Poll: The DeathNote

[Apathetic_cynicism]

Crappy cliche, "power corrupts".
But I did enjoy watching him get shot/die to Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek.

 

[Caliostro]

I thought the Anime went pretty far to point out exactly who was Evil. The colours and shading of the characters when juxtaposed, posture and positioning, hell, even the music was bent on making sure we were sure of when badness was running amok. The lesson here to me isn't that Evil is relative, but that Evil is always Evil and abhorrent no matter who does it and for what purpose. A work aiming for moral ambiguity wouldn't have used every subliminal tool in the book, short of a twirling moustache, to define black and white.

Because Light is "red" and L is "blue"? They're both dark. Misa is darker than both of them, if you go by looks or "subliminal messages". We find messages wherever we want.

As for the soundtrack, Kira's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3LeZNlI0Xg&feature=related] is no more ominous or sinister than L's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvnjIEThU-U]. Coincidentally Light is the only one of the two that even comes close to a peaceful or joyful music [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvVoxrdqVQc].

If you were right about your point, and it was simply about power corrupting, then why wasn't L corrupted? L always had immense power, since the start. He had a fortune and the World's polices at his finger tips. Nobody knew who he was. Light himself never finds out his real identity.

You're only skimming the surface, go deeper.

Edit: Please read 2 posts bellow my other reply. I think it's pointless to copy paste here.

 

[The Great JT]

I think it was stupid, but for other reasons. Mostly it's because after he starts wasting criminals who are getting their comuppance, he just asses about, not doing anything.

Plus, he didn't write "Uwe Boll, ass-raped by machine-gun bear" in there. That really pissed me off. (For reference, a machine-gun bear is a bear with minuguns strapped to its sides.)

 

[Caliostro]

But he was claiming to be a god from the beginning. Didn't he always seem slightly crazy to you? He told Ryuk he wanted to create a new world in which he was the god the first time they met, and was such an egomaniac that he killed that FBI agent even though he wasn't under suspicion.

That being said, at least he was willing to go all the way with the Death Note and not just use it for personal gain.

This scene particularly I thought was very descriptive:


The whole thing.

Light sure is displaying some lunatic god complexes there. "You're in my way, so die because I can!"

...Yet, look at L...

L has no problem sacrificing someone, even if it was a criminal. He's a hypocrite. He killed someone, he put them on the chair knowing they might die, just to serve his purpose. Yet he hunts Kira for the same reason.

My particularly favorite part, watch around 4:48 to 4:57.

"I.AM.JUSTICE!"

Both of them say it. Both of them see themselves as some nearly divine personification of justice.

They both have very shaky morals. Light will kill people who stand on the way of his vision, yet L will give away precious details, like letting Kira know he knows, details which would have made his capture a LOT easier... Just to egg him on. Just to taunt him. It's personal. It's not a service for him, it's a hunt.

 

[Ultrajoe]

If you were right about your point, and it was simply about power corrupting, then why wasn't L corrupted? L always had immense power, since the start. He had a fortune and the World's polices at his finger tips. Nobody knew who he was. Light himself never finds out his real identity.

But L is corrupted, and just as deplorable. You point out why in the video you link later on, he's using his power and intellect to pursue personal goals just as much as Light and is doing some fairly criminal things to make it happen. You minsunderstand: I don't think things are black and white, I think they're entirely black. Light is growing a god-complex and L is inhuman (more so by the end), all because of the power they unjustly weild.

To me, at the core, the message is 'Power corrupts' and the show is a fascinating excercise in exploring that and all it's details. But I don't think it's going for a balance of morals.

 

[rokkolpo]

his name isn't light.

it's raito which is prenounced light.

 

[Ultrajoe]

Well I think the philosophical implic-- it was a cartoon, take it as it is, nothing more

I usually try to stay aloof, but you don't seriously think that just because this is an animation that it can't discuss or explore more serious themes, do you?

 

[rokkolpo]

his name isn't light.

it's raito which is prenounced light.

...

Why would you WILLINGLY present yourself as such an anime nerd? Its fine if you want to be one, but you don't need to broadcast it so overtly

i just remember everything i come by (especially the things that don't make sense)

i can't help being smarter then you.(doesn't make me a nerd)

 

[xwhitey]

My friend Laura says who cares because they are hot lol yes she made me post this because she cant remember he log in.

 

[Fbuh]

The problem was that Light may have started out with a noble intention, but he was corrupted by the power of the Deathnote and his own egotistical notions. He lost sight of the original point of it, to destroy evil, and instead became intent on becoming a 'God.' For that reason, I did not like him as a person (however fictional he was) or as a protagonist. He made several mistakes that I would not have, and he treated it like it was meant for him.

I'd personally use it to kill whoever writes anime as shitty as that. Anime is only good when it's completely fucking idiotic and it knows that it is.

Like Excel Saga

 

[phanatic314]

I voted that it was bad, but honestly, I was rooting for Light the whole way. I wanted to see him create his new World with Misa at his side.

 

[Ultrajoe]

i just remember everything i come by (especially the things that don't make sense)

i can't help being smarter then you.(doesn't make me a nerd)

How does memory of a japanese cartoon make you smarter than me? In fact, that logic you just use proves just how much you AREN'T smarter than me

You two play nice.

 

[Zorg Machine]

ethically it was bad but crime fell all over the earth to almost nothing.
tis a conundrum.

 

[squid5580]

I think Light embodied to very old sayings. "The road to Hell is paved with good intentions" and "absolute power corrupts absolutely". Still it is my fave anime and the live action movies did it justice.

 

[johnzaku]

Dude, the series wasn't even very good, I don't know why people get so worked up about it

Read the manga, that's where most of it stems. The manga was excellent, but the anime... XP

OT: I think that yeah, in order to stop bad people it was a good thing.... to a point.

When Light was goin' all crazy near the end, it was to point out that "absolute power corrupts absolutely"

 

[Trotgar]

I think Lights intention was good, but the way he did it was shait. He probably saved some people, but he killed thousands and thousands of people and caused terror and chaos.

 

[Ultrajoe]

not necessarily, but in this case it seems pointless. The thing is no one really died, it was fiction. If you really wanted to discuss the implications of death and humans, it would make much more sense to argue if humans have the right to take the lives of other people and use something real as an example, such as executions.

With a work of fiction like this, it doesn't carry much weight, because every single element is fictional. There is no way to kill someone by writing their name, and "death gods" do not exist, so it makes the argument seem flimsy and almost silly.

So because Frankenstien was a man made of body-bits, it's silly to suggest that the novel about him has anything salient to say on the nature of hubris?

 

[AWC Viper]

He deserves to make me a sammich

Take that as you may

Spoiler

that made my day.

 

[Saarai-fan]

Didn't Light have the idea of killing all lazy people?

Didn't Light have the idea of killing all lazy people?

That was Teru Mikami, also known as the fourth Kira by fans. Know you, the guy who kept saying "delete" after writing someone's name in the deathnote. If I do remember right though, Light did seem to sort of agree with the idea but thought it was too soon to do or something.

Also I wanted to see Ryuk, as Light had mentioned early on, go back to the shinigami realm and reinvigorate it or something.

Yeah, I was hoping to see something like that too.

This scene particularly I thought was very descriptive:


The whole thing.

Light sure is displaying some lunatic god complexes there. "You're in my way, so die because I can!"

...Yet, look at L...

L has no problem sacrificing someone, even if it was a criminal. He's a hypocrite. He killed someone, he put them on the chair knowing they might die, just to serve his purpose. Yet he hunts Kira for the same reason.

My particularly favorite part, watch around 4:48 to 4:57.

"I.AM.JUSTICE!"

Both of them say it. Both of them see themselves as some nearly divine personification of justice.

They both have very shaky morals. Light will kill people who stand on the way of his vision, yet L will give away precious details, like letting Kira know he knows, details which would have made his capture a LOT easier... Just to egg him on. Just to taunt him. It's personal. It's not a service for him, it's a hunt.

I'll also agree with this. Though I do believe Light was wrong in using the deathnote and was no better than those he murdered using it's power, L isn't a saint either. Sure L had his heart in the right place wanting to capture Kira and stop him, but I can't agree with all the methods he used to find him, especially when they were just plain cruel.