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ファイト／ステイナイト 
Well, that was a little bit disappointing. For some reason the animators felt that they must diverge a little bit from the manga ending. I just think the manga ending is a perfect fit and ties in with a lot of the early plot threads from the series. However, the ending in this version basically watered down that strong ending right down to a very powerful and creepy epilogue. Instead of showing those, the writers decided to show montage of the characters running around the wharf. Oh well, whether I like it or not, this is the ending. Overall the adaptation was okay but could have been better. I think the unnecessary meddling of the anime writers actually made the series a lot worse than it should have been.
What a fantastic episode. It's been a while since I feel genuinely excited with this series but this is exactly how I felt when I read the last volume of the manga. It's unfortunate that the series were prolonged more than necessary because I think it would have more bite if this confrontation happened a lot earlier. I supposed the author wanted to show how Kira's terror eventually takes over the world. To a certain extent, the series did that. However, I don't think it was thorough. We saw how extreme some people could be in their Kira worship. The thing is, we don't know if they are just a group of extreme individuals or if the rest of the world also joined in the madness. I think it would have been better if they had shown the reaction of some other people. Oh well, next week is the finale. If you don't know the ending, place your bet on who's going to win. If you know the ending, put your knowledge in spoiler tag please.
I'm sorry for the late entry as usual. I will also have to postpone writing about Darker than Black and Nodame Cantabile until Monday because my proposal is due in two days. After that, I hope I will have more time to resume my normal blogging. Anyway, with only two more episodes left, next week should be both exciting and confusing because Light and Near will finally have their confrontation. As for this episode, up to this day, I still don't fully understand Mello's full role in capturing Kira. I mean I understand that Mello's action inadvertently causes a flaw in Light's plan. However, I think it's rather hard to believe that Mello could predict what both Light and Mikami would do if something prevents Kiyomi from writing the name in the notebook.
Woot! 3 more episodes and this series will reach its finale. All of these times, I always wonder how many people have actually read/seen the ending. I've heard that many people left the series after L's death so I assume that they didn't stick around to see the ending of the series. As someone who has read the ending (but not this part of the story), I have to say that I find the ending to be satisfying. Having said that, I now understand what people say when they claim that between L's death to the ending, it feels like the storyline is dragging. I think the storyline certainly lacks the excitement of the early plot. However, I'm not sure if it's because L's death or because the plotline is being reused over and over again. At any rate, I think it's really about time to end the series.
The music in this episode is sublime. The French-flavoured accordion song that plays as Kiyomi leaves a restaurant reminds me of many spy thriller movies. It really highlights the double-backstabbing nature of the story and the complex tangle web between the characters. Story-wise, this is not exactly the most exciting part of the series. However, I think it's a necessary episode to show the extent in which Light has manipulated not just one, but two women in his life. It's kind of sad to know that these women actually love him but we have no idea if he actually has that sort of feelings for them. My guess is he doesn't even understand what love is about because I've never seen him trying to protect anyone with the power that he has in his hand. After reading the final volume of the manga, I realise how fitting the ending turns out to be in relation to Light not loving anyone. The question is, can they finish the story in just four episodes?
This series is finally beginning to become exciting again, well it should be since there are only 5 episodes left. I am just amazed at how the writers cut out so many materials and just condensed things into whatever episodes left. At this point in time, I'm not even sure what's excluded since I haven't read this part of the story. I have, however, read the last volume of the manga so that will be interesting to see if it gets cut out at all or not. As for this episode, I think it's better than the last two we've seen. This is mostly because it's a character development episode focusing on both Mikami and Kiyomi. What's not impressive is Light's increasingly insane plans, which for some reason is not obvious to everyone else around him.
Sorry for another late review. I'm so tired lately that I am not sure how I even managed to write this. My laptop has also been giving me grief lately so I've been spending a lot of time trying to reformat it. Anyway, the writers really are trying to finish this in 7 episodes. I think after this episode, we won't see the story being shortened any longer. I think it's a good decision to cut this part of the story short as opposed to cutting the later part of the story where the tension starts to ratchet up. As a side note, the opening scene where the mobs are trying to break into the building reminds me of the film that I just saw, 28 Weeks Later. The scary thing about them is that in some country, you can actually rent a crowd to for protest/cause disturbance.
It's hard to believe that there are only 7 episodes left to the series. That means in about 2 months, everything will be over. I have to say that the anime writers have done a good job of condensing the story thus far. Some of the elements that they left out are quite extraneous and could use a good trim in the editing room. Having said that, this episode unfortunately is still not exciting enough. Thankfully it's a prelude to a more tense situation which I believe we'll see on next week's episode. From there on, things will wind down to the finish line. I have to say, however, that it's been a blast watching Light getting increasingly cornered from every angle by different people who tries to catch him. I guess he didn't count on the possibilities that there will be other people who'd go after him after L's death.
It feels ages since I last blog anything. I just haven't got the energy to do it lately. I hope things will settle down in the next month but in the meantime, I apologise if things are slower than usual. Anyway, this episode covers a lot of things. I tried to compare it with the manga and it seems they use no less than 9 chapters at once. Of course, they didn't use every single plotline, which I'm relieved for because some of them are kind of boring. This episode also indicates that things are wrapping up real soon. I am actually surprised at how effective this episode is in general because it manages to get straight to the point without leaving out the important details.
I'm sorry that I haven't been able to blog in the past few days but I have been kind of busy up till now. I'll try to catch up but I most likely will just try to keep up with the schedule. Anyway, this episode is as dry as last week's. I guess those who said that the quality of the series went down slightly after L's death is quite correct. I do like one of the subplots though and hoping that it'll become a major focus somehow. Also, I've read the last volume of the manga and find it to be rather interesting. So I assume once the series gets closer to its ending, it'll get interesting again. Well, it won't be long now since there are only 9 episodes left. The writers seem to be aware of this since the pace seems to pick up considerably from last week's episode. At this rate, the series will indeed end when it reaches episode 37.
Well, this is kind of boring and long-winded although it did pick up the pace towards the end thanks to Near. In general, however, it's annoying to see Light manages to fool the majority of the characters. The animation is pretty good though and the animators do a good job in advancing the characters' age 5 years older. Sayu is probably who benefits the most out of this since she now looks a lot more mature and attractive. On the other hand, it's kind of amusing to see Souichirou not looking any older except for probably a few additional grey hairs. The thing that always bothers me, however, is Mello's character design. When I first saw him, I really thought that he is actually a she. In fact, it's still startling to see everyone referring the character as 'he' and hearing Mello speaking with a deep voice.
This episode is kind of disappointing after last week's. Not only the majority of the episode are comprised of recaps, the remaining animation are quite bad. In addition to this, there are major alterations to most of the scenes. I think from here on, we can expect an abridged version of the remaining manga stories. I think the anime writers will do anything in their power to ensure that they can fit the remaining 5 volumes into 11 episodes. I don't know how they'll do it but I hope they'll do a good justice to the story. Animation-wise, this episode is also a downgrade from last week's episode. The character's faces are quite inconsistent and look mangled at times. As a side note, I only screencap the new portion of the episode since I don't want to repeat screenshots from the previous episodes.
It's been a while since I last read the actual manga so I have forgotten how shocking this entire story was. I know many people were upset about this development but you have to admit that it does achieve the feeling of a total meltdown that the author intended. I actually had a chill when the successive death tolls happening just as I was when I saw the JSDF invading NERV in The End of Evangelion. One thing that I also forgot to mention was that while I like both Light and L, I also have little to no emotional attachment to either of them so I can pretty much watch the series for the story and enjoy the twists and turns that the author make. I think one's enjoyment for this particular twist will depend on whether or not you are attached to the character. As a side note, I like how the look of this episode relies heavily on the three basic colours that the series often: Blue, Red, and Yellow.
Sorry for the late review. I'm just too tired this week and haven’t had the chance to do anything beyond work. I also have some kanji test tomorrow so unfortunately this is the only series I can cover today. As for the episode itself, this one covers a lot of ground as I expected. It's not really up to the point where the first arc ends but we're really close to it and judging from the preview, next week's episode should be that episode. That means after next week's episode, there are only 12 episodes left to cover the reminder 5 volumes of the manga. I think there will be a lot of cuts and edits made in order to compress all 5 volumes into 12 episodes. To give you a comparison, Nodame Cantabile anime omitted at least 3 chapters so that it can cover 4 volumes in 10 episodes. Unlike Death Note, however, that series don't have that much dialogue.
Well, this is it: the end of the Yotsuba arc. That means everything will be back to status quo next week. What comes after that is inevitable whether one likes it or not. I think I finally understand why people are upset with the upcoming story development. Prior to following the series religiously, thanks to the anime, I have little to no attachment to the characters. As a result, I just enjoy the story based on its own merit. However, things get really complicated once you start liking a character. Even when the story demands it, it's really hard to let go your favorite character. The problem is, I think the author of Death Note considers the story to be more important than the characters. As a result, character death is simply inevitable part of the storyline. I really want to see what anime-only watchers think after the dreaded episode goes on air.
What's with all of the food scenes in this episode? Is this what L does when he's stressed out? Pigging out like there's no tomorrow? Judging from the amount of foods that he consumes, he either has a really fast metabolism or he's actually an alien. Anyway, this is definitely a precursor to the ending of the series' first half. If my estimation is correct, next week should wrap up the Yotsuba arc. However, this means that the dreaded plotline will come soon. As usual, due to my short attention span, I haven't actually read beyond the shocking revelation. So while I know what would happen in general, I miss out the in-between stories between the end of this arc and the series finale.
I'm sorry for the late review. I'll cover D.Gray-man and Jigoku Shoujo Futakomori as soon as possible after this. I've just been really busy and not in the mood to write any review. Plus, Heroes has been distracting me in the past few days. That last episode was awesome. I want to talk about it but I can't even keep up with my daily blogging task as it is now. Anyway, this is a decent episode as far as animation goes. I think the majority of the time the character design remains consistent. I guess they've recovered their budget after spending so much of it in the new opening/ending on last week's episode. Another thing that impressed me about the technical detail is how quick the pace has been in the past few weeks. At this rate, the writers will really end the first season either in episode 24 or 26.
February 27, 2007 | 
61 Comments
2nd OP Theme: 「What's up people?」 by Maximum the Hormone
Download AVI format (41MB) | PSP format (14.5MB)
I think the new OP/ED features awesome imagery and some of them suggests that we will indeed go into the Near/Mello arc. However, I am not really keen on the song that come with the OP/ED. I guess I'm just not into heavy metal/rock music like these. Anyway, this is probably the most boring point of the Yotsuba arc. I just think that the author tried to forcefully prolong the story. Thankfully the preview for next week's episode shows that things will be moving again. If I remember correctly, everything from this point forward should lead to the end of the Yotsuba arc. However, this also means that the dreaded plotline will come very soon. At a time like this, I wish I didn't know the plot already because I wonder how surprised I would have been. Anyway, if my guess is true, the current arc including the surprise ending will end either around episode 24. That would leave exactly 13 episodes to finish the rest of the story.
February 21, 2007 | 15 Comments
Wow, this episode really does feel like a Mission: Impossible episode. I was particularly amused with their attempt to make it look as if an accident has happened because that's the kind of things that Mission: Impossible team normally do. So far I've actually been enjoying this Yotsuba arc quite a bit, which is surprising since I've heard many people think that this arc is rather boring. At any rate, this should have been called Matsuda's Exciting Adventure since the bulk of the story focuses on the hapless and slightly idiotic detective. I suppose they need to develop him due to what happen in future episodes but it really doesn't help that they portray him as a bumbling fool in this episode. Having said that, it's kind of worth it just to see L being frustrated with the guy. I never thought I’d see L running out of patience before.
February 14, 2007 | 18 Comments
Wow, the writers sure condensed a lot of materials into one episode. I guess some of the things that they exclude are not that important in the larger scheme of things. If anything, they feel extraneous and unnecessary. This suggests there is a likelihood that the writers will cut down more stories in order to fit the entire series into 37 episodes. Anyway, this episode itself is okay but it's nothing outstanding. Upon seeing this, I can understand why some people are disappointed with this Yotsuba arc but at the same time, I think the arc has a potential to explore stories that were previously impossible to tell. This is especially true in Light's case because his former and current personality are very removed from one another.
February 7, 2007 | 21 Comments
Once again sorry for the late entry. I was planning to do it earlier but I was too tired to do it thanks to the flu. Anyway, this is a rather tense episode and contains what I think is one of the best moments in the series. The animation looks generally decent except that sometimes the characters look a bit off. I also note that in order to save some budget, the animators change the way several scenes are shot. Scenes which originally meant to be a close up of 3 characters, for example, end up being a long shot or a shot of someone's back while one character is talking. This is rather disappointing and something that I didn't expect on an adaptation of popular series like Death Note. I was particularly hoping to screencap this shot of Misa looking pissed off at L while L is unfazed by her anger. Unfortunately that shot never made it here.
January 31, 2007 | 31 Comments
Episodes like this one is one of the reasons as to why I love this series. I was practically grinning throughout the episode because the twist presented in this episode is unbelievably good. It's also strange to see the characters behaving in this manner at this point in the story. I was pretty sure that I dislike Light prior to this episode but after seeing him in this episode, I can't help but thinking about his true personality. If one thinks about it, even without the actual Death Note, there are many people in this world who are similar to Light. I don't mean in the sense that these people are murderer with God complex. I'm referring to decent individuals who because of a circumstance, turns into a ruthless and cruel people. If these people turn such way, was it because their experiences turn them bitter or are people just malicious to begin with.
January 24, 2007 | 26 Comments
When it comes to reading the manga version of this story, I've actually been very erratic about it. While I'm aware of the upcoming twist in the story, I am not aware what lead up to it up until this episode. It's the same thing with the ending. Although I know what happens at the end, I still have no idea about what transpired beforehand. The strange thing about this is that I don't mind it at all. I do admit that it's pretty weird that I am spoiled for some parts of the story and yet not in others. But I always like this kind of narrative device in a film so I don't mind it either in real life. A good example of this was that film called Memento* (yeah, I'm aware of the self-reference nature of the name). In that film, the viewers already know the ending right from the very beginning but how it transpires is the main attraction of the story.
January 17, 2007 | 28 Comments
What a beautifully drawn episode this one turns out to be. I really admire how Light's and Misa's face look entirely like two people I've never seen before. I think this is a clever decision on the part of the animators to revitalise interest in the series. By making the characters look different, the viewers will feel like they're watching brand new characters instead of the same old boring Light and Misa. It's also equally important to do show's Misa's Shinigami eyes from different angle. This way, no matter how many times the shot is repeated, it will feel fresh all over again. Seriously though, the animation in this episode is really bad. Upon seeing this episode, I have the shivers that I had while I was watching the worst episodes NHK ni Youkoso. It feels as if Gonzo animated this episode. *shudders*
January 10, 2007 | 35 Comments
For some reason this episode feels really entertaining but I can't pintpoint it to a specific reason. Maybe it's the nostalgic feeling that I get when Kudou Haruka suddenly burst into Hagu-esque voice while playing Saya. It was also amusing to hear Misa referring to Yagami Light as "Yagami Tsuki" due to the kanji on Light's name. The reason for this is because kanji often comes with more than one way of reading it. The problem is, it's hard to memorise every single variation. I usually only remember the major ones. Having said that, I don't think the word 'Light' (Raito) can turned into the kanji for moon「月」unless it's a very liberal use of the Kanji. What I mean by this is that there was no Kanji in Light's first name but because this is Japan, his family has to come up with a kanji equivalent to 'Light'. My guess is instead of going for the direct meaning of Light, which is「光」- Hikari, they decide to use 'moon'.
December 27, 2006 | 33 Comments
If you're waiting for D.Gray-man, I'm afraid I won't be able to do it today. I've been working two jobs in the past few weeks so I can go overseas again next year. The result of this is that I have less time to blog. Today along with Friday, happens to be the busiest day in the week. Because of this I can only choose one series to cover. Having said that, I'll try to blog D.Gray-man tomorrow when I have more time. Anyway, this is an awesome episode which shows that an anime adaptation can still be creative despite following the manga's storyline closely. The black and white/red/blue montage involving Misa and Jealous is simply awesome. The scene in question looks as if it's lifted out of film noir and given minimal color to emphasise a particular character/object (Schindler's List did something similar).
December 13, 2006 | 31 Comments
Well, here is the long-awaited Hirano Aya's debut as Amane Misa. I personally think the voice she uses here is similar to her voice as Haruhi, which is fine since Misa is a bit Haruhi-like. Unfortunately her character design looks kind of off from the short few minutes that I get to see. She looks a lot older for some reason, which I hope is just an animation mistake instead of something intentional. Because if they intend on making her look older, then Hirano Aya should have used her older, sultrier voice. One or way or the other, we'll have to wait for 2 weeks time before we'll know about this. The reason is because next week's episode seems to be a recap episode. The series will also take a week off in January. Anyway, I've updated the images with better screencaps. I hope they look a lot better now.
December 6, 2006 | 36 Comments
I am a bit disappointed with this episode. It's probably because I imagined the tennis match to be a lot more intense than the one that ended up being portrayed here. I think this is the minor downside of having so many internal monologues happening in one episode. Every time this happens, the animators have no choice but to focus on the face of the character so that the viewers can understand which one of the two is actually voicing his inner thoughts. In exchange, however, these scenes end up being static and only occasionally interesting when one party says something shocking and manages to unsettle the other. The only thing that saved this episode is the interesting speech that Yagami Souchirou gets to deliver near the end of the episode about how power corrupts an individual.
November 29, 2006 | 41 Comments
Before I start, I wonder if anyone knows if the painting included in this episode actually exists in reality? If it does, what is the name of the painting? I suppose the author could have drawn it in such a way so that it looks like a Renaissance piece of art but for some reason it reminds me of a famous painting which I've seen before but I can't recall the name anymore. The reason I'm asking is because I'm interested in the quasi-religious references scattered within the series and wonder if the author had inserted them so that later on the readers/viewers can look for background information on them. For example, I've mentioned before that the series compares Light to the infamous fallen Angel Lucifer by showing Light posing in front of what looks like a painting of an angel in the OP. And of course there is the symbolism of Apple as the forbidden fruit, one which Ryuk craves and can't live without.
November 22, 2006 | 46 Comments
Sorry for the late entry but I've had a busy day today and it's impossible to write anything during daytime. Anyway, the first question that I have when I saw this is whether the green tea ice cream part was Madhouse's attempt to advertise product on their series. If it is, they did a good job because I now have sudden cravings for green tea ice cream. :( This episode also turns out to be a lot more amusing than I expected it to be. Unfortunately the character design continues last week's lousy streak especially when the scene in question is a long shot one instead of a close-up. As a side note, Ryuk's appearance in this episode is quite amusing. I'm really tempted to pre-order the R2 DVD now since the first press version will come with Ryuk figurine. The thing is, figurine that comes with DVD or manga usually tend to be rather low in quality. So far I haven't seen a perfect figurine of Ryuk though.
November 16, 2006 | 36 Comments
Other scans: Box Side | Figurines | Book | Poster 1 | Poster 2
I promised to scan this before but I keep forgetting to do it. Anyway, the box actually comes inside a slightly larger box to protect it. When you open the container box, you'll find a piece of cardboard containing the diorama and the actual manga box itself. The box is really beautiful and sturdy although unfortunately it features similar front and back illustrations. On its sides, there are notes such as "All humans will, without exception, eventually die" and "After they die, the place they go is MU (nothingness)". Nice. When you open the box, you'll find a copy of Death Note: How to Read and 5 figurines: Kira, L, Misa, Near, and Mello. The figurines look creepy but they are faithful representation of Near's little figurines. The quality is not shabby either. Inside the Death Note: How to Read book, you'll find L's identity card, which I forgot to scan, and a poster advertising the anime series and the 2nd live action movie's prologue DVD.
November 15, 2006 | 39 Comments
The character design takes a slight nosedive in this episode. I'm a bit annoyed because there are many animation house which lower the quality of their outputs in the past 2 weeks. It must be budget crunching time for them. To Madhouse's credit, however, they cleverly limit the bad frames to long shots only. Whenever the characters are up close, the details are still as good as usual. The conclusion to this story is a bit disappointing though. I personally prefer the way Light handles Naomi in the live action film. I just think it's a lot more interesting. Arguably, it's a bit hard to do since there is one character in the live action that does not exist in the manga or anime version. In addition to this, the event in live-action basically speeds up Light and L's eventual meeting. The animators probably don't want this to happen too early in the story.
November 9, 2006 | 18 Comments
