Death Note - Episode 1

I've been avoiding Death Note for quite some time. It was originally released back when I was in my first or second year of High School, and I was just then getting into the "deep end" of anime. Before I entered High School, I was like most anime fans, watching only the mainstream stuff that showed up on adult swim and what-not. Honestly, I always like the premise of Death Note and I event got up to fifteen or so episodes before I quit. So you're probably wondering why I ended up stopping, right?

Well, to put it bluntly, it was because everyone else was watching it. At the time, anyone who said they liked anime was obsessed with Death Note. Heck, I imagine any sort of anime convention had a thousand L's and Light's swarming around. But to be clear, it's not the fact that so many people liked it that I ended up quitting. No... it was because everyone who talked about it acted like they were doing me a favor by introducing it to me, or did their best to show they were a bigger fan, or other crap like that. I just got sick of it before I could really get into it due to the culture (at least in NA) that formed around it.

A small sample from Google.

So, what was my reason for starting again? I was looking through Netflix and saw it. Simple as that. I was bored and needed something to pass the time (I could have decided to play Dragon's Prophet but I figured it'd be better to wait til tomorrow - pace myself, y'know). Anyways, on to my thoughts about the episode itself.

The Atmosphere

Immediately after the opening sequence my first thought was, "Oh no..." Simply because of the music. Not particularly because it was bad (It isn't, I guess), but because I knew that music would be setting the ton for the rest of the anime. Gloomy, yet with religious/utopian undertones. Through the artwork, music, and dialogue, the anime presents a gloomy and horrible world (I guess much like our own) that focuses in on the bad. Yes, I know what the anime is about and I knew it wouldn't be a happy thing, but it still felt a bit oppressive. 

The Story

The protagonist is Light, a super-student who gets perfect grades and always comes in first place at whatever he does. Or that's how he's introduced, anyways. We haven't met Lights father yet in episode 1, but from what I remember he was a detective. Anyways, Light happens across the Death Note and he initially reacts like any serious and intelligent person would - he shrugs it off as some sort of hoax or chain letter prank.

Yet, he can't help but go back and pick it up. And then once home, he decides to try it out. Just to put his mind at ease. Light later describes this as a super-natural power that the Note has, but I would say it's just the mind of a teenager. No matter how intelligent or diligent Light is, he's still a teen and teens are the type of people to come up with a Death Note chain letter. I mean, what teen wouldn't like a notebook that could kill anyone they didn't like with no consequence? I honestly just feel like that bit of the plot was a bit weak. Perhaps the manga portrays it better, but it felt like the writers just wanted a quick and easy way to get into the good part of the story. But forget that, I'm getting off topic.

After a few initial tests, Light becomes a killing addict and begins causing a mass-extension of "evil people" before the Shinigami Ryuk shows up. Much to Light's surprise (though he covers it up quite well), the Shinigami had purposely "lost" the Death Note in the human world and Light wasn't really the "Chosen One" he apparently hoped he would be. That doesn't stop Light, however. He lays down his Big Plan for Ryuk and, with a bit of an insane look in his eyes, proclaims he will become the new god of the world he is creating - one without evil people. 

With the introduction of Ryuk, I've actually come to be quite interested in the supernatural world behind the "real world" in Death Note. It seems like there are a pretty large number of Shinigami besides Ryuk and a Heaven and Hell are mentioned. So I'm wondering how all that works out. Apparently it's possible for a Shinigami to have more than one Death Note, too. And we already know it's possible for a human to become in possession of a Death Note (either by purpose or accident). So that's some pretty obvious foreshadowing that Light will run into someone else with a Death Note later on (at least I think).

The episode ended after that. I can definitely tell I'll enjoy the series (at least for a while). The art work is nice (if gloomy and dark), the story is interesting, and the voice acting is superb. My only real complaint at this point is a couple of weak plot points (nothing major or annoying) and I feel the artwork could have been a bit better. I feel it's a bit on the simple side, even if it is nice. Thanks for reading and I'll probably post the second episode here in an hour or so.