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itsablog
death note = hilariously awful last modified: Wednesday, October 18, 2006 (2:08:22 AM) Apparently, this manga is super-duper popular, so I decided to try the anime adaptation out today. For those of you who are not aware, the plot consists of a high school kid who stumbles upon a notebook that can kill people if you write their names in it. There's some Ghostbusters Don't-Cross-The-Streams rules to it, but that's the gist of it.
I don't think whoever wrote the manga thought about the obvious plot holes very much: 1) Bad target selection. Protagonist seems to be the equivalent of a National Merit Finalist type of high-school kid. Yet he wants to fix the world by focusing on criminals? You don't get to be intelligent by being a human calculator, you focus quite a bit on literature and humanities as well. If you really had the opportunity to remove someone from the world, there's far better philosophical questions you could pose other than the knee-jerk "kill all criminals" one. Killing a half dozen rapists or murderers won't fix anything. Rearranging the political structure of select rogue states, however, might. Someone of the protagonists' background would certainly be able to come up with something better than simple vigilante justice. 2) 100 dead "armed robbery suspects" isn't going to raise the attention of Interpol, much less their version of maniacal supersleuth Jean Valjean. It just won't. They have bigger problems. 3) Even the slowest author in the world could fill up a notebook that size in about 5-10 hours, writing nonstop. 4) What if you request a method of death that defies laws of the natural world or by imaginary causes? Spontaneous combustion? Getting beat down by the tooth fairy? If the tooth fairy thing works, the next thing I'd suggest is "death by being caught in crossfire between tooth fairy, Easter bunny, and Santa Claus all armed with laser guns ... pew pew". All in all, I *might* get another episode or two, or just find the translated manga and blitz through it over a box of cookies. If this is what passes for high-concept these days, anime is in much bigger trouble than I thought.
Awww, but I *like* DN. ;_; 1. Hmmm, I think he''s planning on killing the corrupt as time progresses. I''m not sure, though, as it''s been a while since I read the manga. It''s really kind of more about the fear factor, and his own conscience (seems odd, but it''s true). He feels more justified killing criminals. 2. *shrug* I''ll give you that one. I know jack squat about Interpol, though, so I bought it. Maybe that''s why the device worked? That and it flashes by quickly enough. L becomes believable because he takes it as a personal challenge. 3. This hasn''t been explained. Maybe it''s kind of a never-ending notebook? Later on, you learn that Shinigami must use it to stay alive, so I imagine that it would have to be. 4. He starts experimenting later to discover limitations. ^_~ The reason I like it is that you''re always torn as to whether you want to root for the protagonist or not. It kind of makes you step back and revaluate the way you think. Then again, I stopped reading the manga because of a certain plot twist. I know it''s not for everyone. ^_^
I''ve only seen the first episode so I''m no judge of it yet. If you''re looking for the manga, Spectrum Nexus carries it in it''s regular rotation. Maybe I''ll read the manga to decide if I want to go further....
Is the anime pretending to be high concept? Just because an anime or manga makes it way to the States doesn''t mean it should considered representative of a cultural trend for everything regarding to Japanese animation. I wonder if there are Japanese guys on the other side of the pond flipping through the latest Archie''s comic and muttering, "Is THIS what they let pass for post Psycho-Analytic Movement literature? Puh-Lease!"
Well, it *could* be interesting but it seems like they''re going for the easy targets (killing people who are easy to "justify"). It would be comparable to the vast majority of "computer hacker" movies we have in the US. Could they tell interesting stories? Yeah, there''s a lot of really cool espionage angles. But instead, we end up with "Hackers", "The Net", "Swordfish", and "Antitrust". It''s the "wishing for more wishes" sort of problem that haunts every magic lamp/monkey''s paw type story. There''s always too many loopholes, most of which provide for completely absurd results that would instantly topple the narrative. If the motive really is "Be (a) God via Death", then the first thing to think about is "how can I effectively modulate the world dynamic through mass homicide?" Killing criminals is sixth-grade social studies essay stuff.
i cant really judge either. i looked at the first chapter of the scanlations when toriyamsworld was doing them. the art work put me off right on the spot didnt want to read anymore of it. now that''s just me. for others they might like it. who knows. i think stop tazmo has the scanlations over at there site but not sure.
I really enjoy the manga, although I''ve only caught a couple of previews for the show. Most of the time I end up enjoying the manga more, because things tend to drag on endlessly in most anime. *shrugs*
I hope you stick with this a few more episodes. There is much more to this storyline than just a high school kid with a high IQ who gets to kill criminals with a notebook. The storyline evolves fairly quickly in the manga so I am hoping the anime follows in the same manner. Without give away too much, I think it will be worth watching...but that''s for each to decide themselves.
Actually reminded me of a short story I read in middle school, back when I used to still do things like "read fiction for pleasure". I had to do some internet searching for a while because I had thought it was a Jules Verne story when in fact it was H.G. Wells. Fans of Death Note, or the concept of whimsical omnipotency, might enjoy: http://etext.library.adelaide.edu.au/w/wells/hg/w45mw/
I like the manga, but I doubt the tv show will be any good. The way it reads makes me think more of a suspense novel then a TV series.
I haven’t read the manga. I’ve seen episodes 1 and 2. I enjoyed the first episode. I don’t think any of your points are wrong, but I liked the comparison between Ryuk and Light. I found the idea of juxtaposing a sullen, antisocial teen with a sullen, antisocial god of death entertaining. I didn’t like episode 2. I was hoping that Ryuk and Light would receive some character development. Unfortunately Ryuk is just limited to defining events as interesting or boring, and Light just rehashed his opinion from episode one. Also, the idea that the world’s police forces are in awe of some blue haired punk named “L” was too silly for me to swallow. I like the cliché idea that good guys and bad guys are really the same type of person, right and wrong is only opinion, but I didn’t like that the show decided to depict this fact immediately by having Light and L say the same line, “I am justice!” I like Ryuk’s character design, so I’ll watch another couple of episodes before I decide to hate or like the show. |
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