OK? ok. Good.
Next week will be the week of two 'of fifty-two's, and as a fun little preview it's going to be the character Captain Jack Harkness and then the book Darth Bane: Path of Destruction.
Anyway, this week;
TV Series / Graphic Novel
Death Note
I honestly don't remember which - Anime or Manga - was my original experience with Deathnote, the two are so similar that they are practically interchangable. the Manga was made first and then when they made the anime they didn't change a thing.
Yes, ok, the anime had colour, sound and moving images, but you know what I mean.
The thing was so identicle that I really really can't suggest which to watch over another - though I will say that if you want an easy introduction to the world of Deathnote, the three movies are most certainly NOT the way to go. The movies were awful. I own the full set of Manga and I watched the anime totally legitimately online back when I was in university.
Most manga and Anime is watched because it's and regarded as violent and bloody with undertones of sexy girls - like Battle Royale and Gundam Seed - or cutesy and romantic - like Chobbits, which incidentally was awesome, call me a girl if you must, but it rocked.
Deathnote is neither.
Deathnote follows the story of Light Yagami, a brilliantly intelligent highschool student who discovers a note book - dropped by the shinnigami (japanese god of death) named Ryuk - that holds power over life and death. If you write a person's name in it and picture their face then they will die, you can give precise instructions of how they die, but the bottom line is that when a person's name goes in their life snuffs out.
Instead of being terrified and revolted by this incredible power, like you'd expect, Light uses it. He sees a world of darkness and suffering and endeavours to make it better, by killing people.
As you can imagine the police do not look favourably upon his choice. They don't knwo how he's doing it since all the deaths are happening differently, sometimes in places where the killer - who they name Kira - could not have been.
Kira gains the attention of the notoriously brilliant super detective 'L' - think Sherlock Holmes, if Holmes was obviously autistic, never wore shoes, ate LOTS of candy and was only about seventeen. Kira joins the police force's investigation and tries to put a stop to Kira's plans.
This is one that I wont reveal the end, because it is brilliant. The number of twists and turns they go through, the false endings and intelligently designed escapes... It's an amazing journey that forces you into the point of view of both L and Kira. right up until the end I didn't know who I wanted to come out on top.
I found this manga/anime a refreshing change of pace to the other mangas I read at the time. I was a fan of Ruroni Kenshin, Shaman King, D.N.Angel and Battle Royale, where the main character was a good guy, trying to help people through good means. Kenshin wouldn't kill people, Yoh wanted everyone to hug and be friends, Daisuke wanted nothign but to live his life adn love with his girlfriend and right up till late in the story Shuya wanted to survive with Noriko without killing any of the people trying to kill him.
Then Deathnote came along. It wasn't as simple as good and bad, you weren't sure who was in the right, hell you cared about a mass murderer. Was a bad guy, with a good motive using dark means? Was he an inherantly good guy who was using whatever means necesary to do what he thought right? Was he mentally deranged? Sometimes it felt like the latter, but it could have been any of them.
Genuinely think you should read/watch it and as such I will say only this; it's sad, it's funny, it's intelligent, it makes you think and it is just plain entertaining. It is very possibly my favorite Manga/Anime of all time, and if not it's in the top five.
Vidya
- James
P.S. Don't watch the live action movies. they are awful... yes I own them... I don't see your point.
No comments:
Post a Comment