Death Note Review

OK so I watched Death Note quite a while ago, but I'm reviewing it for a friend. I'm going to keep it spoiler free for him.

I thought it was very good. The story was very uniformly tense—it feels like Light is just constantly one slip-up away from getting caught. A good example of this (and one of my favorite episodes) is when another character starts to solve the mystery. They were intelligent, but not just intelligent but had their own backstory demonstrating it. She was also just in her cause. Just overall a character that releases the dramatic irony of us knowing how Kira operates yet no one in universe knowing. Then they meet Light. I won't say much more but it was truly very tense.

The main characters are well-written too. They are truly rivels, two sides of the same coin. They hate losing, intelligent, risk-taking, and so so committed to their cause. The detective team also has great chemistry, and even have complex relations and lives. Although, I think Misa is annoying.

The world is also mildly consistent: rules are added with caution—meaning there are no deux ex machinas for Light. The rules are very simple and few, yet they lead to such complicated plans.

The theme is interesting as it explores the conflict between the greater good—decreasing crime—and moral good. Although this theme pretty quickly runs out, the contrast between Light at the start and end is enormous.

Season 2's ending seems very cliché, although I did like the new character.

In terms of animation I think the colorography fits the tone very well, but it's not really a style I like that much ig.

Rankings:
One Punch Man
Death Note
Komi Can't Communicate
AOT
Science Fell in Love
Dr. Stone