Death Note — First Look
I started the anime version of Death Note this week with my husband. I’m coming at it from a different point of view than a lot of fans, but I will say that for the time being it’s keep me entertained.
What’s my different point of view? Well for one, I didn’t think the manga was a masterpiece. I think it had an interesting story, unfortunately the writing was mediocre at best. The long spells of “I know you know that I know that you know that I know that you know that I know that you know that I’m Kira” were painful, to say the least. For another, I’m coming into it thinking it’s an interesting storyline–I’m not drooling over potential slash, thinking that Kira is ‘right,’ or on a moral high ground judging the show as morally void. No, I’m coming into from the perspective of wanting to see an entertaining anime series. Hype? Who cares, I can mitigate the effect of hype easily enough–I just ignore the writing fangirls and fanboys. Plus all the news about kids getting suspended for having their own Death Notes.
I came into this with only one real expectation: that the mediocre writing in the manga would be mitigated by the fact that such exchanges would come off better in motion rather than on paper. And through the first four episodes (particularly the third and fourth), I feel like it has met my expectations. There still is too much internal narrative (I don’t like being told what’s going on, I’d rather use my brain and figure it out myself) but it comes off a lot better and more natural than it did in the manga.
So, what else is good? Seiyuu performances. Miyano Mamoru does a rather convincing Light. Sometimes he does sound a bit too much like Tamaki, but usually that isn’t an issue. L’s seiyuu is quite good as well, even though I was expecting a much more effeminate voice. Ryuk’s voice initially bothered me (I was imagining something more like Marcosious from Shakugan no Shana), but after an episode or so it’s felt perfect fitting and well-acted.
The characters are also interesting. It’s very fun having a protagonist that not only do I note like, I’m not necessarily supposed to like him. On the other hand, his antagonist isn’t necessarily supposed to be likable either, which makes the dynamic even more unique and interesting to me. For some reason Sayu really keeps popping into my mind as well. She just seems to have a bit more life in her small role in the anime than she did in the manga, and it adds a certain sense of normalcy in a world of supernatural megalomania.
On the other hand, the music thus far has not been enjoyable. The current theme songs just feel like random, generic J-rock songs, whereas the background music doesn’t feel like it fits the scene a lot of the time. The Gregorian chant-style pieces feel like they should have been held back for the climax of the story rather than the beginning, and other pieces just feel out of place and too loud. I think a quieter, creepier soundtrack would have been much more fitting overall. Something to draw more on the concept of suspense. Ah well, can’t win them all.
Anyway, I’ll go ahead and say I’ve found the first 4 episodes to be intriguing and definitely enough to keep me watching. My husband is also interested, and it’s neat to listen to him postulate what he thinks is going to happen, given that I have a general idea from reading the manga. I’m looking forward to seeing what will be different between the two versions, and I hope that my current interest can be maintained for 37 episodes.
