Rating: 9.5/10

Overall Series Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

The rating you see here is one given by me when I think about the episode perfectly objectively. The quality, the way everything ties up and such are all exceptional. However, if I look at it subjectively, keeping in mind how I despise how Light loses, especially in such an unfashionable manner, I would give the episode a zero instantly. The ending sucks. Big time. The manga ending sucks even more because Near actually becomes the new L—I mean what the hell, Near, who plays with his dolls all day, becomes L? That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard! At least in the anime, the ending is rather sad instead of disgraceful.

The cinematography of the final few scenes with the reddish sundown lighting contribute to the overall closing feel excellently. Misa’s appearance is awesome in the way it is depicted, though it’s a bit forced if you ask me since she’s so annoyingly thick-headed. As I’ve said before, if only she was a third party with a head good enough to match against Light…Speaking of third parties, Mello’s role in the story was diminished so much that it didn’t give that feeling of epic-ness. The entire second half of the story was condensed to nothing, which makes the manga so much better (apart from the last chapter).

What pisses me off the most is how Light gets defeated by a freaking baby who hasn’t graduated from his doll collection. No matter how you look at it, he’s just a brat. L was genuinely awesome, and it wouldn’t have been as bad if he emerged as the final victor. Another thing, the mangaka decided to portray Light so poorly during his final moments that it simply ruins his character. Sure, some would say that considering all the events thus far, Light becoming insane at this point was to be expected. However, I’m pretty sure a lot of viewers supported Light, and this outcome would definitely make them all upset. I personally don’t want to think about this show ever again.

Rating: 9/10

Impressions:

No, no bashing from me for now. There’s still one more episode left…and if anyone actually hasn’t seen the last episode and still doesn’t know what’s going to happen, the ending of this episode really gives it away. I don’t usually watch the previews of many shows, so I don’t know what that holds, but the way that the audience is led to believe that Light has one…will inevitably become the opposite. I’m going to say now that I hate the ending, but it doesn’t mean the quality, art style and composition is bad. Since the beginning, all of these aspects have been superb, but the final end…if only it had been a stalemate or something…

Rating: 9.6/10

Impressions:

Everything has risen to the extremes. Mello’s partner (or subordinate) Matt, as well as Takada, both die tragically. I would feel sorry for both of them, except that Matt hasn’t had enough appearances while Takada always pissed me off in the past. I guess her blind faith in Light also made her partly responsible for her own death. These events were once again compressed to the minimum, and this inadvertently causes the downfall of the loser. Speaking of which, be prepared for a serious bashing of the show for my entry on the last episode of Death Note. =P

Rating: 9.4/10

Impressions:

With the show ending soon, it should be apparent that this showdown will be the final one. The problem with serious shows is that events and endings are more impacting, so if an undesirable thing occurs (death of L, or the ending which I am dreading), it takes a lot to get over. Anyway, this episode covers 4 chapters again, and as usual a lot of stuff is missed. Regardless though, the show has been very interesting at this point, even though the detailed thought processes of the two powers (one of which is far superior to the other but gets cheated in the end…) aren’t apparent. It would be nice to see exactly how both Near and Light are taking things.

There are exactly 12 chapters left of the manga, so I assume it will be four chapters each, distributed amongst the remaining three episodes (heh, I’m treating anime episodes like humans…xD). Everything will be revealed in episode 36 if this is correct, and that, along with the last episode, will most likely ruin your view of the show. Btw, all the subbers of Death Note have stopped subbing it due to the C&D letters they received from Viz Media, but I wonder if they’ll exploit a loop hole and release the remaining two episodes under a different name…well it doesn’t bother me, since I’ve read the manga (which is way better) and can watch the remainders raw.

Rating: 9.2/10

Impressions:

It’s quite amusing to see Misa and Takada fighting over Light like they do in this episode, as to the viewers it is obvious that Light is simply using both. Misa’s feistiness can be somewhat scary at times too, while Takada just looks plain evil, now that she has the false backing of Light/Kira. On the other hand, things aren’t looking good for Mikami, who’s actions as Kira are witnessed by a member of the SPK. Near’s method of discovering the second Kira isn’t explained and backed up very well, but understandable in such circumstances where the anime has only 4 episodes to go.

This episode covers the first four chapters of the second last volume of the manga, and as usual cuts out a lot of stuff. I should probably start mentioning that, since it’s apparent that it will be like that until the end, and complaining won’t change anything. One aspect of the anime which I like is how Near is portrayed to be slightly more likeable, which will soften the impact of the finale. Still, I can’t believe Near just had to be so childish…If there had to be a successor, someone calm and cool should have taken up the role instead. Near and Mello I guess make for the opposites that have to work together to make things work in the end.

Rating: 9.5/10

Impressions:

Surprisingly, I really enjoyed this episode because of the intensity of the scenario and great music accompaniment. However, I was disappointed still that Mello’s insightful thoughts and conversation with his partner were cut out almost completely, as well as the even-better monologue by Near. Likewise, Light was also meant to have some amazingly interesting thoughts, but luckily at least half of it came through in the anime. This was expected though, and the episode flies through five chapters, concluding the 10th volume out of 12). If Death Note had kept an appropriate pace, I would still be engrossed regardless of the fact that I have read the manga.

In the anime, Light meets Kiyomi only once before getting to the other Kira, but in the manga he meets her twice. If you’re thinking that it was way too coincidental for Kira to just phone Kiyomi like that, I suggest you read the manga. To some it up quickly, in the first meeting, Light instructs Kiyomi to make an appeal to Kira regarding what the NPA should do to co-operate with him. In doing so, Kira gets suspicious of Kiyomi’s motives and calls her during Light’s second meeting with Kiyomi. After a lot of internal debating and such, Kira tells Kiyomi to give Light the phone, from which they finally get in touch. Kira (or in fact Light) then orders the removal of the bugs.

Anyway, moving on from that…Mikami, the new Kira, is really such an amazing character, being able to read Light’s thoughts and act appropriately. While his goal is really only to reform the world, he lacks Light’s desire to be superior which allows himself to be controlled so easily. Regardless, the two make a frightening team. Both Near and Mello are meant to be hot on Light’s tail (though the anime failed in showing this), so things are becoming quite intense. While I still dread the coming of the ending, it’s nonetheless exciting to see how things work out to reach the final stage (even though the anime is doing quite poorly in this respect).

Rating: 8.6/10

Impressions:

Unfortunately, I have to say that Death Note is now no where near as interesting as when it first started, due to the simplifying of characters and events. It is no doubt that things are being rushed, and with that known, the studio behind everything is actually doing a good job. However, I don’t know why the pacing was so off when Death Note was animated. Was it some abrupt budget cut, deadline notice or something? It feels very unnatural, and for me the show will probably only go downhill, since as you probably all know, I hate the ending. I didn’t like the depiction of my favourite character in the end, as well as the ‘winner’ of everything.

Anyways, it seems like Near is pretty cunning as well, thwarting an unsuspecting Light who may have lost his touch (actually nah, Light probably was just underestimating Near). It would have been pretty ingenious if the notes had been fake, pre-made due to Near foreseeing such a move by Light, but we never do find out. Demegawa’s death was well called for; his personality was just too much to handle. The new character, Mikami Teru, is severely underdeveloped in the manga, and would have otherwise been a highly interesting character. His note-writing is pretty violent, which ironically is how killing usually is.

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

With five chapters covered in this episode, Death Note is now up to the beginning of volume 10. With three volumes left for the remaining seven episodes, it looks like everything will be rushed and a heap of juicy stuff will be trashed. It’s a shame Death Note isn’t a 52 episode series. If that were the case, nothing would have to be rushed and the anime might actually be as interesting and exciting as the manga…however I do admit that thrillers are usually better when they are animated (especially when they have awesome music accompaniment for the fast pace, which is how Death Note is at the moment).

The more I watch, the more I dread the ending, which will see my favourite character go away…anyway though, in the meantime, I must say Light’s having an easy time getting his way, with getting rid of most of his opposition already. Or is it really that simple…? I love the way Death Note is able to turn a situation completely upside-down with such ease. Some of it foreshadows the eventual end quite well, while of course the others are quite ironic once you know how everything ends. One thing I would have liked to see in the storyline was a more contrasting plot that would emphasize the rivalry between Mello and Near. But then again, I have a lot of things I think should be different.

Rating: 8.5/10

Impressions:

Well, seeing as how this episode covers 9 chapters of the manga (basically one whole volume), I am quite confident that the anime will be able to cover all of the manga. However, the result of this though, is the exclusion of much of the witty conversations, intellect and thrilling scheme devising. Seriously, all of it is gone. I scanned through a few pages of the chapters that this episode covers and found mountains of text and vital information left out. I am sorely disappointed by this rush, and am afraid the manga now is by far a lot better than the anime. I suggest everyone who hasn’t read the manga to do so!

I must commend Light for his ability to come up with the perfect expressions at the most crucial of times. He’s not fazed by his father’s last breaths at all, and is able to contort his emotions into something very realistic and useful to himself at the same time. Of course, the fact that he doesn’t exactly care about his father’s death is not a good thing, but it’s capabilities like this that make him capable of being Kira. L had his ruthless nature as well, which countered Light’s slyness, though it seems neither Near nor Mello have such attributes that make them stand out. However, as it will be revealed soon, what they do have is…each other (not in THAT sense xD)!

Rating: 9.2/10

Impressions:

It’s disappointing to see how the pace is still slow, covering only 2 and a half chapters with this episode. Not only that, but most of the intellectual thinking and discussions were not included, such as the run down of the plan which Light and Near formulate (unless they decide to do this next episode). Either way, with 44 chapters left of the manga to fit in 9 more episodes, I see no way for the anime to incorporate the entire story. As you can see, the anime needs to continue with a conversion rate of 5 chapters to 1 anime episode for everything to work out, which I highly doubt. It really does look like a chunk of the manga will not be included in the anime.

It’s quite an interesting change to see Light lose so badly this time round. He couldn’t really kill Sayu because the only one who knows about her kidnapping is Light, Near and their respective forces, so if Light kills her, he would be one of the suspects. Not good for a fresh start with a new foe for Light. However, with Mello in the lead at the moment, I think it’s foreseeable as to what will happen soon enough in terms of who takes the advantage (Light, Near or Mello). I was thinking the same thing when I read the manga as well, though seeing as how I read the manga in only a few sittings, I didn’t think too much about anything.