This anime is absolutely outstanding in almost every way. The fall of Light Yagami is perhaps the most invested I've ever been in a negative character arc. Seeing him go from a promising, relatable teenager to a sadistic pseudo-god was both exciting and devastating. This series delivers a heavy message about the fragility of human morality and it doesn't pull its punches. Death Note's antagonist L is one of my favourite characters in all fiction, and his cat/mouse dynamic with Light is second to none.

Perhaps the biggest advantage of Death Note's anime over the manga is its music. The soundtracks in this series are an iconic blend of drama, divinity and darkness that fits the series' tone perfectly. The anime does deviate from the manga very slightly, most notably in its ending, and while I found most of the changes to be unnecessary, this a relatively minor issue. My biggest issue with this series is that its supporting cast isn't as fleshed out as it could be, but that won't stop me from giving Death Note a well-deserved 9/10.