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

[celemna]

I agree with you vehemently about where things got bad. Why wouldn't what Light felt combine with his I HATE THE WORLD ideals?! It would've been interesting to see him stumble. But now he's ~~~perfect~~~ and so smart and ~~~~~~~~. Blek!

[annwyd]

Food for thought: the DN mangaka's new manga, Bakuman, features a scene where a teenage boy, rather obviously speaking for the mangaka, explains why it's totally unattractive for girls to show their intelligence and another scene where the main character's mother suddenly changes her mind because her husband explained to her that men have dreams that women can never understand. And this was just the first two chapters.

[paperclipchains]

Yeah, I'm not touchin' this one.

[starsandtildes]

Don't get me started on the second half of the series. Just don't. I'm of the opinion it should have ended at "EXACTLY AS PLANNED" myself.

[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!

[pikabot]

I actually disagree with where it went to shit: I think it persisted in being pretty tolerable for a while after L's death, but it died a painful death because there were tens and tens of chapters where NOTHING HAPPENED. Absolutely excruciating.

That said, I'd disagree that Near is an L knockoff. Certainly he has similar hair and fashion sense, but his behavior, while equally eccentric, is very different from L.

[paperclipchains]

He has similar hair, fashion sense, posture, behaviour, and role within the story. Of course there are some differences, but that doesn't excuse the similarities. He's just... superfluous. There's nothing Near could do that L couldn't do, and L should have been the one to bring Light down. A lot of nothing happens because what is there to happen? It's all just tacked on to the end and neither Mello, Near, or both can provide proper direction to the story or competition to Light (Despite what they may say).

[pikabot]

Actually, Near and L's posture are quite different. L is constantly on his toes, even when sitting on chairs, etc. Near sits flat on the floor. And again in terms of behavior, although both are very eccentric, they are so in very different ways. L holds everything as if it was going to bite him, gets right into people's faces, always has food on him somewhere. Comparatively, Near is very immobile, and meticulously constructs elaborate card houses, toy cities. Very heavy emphasis on order, whereas L was highly disruptive. And as for role, well, he is supposed to be L's successor.