The Series:
Things really start to heat up in the third volume of Death Note.
Light thinks that he's in the clear, since he's managed to kill all of
the FBI agents that have been investigating the mysterious deaths he's
been causing, but that's not the case at all. L still suspects him,
and to make matters worse, another person pops up who is able to kill by
just writing a name down, just like Light. The cat-and-mouse game
just gets more and more engrossing as it goes on.
Series Background:
Light Yagami is a brilliant high school student. He's at the top
of his class, and on the practice college entrance exams he routinely places
first in the nation. One afternoon while staring out the window,
he sees a notebook fall from the sky. After class he picks it up
and finds some odd instructions on the inside front cover, instructions
that tell him how to kill people by simply writing their name down while
picturing their face.
A few days after getting the Death Note, Light is in his room when a
shinigami, (a Japanese demon,) named Ryuk appears. Ryuk was the previous
owner of the Death Note and dropped it in the human world on purpose because
he was bored. He wanted to see what would happen and is quite surprised
by the results: Light has filled up pages and pages with names.
The young man has decided that he'll craft the perfect world, one without
crime. To do that all he needs to do is let people come to the realization
that all criminals will end up dying. After all, who would rob a
gas station if they knew they'd end up dead in a day or two.
With criminals in prison all over the world dropping dead of heart attacks
everyday it's not long before the governing bodies, and the public who
dub the mysterious killer "Kira", start to take notice. Obviously
outside of their league, the multi-national taskforce that's investigating
these crimes agree to let the mysterious figure "L" take over the investigation.
L communicates only through a laptop computer, and no one knows his real
name or what he looks like. With a razor sharp intellect, L soon
starts to track Light down. With one genius pitted against the other,
which ever one discovers the other identity first wins and the stakes are
incredibly high.
This volume:
"L" is sure that Kira is in Japan, and even suspects Light, but he just
can't get any proof. Light's house is bugged and rigged with hidden
cameras, but the criminals still keep dying. That's because Light
has figured out an elaborate way to fool the cameras into thinking he's
studying while he's really marking down names.
When that proves fruitless the cameras are taken out of Light's house.
Light in the mean time has graduated from high school and is entering college.
He didn't score top in the nation on the entrance exams however; he tied
for first. Light is astounded when he meets the other high scorer
on the first day of college and the mysterious character lets Light know
that he is really "L"! Without knowing his real name Light can't
kill him, but even if he does it will be obvious that he is Kira.
A smart move on L's part to get closer to his suspect, all while protecting
himself.
As Light and L test each other mentally and try to get the upper hand,
something unexpected happens: another Kira shows up. Sending
video tapes to a TV station, this new person, who identifies himself as
Kira, proves his power by killing TV broadcasters who have spoken out against
what Kira is doing. Who is this new person, and what should Light
do about them?
This series has a lot of suspense and interesting plot developments,
but it's not an action based show by any means. Having read the manga
I wasn't sure how this story, told through people's thoughts and conversations,
would really develop. Very well as it turns out. The creators
are able to instill the excitement that permeates the original work through
this adaptation without resorting to a lot of fights or battles.
Light is an interesting character, totally cool as he kills criminals,
but also devastatingly smart. He's met his match in "L" who is similarly
brilliant and their repartee is a lot of the show's charm. An excellent
show that will keep viewers glued to the set.
The DVD:
Audio:
This disc comes with both the original Japanese audio track as well
as an English dub, both in stereo. I alternated language tracks with
every episode and found them both equally good. The English voice
actors do a good job and don't ham it up as sometimes happens. Given
the nature of the show, mainly dialog based without any big action sequences,
the mix is adequate. There's some use made of the front sound stage,
but not a lot. The voices are mostly anchored on the screen, but
that's not really a problem. A solid sounding show. One thing
I did notice is that there isn't an option for translations of the signs
only. This was a pain when watching the dubbed version since there
are notes and such that move the plot forward that are never read aloud.
Video:
The 1.78:1 anamorphically enhanced image looks very good. A lot
of the story takes place in Light's dark room, and the image is intentionally
a little soft, but this only serves to enhance the mood of the story.
The colors in the daylight scenes are bright and solid, and the wide range
of grey tones are well defined. There isn't much in the way of aliasing
or banding, making this a very nice looking show.
Extras:
Viz has a nice assortment of bonus material for this disc. First
off is the second behind the scenes featurette where the English voice
actor who plays Ryuk, and the series director talk about the role and the
show in general. It wasn't that exciting, but worth watching.
Then there's also a commentary on the eleventh episode with the English
director and English writer. This was okay, but that's about it.
There's also a production art gallery.
Final Thoughts:
This is an unusual series, one where the conflict isn't physical, but
rather mental. The elaborate tests and tricks that Light and L come
up with for each other and great fun to watch unfold. The story really
starts to pick up in this volume too, with a new Kira showing up.
Things just get better from here on out. Highly Recommended.
