Forum - View topicREVIEW: Death Note DVD 3
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UltimateSpaceLion
 Posts: 28 |
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wow, first bad review I've read of Death Note. Fair enough that you don't like it, but your review seemed to be a bit long-winded just for the sake of it.
Personally, I take no shame in being part of the majority that loves Death Note. Having downloaded every single episode as it was released, and now marathoning the DVDs that I've bought, I think it's the most original anime to come along in quite a while. I believe the point is that Light is supposed to be unsympathetic. Disliking his personality forces the viewer to choose whether to root for him based purely on his mission, or whether you cheer for L and the task force. The show isn't intended as a character study, but I find that Light does display enough personality to keep him from becoming two-dimensional. spoiler[For example, his rage after L has revealed himself and left Light cornered is one of my favourite parts on this disc.] What also attracts me to Death Note is its ability to convert non-fans over to anime (which it has done to several of my friends) and its tendency to provoke heated debates over the morals of killing criminals. Death Note's provocation of this issue is patently clear, but it can't be faulted for that. Besides, if you watch closely, it is clear Light is being warped by the Death Note. While this is shown as his eyes become more and more 'evil-looking', I believe, like so many people who set out to do good, he is being blinded by his intentions to the true significance of his actions. The end does not excuse the means, but his corruption by the Death Note runs deep, blinding him to the true significance of his actions. How many religious fundamentalists has the world seen who are so consumed with propagating their ideals that they fail to see the logic in their actions? I feel that Death Note offers an interesting (if, admittedly, slightly heavy-handed) commentary of this. |
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Big Hed
 Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Wow, you really put the smackdown on that one towards the end Carl
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I must say though, as a definite fan of the series I completely understand your sentiments, now that I think about them. Death Note takes a startlingly simplified view approach towards a morally chilling premise, and if one is inclined to focus on how such conflicts within the story are handled, and on the broader worldview audiences are given, that could be enough to put viewer off. However, I would contend that the reason the world is written so simplistically outside of Light and L is because the writers wanted focus to remain on the core narrative element of Death Note; that is to say, suspense-building, the continuing game of cat-and-mouse between L and Kira, and the interactions of human beings with Shinigami (admittedly, I'm going out on a limb when I describe "core" narrative elements, as I haven't read the manga -- this is just how I feel about the series as of volume 4). As such, inserting layers of complexity into the narrative that might benefit the development of people who form the backdrop of Death Note could well detract from the story's primary sites for development. Having said this, I agree with you that Light is unsympathetic as all hell. Nevertheless, I find that combining Light's cold and calculating demeanor with his wanton disregard for human life -- in addition the simplified portrayal of grave moral conflicts (episode 7 spoiler[Misora Naomi's execution], in particular) -- produces a truly enjoyable result onscreen. Of course, outside the realm of fiction, the potential ramifications of simplifying human morality to such an extent would be terrible, but is fascinating to see simulated. This opinion was brought to you by a non-disenfranchised teenager, by the way, although perhaps one who has odd tastes in narrative development. |
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Himalayus
 Posts: 27 Location: Oregon |
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Perhaps I was so long-winded that you got bored and stopped reading, but you seem to have missed the point of my review entirely. I don’t care that Light is unsympathetic. Okay, maybe a bit, but there are plenty of other unsympathetic main characters that I have no problem with—to pull one out of a hat, Alex from A Clockwork Orange. In terms of Light’s actions and his personality, the only thing I care about is the lack the creators had of any discernible purpose for making him the main character beyond a certain fashionable nihilism. But even that is merely one, and not the most important, of the problems I have with the series. My review ran long because the issues I have with the series are complicated, not because I wanted to pad out the sentence “Boy do I hate Light.” On that front, Big Hed has the more relevant argument. The idea that the series was intentionally stripping itself down to L and Light was one that I considered in the process of writing this review, but I discarded it as inconsequential because it ultimately has little bearing on the main issue that bothers me. The lack of development in peripheral characters isn’t the cause of the series’ repulsive worldview, but merely one of its many symptoms. The series paints humanity as a passive mass of cud-chewing livestock simply milling about waiting for a genius like Light to lead them. As a result, whenever peripheral characters enter the picture, they are mere chess pieces in the game—livestock to be herded, not “real” people like Light and L who control their own destinies and make their own decisions. To be sure, this has the effect of stripping the series down to a lean, mean suspense machine, but it’s hard—at least for me—to enjoy the suspense when I’m being assaulted by the urge to scrub my brain with disinfectant. By the way, I’d like to say that it makes me a little proud of the anime community when the first two replies to a frankly inflammatory review such as this are so reasonable and articulate. Thanks. Oh, and y'all can thank me later for not stepping on that capital punishment/religious fundamentalism land mine. |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Ah, fair enough. And yes, good call avoiding the aforementioned "explosive ordanance". |
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Monster in a box
Posts: 671 |
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I don't know what to say about the majority of the review other than "Ok.", but this...
Overall (dub) : C I'm going to have to ask what you're comparing it to. It's definitely in the running for best dub ever in my eyes. |
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elsie
Posts: 61 Location: Virginia |
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My view, trying not to spoil beyond this volume, is that the series is attempts to analyze a particular kind of entitled, egocentric teenager. I can see what you mean by saying that people other than L and Light are treated as herdlike masses, but I think it's less the series presenting this view (at least at this point) than it is Light and L themselves, for whom each other is the only worthy opponent. Neither has very strong social connections to others. If you remember the first episode, Light seemed very isolated from his classmates, not at all interested in having friends, even though his classmates seemed to like and admire him. L too has always seemed very isolated, more so actually. It's as though only the other has managed to impinge on the one's sense of his own ego.
Granted, I'm in my forties myself, but to me, the most fascinating character is Light's father. His moral compass is the strongest in the series, and yet Light is his son. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4824 |
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Great review here. I'm watching along with the series on Adult Swim and rather enjoying it as a whole (well, I was, at any rate...), but I have my share of criticisms with its fundamental premises, and this review brings up one of them. In a word, the entirety of the cast of the series outside of Light vs. L is mind-numbingly, staggeringly stupid. Seriously. To a man, they can't accomplish a damn thing. The Kira task force is an utter joke. They could all sit there and twiddle their thumbs for a thousand years, yet without L doing essentially all of the work, they'd get nowhere. The same is true for the individuals that Light interacts with. As the review states, the whole entirety of humanity is treated as a bunch of mindless infants in need of an overlord. And it really does grate on the viewer. I don't even care if the author presented things this way to further emphasize the battle of wits (how much "wit" is involved there is another question entirely) at the center of the series; no matter what the justification, it's still a staggeringly annoying quality. Poor Matsuda gets held up as the perpetual n00b of the task force, but he really isn't any more incompetent than any of them, which is a very sad fact.
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Jackmace Ryo
 Posts: 65 Location: Southeast Asia |
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While I generally agree with your points, Carl, I personally think the review itself feels more like a rant than an actual review (at least compared to Theron's Death Note DVD 1 review).
I think this review focused too much in Death Note's 'flaws' (once again, which I do not disagree with) rather than actually explaining about, you know, the consistency of art and animation throughout the series, general interesting plot points in this particular volume, and general comparisons about the voices (dub/sub)...which I think should be the main body of a review. Instead they are all explained in short in the second paragraph. But hey, maybe I just like Theron's writing style more. |
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kaos
 Posts: 10 Location: Detroit (area), Michigan |
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I have to admit that review was not at all what I was expecting it to be. You certainly take an original angle that I hadn't heard before... that essentially being the show's cold-eyed view of the value of humanity.
To be honest, I never even considered that perspective. To me, the draw of the show and book was always about the battle of wits between Light and L (or whoever) and the detail of their strategy. I loved watching each character try to out-maneuver one another by reasoning out their actions in the most minute details. I never game much consideration to the morality of the characters' actions short of how it fit into the reasoning behind their actions and strategy. I think part of that reaction comes from having read the manga before watching the anime. The manga is more straightforward with the storyline, and I think is more focused on creating an interesting plot and less so on creating mood or thematic value. The anime imbues a lot of gothic tone, symbolism and melodrama that simply wasn't there in the original, all of which emphasizes that sense of nihilism that you mentioned. So I guess if you were to take a step back and were sensitive to those kinds of issues, I could see where you're coming from. But then does that mean you are equally repulsed by all anime with high body counts and a lack of empathy.. like say Hellsing (the OAV more than the TV series)? |
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Martin_g
Posts: 22 |
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I was looking forward to this review to find out about how the dub and or sub translation was shapeing up. ANN reviews are very consistent about including at least a paragraph of critque for various aspects of a production including DVD information and artistry.
I don't mind the reviewers passionate rebuke of the series, he makes some good points that many people don't care to think about. Next time, please include the justification behind the scores for other catagories besides story. |
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Key
Moderator
 Posts: 18493 Location: Indianapolis, IN (formerly Mimiho Valley) |
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Insert "lack of" into the part I've bolded and I completely agree with this statement. Almost from the start I have gotten a "power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" vibe off of this show, and that point hit home strongest in episode 7. Thus, while Light is totally unsympathetic, I have found him fascinating as a study of a young man gradually being twisted to evil as he develops his own perverse sense of morality. Misa makes a striking contrast to him by completely acting outside of any moral framework; the Death Note is just a means to an end for her, and she doesn't put any more thought into it than that.
I have also thought along these lines, and this would certainly be in line with common teen mentality; to put it in Evangelion terms, their A-T Fields are colliding. Misa makes the interestingly dramatic contrast to both in this case, too.
While I otherwise love the series, this point irritates me, too, and this is about the place in the series where enough of it accumulated to really start to bug me. |
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Big Hed
Posts: 1607 Location: Melbourne, Australia |
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Don't worry, Carl wasn't actually giving a C to the dub alone; it's just that the dub grade criteria encompasses an overall perspective of what's being reviewed (that is to say: art, animation, music, the dub itself, and -- the thing that brought the Death Note down in this case -- story). At least that's how I've read it works, from previous posts. |
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Forever-Eternity0
 Posts: 15 Location: Leiden, Netherlands |
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Death Note's praises have been sung so long and so often that they need not be laboured on for long. The production quality of the anime is stellar and critizing it for minor technicalities could make the review sound nitpicky and artificially going-in-against-the-commonly-held-opinion. The main flaw touched upon(the dehumanization of the setting and the pervading clinical feeling that the series conveys as a consequence) goes deep and takes long to describe accurately, which is why such a large part of the review is concerned with discussing this flaw. The only flaw I found in the review itself was the fact that an entire paragraph is wasted on discussing the series' narrative flaws before dismissing them as a cheap, easy and meaningless criticism. Whether intended or not by the writers, the dehumanization of the setting served(at least for me) to convey a sense of utter antipathy for the main characters. Both Light and in a lesser sense L serve as nothing more than the epitomes of the desensitized human. The goals they pursue and the mind games that lead up to them lack any reflection on human cost or moral implications, simply because the speed at which they unfold mean time spent on pondering moral dillema's is time not spent on outwitting the opponent. Light imposes an utopian vision upon the world, happily ignoring the subtle nuances of social mechanics just because he can: his Death Note gives him the belief he is able to circumvent these obstacles simply by powering through them. L is determined to stop him at any cost, treating people as tools and resorting to cruel psychological manipulation in the same manner as Light does, silently having decided without second thought that the consequences of not doing so will always be worse than the price of his real-life chess game. While I applaud the series for its rollercoaster ride of twist and turns, the sheer distaste I felt for the two leads meant I couldn't watch the entire series. It makes me unable to give the series a final verdict, but serves as a testament to its power of affecting people. |
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Houlgrave
 Posts: 21 |
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Wow, a review that actually sits back and puts over-hyped garbage in a proper context: I mean seriously now, is it too much to ask for a main character who can occasionally think for himself and reflect upon his actions? Such contrived BS: whether it's typical shonen or not (as in Light's case), we've really seen it all before.
Technical merits? Check. An antagonistic cat-and-mouse relationship with some intelligent maneuvering thrown in? Check. More than two 3-dimensional characters in the cast? Uh-oh. 
Again, well-done review. |
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Seif
 Posts: 458 |
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While I don't necessarily disagree with many of the points presented in the article, I feel that they flaws' impact on the show are as seiver as the author believes.
The review definitely does come off as more of a rant then an actual review, such as the lack of commentary on the art, animation, dub, and music besides a dismissing "still good." He even mentions that the dub has a specific weakness but doesn't reveal what it is. Also, the quote of the review on the front page is extremely misleading. |
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