I hate anime.

This might sound weird coming from a guy who's only two reviews on his account so far are of anime shows, but they're the only two I've seen, and under most conditions, it's a statement that holds true. I find the story lines to be unnecessarily contrived, the visual design to be atrocious, the voice acting to be overdone, and the whole thing all-in-all to be just not for me.

However, if there's ever such a thing as a "gateway" anime, Death Note is undoubtedly it.

If you're like me and skeptical about the prospect of watching any anime, much less this, you should know that almost every single thing that people don't like about anime is not present here. The character designs are sensible (except for the Shinigami, but it makes sense for them), the few action scenes that are here are realistic and not overdone, the voice acting is believable, and most importantly the storyline is very grounded and makes sense, rarely introducing any fantastical elements beyond the premise.

It's all-in-all a story of intrigue and mind games. A story in which one character has a mystical item that can cause the death of anyone that he has the name and face of might not sound particularly challenging for said character, but it quickly grows more complicated than that. For all of it's different plot threads, though, the story never feels like it's taking on more than it can handle and never gets too confusing (except for the ending, which we'll get to later).

The writers dumped most of their characterization into the show's protagonist, Light Yagami. Despite being the protagonist, he's quite clearly the "villain" of the story, making him a character who you simultaneously love and are also rooting against. It's a difficult balance to pull off, but it's done well.

The first season's probably better than the second, but the second is still very much worth your time, even to just see what insane and elaborate schemes will come up next. The show has a good sense of humor but never overdoes its comedic bits, taking a role of comic relief very fitting for such a dark storyline.

Fans of "epic" soundtracks (using the word in as much of the old sense as possible) will also enjoy this aspect; every track in the show is memorable and excellently accompanies the scene it's in.

The story loses a bit of steam around the latter parts of the second season, as new antagonists are introduced that, while likable, can never match the perfect dynamic between Light and L. The conclusion of the story in particular is the only part of the story where I felt lost, but the subsequent scenes were much better and, while not perfect, were still a nice conclusion to the series.

The real victory of this show is that it's one of the most engaging things I've ever watched while having relatively few "action" scenes. The rules of the more fantastical elements are kept constant and logical, and the story avoids introducing new elements in favor of finding new ways to use existing rules. Luckily, none of the sillier parts of the world are ever required to hold up the plot. All-in-all, it's a unique and well-told story, suitable for even the most dedicated dislikers of Japanese animation. Highly recommended.