Death Note is certainly an interesting show. It took me a while to get into it since Light's character was kind of like What the Hell is this!? After the third episode, I found myself curious and continued watching. It's a little bit cliche using a smart student who is at the top of his class to become the crazy guy. Of course, it just shows that grades don't mean everything. Also supports the idea that it's the smart perfect ones and the quiet ones you have to watch out for.
The oddest thing about this show was it's main character, Light. Usually, a shows main character is easier to sympathize with. Usually, your supposed to at least like the main character. Death Note is different in that the main character isn't necessarily likable. I often found myself hating him as if he were the enemy in the story. Whether it was meant to be this way or not I don't know. If you think about it, Light is basically a sociopathic delusional serial killer.
Light may be smart, but he is overconfident. He is so used to being five steps ahead of everyone else that he doesn't think there is anyone who can best him. He is also childish, playing games with criminals lives and the police, and trying to make himself known. He may be smart, and even seems to understand the mind, but I don't think he is intelligent enough. He baited the police so that he would be recognized. He basically said "Hi, I'm Kira" with his actions. He killed the same way every time making it easy to connect the deaths. He made the mistake of originally only killing when he wasn't in school so they figured out he was a student. He didn't bother to think that perhaps the FBI agent would say something to someone else. He also didn't bother to think that if all those FBI agents were killed, it would make it obvious that they were close to solving the case and Kira knew it. Light just figured he could predict everything and didn't cover all his bases. Of course I still want to know how he managed to yell and talk in his room so much without his mother ever hearing...my mom could hear me if she stood outside my door even if I wasn't yelling. And how come he never thought to put one of those cell phone thingys (I'm not good with technology names) on his ear so he could talk to Ryuk and it would just look like he was on the phone with someone. Light acted like he was so smart, but honestly, he dug his own grave. He toyed with the police. He didn't think about how he was killing and when from the start. A smart person would have figured out how to do it at various times throughout the day and not always the same times. An intelligent person wouldn't just have 23 prisoners drop dead from the same cause. An intelligent person would spread it out, mix old and new cases and cases on the news and cases in the paper. An intelligent person would make sure some of the deaths were different to make it harder for the police to connect them. Okay, so I'm totally getting carried away with this. That's why I don't want things like unsolved cases because it's so ridiculous and I end up explaining every dumb thing they did. Anyway, back to the review.
Despite not liking Light, there were times when I felt for him. I didn't exactly want him to get caught but at the same time I did. Sometimes for a moment, I would think he is actually sad over this or he actually feels bad and then there would be that look in his eyes and I knew he didn't care. In fact. he was stone a lot of the time. He wasn't very good at acting. I guess he didn't think it important to show appropriate emotion and when to keep his feelings from his face. When he snapped, he just snapped. When something surprised him, it was on his face and in his voice. He just made me sick from the very beginning. He wasn't even smart enough to understand that mass killings will not bring peace. Fear will not bring peace. He thought he could rid the world by killing anyone and everyone he deemed bad, but that just can't realistically bring peace.
On the other hand, I did like Ryuk some. I didn't really expect him to care what humans did so it didn't bother me. Besides, he could be interesting. I also liked L. I hated how Light got him killed and how he acted after the death. Seriously, I'd like to know if Light killed small animals as a child or something. The only time I actually liked Light and really didn't want him to die was when he had no memories of using the Death Note and his father had a gun at his head. Otherwise he was a manipulative jerk with no conscience.
I give the show a four out of five, if for no other reason than the type of character that was used for the main character. Obviously there were other good things about the show, but using a main character that didn't appeal to a lot of people was an interesting twist. It was one of the reasons I kept watching. I wanted to see the series with the main character that I could not possibly like.
I can say I didn't like how Ryuk and Light basically stopped being together after the whole Light giving up the book again. I also couldn't really follow the movement of the notebook and what was going on with that.
The oddest thing about this show was it's main character, Light. Usually, a shows main character is easier to sympathize with. Usually, your supposed to at least like the main character. Death Note is different in that the main character isn't necessarily likable. I often found myself hating him as if he were the enemy in the story. Whether it was meant to be this way or not I don't know. If you think about it, Light is basically a sociopathic delusional serial killer.
Light may be smart, but he is overconfident. He is so used to being five steps ahead of everyone else that he doesn't think there is anyone who can best him. He is also childish, playing games with criminals lives and the police, and trying to make himself known. He may be smart, and even seems to understand the mind, but I don't think he is intelligent enough. He baited the police so that he would be recognized. He basically said "Hi, I'm Kira" with his actions. He killed the same way every time making it easy to connect the deaths. He made the mistake of originally only killing when he wasn't in school so they figured out he was a student. He didn't bother to think that perhaps the FBI agent would say something to someone else. He also didn't bother to think that if all those FBI agents were killed, it would make it obvious that they were close to solving the case and Kira knew it. Light just figured he could predict everything and didn't cover all his bases. Of course I still want to know how he managed to yell and talk in his room so much without his mother ever hearing...my mom could hear me if she stood outside my door even if I wasn't yelling. And how come he never thought to put one of those cell phone thingys (I'm not good with technology names) on his ear so he could talk to Ryuk and it would just look like he was on the phone with someone. Light acted like he was so smart, but honestly, he dug his own grave. He toyed with the police. He didn't think about how he was killing and when from the start. A smart person would have figured out how to do it at various times throughout the day and not always the same times. An intelligent person wouldn't just have 23 prisoners drop dead from the same cause. An intelligent person would spread it out, mix old and new cases and cases on the news and cases in the paper. An intelligent person would make sure some of the deaths were different to make it harder for the police to connect them. Okay, so I'm totally getting carried away with this. That's why I don't want things like unsolved cases because it's so ridiculous and I end up explaining every dumb thing they did. Anyway, back to the review.
Despite not liking Light, there were times when I felt for him. I didn't exactly want him to get caught but at the same time I did. Sometimes for a moment, I would think he is actually sad over this or he actually feels bad and then there would be that look in his eyes and I knew he didn't care. In fact. he was stone a lot of the time. He wasn't very good at acting. I guess he didn't think it important to show appropriate emotion and when to keep his feelings from his face. When he snapped, he just snapped. When something surprised him, it was on his face and in his voice. He just made me sick from the very beginning. He wasn't even smart enough to understand that mass killings will not bring peace. Fear will not bring peace. He thought he could rid the world by killing anyone and everyone he deemed bad, but that just can't realistically bring peace.
On the other hand, I did like Ryuk some. I didn't really expect him to care what humans did so it didn't bother me. Besides, he could be interesting. I also liked L. I hated how Light got him killed and how he acted after the death. Seriously, I'd like to know if Light killed small animals as a child or something. The only time I actually liked Light and really didn't want him to die was when he had no memories of using the Death Note and his father had a gun at his head. Otherwise he was a manipulative jerk with no conscience.
I give the show a four out of five, if for no other reason than the type of character that was used for the main character. Obviously there were other good things about the show, but using a main character that didn't appeal to a lot of people was an interesting twist. It was one of the reasons I kept watching. I wanted to see the series with the main character that I could not possibly like.
Spoiler Alert.
I can't say whether I liked or disliked the ending. I kind of already knew that was how it would end since there weren't many options on how to end the show....unless they seriously botched it. I didn't really like watching it though. It was sad and pathetic to watch Light crack and go completely mental. He couldn't even die with any dignaty or face up to his actions. I suppose he never thought he would actually get caught so he never formed a plan. Once he was, he just lost it. I was embarrased for him. The way he handled it and how he spoke was sickening. I didn't real feel sorry for him or hope he would live, I just felt sick watching him act like that, the temper tantrum and everything.I can say I didn't like how Ryuk and Light basically stopped being together after the whole Light giving up the book again. I also couldn't really follow the movement of the notebook and what was going on with that.
No comments:
Post a Comment