I love Death Note. I just finished watching it for the second time. My favorite anime series right now. I'm not sadistic or misanthropic or anything, I just find this to be a very enjoyable show with high stakes and a surprisingly brilliant concept. Apparently this started because of seeing how Japan's rising generation, being smarter from gaining knowledge of previous generations, thought they should make decisions for others simply because of higher intelligence. The protagonist, or antagonist, however you want to view the main character, represents this idea in a hyperbolistic fashion, but for entertainment purposes it's great.

The concept appears simple at first but the show gets shockingly engaging and addicting as we see the effects and experiments from the Death Note being taken place. How does a show where you write a name in a note to kill them get better? By bringing other characters into the picture, a few even as smart as the main character, Light, who is one of Japan's smartest people. Emotions mix as you decide whether Light should be uncovered or be allowed to continue the mass killings. I don't want to spoil too much right now but trust me it gets intense and exciting.

The themes and message of Death Note for me was seeing Light's view of the Death Note situation-that, as mentioned before-intelligent people know best and should run the world their way despite what others think. Not trying to get political or anything but in the world today and especially in the US although there are companies who do a lot of good like Amazon or Tesla, the way to make companies successful comes at the loss of employee valuation. The CEOs treat just about everyone underneath them like trash for the sake of making the customer satisfied. The CEO's may not be as insane in their Ideology as Light was, but they share similar qualities in their intelligence and their belief that they know best. An argument can be made that these decisions are for the better because it helps people who deserve it and an argument that these decisions are for the worse because it doesn't help people even when they don't deserve it.

Criticisms include the last third, which takes a new direction from the first two thirds which were doing so well and it almost feels unnecessary. Misa Amane is not that great of a character except when the plot needs her to be. One second she's very intelligent and the next she just makes the most irrational decisions because of emotional instability. Very inconsistent writing for the sake of anime stereotypes. (There is no fan service unless you count some lingerie outfits or something btw) The tone of the story also switches from psychological observations and thoughts from Death Note owners to detective crime-solving show pretty often, so oftentimes I'm like 'oh yeah that was a thing.' Otherwise great show that despite its faults is very thought-provoking and fun. If you can handle dark tones (and I mean it's very dark) in shows or movies I'd highly recommend this. Go watch it now, what are you waiting for?

SPOILERS AHEAD HERE

I'm kind of a nerd of the show at this point and I want to geek out about some scenes in the show which are just SO GOOD. Raye Penber betraying his fellow FBI agents, now that's some good stuff. And that farewell line before the doors close is just so bad-a**. Really shows how intelligent Light is after only four episodes with the Death Note.

Naomi's death is one of the most effective scenes in anime that I've ever seen, her realization of Light's identity while the snow (which symbolizes death in this show; Japan uses white sometimes to symbolize it) is falling just feels both somber and heart-pounding as Naomi realizes her tragic fate but cannot escape the feelings that Light has imposed on her through the Death Note.

The last episode is just so good; Light's new behavior is understandable but so freaky. You can't tell me with the honest truth that the English dubbing actor did a bad job; Brad Swaile is so freaking good as Light in this episode and throughout the series. GIVE THIS MAN A MEDAL RIGHT NOW. S-tier voice acting right there. I also noticed Light died on a staircase, kind of a call-back to how he would neither go to heaven nor hell, just kind of in some limbo state between the two. Misa's implication to have committed suicide is also tragic. And to think Light would go so far to kill not just Ryuzaki but also his own father and his girlfriend to achieve his goal of ridding the world of evil, while you somehow can still sympathize with him. That is some incredible characterization. One of my favorite characters ever put to screen.

I had never seen such a good battle of wits story since Artemis Fowl (not the movie, ew, the books), and it honestly might be even better than Artemis Fowl. It's a style that works very well with the internal monologues that are prevalent in anime, so I'd be happy to find other detective animes that use this kind of thinking.

That's all thanks for listening to my TED talk.