Death Note sucks

[Ramza]

Finally got around to watching this whole series.

Could've been awesome.

Last 12 episodes were awful. IMO it all went downhill after ep. 15 or 16...but the last plot arc was really what killed it. "Mello" and "Near" are lame, lame lame lame.

What an awful ending. I'd rather watch the last two episodes of EVA over and over.

[Eusis]

This is probably going to be obnoxious, but this MUST be posted.

Anyways... I liked what I've read of the manga. The anime however, or at least what I've watched of it (and I see no reason this should change later one) is far too over the top in making things more dramatic, even if it's important it doesn't necessarily need that treatment. Consensus seems to be to read the manga rather than watch the anime.

[Blace]

I don't watch anime so I wouldn't know, but I have like 3-4 friends that praise that anime like none other and own the entire series etc... they always say the ending was awesome, I do remember that.

[TurnBasedDude]

I liked the anime, but yeah, after epsiode 25, it just got meh. It is the same case with the manga, and it lost its charm after the first 1/2 of the series. Anime ending is a little better imo. In the manga...

Code:

During Light's downfall, Light just lost it and became a crybaby begging Ryuk to save him. Instead, Ryuk just writes his anme down and he dies in front of everyone in the werehouse. Kind of funny in a way :p

[dalucifer0]

I only read the manga of DN, and yeah, the best part was after

Code:

L died.

I didn't like how Near could do everything L couldn't.

[ZE GRAND MASTER]

Yeah, we all know DN sucks. Seriously, saying that is becoming as much a cliche as saying it's awesome was 2 years ago... And would someone please stop using the "potato chip" thing as reason to say it's all overdramatic? I think that's from the bit where

Code:

Light hides the portable tv in the packet

, so it seems reasonable to be focus on him eating them there. At least Ramza's point is valid, as he's seen every episode... (I'm really going to regret this,  aren't I?)

Oh and I'm not that big a fan of Death Note anymore. I think it got shit when there was more than one Kira, then got better at the end of part 1 and got even worse near the end - though the ending could have been worse, i thought. And I liked Mello and Near (well, Near) better than L. Music was good, too. Oh and why is it that everyone (anime fans in general, not /necessarily/ everyone on these boards, before anyone gets any ideas) hates disturbing shit like Death Note, yet thinks that disturbing shit like Elfin Lied is fantastic?

Consensus seems to be to read the manga rather than watch the anime.

Isn't that true of all anime?

[Losfer]

Death Note sucks

I totally agree with you, Ramza.

[Alexander]

I really enjoyed the series.  The last bit with all the DN switching was really bewildering and could have been done better.  The only part that really, really irked me was the fact there was

Code:

no Heaven, no Hell for anyone who dies, whether they came into contact with the DN or not.  That's a depressingly unjust universe.  I wouldn't have minded it to be for just DN users, but well...that didn't happen. Boo on them.

[Dincrest]

Death Note is something of a gateway anime, in my opinion.  That kind of darkly twisted, noir, more macabre anime was hardly shown on US television so it definitely had an impact.  If it encourages anime fans to explore other stuff like, say, Boogiepop Phantom then fantastic.  Boogiepop Phantom's one of my personal faves.  

We could express similar sentiments about RPGs and RPG fans with FF7.  I was one who got into them via FF7, but after exploring, I found other great JRPGs like the Megami Tensei series.  

I don't think Death Note's a bad series, but it's not one I'm thrilled about.  I found it too heavy handed for my tastes.

EDIT: I think one manga that works better as an anime is Beck.  After all, how can you have a story about music without audible music?  That's why though the Beck manga may have more details in the storylines, the anime really brings it to life because we get to see the band play shows and hear their music.

[Eusis]

I think that's from the bit where

Code:

Light hides the portable tv in the packet

, so it seems reasonable to be focus on him eating them there.

That's why I said just because something's important doesn't mean you have to over dramatize it. I admit, I read the manga version of that scene first, but it still could've either been handled in a way to let the viewer figure out what was going on without an overbearing inner monologue, or at not be so laughably over the top. There were other things of course that bugged me, the dramatic way of writing into the Death Note, the constant choral music, and one scene where

Code:

Misora is put into the Death Note by Light, and walks away... And in the anime they added her walking up to a noose to represent she was going to her death.

That wound up bugging me as excessive too.

Oh, and... yeah, I guess the manga statement is usually true, but it seems moreso for this than a lot that I've seen where it's usually either because of being a purist or some dumb crap in the anime like filler or having a totally different story in the end. Then again I guess all this crap I'm complaining about with over dramatizing is a form of filler.

[dalucifer0]

Yeah, we all know DN sucks. Seriously, saying that is becoming as much a cliche as saying it's awesome was 2 years ago... And would someone please stop using the "potato chip" thing as reason to say it's all overdramatic? I think that's from the bit where

Code:

Light hides the portable tv in the packet

, so it seems reasonable to be focus on him eating them there. At least Ramza's point is valid, as he's seen every episode... (I'm really going to regret this,  aren't I?)

Oh and I'm not that big a fan of Death Note anymore. I think it got shit when there was more than one Kira, then got better at the end of part 1 and got even worse near the end - though the ending could have been worse, i thought. And I liked Mello and Near (well, Near) better than L. Music was good, too. Oh and why is it that everyone (anime fans in general, not /necessarily/ everyone on these boards, before anyone gets any ideas) hates disturbing shit like Death Note, yet thinks that disturbing shit like Elfin Lied is fantastic?

Consensus seems to be to read the manga rather than watch the anime.

Isn't that true of all anime?

It's not true of all anime, only anime adapted from manga. In the world of anime and manga, whichever comes first is better 99% of the time.

As for the Elfen Lied comment, there are many reasons why I think it's fantastic, but comparing it to Death Note is like comparing football to baseball -- football is just more entertaining to watch to a majority of the people (which I'm in the minority there.) Death Note has a slow moving plot and underdeveloped characters, which is why I think it's above-average instead of great.

[Akanbe-]

Consensus seems to be to read the manga rather than watch the anime.

Isn't that true of all anime?

One may be better than the other, but as far as I'm concerned the entertainment value (most important thing to me) is totally dependent on what you like doing better - reading or watching.  While I try to read as much as possible, I'm still in uni and need to read a lot of textbooks.  Because of that, I generally enjoy watching anime more than reading manga in most circumstances.

[Lard]

The manga went off the rails when L died as well.

It just turned into "He knows! I know that he knows! He knows that I know that he knows!" etc.

It started off great, with a really interesting idea, but the last third of the story - issues 9-12 just had too many characters and was just ridiculous.

I can't remember a manga that had a poorer finish.

[Bloodstar6078]

I have yet to finish the series but I will say that I've liked the anime a lot so far. Of course, I agree with a lot of people in that the quality went down not long after L died. L was a cool interesting character. Mello and Near just seem really cliche to me and are almost completely uninteresting.

I'm also becoming a little bored with the story. It seemed like Light had won and the story was almost over and then more drama. I guess you could say that for me the story is starting to drag on.

[Dice]

I liked it initially.  It was cool, and interesting.  But then the cat and mouse game got really tiring and got into such paranoiac thinking and over-exaggerated characters (the blonde wench, forgot her name, was just a flat out fucktard with no depth and little interest in her whining bitching ways).

Credit where its due, the writer is really good at working with what he has...  He made up some Death Note rules and was able to play them out.

I liked the dark taciturn atmosphere, but in the end felt it didn't go anywhere and paraded on too long. I think "Paranoia Agent" would have been more suitable for a title.

I don't know why stupid fan girls rave about this.  If this is their pursuit at a clever and thrilling series, they have more searching to do.