Death Note

[paperclipchains]

So, I got around to reading Death Note after hearing a friend talk about it for long enough. On the whole, it... shall we say, defied my expectations.

Comments

[blueshinra]

Glad you liked it :D It's very wordy, and as such I would've preferred more visual storytelling, but otherwise I also found it very good.

Moving in to replace L, we have yaoibait Mello and Shota L Knockoff, Near. Near showing up is actually positively offensive - he's stolen L's quirks and mannerisms and he never demonstrates the intelligence and wit to back up his position as L's successor, despite how the writer tries to convince you.

Sure, Near has more of L's outward appearance and thoughtfulness, but Mello does have the sweet tooth and L's tendency to bend the rules and take action whenever he deems it necessary. Neither of them could be L's true successor on their own, but as Near said, both of them surpass him.

The only satisfying part of the second half is Light's death.

Made more satisfying by Swimming Lessons XD

Oh yeah, and all the women in the manga suck. They're like, laughably bad. I can't even talk about it.

Yeah, and that goes for Rem as well. At least Misa had her moments.

[paperclipchains]

Neither of them surpass him though. They just have his character traits - neither of them show even half the intelligence or competence that L had and the logic dumps are all full of holes or otherwise unsatisfying.

Swimming Lessons is great though.

[blueshinra]

Neither of them surpass him though.

Do you mean individually or together? I think the fact that they embodied L's traits in two completely different beings was their primary strength, something that for L would've been impossible (being one person), and allowed both Near and Mello to gain the upper hand at the end.

Individually, yes, neither of them could be L's true successor, but as collaborators and rivals, each prone to greater personality extremes than L ever was, their strength really shone through.

[paperclipchains]

I think that's a very optimistic interpretation, but I feel that both together and seperately they don't surpass L - not only in terms of intellectual genius, but in terms of the actual narrative.

In other words, I refuse to forgive them for their redundancy!

[blueshinra]

Can't blame the characters for the narrative; the writer's the guilty party there ;)

I think the series did lose that special something after L died; he was (and remains) my favorite character.

[paperclipchains]

Oh, I do blame the writer. Mello and Near just rub the wrong way as characters, one because I find him even more annoying than Misa and the other because... well, he's not L! The audacity. It's kind of foolish, but what can you do? Sometimes you just feel that way about characters.

I think Ryuk is my favourite, but L is definitely second. The story just doesn't work without him, in my opinion.