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Death Note
joeystrummer:
I can agree with the opinion that the second half of the show isn't as suspenseful or intriguing as the first half, after Near enters the picture. But the last five or so episodes kept me absolutely enthralled because I didn't quite believe that (click to show/hide)Light would actually fail, I thought it was within the bounds of the show to actually give us an ending where he succeeded in defeating Near.[spoiler/] Maybe that makes me more gullible than some of you, or less perceptive, but I have a tendency to let a story unfold for me at its own pace instead of looking ahead to where it will conclude; it drives my girlfriend crazy, because I'll comment on how something was really cool, and she'll make a snide remark about already figuring that out thirty minutes ago.
Anyway, I thought that the ending was one of the best parts of the show. It was exactly what I wanted. (click to show/hide) Throughout the series, Light is put into situations where he needs to use other people to keep up his charade, and they eventually fuck up. I felt early on that this reliance on others was Light's greatest weakness. He can't directly control people (except in those situations when using the Death Note allows him to) and every person he brought into his cabal would be someone who could punch a hole right through his strategy with a little independent action. So I felt that his loss to Near was real and it delivered on things the show set up previously. I also felt that his breakdown at the end was believable. Light is a narcissist, a real mental disorder. Despite his brilliance and his ability to plan carefully, he is probably insane. The character reminds me a great deal of Hannibal Lecter. And when Light's plans fall apart and his weaknesses are laid bare, he cracks. His ego and character are monumental, and we should expect his fall to similarly great.
Despite all that, I am still digesting the series; I want to put it on my all-time favorite list, but I am waiting until I've answered more questions for myself. The rivalry between Light and L, however, is one of my very favorite character dynamics, and it was a blast watching it. One more note: for those of you who watched the new Battlestar Galactica (and I do not feel like getting into a discussion of that show's greatness or lack thereof) Alessandro Juliani, who played Felix Gaeta, does the English voice-acting for L.
EDIT: My browser is not showing spoiler tags, just the code for inserting them along with the material inside of them. I've tried to insert them myself, but I can't actually see if they work. Sorry if they don't.
zherok:
Spoiler tags broke with the change over to baka. None of them work. Color tagging things white might help a bit.
I don't think it's a gradual thing that Light comes to depend on others. He has a mystical death causing book fall in his lap. But he can't evade L with just that alone, he has to have a SECOND book fall into the picture to manage it. And he only trumps L because of a complicated relationship between Misa and that other Shinigami that he only has an indirect and accidental role in linking back to himself. I think Light was the weaker of the two, since he requires so many things to go his way to do as well as he did.
Nikkoru:
--- Quote from: Havoc10K on June 09, 2009, 06:23:24 AM ---
--- Quote from: LiquidZero on June 09, 2009, 05:26:00 AM ---in the show L explains how he thinks killer is in that area because thats where the first heart attacks started to happen....any dumb ass could figure that out...
Was L really japanese? or did he just look like it? Was near also japanese? i know mellow couldn't have been.
--- End quote ---
L came from china, he has a tatto on his ass "MADE IN CHINA"
but seriously, he looks more chinese than japanese, and yes he explained everything, l think it made me mad at this anime because he explained every fuckin thing he did a few moments later, and why l stopped watching after ep 10 and went straight to last ep, cuz to me it was all pretty much easy to forsee the next scene n all that.
--- End quote ---
L was British, at least according to the author's readers guide in the manga.
--- Quote from: zherok on June 23, 2009, 03:01:18 AM ---Spoiler tags broke with the change over to baka. None of them work. Color tagging things white might help a bit.
I don't think it's a gradual thing that Light comes to depend on others. He has a mystical death causing book fall in his lap. But he can't evade L with just that alone, he has to have a SECOND book fall into the picture to manage it. And he only trumps L because of a complicated relationship between Misa and that other Shinigami that he only has an indirect and accidental role in linking back to himself. I think Light was the weaker of the two, since he requires so many things to go his way to do as well as he did.
--- End quote ---
Light made his life seriously difficult for no reason other than to satisfy his ego, starting with the assasination of L. Lind Taylor at the beginning and his constant efforts to thwart his pursuers became less about his own safety and goals and more about proving his superiority. L was consistantly flawless, but the circumstances were too tilted against him.
joeystrummer:
Light typically had more information than L did; its a testament to L's insight and deductive reasoning that he is able to uncover what he does. But its hard to win with less information.
Nikkoru:
L still came close to winning, in spite of everything - Light had a massive advantage of both anonymity and an impossible killing method and he still only escaped with the skin of his teeth.
I think L's only flaw, at least in terms of his detective skills, may have been his desire for a clean and absolute victory - another person may have just detained indefinitely or executed Light and Misa based on the evidence and intuition - but he wanted to win and uncover the method of the killing at the same time.
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