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Warning: Spoilers
The first time I heard of Death Note was from a youtube channel Hello Future Me and his storytelling analyses. Previously I had resented anime as childish and totally weird-looking, but after Timothy took Death Note as an example of a good story-beat management, I was wiling to give it a shot. And boy, was I hooked.
Never before have I seen any show try to copy that sherlock-ey way of thinking and incorporate it so cleverly with mystery and fantasy elements. Death Note has such an unique feel to it that no other anime has... every moment Light's and L's theme play, I get slight goosebumps while wondering who will outsmart whom next. It is a matter of simple beauty seeing the writers play with the contrast of Light's and L's personality, making them grow close while simultaneously growing further apart. Ant to top it off with so much symbolism and biblical references in the final episode of L's saga is a matter of pure perfection.
Yes, people will say that the second part sucks. Truth be told, even though it may not be equally as engaging as the first one, I wouldn't say it was unbearable either. The fact is that by this point Light is so cornered that he cannot operate on his own; therefore the tension is dissipated towards minor characters and Near that we don't get enough time to care about. Nonetheless, seeing Light maneuver through all the traps Near sets for him provides a proper build-up towards the eagerly expected end.
And about the end... I really felt for Light in those final moments. Part of me didn't want the series to end the way it did, simply because Light was the embodiment of my answer to the fundamental questions of justice that stem from Dostoyevski's Crime and Punishment. As much as I may be a follower of Kira in one part of my mind, I also cannot deny that Near is absolutely right - Light Yagami is just another serial killer; nothing more and nothing less.
Death note is the first of all the animated series that has introduced me with the fact that not all things animated have to have a happy ending. Think of it, how many western-animation movies do you know that do not end on a happy note? Very few would be my guess. And from this time on, my journey through japanese animation has started. I couldn't be more grateful for the way it began and therefore, Death Note will always be the No. 1 anime I will recommend to people new to anime. If you haven't seen it yet, I really do not know what you are waiting for...
... btw I hear the bells. Do you?
9/10
