Introduction
An egotistical high school student with the power to change the world, what could possibly go wrong? Death note is an anime that was released in 2006 and was apart of the golden age of Anime. One of the most widely accepted anime in the western world, it follows high school student Light Yagami as he possesses an all powerful note book called the death note. The death note has many rules involved with it but essentially it is a notebook that allows the user to kill anybody whose name is written in said notebook. Light uses this to kill criminals and eventually gets investigated by other main character named L. Both characters are super geniuses so this anime becomes an intense psychological cat and mouse game between L and Light. For people that are interested in shows such as criminal minds or other crime shows this anime would be perfect because it dives into the psyche of a mass murder and the detective trying to solve the case. This anime is one of the classic ones that everyone must watch when just starting to watch anime. The series is only 37 episodes and develops beautifully into one of the most insane mind bending shows that have ever been released.
Story 9/10
The story follows high school student Light Yagami and his Shinigami(death god), Ryuk, that comes with the death note. He starts about receiving the death note and questioning his ability. He starts writing names in the book and people actually start dying. This is when Light realizes that him and his superior mind are destined to cleanse the world of impurities and almost become a god like figure. When he starts killing people in prison and on death row the Japanese government decides to get involved with the case. However, Light being to smart for the normal police, the number one detective in the world L was called in to investigate the case. Since Light was the son of the chief of police for the area Light slowly got into contact with L and then worked side by side with him on the case even though he was the one carrying out the murders. Therefore, the show became a massive cat and mouse game to see how Light can out smart L without uncovering that he is in fact the killer.
The structure of the story is actually extremely well done, especially the first half of it. The L saga was done perfectly and really encapsulated the the psychological thriller genre perfectly. However, where the story falls slightly apart is the second half of the story. When the new detectives Near and Mello are introduced the mystery aspect of the story got a little sloppy which made some of the conclusions to the case rushed. Many fans of the show really disliked the second half of the series however in my opinion the show was still just as great the whole way through. It just became less of a psychological thriller and more of a drama anime which is why the anime community felt like the ending was not fitting for the show.
Characters 9/10
The anime had some of the best developed characters that any anime I have ever watched. However, there are a few characters that are extremely well developed and some that could seem lackluster. Starting with L and Light, these characters were beautifully developed in every way. The intellect that they portrayed never seemed contrived and the character development that they went through developed the plot well. Light slowly went from a calm and collected murderer to a hysteric criminal by the end of the show. L although stayed the same throughout the series, he provided an element of sanity that the viewers could root for. The general consensus on this anime is that L was usually the viewers favorite character and I would agree. His deductive skills always put L on edge which made the show significantly more interesting. Where the character development falls short is the second half with the introduction of Mello and Near. Both of those characters do not go through significant character development and stay rather flat throughout the series. This takes away from the dynamic character structure that Light and L brought to the story. However, the characters are some of the most well developed characters in anime and are praised for their love from the fanbase.
Art/Music 8.5/10
The opening and the closing of the show is actually very good which adds a good element to the Anime. The soundtrack during the show is also well done but where this anime loses some of its points is the art style. It fits the show really well but does have some room for improvement. There are little things that could be fixed with the animation style such as lighting and the way some scenes are portrayed. For 2006 the art style was extremely well done but it does not compare to some of the other art styles I have reviewed before.
Conclusion
For anyone interested in psychological thrillers or well developed plot lines this would be one of the best anime to watch. With the character development that occurs throughout the story it would only be fitting that this anime is one of the best and most loved all the time. It comes in at number 4 on the all time top 100 list which is extremely well deserved with the influence it had on the western anime viewers. If the more romantic or dramatic anime are not your speed, this is one you should definitely check out which dives into the minds of super genius detectives and criminals.
Story 9/10
Characters 9/10
Art/Music 8.5/10
Overall 9/10