You’re bored and scrolling down Netflix, looking at dozens of TV shows and hoping one leaps out at you. The trouble is, Netflix almost has too much to offer these days. You read the titles but unless it’s one you’ve been recommended by a reliable friend, chances are you’ll skip straight past it. This is especially the case for Death Note, a show with an image that probably sums up why you think anime isn’t worth your time:
I wouldn’t call myself a connoisseur of anime. I’m more of a light enthusiast, which is why I’m the sort of person you should listen to regarding this show. You don’t want an anime lover who somehow enjoys sitting through hundreds of episodes of Bleach, where absolutely nothing happens, telling you Death Note is great. But hopefully you’ll take a recommendation from me.
Death Note follows Japanese high school student Light Yagami, who finds a notebook with a powerful property. Write someone’s name in it, and that person will die. Initially, Light uses the notebook to kill criminals, but he soon attracts unwanted attention from a mysterious detective, and a cat-and-mouse game of wits begins.
First of all, Death Note avoids most of the clichés many viewers associate with anime. You won’t see scantily-dressed schoolgirls with big boobs bursting from their blouses. There are no oversized physics-defying swords and guns. The protagonist isn’t shy and misunderstood. And there are no Dragonball Z style filler episodes where the action stops for hours while the characters outline their plans in excruciating detail.
It even avoids Western clichés. Light Yagami has a dark streak in how his first instinct is to murder criminals – a cause he believes to be righteous. What I love is how Light is not an orphan with a tortured past. He’s just an angsty teen who’s been given a lot of power.
So unless cartoon boobs are your thing, you should at least be relieved at what this show doesn’t have in it. But what it avoids is not what makes Death Note great.
Not only are there no filler episodes, Death Note is an incredibly fast-paced show that efficiently introduces its characters and raises the stakes every episode. I’m serious, there’s barely a dull moment. With a short twenty-minute run time, you’ll gulp down episode after episode as Light’s predicament spirals through a tightly woven plot that’ll make you crave its killer conclusion just thirty-seven episodes later.
Remember in Breaking Bad when Marie started stealing spoons from houses for sale? There are arcs in Death Note that feel aimless, like they don’t belong. However, they are always wrapped up with an outstanding payoff, be that a fulfilling character moment, a tense action sequence, or one of the show’s many unpredictable revelations.
Still, you might think that a show about a killer notebook sounds dumb. Maybe it does, but at its heart, Death Note is a character-driven detective show. Light uses the book, doing what he believes to be right, staying one step ahead of various authorities. He’s also a genius with a mastery of Holmesian deduction. The only person smarter than him is the one hunting him. They engage in a captivating duel, constantly trying to lay traps and outsmart each other.
Now if you’re thinking, “if I had that notebook, there’s no way I’d ever get caught,” then that’s the point, and it’s right now that you should go and watch the first episode. There are so many twists and surprises that you won’t believe the level of escalation attained from such a deceptively simple premise.
If you’re still sceptical, I hear you. There are some off-putting things you may be worried about, so let’s address them. Some dialogue is very on the nose, but that could be attributed to translation. Fortunately Death Note comes with a choice of subtitles or a surprisingly tolerable English dub (though Japanese audio is always what I recommend). Some deductive leaps seem uncanny, and reactions to supernatural presences unusually calm, but when you realise just how smart these characters are supposed to be, it’s justified. Oh, and the intro sequence is terrible, be sure to skip it!
There aren’t many women in the show and yes, I’ll concede there’s one annoying one who instantly falls in love with Light. But hey, ever wonder why everyone’s eyes are so huge in anime? They’re exaggerated, just like everything else, from emotional reactions to some of that unnatural to-the-point dialogue.
Once you’re into it, I assure you none of these things will bother you. Death Note is not only a safe choice for someone who’s never watched any anime, it’s also an excellent TV show in its own right. Just a couple of short episodes in, you’ll be hooked on a dark and exciting chess game of murder and deceit.
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