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Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, L

It’s around about now that we realise Death Note is becoming more than a very good anime series. It’s becoming one of those “OMFG-WTF-CLIFFHANGER!?!” types. I can feel the hysteria surging within me. 15 episodes in and the twists and turns of the story are still as unpredictable as ever. Watching it makes me a frustrated anime fan. More, more, more, I feel like I need to consume it all at once, knowing full well its immediate beauty is the element of surprise. I have to ask questions, but don’t want the answers.
Episode 15 was a brilliant tease, much like a game of tennis – it swings one way then the next, the crowd silent in awe of the battle, the point eventually won with a deft touch from L, the ingenius bastard having risked it all on pure instinct alone – he who dares wins, or so they say?
L has been a loveable oddity up until now, but his heartless interrogation of Misa introduces shades of grey to his personality. Despite being the supposedly good guy, that he’s willing to squash others if it means getting to Kira leads us to question the value of his crusade to halt "evil", given his own methods can be as barbaric as his prey. This scene was outstanding; it instantly subverts everything we assumed was good or noble about Death Note’s police, any concept of moral favouritism goes out the window along with Misa’s innocence as we watch the naïve become degraded and exploited.
The intricacy of the scheming in Death Note never lets up, at one point in this episode I was ready to witness the death of L, and moments later I’m grinning ear to ear as he’s somehow turned it all around and virtually caught Light. It’s been absolutely thrilling so far, I’m surely addicted.

5 replies on “Death Note – 15 – It's been all sorts of fun, L”

I totally agree with you 🙂
The episodes just don’t release fast enough, and I’m stuck waiting to see wtf happens next. And just like you, I refuse to spoil myself because it would ruin the greatness.

I think reading the manga at this point would be terrible. I just can’t fathom spoiling the story, even if the manga is the original version. I suppose a real test of this adaptation will be the re-watch value; Fight Club is still as good as ever, and I just hope Death Note will retain its quality.
Another thing about Death Note… I love the way the shinigami look, sound and move. I prefer this rendition to Bleach’s bishounen style. We need to see more of their world.

I just watched 15 & 16… I *have* read the manga and I was still on the edge of my seat. To people who haven’t read the manga yet — I would stick with the series unless you absolutely have to know what happens next, then you will end up reading it all in one weekend and the anime will have next to no surprises for you. I also think the manga does a better job of getting across the scheming and plotting that goes on between the main characters. I’m still addicted though.
I have to agree with your comments about Misa/L. L comes off as a right bastard in the anime. For whatever reason it didn’t seem so bad in the manga. Poor Misa-Misa!

Funny enough I did end up reading the manga in about three days of unnervingly thick plot…
And don’t think thats "thick" is anything good, after a while the entire story starts to irritate me completely.
I know it seems like it’s not a case of good Vs. evil but that simply isn’t the case, death note as a whole is completely about good and evil which in a way voids the pleasure of moral ambiguity.
Lights collapse into the clichéd mass murders of the average thriller terror stories amazes the senses as something inside me just wants to watch L and light strangle each other to dead just so I don’t have to watch these two make seemingly smart plans that are in fact about as smart as a mouse eating a power cable.
there is a lot of cyanide in the above(which is my bizarre sense of humour). Goodnight!

Man…I’m waiting to witness L’s death and catching Light. I cried when I saw it in the Manga.
I am totally on L’s side.
But what about Mello & Near? I get confused there.
Near is…working for Light? I think that was when Light was free of the DN. Or something. But when I heard of Near helping Light after L’s death, I was thinking "TRAITOR!" I could be wrong!!!

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