Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Non-lethal notes on Death Note.



I like anime for the most part. Because I have the netflix, I can try out new shows for free so I am trying this one show called Death Note. This show is found in the horror-anime section, but it’s more of a detective story. The main character is a 17 year old student who can kill anyone by writing their name in a notebook that some weird demon guy (that only he can see) dropped. Our main character thinks he’s a hero but he descends into villainy. He is pursued by a super detective known only as “L”.

So do I like this show? Yeah I do. Do I think you’ll like it? I don’t know. Here’s a little test to see.

The following is a conversation about Death Note based on conversations found in Death Note between myself and an invisible demon guy who cares about my opinion on anime:

Me: I’ve been watching Death Note and for the most part I’m enjoying it.
Demon: You like what you see so far of the Death Note Anime?
Me: Yeah, I like it for the most part, but after watching several episodes I get a little annoyed by the repetitive, expository dialogue.
Demon: You’re annoyed by the dialogue that repeats itself and is constantly giving information that has already been given?
Me: It’s not to say that what they have to say isn’t interesting, in fact there are some very interesting themes at play that are communicated mostly through dialogue instead of action.
Demon (internal monologue): Amazing! This human mostly likes Death Note but is annoyed by the dialogue while recognizing the importance of such dialogue to the story…
Me: The main plot of a story is a cat and mouse game between a super smart killer who thinks he’s a hero and a super smart detective, which is pretty interesting. The problem is that every move they make and clue they discover is followed by them wordily explaining what they did and why they did it.
Demon: A cat and mouse game between a super smart killer who thinks he’s a hero and a super smart detective would be hard to follow if they didn’t tell you what was going on, wouldn’t it?
Me: That’s true, a cat and mouse game between a super smart killer who thinks he’s a hero and a super smart detective would be hard to follow if they didn’t tell you what was going on, but they a constantly rehashing information that has already been given several times.
Demon: Constantly rehashing information that has already been given several times? It sounds like the dialogue in series is pretty repetitive and expository. That could get annoying.
Me: Yes it does get annoying, but I like the series for the most part. It doesn’t have a lot of action, but the animation is cool and the plot moves just fast enough for me to stay to see what happens next.
Demon: So it’s not all bad if the plot moves just fast enough for you to stay to see what happens next.
Me: Yeah it’s not all bad, but there are some other little quirks that throw me off, like the dramatic simultaneous exclamations.
Demon: Dramatic simultaneous exclamations?
Me: Indeed. It usually happens at the end of the episodes where the two main characters are displaying their mutual resolve (usually talking to themselves) and than start saying the same thing…
Demon: So they are both leading to the same point and getting excited about it…
Me: …and the music builds just in time for the…
Demon: …and they say the same thing which results in…
Me and Demon at the same time: DRAMATIC SIMULTANEUS EXCLAMATION!!!!!
Me (internal monologue): Which isn’t too bad when used sparingly and the exclamations aren’t inane like “EATING A POTATO CHIP!!!” which did actually happen once.

Are you still with me? If so, you may enjoy this series. If not, than you have no attention span, and since you’re not even reading this I can tell you that you are what’s wrong with today’s society and I hope you get an STD from all that celebrity gossip trash you’re probably reading instead!

That being said, I’m going to wrap this up. I’m only eight episodes into this series so my opinion might change but right now I’d give this show 3 stars out of 5. Apparently there is a live action movie out based on this series. Because I’m such a good friend, I’ll check it out so you don’t have to. No need to thank me, just send Red Bull.

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