Bakuman and Platinum End respectively. If you played Castlevania: Judgment on Wii, Obata drawn the Castlevania characters for that fighting game. Unlike a lot of manga series that involves direct combat.
Death Note was more of the famous cat and mouse theme. The cat of course being our protagonist whose named Light Yagami. He previously was a high school student until one unexpected event happened. A death note fell, he took the book with him. He had a strong sense of justice. He started writing criminal's names down in the death note.
Which actually kills people if following the rules correctly. In secret, Light was called Kira for taking a lot of people's lifes through out the story. Yes the death note can literately kill someone whose on the opposite side of the world from you. It doesn't even matter how protected you think you are. If he writes your name down you're already dead!!!
A shinigami named Ryuk allows Light to keep using his death note. Light was constantly making risky moves to avoid L from exposing he's Kira. Yes L quickly figured it out on his own. I know that bags the question how Light beat him in the end? There were a few other people that used either the same death note or another one in Misa's case.
Misa also made a deal to have Shinigami's eyes further simplifying the rules to take people out at the cost of loss half her life. L was hands down my favorite character in the story. Yes it did upset me the first time I watched him die!!! For a lot of fans that left the franchise after seeing that moment. L was set up to be the hero to only be among a long list of victims Light killed.
At the start of the story, Light had good intentions with the death note. At a point, the possibilities changed him into a monster. Just when things couldn't get more complex for Light. L had two people up to claim his position effectively being his possible successors. Near and Mello shared a rivalry while going after Light.
Obviously, both of them went about this in vastly different ways. Mello being more of a criminal while Near was more like L himself working with the authorities. Both of them were also among the smartest characters in the story. What sealed Light's fate is a well planned set up by Mello. Yes he did planned on Light taking him out.
Light didn't realize due to how that played out it was a message to Near who was Kira? Not long following Mello's demise was the end for Light. The endings differ between manga and anime versions of the story. It technically gets a bit weirder with the other adaptations. To prevent some of the confusion I'll focus on the two main versions before all that.
In the manga version, second to last chapter Light gets exposed. He tried to get away then Ryuk wrote his name down in the death note to kill him. A year later was revealed in the final chapter. Yes Near does become the next L in the conclusion. Some of the other characters going back to a normal life. A large summary of the story to save a lot of people time what's it's about.
A death note is a book that can manipulate death to a degree. Light himself does a few interesting experiments with that. Most humans can't see shinigamis unless they touch a death note or a piece of the book. The book itself has virtually infinite pages. Also every person killed by the book, their souls goes directly to the shinigami that owns that death note.
Death Note is a rather crazy story that instantly became a classic. Yes I'm also aware many people view it to be overrated. Yes I do see a few areas why they view it that way. Death Note was largely involving detectives trying to caught a murder who used a supernatural method to kill people. I am not even sure if Light's kill count every gotten confirmed or not.
Light can write names down fast enough to quickly kill a lot of criminals is absolutely terrifying. Yes he also killed other detectives through a death note to cover his tracks. He viewed himself as a true hero that's going to save the world. Sure he may lowered some locations crime radius to a degree. At a point, Light became obsessed with control that didn't want to lose.
Death Note I personally felt anime wise was slightly better in it's original Japanese language. No I'm not saying the English Dub was terrible by any means. But it was a huge difference how some characters stands out between language versions. Most of my favorite characters dies in this story. My least favorite always been Misa for a few reasons.
Officially she's the stupidest character according to a databook in the series. I still will say she's written just fine to get the job done. Death Note brings paranoia since you don't know if you're going to die or not? It literately can happen without warning. The default kill method from a death note is heart attacks. Death Note had a lot of complexity that kept things interesting.
Shinigamis look amazing in this franchise. Yes Ryuk always been my favorite shinigami character. I will give a little credit to the Netflix movie adaptation. William Dafoe playing the character was pure genius!!! Despite everything that happened because of a few death notes. Everything else was surprisingly realistic that worked amazingly well.
Death Note is something truly special at it's core. Somehow it made a crime story into one of the greatest things ever!!! The fact we see a previously innocent high school become a monster speaks volumes!!! I agree some additional stuff in the franchise isn't necessary great. I still think sticking with the two original versions goes a long way.
There was creativity through the usage of a death note. Easily among the scariest objects in manga/anime history!!! It may look like a normal notebook it's not at all!!! There was a school in China that banned students that altered their notebooks to look like death notes. Honestly, Death Note was such a concept that shouldn't work this well!!!
Death Note simply brings a rather unique perceptive to a lot of crazy situations. L being the closest thing to Sherlock Holmes in the story. I felt the story was at it's peak when those two were after each other. I did notice some decline following L's death. But it didn't necessary ruin the remainder of the story.
I also felt Death Note helped many people realize life was short. You better start living your lifes now. It blends reality with just enough supernatural elements that came together perfectly. Even considering the author had a planned amount of chapters to be written of the story. I still felt Death Note is a true master piece.
Death Note was simply ahead of it's time. The duo found a way to make notebooks among the scariest things ever!!! Not only that, most of the characters were well written. Shinigamis themselves allowed all of that chaos to happen was rather unexpected. Who ever though a pen would be responsible for ending so many lifes?
The worst part is Light easily could've gotten away with all those murders. If L or his successors didn't pursue going after him. By default, Light never been outside of Japan. In most cases, no signs of his DNA while in Japan around most locations his victims died at. Then you realize one day Ryuk was going to be the one to end him was something he's never going to escape from.
He technically could've gotten away but still end up dead not long following everything. Ryuk himself stated he wasn't willing to wait out Light's possible sentence in prison. Let's be honest, he could've ended Light before Near confronted him as well. Light was a great protagonist that becomes essentially what he originally was against prior.
He ended up becoming a worst monster than most criminals in the world. Death Note was filled with many surprises on the way. But some of the bigger surprises turned many people off. I still could say it's a well written story. At the same time, it does have some problems that prevents Death Note being the perfect story.
For some people, the pacing might be a little too fast more true in the anime version. Some moments are so quickly followed by other moments making it difficult accepting what all just happened? A great example of this was Watari and L's deaths. There's a few occasional light moments just not enough to properly balance the story out.
To be honestly, this is among the darkest manga stories I ever gotten into. Yes that also would include Chainsaw Man and Berserk to name a few. Death Note doesn't get as crazy as those two franchises. Death Note would be the perfect middle line of reality with supernatural aspects. Honestly, this franchise left a mark as permanent as some inks you could get for pens.
There haven't been many franchises similar to it. Death Note successfully brought in exactly what it needed to be a huge success. Yes I could see a possible crossover for Dead by Daylight. To be honest, a few other manga/anime franchises are higher among my most wanted franchises. Death Note forever changed the world in a way most didn't even believe was possible prior to it's existence.
Death Note is a story that kept getting more interesting the further you went. I know we have a great author backed by a great artist. The artist is doing majority of the artwork while occasionally discussing the direction of the story with the author. These two guys brought what their skills to deliver such an amazing story.
In all honestly, Death Note wouldn't been this great if one person was doing the heavy lifting. Unless it were Junji Ito writing the story despite being outside his usual horror manga style. I do think Death Note deserves most of the praise it received. I also think it's a huge inspiration to pop culture as a whole. If there were a horror manga variation of Horror Hall of Frame, it belongs to be in there!!!
Death Note also given us such an iconic rivalry between Light and L. Essentially representing two paths to the same goal. Both wants to be a true hero to save the world from bad people. L still believes in the law while Light became obsessed with control becoming a monster getting his way. Two sides to the same coin I can't be even more direct than that.
This is a franchise that took risks with some that didn't worked out well. For me, some of the follow ups just doesn't compare to the main story. Some even made you question did the team know exactly what was Death Note? Yes I'm directly referencing that L movie among a few others. My best advice is avoid most adaptations as well as a brief Kira killer that ended themselves in the same chapter.
End of the day, Death Note is at it's best with the two original versions. Both are highly regarded as classics I do recommend to people. You may not like everything else that's within the franchise though. As long you stick with the two original versions you're fine. Honestly, it was among the first shows that connected me to my wife.
For that reason, Death Note like The Crow (90s version) movie always had a special place in my heart. It isn't perfect by any means despite a lot of people saying that otherwise. Death Note was just the right kind of something different. Especially when you watch a lot of the same genre anime shows. Eventually you want something different, it could be Death Note who knows right?
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