What if you could kill any person in the world, right here? Right now? Would you do it? Would you do it if you knew you could get away with it? Would you do it if the only catch was you had to know your target's full name?
Such is the premise of Death Note, a graphic novel series from Japan that has also been adapted into an animated tv series, and a live-action movie series. I will focus on the tv series, or anime for shorthand.
In the world of Death Note, Shinigami, or death gods, are real. All shinigami possess books called Death Notes. If you write a human's name in a Death Note, that person will die. If you specify when or how that person will die, it will happen, without fail. What if a human were to get his hands on a Death Note? One such person does. A shinigami named Ryuk comes to the human realm, seeking to ease his boredom. He leaves a Death Note on the ground. It is picked up by a Japanese high school student named Light Yagami. The Death Note has instructions on how to use it. Light doesn't believe it. Then, one day, he sees a news story going on; a criminal is holding children hostage. His name is shown. Light, out of curiosity, writes the man's name down in the Note book. Forty seconds later, the man is dead from a fatal heart attack. Light can't believe it, he thinks it's just a coincidence. Later, he uses the Death Note again to kill another criminal. He now realizes just what kind of power he now wields. He vows to kill all the people in the world he considers evil. Using tv and the internet, he writes down names of wanted criminals and convicts the world over.
After people in prison start dying off, the world is stunned. No one can figure out exactly what is happening. No one, except for a mystery man. There is a famous private investigator in the world known only as "L." Through his deductions, as well as a clever trap aimed at Light, he deduces that the killer, known in the media as "Kira", must be operating out of Tokyo, for the Kira slayings always coincide with Japanese newscasts, and that the first two killings happened in the Tokyo region. Joining forces with the Japanese police, L vows to stop Light however he can. And what follows is a psychological thriller worthy of Hitchcock. Light will not stop slaying criminals, but can't draw L's attention either. The manga version of Death Note is labeled a shonen series, and indeed, the rivalry between Light and L is a typical shonen rivalry, however, it's much more cerebral than the duels between Goku and Vegeta, or Naruto and Sasuke. What Light and L play is a cat-and-mouse game, a battle of wits that is far more intense than two guys flinging energy shots at each other.
And this is all accompanied by stellar production values. The animation is top-notch, the cinematography is fantastic (yes, animated film can have good cinematography,) the soundtrack is great, and the voiceovers for the English dubbed version of the show are quality performances. Something the anime is infamous for are scenes that are overdramatic on purpose. Personally, I didn't mind the dramatic flourishes, for it only served to draw me in further into the show.
Could anything be wrong with Death Note? Yes. If there is one flaw in the series, it's that the plot is very convoluted. You will need to be very sharp to keep up with everything that happens, and you may need to research some of the information of Death Note online to fully "get it." This is not a simplistic series. This is one that requires full concentration to enjoy properly. Another thing that bothered me was some of the things that happen are not impossible, but highly implausible. At times, it seems like Light and L are supernatural in their deductive abilities, almost figuring things out by either sheer luck, or perhaps psychic ability. This turns off some viewers, and if you dislike Death Note because of this or the complicated plot, I can fully understand.
Nonetheless, this is, as of this writing, my favorite anime series of all time. In fact, if you don't count animated sitcoms, Death Note is my favorite animated series of all time, period. It's gritty. It's mature. It's beautiful. It's occasionally funny. It will leave you gasping for more. Never have I seen a thriller tv series quite like Death Note. I can't count how many times my eyes were glued to the monitor, anxious to see how things play out. Gundams rise and pocket monsters fall, Saiyans come and magical girls go, but there will always be Kira.
Pros: The animation, the concept, the music, the voices, the characters, and the story are all otherworldly.
Cons: Becomes complicated, a few implausible plot twists, some find this series too dark.
Final score: 10 out of 10. The only anime series I haven given a 10 out of 10.
LATE EDIT: Yeah, still hadn't seen E7 to completion yet. But there's not very many anime I would compare to DN, either.
