Forum - View topicREVIEW: Death Note DVD 1
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daedelus
 Posts: 743 Location: Texas City, TX (ajd: 6/11/05) |
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This is a truly engrossing series! Light must go to bed every night exhausted from thinking so much. It puts a strain on my brain, for sure. I had forgotten about L's english VA and his ties to Battlestar Galactica. Now that I think about it, yeah, I recognize his voice.
This show certainly keeps me on my toes. I never know what's going to happen or who's gonna get it. I like that. |
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Seif
 Posts: 458 |
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I was disappointed with the lack of a text-translation subtitle track. There are moments in the first and second volume that depend on knowing what's being written or displayed and the fact that the only option is to turn on the full subtitles is quite an annoyance. A choice made even stranger by the fact that the Adult Swim broadcast includes text translations. I hope they fix this by Volume 3.
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DemonEyesLeo
 Posts: 844 Location: Japan |
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Hmmm, I'd still give the nod to BECK. That said, for a Shonen Jump title, Death Note is a unique series with a nice, dark atmosphere that is definitely one of the best ever made. |
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Zalis116
Moderator
 Posts: 6901 Location: Kazune City |
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 It's funny cause it's true, although I can imagine already the response of "But his name's Raito, not Light, so the dub is wrong!!"  But overall, I thought the dub did a nice job with Japanese name pronunciations as well, so I don't have any major complaints about it. The dub also manages to be faithful without being over-literal, i.e. "I will hunt you down and catch you" sounds better than "I will definitely catch you".
Newsflash to Viz: People who pay for your products should not have to do any of these things to get the full value of the anime, and if you could subtitle a DVD competently like any other company (Manga Ent. excepted), they wouldn't have to. I suspect that Viz is reacting to the reaction to the Bleach DVDs -- those DVDs had the onscreen text hardsubs that were used in the TV broadcast, and people complained about those hardsubs being on DVDs. So they overreacted in the opposite direction for Death Note by including the hardsubs for the TV broadcast, but neglected to make a secondary subtitle track for the DVDs to include the same information. Sure, in a lot of the scenes I can read the Japanese writing for myself, but I'm putting my shoes in the feet of the 90%(?)+ of viewers who can't read Japanese. It's a shame, but this subtitle gaffe has assured that I'll be waiting for the on-sale boxed set of this series. After seeing Death Note in fansubs, I'd like to do the right thing, get the DVDs, and check out the English dub. But I can't justify spending money on individual DVDs that fail this badly. |
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Randall Miyashiro
 Posts: 2451 Location: A block away from Golden Gate Park |
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I remember people here raving about Inuyasha and being disappointed when I finally saw it, since it felt like the epitome of never ending shounen action. The whole idea of a typical high school student getting whisked away into a somewhat fluffy fantasy setting didn't sit well with me. Whenever things got intense Kagome was always a stones throw away from modern Japan and the horrors of high school. A few years later everyone was talking about Naruto. I waited patiently for the R1 DVDs and was seriously disappointed since it seemed a bit too much like a typical Dragon Ball styled adventure from Jump. I then heard about Bleach and eagerly awaited the R1 DVDs while the board had a huge growing thread about this series. When the DVD arrived I was again disappointed in how typical of a Jump title this series was. When Death Note finally arrived I expected a series where a plucky teenager (who doesn't fit in with his peers) gathers a group of goofy outcasts and with the advise of a sensei figure goes on a magical quest that will go on for what feels like an eternity. I couldn't have been more wrong. This series doesn't feel like a Jump series and has many of the great influences that I expect from Madhouse, This series is dark and mature. It definitely makes it to my top picks of 2007, a year with many great R1 releases. |
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Mmsven
 Posts: 86 Location: British Columbia, Canada |
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Death Note is currently my favorite anime of all time, even above Trust and Betrayal. I hope further volumes continue to show the great quality of the earlier episodes.
It is certainly the breath of fresh air I needed, as well my satisfying my twisted side. Light is my favorite character. |
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bci110
 Posts: 391 |
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I would, too. But that was before I started watching Death Note and became completely engrossed with its compelling story and arguably the most ruthless, cunning, and calcuating villian in anime history in Light Yagami. Still, though, both BECK and Death Note are Madhouse titles, and those two series right there futher proves why Madhouse is the best studio in the industry right now. 
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pluvia33
 Posts: 196 Location: Dayton, OH, USA |
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I'm sorry, but I don't see what the big deal is about this series. I'm not saying it's bad, I'm just saying it's okay and no where near the best anime to come to the US this year. Suzumiya Haruhi, Black Lagoon, Air, BECK, Higurashi, Rozen Maiden, Mushishi, Ramen Fighter Miki, Kashimashi, and even Futari Ecchi are all anime that I've bought this year and think are better than Death Note in overall entertainment value.
Sure, the production value is great, it looks better than just about any series out there but I just find the whole thing boring. I bought the entire manga series on recommendation from a friend and the first few books were interesting enough to continue buying it, but after book five I felt like I was just getting it for the sake of continuing the series. I thought that with all of the hype that the anime has gotten, it might put a new breathe of life into the series for me and I could enjoy it more, but going through the story a second time around in anime form was even worse than the manga (again, not exactly saying it was bad, just not really so good and definitely not the best in my opinion). And the over dramatized pen strokes just made me laugh. It's probably just a matter of taste for me. It's hard for me to enjoy a series when I don't like any of the character, or at the very least find them interesting. L is only slightly enjoyable while Light, Near, and Mello are about as interesting as sand. I would like Misa if she wasn't so stupid in the end (in the manga series). Sadly my favorite character in the entire series is Matsuda. He's an enjoyable character and is just about the only character to get any real redemption in the end. The Shinigami were kind of fun, but for some reason they all seemed just as dumb or dumber than Misa. So sorry to the big fans of the series. I just didn't really like it. The characters for the most part were lame and the novelty of the concept had zero replay value for me. That's all. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18460 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Didn't notice this or I would have been certain to mention it, as stuff like this really irritates me, too. Viz isn't the only company guilty of this, though; the massive failure ADV had with Voices of a Distant Star on this same issue still sticks in my craw to this day. (Although that was blamed on the encoding end of things and not the ADR production end.) |
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TheVok
Posts: 613 Location: North York, Ontario, Canada |
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Really? It strikes me as one of the worst theme songs in recent memory, one that I fear will turn off a lot of potential viewers on YTV and Adult Swim. And its sound is the polar opposite of the feel of the show itself. |
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posterior_praiser
 Posts: 296 |
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Haha if you dont like 'the world' (which IMO is a pretty good song and suits the early feel of the anime) then something tells me you won't (or don't) like the second opening either, which is um well interesting sounding  ! the band Maximum the Hormone is an acquired taste I think !
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Riliont
Posts: 31 |
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The second ending>>>all the other music in Death Note.
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eviltimes
 Posts: 116 Location: Callisto |
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Death Note is so boring and repetitive, if it wasn't on before the infinitely superior Blood + no one would ever see it.
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pluvia33
Posts: 196 Location: Dayton, OH, USA |
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Personally, I really don't like "The World" at all, but I love Mazimum the Hormone. They're like a Japanese System of a Down with a female drummer/vocalist added in. Their opening and ending themes are just about the only good things about the second half of Death Note aside from Matsuda in the final episode. |
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Amethyst Alchemist
Former ANN Editor
 Posts: 312 Location: where it's always a good morning |
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I see the opener as really, really great. It's honestly one of my favorite songs. I could listen to it all day and never be tired of it. On the surface it doesn't fit with the series at all. It is "loud" whereas the series is sort of "soft" or subtle. That being said, for the actual heart of the series, I don't think their could be a better song. Can you get more intense than serial killing? There's definitely chaos inside Light we only see sometimes in a maniacal laugh, but he's definitely got the equivolent to a rock band's noise going on in there. And the whole story situation does. I think the only character genuinely 100% as calm as he appears is L and maybe Near. They still appreciate the chaos and violence of the situation, though, as all the characters do. For describing the story's inner life, the opener is a perfect fit for the series. Yes, Maximum the Hormone is DEFINITELY an acquired taste  . Let's just say I doubt [adult swim] will broadcast it. I don't think they could edit it well to make it workable. They'll probably just keep these songs throughout. Another reason to do this is the song change is kind of strange in the series. There doesn't seem to be any major story change which it turns around (there are major story changes nearby, but not right when it changes). It seems more logical just to keep the same song throughout. I'm interested to see what the feedback will be on that song when everyone hears it   .
I hated the Maximum the Hormone songs when I first heard them and thought I could ever like listening to songs like that. However, they do make really awesome anime songs, again perfectly fitting the inner life of the story. I especially like the image of Light we get in the very beginning. But that is getting way ahead of things. The only comment I have on this particular dvd release is that I really like the figures that come with them. They are big and really nice, altough I don't have much experience with getting figures . The only other thing is, I don't think I'll ever be able to completely like the dub. It just bothers me because it doesn't quite live up to my standard of perfection I wanted for the series. But I'm also very biased because I did see the fansubs first, so I can't get rid of the view the Japanese is the "original" or "genuine" version (which it really is, I guess), and that the Japanese is the "real" version.
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