Forum - View topicREVIEW: Death Note DVD Box Set 1
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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There's actually far, far more than that, damning both (huge Watchmen spoilers) spoiler[the type of thoughts that Rorschach and Ozymandias possess. Hell, just by looking at the finale: the former is willing to Do The Right Thing at the cost of creating global Armageddon; the latter makes such a horrid lie to begin with, but is also incredibly short-sighted in long-term effects. As the lone God character in the story states, "'In the end'? Nothing ends, Adrian, nothing ever ends."] Read this (don't click if you haven't read Watchmen) if you're curious for a thorough exploration.
For my interests, I find AoD's useful compared to ANN's. Aside from the occasional manga title (still gotta check out Disappearance Diary), I don't depend on content reviews from ANN (though it can be interesting to read another's take on a title, whether I agree with them or not). Don't depend on AoD's content reviews in the slightest, though they will let me know if, say, FUNimation's upcoming releases of Baccano! and Shigurui look and sound good. I wouldn't mind more well-done, controversial reviews on popular titles, though, if only to see fanboys get flustered. |
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Charred Knight
 Posts: 3085 |
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I would love to see the reviewer do Code Geass, just because it has everything he hates about Death Note but even worse. The review itself is excellently written, and I do agree with a lot of it, Light is completely unlikeable (which is why I love the manga's ending), the average human being is a sheep, and overall Light does do ocassionally idiotic things. Although I do question if you did it on purpose, I mean find someone who loathes Death Note, and has him review it. |
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dtm42
Posts: 14084 Location: currently stalking my waifu |
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(Yes I'm back, but not for long.)
Well that's a very "NIMBY" attitude to take. How would you feel if say Texhnolyze were given a "C" grade instead of an "A" or "A+"? And in the review text itself, you had to listen to the reviewer go out of his way to point out the "deficiencies" he sees in the Anime, and endure the double standards that he's employed. And when you complain to a member of the site staff he rebukes you, and when you express your frustration people laugh at you...... Well, you might be fine with it, I don't know. But this widespread dislike of Death Note is getting pretty malicious. Then there are people like yourself who are gleefully enjoying this review and the reaction it has caused. Well, it just reeks of schadenfreude. I can only hope that one day you are in our position. |
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Top Gun
 Posts: 4621 |
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I would take a bit of umbrage with this, as Code Geass at least continually brings up the "ends justifying the means" question, instead of brushing it off within the first ten minutes as Death Note did. Lelouch also comes across as a far more sympathetic character than Light to me personally (at least in goals, if not necessarily in personality), as he's fighting for a legitimate cause and shows actual concern for his sister and close friends.
The only reason that some of us seem to be enjoying it is that we feel as though Death Note has been grossly, maybe even hideously, overrated, particularly by its more rabid fans. It has legitimate flaws and missteps that far too many people seem willing to gloss over or ignore completely, so a review that brings some of them to light is a breath of fresh air. |
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braves
 Posts: 2309 Location: Puerto Rico (but living in Texas) |
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He already has. And I also happen to agree with the reviewer on this series, too. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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I can't wait for R2 then when thing goes off the wall. I also like the ripe cheese comment. |
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DestG7
Posts: 11 |
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I'd say that Code Geass makes a tie with Death Note in the moral theme which this reviewer particularly hates. But even if I consider that Code Geass has much more flags (and x10 you have R2), both are great series and have an excellent recognition in Japan (Death Note winner of the "Best TV Anime" on TAF 2006 Awards and considered one of the Top 10 Mangas by the Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs, and Code Geass winner on the TAF and Animekobe 2006 Awards). |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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If I could ignore the morality problem of Code Geass I would agree with you, but I simply can't ignore the fact that the series wants me to think that Lelouch is right.
Death Note at least noted this problem and fixed it with the ending, and I felt that the ending was fantastic. The view you have of Light is smashed. I find this reviewer really great, not letting that a series is popular and considered a masterpiece get in the way of his feelings, and not get pressured. |
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konkonsn
 Posts: 172 Location: Illinois |
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I would like to clarify I only mention my major to show I'm not talking out of my ass when I make comments. I do have some experience in this field, as small as it is. That said, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt that you misunderstand the point I'm making. You don't have to show everything about a character in a show. But you better know everything about that character. I once was told by a professor that even if your character never enters her own house, you better know what she's keeping under her bed. If the writer knows nothing about a characters past, it's reflected in that character. Ohba doesn't even know how L sleeps let alone what kind of bed he has or what would be under it. It's not important to the story, but I think there might have been more discussion about the circles under L's eyes if maybe Ohba had been thinking about it, adding just a touch to L's character. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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I can't agree with you on that. Extra stuff just gets in the way, and restricts the author. I don't need to know why Kenshin got his scar unless it was important to the story, and it didn't become important to the story until Enishi showed up so that's when we learned about Kenshin's scar. With weekly shonen series your so busy that unless something is massively important than you don't to think about it.
The problem with L is that he doesn't have much of a past not that the author doesn't know if he sleeps naked or keeps playboys underneath it. Honestly I have seen several complaints and most shonen authors work that way, you can't just decide everything right off the bat. Hiromu Arakawa stated that she never thought of the birthdays of the characters unless it was important. Ed's Birthday if I remember right was only decided to be in the winter since Arakawa stated that Ed was almost 16, and winter was approaching. |
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Top Gun
Posts: 4621 |
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He didn't say that the reader necessarily has to know about all of these details (although learning at least some of them helps to flesh a character out)...he said that a good author has all of them in his/her head beforehand. If a character isn't looked at as a real, fleshed-out human being by their author, how can the reader/viewer possibly see them as such? The fact that Ohba made up so much about her characters as she went along and didn't have any sort of real backstory established from them shows very clearly in some of the biggest flaws in the series. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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The point is that no shonen mangaka does that. Hiromu Arakawa doesn't do that, Ono doesn't do that, Nabuhiro doesn't do that, and Toriyama never did that. Do you seriously think Toriyama came up with Goku being an alien before he wrote the first page of Dragonball? Watsuki has stated that he gave Kenshin his famous scar to make him look more masculine, the importance of the scar came latter. It anime, unless its a slice of life comedy, realism isn't important. Nobody watched Code Geass to see realistic human behavior they watch to see Lelouch act like a nutjob, and do stuff no sane man would actually do. Hiromu Arakawa talks about this about how writing numerical values like birthdays, and astrological signs just get in the way of creative freedom. Trying to plot something that could go 20+ volumes right off the bat is simply insane. |
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DestG7
Posts: 11 |
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I'm with Fear Ghoul on that:
And I want to add movie characters like Chigurh (No Country for Old Men) or the Joker (The Dark Knight), interesting characters that stolen the show. The same with L, that manages to be one of the most beloved characters ever, or be on top of surveys like these: animenewsnetwork.com/news/2007-01-08/oricon-fans-want-l-char-aznable-spinoffs If this isn't a sucess creation, what it is? I dont want to look like someone who defends something with blindness, but this is turning out in a trollercoaster, if we start to look for this kind of "flaws" in every series, we could never finish 
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pparker
 Posts: 1185 Location: Florida |
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I don't find the author telling me what to think in Code Geass, or so much in DN despite the obligatory death of Light. In Code Geass, Lelouch is depicted as the lesser of two evils anyway, and by default is "right", unless you want some deus ex machina hero to jump out at the end... spoiler[oh, wait, that is what happened. ] I find it quite refreshing after series upon series where it's black and white, and (yawn) I know who I'm supposed to think is the good guy and the bad, and the good guy is all good (except for angst or some stock flaw that makes him "human"), and the bad guy is all bad (except he genuinely tends a flower garden). Frankly, give me moral ambiguity every time in shonen shows, because I'm old and I've already watched tens of thousands of hours of commercial entertainment. Moral lessons or preaching for teenagers doesn't interest me. Don't tell me what to think, let me think for myself, because I've heard every brand of sermon you can deliver. And please, please show me somebody that I'm not already sure about by the end of episode two. I find this negative attitude against fans of the shows a bit elitist anyway. The loaded term "fanboy" gets tossed out routinely to justify an attitude against an enthusiastic fan base (that is the show's target demo anyway--and gee, were you ever overly expressive about anything?) of what might actually be a decent show. They sells lots of DVDs and win awards. I doubt they are objectively just crap. By this moral ambiguity argument, Pulp Fiction would be crap (yeah, suckers, bring it on...) I peruse my shelves, which contain a lot of the best-ever rated anime since I'm a relatively young fan, and I place both DN and CG a bit above average, a B- maybe, or C+. They easily rank a B+ or A- compared to what has been released in the last year. |
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Charred Knight
Posts: 3085 |
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You want Moral ambiguaty in children's entertainment? Shonen Jump is aimed at Children that's why One Piece constantly has the villains be shown as evil by not being friends with anyone, that's why all the good guys place friendship as one of the most important traits. If you don't want to hear a lot of friendship speeches don't read or watch Shonen Jump manga. |
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