The world is rotten. Day after day, its always the same. There are people suffering. You see it on the news, it the papers, another killing, another rape, more innocent people getting hurt. The world is rotten.
That’s what was going through the head of a boy named Yagami Light, when he first saw the death note as it fell past the window of his classroom to the grass below. His life would never be the same.
Yagami Light was a perfect student at his school, he got top grades, had excellent looks, and a flawless public record. After class he looked to the spot where the notebook had fallen. It was still there, out of curiosity he picked it up. “Death Note” he looked inside. “Anyone who's name is written in this book, shall die.” At first he dismissed it as a mere practical joke, but the death note has a certain element to it that makes people try it... at least once.
Yagami looked through the book there were rules to its usage “The writer must be able to envision the persons face as they write their name, so that people with the same name will not be affected.” Also, “If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the victims name they will die in the manner written. If there is no cause of death the victim will die after 40 seconds from a heart attack by default.” They sure put a lot of effort into a mere prank, though Yagami.
That night a live hostage situation was being broadcasted on the news, Yagami Light figured he would give the notebook a try. After the name and face of the hostage taker was shown he wrote it down in his book. At first there was nothing, but then after 40 seconds commotion broke out at the scene as the hostages escaped, with the news reporting saying that the criminal had just suddenly collapsed. The death note was for real.
Yagami Light realizes the potential of the power he holds in his hand, and decides to embrace it. He will become the god and creator of a new utopian world, a world free from criminals and suffering, a world where he will be the one to judge who has the right to live, and who deserves to die.
Death note is a new anime who received a lot of hype at the turn of the 2006-2007 new year. Death note is one of the most amazing Anime I have personally ever watched. It’s an anime full of intensity, dark themes, and intriguing situations. The story elements of the anime are rich, and full of thought provoking events and a very intelligent and morally challenging plot. Death Note is an anime that will really make you think, and keep your mind occupied for hours as you try to figure out what could possibly happen next. It tends to put the reader into the situations of the anime making them think “what would I do if I had a book that could kill anyone whose name I wrote in it.”
After using the death note for a while Yagami Light is visited by the one who dropped the notebook in the first place, a Death God named Ryuk. Yagami is obviously frightened by the sight of Ryuk at first, but comes to accept the Death God. Ryuk tells Yagami that he is bound to the notebook, and will stay with Yagami until he is dead or the notebook is destroyed. Fortunately no one except Yagami can see Ryuk, unless they touch the death note themselves.
Light soon begins writing names in the book. He writes the names of criminals who he feels deserve to die, even the names of criminals who get off free due to lack of evidence against their actions. Light plans to expose his existence to the world. He kills everyone by the same way – with the default heart attack, so that the masses will soon realize there is someone out there, someone who watches and judges them, and will kill them if they make others suffer. Light hopes that after the world fears him, it will become a better place. A place where the thought of committing a serious crime will be accompanied by the knowledge that a quick death is only 40 seconds away.
A few episodes into the series, after the world knows that criminals are being killed by a certain power, Light gets dubbed the name Kira. Kira comes from the English word Killer. Kira fan sites begin springing up by people that support what he is doing, but he also encounters a lot of opposition. Soon the heads of the Japanese police – stumped by the killings – are approached by a man who goes only by the name of L and whose face remains hidden by the computer he speaks through. L like Kira is a genius, and the world’s greatest detective. He has solved the police’s hardest cases in the past, cases that no one else could solve, and is willing and determined to do whatever it takes to stop Kira. Soon the amazingly entertaining battle of wits and tactics between Kira and L heats up, creating one of the best rivalries in anime history.
The Death note series contains 37 episodes. The series begins strong and stays strong throughout. The best thing about Death note is how brilliantly crafted the series is. The series takes many unpredictable twists and turns, leaving the audience wondering what could possibly happen next. Death Note is one of the best Anime I have ever watched, and I would highly recommend it to everyone.
Info:
Recommended Audience: Teenagers – 13+
Genre: Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Police, Psychological, Supernatural
Episode Length: 23 minutes
Opening Theme:
1: 'the WORLD' by Nightmare (eps 1-19)
2: 'What's Up People?!' by Maximum the Hormone (eps 20-37)
Ending Theme:
1: 'Aluminia' by Nightmare (eps 1-19)
2: 'Zetsubou Billy' by Maximum the Hormone (eps 20-37)