Got around to finishing this last night. After the semi-boring evil corporation arc, it all went by pretty fast. I don’t think it ever got back to being as good as it was in the first 17/18 episodes, but the ending was pretty satisfactory, even if I wasn’t completely happy with it.

The bads – I think they may have overdone things a teensy bit, in terms of Light’s psychopathic tendencies, L’s weirdness, and the stunning accuracy with which they (almost) always predicted the enemy’s next move. Some parts were a little bit too convenient; I gave up trying to follow the whole notebook swapping who could see what business after a while. And some things about the ending didn’t sit quite right with me, even though I think there was very little else they could have done, except maybe end the story 10 episodes early similar to what the movie did. And I haaaaaaate the 2nd OP. Gawd. I hate swearing for the sake of swearing. I hate lyrics that don’t make sense. I hate death metal. Can’t say it didn’t go with the anime in general, but urghhhh.

Now that’s out of the way, there were a lot a lot of things I liked. For one, despite the nitpicking observed above, I thought the main characters were excellently done. The interaction between them was probably my favourite part of the series. The tension created by the story telling was arguably the best I’ve seen so far. I was actually pretty nervous at some points, thanks to the way the action sequences were put together. Unlike many other shows that attempt to have complex plotlines, it managed to tie things up coherently without losing its way. It succeeded in using a supernatural concept as a platform for intense drama and psychological warfare without over-relying on it as a crutch to escape explaining the finer points of the plot.

Most importantly, I like that the story was so intelligent without being pretentious. It didn’t try to explore moral issues or inspire any philosophical debates, it didn’t try to be deeply meaningful and profound. Which is good, because most anime that try suffer most ignominious failures. While there are occasional references to the fact that Kira’s world may not be such a bad idea, it is used more as a plot device rather than belaboured as some new and interesting concept. In the end it’s not even about inherent rights and wrongs anymore, it is about winning and losing, which I far prefer to having the characters hide behind some pompous sense of justice.

I quote Wiki, re: the author and artist who created the manga – ‘The two reiterated that the “deep philosophical themes” such as debates about whether Light is good or evil, “life and death,” and the “merits of our Internet society” differed from the intention to entertain’. Ding ding ding! Finally someone gets it right. Forget the ideological discussions – all they wanted to do was tell a good story, and they did a hell of a job with that.

Now for spoilers!

So like, I was sooooooooooooooooooooooo bummed that L really died. I spent the last 10 episodes waiting for him to magically cheat death. Boohoo!!!! Why!!! Why kill him off and replace him with an annoying blonde kid and a white haired carbon copy who is just nowhere near as cool because the novelty is gone?!?!

The reasons I didn’t completely like the ending were (1) Light ended up looking like such an undignified dumbass (2) The way he lost was just so bloody lame (3) The whole, ‘Mello must have known this would happen’ and ’separately we’re not as good as L but together we can surpass him!!!’ thing was such bullshit – like wtf, what do mean he must have known this would happen, what kind of lousy logic is that?!?! (4) The way the story was told I think the viewer sympathised with Light enough so that the only person we would have allowed to beat him would have been L, and they totally took that away. =(

On the other hand, Light obviously had to die since by that point it was clear that he was a manipulative bastard, ideological debates or not. And it would have been completely impractical for L to survive 37 whole episodes when the odds were so against him, so I liked how they conceded that despite his incredible genius he was still a mere mortal. So yeah. =/

Incidentally, on hindsight I liked Light’s little stint as a good guy. I think it was a nice reminder that fundamentally he wasn’t an embodiment of diabolical evil. I like that he never cheated by doing the eye exchange thing. I also liked that he was consistently evil when he was being evil, and he didn’t have moments of weakness where he got soft and decided not to kill people (even though we all wished him and L had ended up as fwens!!! sniff).

I want L back!!! QQ

Up to episode 17 now and am well and truly hooked. This is one of the few anime I’m watching that actually has a pretty coherent AND intriguing plot; maybe I’m just watching all the wrong stuff. Of course, I’m less than halfway through this one so it still has a huge chance of screwing up. I’m a big skeptic on good endings because the more you try to obscure the story the harder it is to make sense of it at the end, and most anime just seems to have a knack of messing up a perfectly legit story. This one seems to have a good handle on things though, so far anyway.

Spoilers inc…

So Light and his annoying girlfriend have just got released from prison and all looks fine and dandy, except the Death Note is now in the hands of an evil corporation that will use it to make lots of money. Well and good, but I don’t get (I’m not very good at making connections so enlighten me if you will):

1) How did L get so sure that Light was Kira, just cos he thinks Kira and Kira 2 have met? There were plenty of other people in Aoyama on the 22nd, why him?

2) How did L figure out that Misa was Kira 2? Was it the hair and stuff he was looking at? Isn’t that kinda expecting the viewer to make a huge assumption, or am I just thick?

3) Why is Light such a good guy all of a sudden? Sure he doesn’t remember killing anyone and stuff, but wasn’t he a bastard to begin with? I don’t see how changing your memories of the last few months could change your fundamental personality. Or could it still be an act?? *gasp* Of course we don’t know the exact details behind the deal with Rem, so it really could be anything….

BTW isn’t that an excellent picture of Ryuk and his WTF expression?

I’m only 11 episodes into this so I’ll have to post an update when I’m done. According to TJK it gets pretty crappy in the 20s, but then again, I’ve never met anyone as critical about anime as he is.

So far, I like that:

1. The main character is, for once, not a complete and utter moron. Of course, he makes up for that by being angsty AND psychotic. But then again, he makes up for that by being very good looking. In any case, I think the show does a pretty good job of getting you to side with the bad guy.
2. Instead of being flooded with useless flashbacks, we get pensive but content-filled monologues while the characters improbably preempt every possible disaster thrown their way.
3. L is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi, who also does the voice of USOPP, the singular most annoying anime character ever created. From village retard to boy genius. My mind reels every time he says something.

So good that I even forgive the lack of pewpew.