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REVIEW: Death Note DVD Box Set 1

That's a total misinterpretation of Carl's review. His basic point is that the show is well-made but the message it sends is irresponsible and shallow and seems to appeal to a particularly immature and increasingly common mindset among sheltered teens raised by the internet.

So you side against someone who is in danger because he is protecting himself. If you want to side against Kira I would suggest the immorality of killing prisoners, as was previously pointed out. I'd side with Kira because he received a power and tried to use it to better the world. He may be a bit misguided in his use of it, but many of those misguided prisoner killings were for testing purposes in order to ascertain the exact power of the death of the death note. Killing someone who is effectively out to put you away for life is not something you can blame anyone for. Actions leading to the situation, on the other hand, you can have as much blame as you think fits.

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The series as a whole is a vile exercise in shallow nihilism and half-baked moral ambiguity.

Well, if that's that score you give to Death Note, then what on Earth would you give Gantz?

And so what if it is a "vile exercise" in nihilism? What's it to you? You are being paid to REVIEW a series, not to launch a diatribe against it. If you cannot even pretend to be objective then leave with what little integrity you still have left.

In fact my biggest complaint would be the utter lack of any character development. Characters are one dimensional and predictable, by the end never straying from their initial positions. spoiler[In the outset, Light briefly has some clashing morals but that is quickly resolved and from that point on he's completely devoted to his perverted cause. L is the closest thing there is to any possible internal conflict, but he eventually gets split into two lesser characters. And having Near assembling puzzles or Mello often sighted with a mouthful of chocolate is hardly character depth, nor is it particularly quirky.]

[edited by konkonsn for length]

Edit: Thanks for the Ohba quotes konkonsn which confirm my suspicions.

That's not even, "I'm writing for an audience of children and don't want to include complex character themes." It's poor writing at its finest.

Pippin4242 wrote:

Reviews are meant to be objective

No, they aren't. They're subjective opinions.

It's completely uncomprehensible to me how anybody could support a character like him x_x

In Light we see a classic diabolical genius, a brilliant young man who gets so wrapped up in his zealotry and self-importance that he decides he is above morality, thus failing to accept that he is turning to the Dark Side. He may be the primary character but he is also the story's true villain, an approach very rarely used in anime titles. That alone might make him fascinating to watch, but the extreme cleverness and thoroughness with which he quickly learns to exploit the Death Note to the fullest and protect his true identity also shows an impressive and involving display of intelligence, too, something not often seen in the main protagonist of anime series. (Most often the most intelligent characters are in the supporting cast.)

...I still think its incredible start merits including it amongst the best series of the current decade...

Sensitive thugs, y'all need hugs.

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Wait...so if I watch 300 with my girlfriend and she complains how dumb, gory and overall ludicrous it is, she is self-centred and idiotic?

So she's watching a movie in which people get killed and complaining that it's gory? Come on, you're only reinforcing my point. What exactly about 300 she finds dumb and ludicrous is also open to criticism, depending upon whether her reasons are valid or not.

Nobody forced the author to included such moral issues in his work at all, if he didn't want to deal with them. So if he decided to include them, it's obvious that some people will criticize him.

It's completely uncomprehensible to me how anybody could support a character like him x_x

Maybe it's just because I'm a Creative Writing major, but when you say, "Oh yeah, L...he's one of the central characters of the story, second only to Light (and possibly Ryuk). No, I didn't create a backstory for him," you need to have some sense beaten into you.

Not all good works of art have to intrinsically contain a great deal of character development, instead opting for the plot over character type of story. Many commercially and critically successful series such as Law and Order and CSI use such a formula whereby character development is kept to a minimum most of the time with the rare episode devoted to a single character. Cowboy Bebop is another example in the anime realm, along with Stand Alone Complex.

Okay, I am afraid we just view this thing differently, now that we both have made our points clear. Do you agree that we can agree to disagree? Smile

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Nobody forced the author to included such moral issues in his work at all, if he didn't want to deal with them. So if he decided to include them, it's obvious that some people will criticize him.

For God's sake. You do realize that every work of fiction could theoretically go into the morals of its characters actions, but doesn't because it leaves such thinking up to the individual. Death Note is no different and yet people seem to single it out for criticism in this regard. It's rather pathetic.

...this thread just keeps getting better, doesn't it?