Death Note - Anime... Good or Bad?
Alright, so I'd like to get some opinions going here and see what others think.
Full disclosure, I have not finished the Death Note series... I have tried and failed on 3 separate occasions because I can't stand the writing. I love the premise, but L's character is just too frustrating for me. He knows way more than he should at any given point with no explanation except he's a genius (at least, up until the point that I stopped watching. Episode 7 I think). It feels lazy to me. And everybody I talk to in person has felt the same.
BUT! I know that there are a lot of avid Death Note fans out there and there seem to be a few here on tildes, so I'd like you guys to weigh in. As a fan of the show, did you also feel this way about the writing? If so, what other redeeming qualities were there for you in this show? What about it do you love? What about it do you not like so much? It's a long series, should I push through until a certain episode? Have I just not gotten there yet?
I never heard this criticism about L before, and I strongly disagree. His characterization was extremely efficient in conveying the fact that he's an out-of-the-box genius whose logical mind is capable of jumps impossible for regular people. He's a bit like Sherlock Holmes: a super-hero whose superpower is intelligence itself. Even so, I was always able to follow his reasoning without much trouble, because the writing carefully laid out his thought process.
I advise you to not give up on this wonderful series: many formidable moments await you!
And it's not even that long... 37 (24min) episodes is nothing for a TV show. Breaking Bad had 62, Mad Men 92, Hunter x Hunter 148 and One Piece 853!
Only 13%, apparently.
Meanwhile, Naruto comes in at 41% filler.
What's a factorial joke?
Anyway, forgot to say that One Piece is still going!
Thank you for the explanation! As a (novice) programmer, I feel that I should know this already.
It's somewhere between "alright" and "pretty good," imo. I can't deny that the cat and mouse game it depicts is super engaging and that it has some really cool stylistic flair, but it doesn't leave me with much to think about or feel or anything.
I'm fine with there being some leaps in what the characters are able to figure out or predict, as I think in most cases I'm more willing to take "he's a super ultra mega genius" over a more drawn out way that is also more realistic.
I enjoy manga, but I prefer anime generally because my brain still isn't totally adept at reading panels in the proper order when they're in unexpected places or of unexpected sizes. This feedback does make me curious to see if I can make it through. I guess if I assume that there are gods of death and a magical killing notebook, assuming somebody is super smart shouldn't be that much of a stretch.
Light's behavior toward the beginning made sense IMO, since his defining flaw is his arrogance. He's the smartest kid in school, big fish in a small pond, and doesn't realize there are smarter people out in the world. He's able to fool 99% of people with his basic tricks and doesn't even realize the other 1% exists until L appears.
Death Note is one of the best 25 episode animes I've ever seen. But tastes differ from person to person, if you haven't been hooked by episode 7 it might just not be for you.
I would say, mediocre
Alright, side note out of curiosity, feelings on the Netflix movie? As somebody that never saw the anime all the way through, I actually liked it quite a bit. Is that blasphemy?
Different strokes for different folks, I guess. I found the Netflix show was too reliant on gore and characters too different and not-as-fleshed-out than their original forms.
It wasn’t the worse thing ever, it was just a letdown to those who originally saw the anime. That’s where most of the grumbles come from.