Death Note

[Sergeant Avocado]

So, this is the topic where we discuss Death Note and how awesome L is. Personally, I was disappointed with

the introduction of Near and Mello, which almost seemed to be thrown in at the last minute. Also, how the anime handled Light's death. The very fact that he ran from Near and did not give up showed that he still had some resistance to offer, yet Ryuk kills him. It made sense in the manga, but seemed premature in the anime.

Discuss.

[Ansem]

I think it was supposed to be one of those sick story plot twists

It did leave some gaps open like what happened to Lights family

[Gamer7625]

I liked the maga ending better than the anime one. The manga showed a normal reaction to everything, most people wouldn't run away they would go balistic and beg for their lives. It showed Light wasn't the God he thought he was, but a normal Human after all.

Though personally I liked Mikami's suicide.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Knight of Zero

[General Spoon]

Its a fucking awesome manga and should be a required reading. That's my take on it.

[Dr. Tarrasque]

Didn't read the Manga but saw the anime and may look into parts that were significantly changed in the anime to read.

I found the first episodes to be the most interesting while the last few seemed like the story was rushed to end get it over with.

Getting Ray's name and killing the FBI agents was awesome. Naomi scaring him with all she found out was hilarious. The Yotsuba arc bored me but at least the desperate Higuchi made me laugh before his capture.

My favorite character would have to be Near but I can't deny that L is far superior.

Edited March 18, 2010 by Speedwagon

[Sergeant Avocado]

I liked the maga ending better than the anime one. The manga showed a normal reaction to everything, most people wouldn't run away they would go balistic and beg for their lives. It showed Light wasn't the God he thought he was, but a normal Human after all.

Though personally I liked Mikami's suicide.

I agree, the manga ending was better. I liked the idea of Mikami's suicide, but the thought of his blood shooting out of a pen wound like water out of a pressure hose kind of turned me off to the ending.

[Dracohon]

Its a fucking awesome manga and should be a required reading. That's my take on it.

^ This, in regards to the manga.

I started watching the anime once, but I quit about halfway through. I didn't really like it for some reason, despite how much I loved the manga.

Or maybe it was BECAUSE of how much I loved the manga. Every little thing that was different annoyed me. <_<

[Pride]

The manga was pretty cool, second arc was (literally) forced.

The anime was an alright adaptation.

My favorite character would have to be Near but I can't deny that L is far superior.

I liked Near too, and thought L was annoying. (Though L's the better rival.)

Edited March 18, 2010 by Pride

[Nightmare]

Loved the first eight or so episodes, then it slowly started going downhill until it became awesome again with Light's mass murder and again with Mikami's introduction. Then it went back to its previous (somewhat dull) state. Light and Ryuk are the best, no contest. Mikami is cool too (SAKUJO!). Haven't read the manga yet (except for the pilot chapter which was really lame) but I plan to sometime in the near future.

It had great moments and episodes but was just good overall, nothing more, nothing less.

[Gamer7625]

I agree, the manga ending was better. I liked the idea of Mikami's suicide, but the thought of his blood shooting out of a pen wound like water out of a pressure hose kind of turned me off to the ending.

Yeah I will admit WAY to much blood, though nice graphics kind of made up for it lol. I was impressed at how it sprayed on the camera but it did seem like why spend like 5 minutes of us listening to him scream?

[CGV]

My favorite anime of all time. That's all I gotta say

[Sergeant Avocado]

New discussion: Mac or PC? Technically related because L uses a Mac while Light uses a PC. I have to go with PC myself.

[Fireman]

The second arc of the anime was a bit too rushed, even leaving out necessary/important scenes and dialogue at times.

I might actually prefer the anime ending to the manga one in certain aspects. I think that the manga ending showed that Light was more "mortal" than human -- him begging for his life and all that. It appealed to that large "we hate Light and want to see him beg and grovel when he dies" portion of the fanbase. The anime ending showed Light almost literally running through a montage of his life -- of how he went from an innocent, ambitious high school student to the good intentioned serial killer who had really just lost his way and was ultimately in over his head (despite making it as far as he did). It went from "being the figurative God of the world is a nice bonus" to "becoming God is at least half the reason why I'm doing this." Also, at least Mikami died on screen in the anime. In the manga, it was just noted in the dialogue that he had died. Now, this may have been due to space restrictions, but I don't know. Also, in skipping the "epilogue" entirely, the anime left out a very important question that Matsuda brought up: "Did Near write Mikami's name in the Death Note?"

Blah. I'm always amazed how I always end up writing more than I intended. My thoughts just seem to spill all out. >_>

I never particularly liked L. I thought he was ok. For some reason, I liked Near better even though he was pretty much L 2.0 in just about every aspect. Well, I have to admit that future-Near is pretty cool.

He killed the new Kira by ignoring him. That was pro. Plus, he lives in a "castle of cards" now. B)

Mikami is arguably my favorite character. It's too bad none of his other kills were as epic.

^ This, in regards to the manga.

I started watching the anime once, but I quit about halfway through. I didn't really like it for some reason, despite how much I loved the manga.

Or maybe it was BECAUSE of how much I loved the manga. Every little thing that was different annoyed me. <_<

Or maybe it was because you had already read the manga and already knew the sequence of events, the plot, and the twists and turns?

Edited March 30, 2010 by Fireman

[Florete]

I loved Death Note (the anime at least, never read the manga). It may have helped that it was one of the first anime series I ever watched, but even though the first half was better I still thought the second half was really good. And I thought the very end was pretty much flawless. It's been so long but it's still in my personal top 5 (if only barely...).

[Balcerzak]

Live action movie ending is the best ending.

Did anyone else watch the LA movies?

[Dracohon]

Live action movie ending is the best ending.

Did anyone else watch the LA movies?

I didn't even know there were any. Are they retellings of the story, or new plots, or what?

Or maybe it was because you had already read the manga and already knew the sequence of events, the plot, and the twists and turns?

Eh, that could be too.

[sunshineYON]

Rereading the manga, and just by rereading it, I'm reminded of how good it is to bump it two spots up as my second favorite manga of all time.

It goes...

Hayate no Gotoku!

Death Note

Vinland Saga

Berserk

Genshiken

The manga is too good. The anime is good too, other than the ending and speeding through Mello and Near. The music, voice-acting, format made up for it.

Live action movie ending is the best ending.

Did anyone else watch the LA movies?

your joking right???

I haven't seen the third L one... but, seriously though, its a joke right? :(

[Balcerzak]

I didn't even know there were any. Are they retellings of the story, or new plots, or what?

There are two of them. They're basically retellings. Movie 1 was kind of meh, but needed for setup, while Movie 2 really delivered the goods.

your joking right???

I haven't seen the third L one... but, seriously though, its a joke right? :(

I'm dead serious:

[spoiler=Death Note Movie 2's Ending]L writing his own name in the Death Note so that he's not affected when Kira writes his name, because he wrote first and his death is still in the future was kick-ass awesome, and exactly how L should have gone out. It resolves everything cleanly and neatly without any of the Mello/Near bullshit.

I didn't even know there was a 3rd one, though.

Edited March 29, 2010 by Balcerzak

[Florete]

Movie 1 was kind of meh, but needed for setup, while Movie 2 really delivered the goods.

That.

I have to say I really enjoyed the movie ending as well, though I can't say which one I preferred.

The 3rd movie really isn't even Death Note, it's just L trying to stop some sort of epidemic before he dies. It was not worth the money, imo (I saw it in theaters).

[Sergeant Avocado]

The second arc of the anime was a bit too rushed, even leaving out necessary/important scenes and dialogue at times.

I might actually prefer the anime ending to the manga one in certain aspects. I think that the manga ending showed that Light was more "mortal" than human -- him begging for his life and all that. It appealed to that large "we hate Light and want to see him beg and grovel when he dies" portion of the fanbase. The anime ending showed Light almost literally running through a montage of his life -- of how he went from an innocent, ambitious high school student to the good intentioned serial killer who had really just lost his way and was ultimately in over his head (despite making it as far as he did). It went from "being the figurative God of the world is a nice bonus" to "becoming God is at least half the reason why I'm doing this." Also, at least Mikami died on screen in the anime. In the manga, it was just noted in the dialogue that he had died. Now, this may have been due to space restrictions, but I don't know. Also, in skipping the "epilogue" entirely, the anime left out a very important question that Matsuda brought up: "Did Near write Mikami's name in the Death Note?"

Blah. I'm always amazed how I always end up writing more than I intended. My thoughts just seem to spill all out. >_>

I never particularly liked L. I thought he was ok. For some reason, I liked Near better even though he was pretty much L 2.0 in just about every aspect. Well, I have to admit that future-Near is pretty cool.

He killed the new Kira by ignoring him. That was pro. Plus, he lives in a "castle of cards" now. B)

Mikami is arguably my favorite character. It's too bad none of his other kills were as epic.

Or maybe it was because you had already read the manga and already knew the sequence of events, the plot, and the twists and turns?

True, the epilogue was decent. I'd almost completely forgotten about the "Did Near cheat?" question. If this were pre-killing L Light I'd probably prefer the anime ending because it seemed almost peaceful compared to the manga one. I liked the nice touch of L standing over Light in his final moments, but I digress. I just found it almost impossible to sympathize with Light after the horrible things he did post-timeskip, but then again I didn't really like Near either. That was another big reason preferred season 1, because L was the man (or whatever kids say these days) whereas I was caught in the middle of wanting Light to fail but not wanting Near to catch him. I think a more appropriate ending would be if Light managed to finish writing Near's name in the note before dying, but that's just me.

Soichiro's awesome mustache gave me a reason to keep watching the series.

Also, SAKUJO SAKUJO SAKUJO SAKJUO

[Fireman]

I never did understand why I was more sympathetic to Light. Maybe it was simply his cause? Maybe it's simply because he was trying to do the right thing in the beginning? Maybe he was just a perfect example of a not purely black or white character. I don't know.

I did hear this one suggestion from another fan on how it could have ended differently: Light gives up his Death Note, loses all his memories of it, and simply walks back to his old life. Maybe it was too late for "redemption" at the point where Death Note ended, but I would have really liked to see how that ending would play out. Hell, it even sets up a possible one-shot or sequel in which Light gets back his memories and becomes Kira again, but that would be pushing it--not to mention it would be an idea already used by Code Geass R2.

Edited April 1, 2010 by Fireman

[Original Alear]

I never did understand why I was more sympathetic to Light. Maybe it was simply his cause? Maybe it's simply because he was trying to do the right thing in the beginning? Maybe he was just a perfect example of a not purely black or white character. I don't know.

I did hear this one suggestion from another fan on how it could have ended differently: Light gives up his Death Note, loses all his memories of it, and simply walks back to his old life. Maybe it was too late for "redemption" at the point where Death Note ended, but I would have really liked to see how that ending would play out. Hell, it even sets up a possible one-shot or sequel in which Light gets back his memories and becomes Kira again, but that would be pushing it--not to mention it would be an idea already used by Code Geass R2.

Didn't he already do this temporarily to escape police detection temporarily?

I feel like to do it again (even if it was more "for real this time you guys") would feel somewhat hackneyed.

[Fireman]

Didn't he already do this temporarily to escape police detection temporarily?

I feel like to do it again (even if it was more "for real this time you guys") would feel somewhat hackneyed.

Well, yes. I was thinking in my head that the plot would have to get "redone" for such an ending. It was more of a spontaneous post, anyway.

[Sergeant Avocado]

Light, below the layers of genius, megalomania, and love of potato chips, is a well-meaning extremist. Or at least, he was one until he lost sight of his goals and went beyond the point of no return. He reminds me in many ways of Lelouch, only Lelouch sought revenge (understandable) while Light wanted power (eh...). Ideals enough may not be enough to change the world, but what use is peace gained through such horrible means?

Meh, I feel like I'm rambling. It tends to happen when I talk about Death Note.

[Sergeant Avocado]

I never did understand why I was more sympathetic to Light. Maybe it was simply his cause? Maybe it's simply because he was trying to do the right thing in the beginning? Maybe he was just a perfect example of a not purely black or white character. I don't know.

I did hear this one suggestion from another fan on how it could have ended differently: Light gives up his Death Note, loses all his memories of it, and simply walks back to his old life. Maybe it was too late for "redemption" at the point where Death Note ended, but I would have really liked to see how that ending would play out. Hell, it even sets up a possible one-shot or sequel in which Light gets back his memories and becomes Kira again, but that would be pushing it--not to mention it would be an idea already used by Code Geass R2.

Bolded is exactly how I feel. Putting aside the "Code Geass did it first" aspect, I could see that happening before he killed Lind L. Taylor. For me, that was when he crossed the point of no return because it was his first innocent (as far as Light knew) victim. Anyway, that's just my two cents, but if they made a director's cut of the ending or something like that, I'd most likely watch it.

EDIT: Sorry, double post. Didn't notice that until now.

Edited April 7, 2010 by Sergeant Avocado