DEATH NOTE (ANIME VOLUME 5)
December 16th 2008 00:36
Category: Videos
Based on the Death Note manga by: Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata.
Director: Tetsuro Araki.
Screenplay by: Toshiki Inoue.
Starring: Brad Swaile (Light), Alessandro Juliani (L), Shannon Chan-Kent (Misa Amane), Chris Britton (SouichiroYagami), French Tickner (Watari) and Brian Drummond (Ryuk).
Produced by: Madhouse/NTV.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: M.
At the same time as I managed to procure Hell Girl Volume 6 at my local library I also came across this particular work as well and it was quickly liberated from the hordes of the uninitiated to be borrowed along with the aforementioned volume of Hell Girl and viewed at my leisure. It seems that the whole concept of messianic style protagonist trying to make the world a better place, although the definition of better is somewhat shaky, is not solely restricted to Death Note. Another work which has already hit the shores of the west Lost Brain wherein the power of hypnosis is apparently used to achieve the nefarious ends of its protagonist, this particular snippet comes to me courtesy of Anime Insider issue 61, and like Death Note the main character high schooler Hirama Ren is something of a megalomaniac. Seems like Light Yagami is not an isolated case…
The major premise behind the entire Death Note series lies in the actual concept that their exists Gods of Death or Shinigami as they are called and they carry with them black notebooks in which they inscribe the names of mortals who they wish to kill in whatever ways or means seems suitable. These books are also as capable of being used to kill other Shinigami as well, although nowadays most Shinigami couldn’t be bothered taking out their rivals being far too interested in either gambling or trying to find something to ease the ennui of existence in a boring and stagnant realm. Enter Ryuk, a Shinigami bored out of his mind, not liking the current options in his own world, a thinker who decides to let his death note fall into the mortal world to see what kind of excitement it will cause. Well he hits the literal jackpot when ace student Light Yagami sees the book falling from the heavens and walks out into the school grounds after class to pick it up.
Super detective L is still on the case trying to bring the nefarious mass murderer Kira to justice, his efforts have involved having Light, Light’s father and model Misa Amane put into prohibitive isolation in order to try and discover if either of them is Kira or if they are someone passing on information to Kira. It seems though that as this particular instalment of the series opens that this tactic has not produced any conclusive results, Kira is still out there and still killing, although it seems that this time it isn’t criminals and ‘sinners’ that are his victims. So having gained little out this angle of investigation L opts to close this down and formulate a different strategy, one that will hopefully have the desired effect.
Unfortunately all this illustrates that even though he is something of a genius, a brilliant detective who literally embodies the Canadian Mountie idiom of “we always get our man”; his morality is what gets in the way of his objectives even though it might not seem like it in the unfolding story. This is the hindrance that has him blinded and he is completely unaware of it, for L unlike his faceless and ‘nameless’ opponent Kira is bound by the rules and conventions of society. He is seeking the means to conclusively link Kira to the countless deaths as well as conclusive proof that Kira is undisputedly a certain particular individual; he needs concrete evidence to do this, for him to be able to bring his foe to justice. L might use unorthodox methods to achieve his aims but he still operates within the legal framework and mores of accepted society.
The faceless foe that he is dancing with has no such strictures and in actual fact sees that these are simply actual hindrances to the pursuit of true and righteous Justice. Kira moves like the literal wrath of god striking down those he deems who have earned his wrath with a single flick of a pen, all he needs is a face and a name and that person is literally shuffling off this mortal coil. This is an opponent that anyone other than L would find to be as hard to catch as the morning mist or the fading smoke of a snuffed out camp fire, and no doubt it is Kira’s seemingly invulnerability that has caught L’s attention apart from the fact that he is killing on a grand scale.
Interesting the more I see of L in this series I find myself emphasising with his character and he also comes across as a twenty first century version of Sherlock Holmes, with the equally mysterious Watari being Watson. One wonders if the creators of the manga; Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata are fans of the man in the deerstalker camp and meerschaum pipe? Certainly L is no pipe smoker yet his seeming obsession with tackling cases that are almost nigh impossible matches Holmes own obsession for investigation, it was something that stretched his considerable intellect and gave him a degree of ‘life’ a facet that is matched in the character of L. Naturally the sudden turn away from criminals to businessmen and the possible involvement of a shadowy consortium known as the Yotsuba Group makes the investigation just that little bit harder.
From a viewers perspective there is never really a dull moment in the Death Note saga, after all in the clash between two such antagonists you are literally left on the edge of your seat wondering just how it is all going to turn out, will L prevail and bring Kira to justice or will Kira usher in his golden age. The voice acting is top notch and gives the extra oomph to the unfolding events, the varying emotions called upon – despair, desperation, surprise etc; wouldn’t work if this show didn’t have a top notch cast. Currently to my knowledge ABC 2 is no longer showing Death Note on a regular basis as it used to but it may return, you can certainly get a hold of the show on DVD either through various retailers or if you’re lucky like me you might find on the shelf at your local library. This particular volume is the halfway mark in the series; there are nine volumes in the entire series. It should be interesting to see the final denouement…
Director: Tetsuro Araki.
Screenplay by: Toshiki Inoue.
Starring: Brad Swaile (Light), Alessandro Juliani (L), Shannon Chan-Kent (Misa Amane), Chris Britton (SouichiroYagami), French Tickner (Watari) and Brian Drummond (Ryuk).
Produced by: Madhouse/NTV.
Released by: Madman Entertainment.
Running Time: 100 minutes. Rating: M.
At the same time as I managed to procure Hell Girl Volume 6 at my local library I also came across this particular work as well and it was quickly liberated from the hordes of the uninitiated to be borrowed along with the aforementioned volume of Hell Girl and viewed at my leisure. It seems that the whole concept of messianic style protagonist trying to make the world a better place, although the definition of better is somewhat shaky, is not solely restricted to Death Note. Another work which has already hit the shores of the west Lost Brain wherein the power of hypnosis is apparently used to achieve the nefarious ends of its protagonist, this particular snippet comes to me courtesy of Anime Insider issue 61, and like Death Note the main character high schooler Hirama Ren is something of a megalomaniac. Seems like Light Yagami is not an isolated case…
Unfortunately all this illustrates that even though he is something of a genius, a brilliant detective who literally embodies the Canadian Mountie idiom of “we always get our man”; his morality is what gets in the way of his objectives even though it might not seem like it in the unfolding story. This is the hindrance that has him blinded and he is completely unaware of it, for L unlike his faceless and ‘nameless’ opponent Kira is bound by the rules and conventions of society. He is seeking the means to conclusively link Kira to the countless deaths as well as conclusive proof that Kira is undisputedly a certain particular individual; he needs concrete evidence to do this, for him to be able to bring his foe to justice. L might use unorthodox methods to achieve his aims but he still operates within the legal framework and mores of accepted society.
The faceless foe that he is dancing with has no such strictures and in actual fact sees that these are simply actual hindrances to the pursuit of true and righteous Justice. Kira moves like the literal wrath of god striking down those he deems who have earned his wrath with a single flick of a pen, all he needs is a face and a name and that person is literally shuffling off this mortal coil. This is an opponent that anyone other than L would find to be as hard to catch as the morning mist or the fading smoke of a snuffed out camp fire, and no doubt it is Kira’s seemingly invulnerability that has caught L’s attention apart from the fact that he is killing on a grand scale.
Interesting the more I see of L in this series I find myself emphasising with his character and he also comes across as a twenty first century version of Sherlock Holmes, with the equally mysterious Watari being Watson. One wonders if the creators of the manga; Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata are fans of the man in the deerstalker camp and meerschaum pipe? Certainly L is no pipe smoker yet his seeming obsession with tackling cases that are almost nigh impossible matches Holmes own obsession for investigation, it was something that stretched his considerable intellect and gave him a degree of ‘life’ a facet that is matched in the character of L. Naturally the sudden turn away from criminals to businessmen and the possible involvement of a shadowy consortium known as the Yotsuba Group makes the investigation just that little bit harder.
From a viewers perspective there is never really a dull moment in the Death Note saga, after all in the clash between two such antagonists you are literally left on the edge of your seat wondering just how it is all going to turn out, will L prevail and bring Kira to justice or will Kira usher in his golden age. The voice acting is top notch and gives the extra oomph to the unfolding events, the varying emotions called upon – despair, desperation, surprise etc; wouldn’t work if this show didn’t have a top notch cast. Currently to my knowledge ABC 2 is no longer showing Death Note on a regular basis as it used to but it may return, you can certainly get a hold of the show on DVD either through various retailers or if you’re lucky like me you might find on the shelf at your local library. This particular volume is the halfway mark in the series; there are nine volumes in the entire series. It should be interesting to see the final denouement…
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