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REVIEW: Death Note DVD Box Set 1


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minakichan





PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:43 am Reply with quote
....Wow.

I know Death Note isn't everyone's cup of tea, but are you SERIOUS?

Criticizing a series for not having a positive view of humanity and not being as astoundingly intellectual as it possibly could have been, while hiding behind scary long words to articulate little in large word volume, is not impressive. Protip: it is actually possible to negatively review something-- even down to Ds and Fs!-- without exercising your biases and sounding like an asshat, proud of his quick-fingered thesaurus-flipping skills. Carlo and Bamboo actually pull it off quite well, you could learn something.
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Seif



Joined: 16 Nov 2004
Posts: 456
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:49 am Reply with quote
Here we go again.
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
Location: currently stalking my waifu
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 12:49 am Reply with quote
Quote:
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.
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PJoker



Joined: 10 Dec 2008
Posts: 4
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:08 am Reply with quote
W T F, I really hope this isn't serious.

I fail to understand why Carl Kimlinger is making a bad Death Note review again, when he had demostrated his hate to the series in the past review.

I hope that this review will be erased or something. Does nothing but harm the prestige of the site reviews.
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Joe Mello



Joined: 31 May 2004
Posts: 2255
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:10 am Reply with quote
dtm42 wrote:
Quote:
The series as a whole is a vile exercise in shallow nihilism and half-baked moral ambiguity.

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.


A) The concepts of "review" and "diatribe" are not mutually exclusive.
B) I don't think "objective" means what you think it means.
C) Just because people don't like the same things you do doesn't mean either side is wrong.

I find the arguments to be perfectly valid, even though they may border on hyperbole. In my opinion, the character interaction as great, but only when the Death Note wasn't involved. The title object turned what could've been an interesting character drama into a series of over-the-top wish fulfillment and ass pulls.

If you want something that involves murderous intent froth with moral ambiguity, I recommend Hell Girl. It's not great, but I prefer it.
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Mikuru



Joined: 08 Nov 2007
Posts: 124
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:18 am Reply with quote
I wholeheartedly disagree with this review.

Death Note is a great series. It turns a simple concept of "What if..." into a spectacular drama that delves deep into the roots of justice.

Also, I think (in my opinion) that it is one of the few shows that are both good and popular. Reminds me of Evangelion. What do Eva and Death Note have in common? Great stories and sexy characters.

Many shows that I like never seem to become popular like Kaiba,Berserk(although it does have a following),Welcome to the NHK,Moryou no Hako(hasn't finished so I should give it time). This makes me immensely happy that a show can be both good and popular.
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Monster in a box



Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Posts: 671
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:28 am Reply with quote
Not this guy again.

The dub cast is excellent! C+
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dtm42



Joined: 05 Feb 2008
Posts: 14084
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:33 am Reply with quote
Joe Mello wrote:
B) I don't think "objective" means what you think it means.


Some definitions of "objective" as given by various online dictionaries:

-Uninfluenced by emotions or personal prejudices.

-Neutral (bias free), relating to, or based on verifiable evidence or phenomenon instead of on attitude, belief, or opinion. Opposite of subjective.

-Not influenced by personal feelings, interpretations, or prejudice; based on facts; unbiased.

-Expressing or dealing with facts or conditions as perceived without distortion by personal feelings, prejudices, or interpretations.

So yes, I think I know precisely what "objective" means in the context that I used it in.

Let's face it, in cases other than child pornography or the like, the moral viewpoint of any artistic work is secondary to the actual quality of said work. What this "review" has done is to admit that Death Note is actually good, then to whack it with an outrageous penalty just because Mr. Kimlinger doesn't agree with the morals. It is an underhanded attempt to sabotage the rating, and I've never seen another reviewer work so hard to belittle a series just because the morals were presented in shades of grey.
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Fallen Wings



Joined: 27 Nov 2007
Posts: 160
Location: Australia
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:34 am Reply with quote
To: Carl Kimlinger

*bows down to your feet*

Finally suddenly SOMEONE who understands why the hell I hate Death Note. I must admit I use to say I loved Death Note (even after stopping at Episode 14) but then I read a review from here and I realized. Hell I hated it. I only said I liked it to look popular in front of my friends. But kudos to you for actually continuing on ...

The characters are shallow heartless beings with no real depth. I mean I can go on about how bad the characters are but seriously. There wasn't any real story that is there. I mean anyone can pick out a episode and go "Hey I know what is going on." The story is simple "There is a guy who goes around killing people and everyone is after him except no ones knows who he is." Don't tell me you haven't heard it before. True true. Yes alot of shows are simple too but at least they have like-able characters and better story telling.

But anyway I pointed out a few but I find your words more proper. *Bows again*

Thank you for this review.

(If any guys get all angry at my comment then please ignore the fact that I have a personal opinion and that what ever you say won't change it. Just don't bother talking about it as I am not being impolite/ rude to you or anyone on the forum so don't be to me.)


Last edited by Fallen Wings on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:35 am; edited 1 time in total
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8459
Location: Penguinopolis
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:35 am Reply with quote
Has Casey been giving him lessons in reviewing? So brutal. Then again, thinking back, Carl's always been pretty harsh.

Anyway, I can agree with some of his points, but given some of the better reviews he's given to far more insipid anime, it's a bit head-scratching why he would weigh the flaws here far more.


Last edited by penguintruth on Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:47 am; edited 1 time in total
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Ai no Kareshi



Joined: 13 Mar 2005
Posts: 561
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:38 am Reply with quote
Sure, no review is objective, and one does expect them to turn into loathing fests every now and again. But I fail to see why the editors devoted yet another Death Note review for Mr Kimlinger to express his undying hatred for the series when he already had a chance to bash it to death in his DVD3 review. I doubt that anyone will find this review at all useful.
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bglassbrook



Joined: 29 Aug 2006
Posts: 1243
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:44 am Reply with quote
Quote:
Don't let the generally positive tenor of this review fool you,

I seem to be missing a link to the previous version of this review.

Cliff Note Version of this review: I despise Death Note with a passion because it does only spends about five minutes in the first two episodes pointing out that there is a moral debate about whether anybody is doing anything good or bad. However, it does not actually delve into it for a season. The mental game of chess is quite interesting at times, but there should be more than two generals playing against each other. Its artwork is fairly pretty, and the English dub is good but not epic. Like this review, the set is a consolidation of the first five volumes with no changes (either adding or taking away content.)
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Lemoncookies23



Joined: 02 Aug 2008
Posts: 355
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:00 am Reply with quote
It is a giant assumption to say that DN is at all nihilistic, shallow or not. But before I get into that, nihilists claim no higher objective system of morality. What a contradiction it is, then, to condemn the show for its supposed nihilism and then proceed to ridicule its moral ambiguity, when nihilism is inherently morally ambiguous. This devolves into the reviewer railing against, not the show, but what he perceives the show's philosophy to be. Not only that, but he is perceiving the philosophy perceived to be the show's wrongly as well.

As DN is NOT nihilistic, in any way (Light clearly believes that his existence has meaning/purpose after finding the DN), nor is it morally ambiguous (both the protagonist and antagonists define what they believe to be right and wrong, just and unjust), this review is anything but fair, considering that the negatives are easily refutable contrivances and not honest opinions.
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konkonsn



Joined: 30 Apr 2008
Posts: 172
Location: Illinois
PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:42 am Reply with quote
JairStout wrote:
As DN is NOT nihilistic, in any way (Light clearly believes that his existence has meaning/purpose after finding the DN), nor is it morally ambiguous (both the protagonist and antagonists define what they believe to be right and wrong, just and unjust), this review is anything but fair, considering that the negatives are easily refutable contrivances and not honest opinions.


No, it's nihilistic. Just because the protagonist believes something doesn't mean that's what the creator means for the audience to get from it. The manga is very nihilistic spoiler[(all humans go to nothingness, therefore, be a psychotic, murderous tool...you won't be punished in any afterlife!)]. The series, as it follows the manga, keeps with the original author's nihilistic tone and only trips on itself at the big reveal about where Light's going after death.

It's also not moral just because the protagonists and antagonists have a right or wrong. The author himself would not say who was right or wrong in the series. If you read Death Note 13, you realize that when it came to any tough question about morality, the author half-assed it. He literally says, "Oh, I wanted the audience to decide for themselves" on just about every other question. Except he forgot that audiences are very capable of doing that without leaving entire plot points and moral arguments hanging.

I agree with Carl. It's not that I don't like the story because it's morally ambiguous. I don't like it because it pretends to be in the real world, but it eliminates the moral rules of the real world. The world of Death Note is full of mindless, morally grey people. And what are the police doing for goodness sake? How is it that only four Japanese police offices, a random kid, and a genius detective are working an international case?

It's that sort of higher thinking that Death Note falls flat on. I highly recommend reading Death Note 13. The creator obviously wrote the series in the most entertainingly way possible at the sake of realism and higher plot/character development.
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penguintruth



Joined: 08 Dec 2004
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 10, 2008 2:54 am Reply with quote
Nihilistic? To an extent, yes. But Light paid for his crimes in the end, humiliated (though more in the manga) and without any allies (again, this comes across better in the manga). Revenge was had for one of the more standardly moral characters. I think, though, that realistically, the story portrayed that the people who are out to catch Kira aren't exactly above board and its the ordinary people like Sochiro, the task force, and people like Light's sister who suffer when people with out of control egos play games with people's lives.

Anyway, it's not exactly a tale of morality to begin with, and if you're looking for one in it, you can forget it and look elsewhere.
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