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Death Note Desu Nōto (デスノート) |
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Rose Faerie's Review Violence: Even though there are a lot of deaths, the vast, vast majority of them are heart attacks. There are a few car crashes, though the scenes themselves are not portrayed on camera. You might see a few blood splatters but that is about it. There is an explosion, and there are a couple of shooting scenes, which are probably as graphic as it gets. A character is gunned down, and another one gets shot a few times. There is blood. Also, the death note can manipulate people into suicide, though the act is never shown on screen. Sex and Nudity: It's pretty mild for the most part. Misa's outfits can be...interesting, particularly towards the end. Some of her dialogue indicates that she has a physical relationship with one of the characters (they aren't married but live together). Of course there is also a chance that she's making some of the stuff up. One female character is asked to strip (more of a search for weapons) but you don't see anything. Light also looks at presumably dirty magazines once to hide his tracks. There really isn't too much going on in this area. Theological Themes: Light regularly proclaims himself "God of the New World". He believes that he should have the ability to pass judgement on who lives and who dies. People do worship him, and, near the end, it seems he has himself a cult. One character is a literal fanatic and addresses Light as "God" throughout his entire role in the series. The detectives who search for Kira refuse to worship him. Shinigami (gods of death) and a notebook that kills people play a big part in the series. Problematic Themes: There was very little swearing. Nothing worse than the d-word. Misa also gets drunk once, but that is the only time alcohol is featured. Overall: I really liked Death Note. The plot was intricate and I enjoyed the mind games. Light's plans do develop over time, as he gains more knowledge and grows up. The Yotsuba arc was my favorite, since it gave off heist vibes. Towards the end, it does lose steam. However, I thought the ending was satisfying, though there was an element that was missing that would have improved the whole thing by a lot. The characters were engaging. I loved L and Matsuda in particular, as well as the two major Shinigami characters. Light was entertaining as well (up until the timeskip, where I just wanted him gone). I did like Misa, too, though that was probably because I was able to rationalize her actions (that girl has an insane amount of unaddressed trauma). I didn't even have problems with Near and Mello. (Near is a lot more likeable when you think of him as Baby L instead of knock-off L, and I actually really liked Mello.) I hated Ray Penbar and his girlfriend deserved better. (Also do not expect developed female characters who don't worship Light or die. That was another problem I had with the series.) The art was lovely until the Yotsuba group arc, where things get a little wonky. Serial Killer Light is actually drawn differently than regular Light. Things go back to normal after Yotsuba, fortunately. As for the themes, I liked the first opening's music, and I liked the visuals of the second opening (I don't care for heavy metal, though). As for the recommended age, I'll say older teens and up. I don't think it's R-rated, though. My age recommendation is mostly based on the themes, and the maturity needed to tackle them. I'd say high school kids could handle it. |
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| Added: July, 2011 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
