Poll: The DeathNote
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Wow, this poll is a lot closer than I had imagined. I answered no, the deathnote ought to have been destroyed, but that really depends on how you frame the question.
In the anime, the power soon rushes to Light's head, and by the end he's killed dozens of innocent folks (including L, my favorite anime character ever) on top of hundreds of un-named criminals. And his motive seems to be less "cleansing the world of evil" than it is "appointing myself ruler of the world". I think he started out with benevolent intentions, but near the end he became no better (and in fact much worse) than all the people he set out to kill.
But in relation to the concept of capital punishment? I think some people deserve to die. But we can't have some self-appointed vigilante smiting people whenever he pleases.
Regardless of where you stand on the capital punishment debate, I think the scariest part of Death Note was that all the executions were decided and commited by one guy, and an arrogant and corruptable one at that.
In the anime, the power soon rushes to Light's head, and by the end he's killed dozens of innocent folks (including L, my favorite anime character ever) on top of hundreds of un-named criminals. And his motive seems to be less "cleansing the world of evil" than it is "appointing myself ruler of the world". I think he started out with benevolent intentions, but near the end he became no better (and in fact much worse) than all the people he set out to kill.
But in relation to the concept of capital punishment? I think some people deserve to die. But we can't have some self-appointed vigilante smiting people whenever he pleases.
Regardless of where you stand on the capital punishment debate, I think the scariest part of Death Note was that all the executions were decided and commited by one guy, and an arrogant and corruptable one at that.
Belive me or don't, but No.Caliostro said:
I thought the Anime went pretty far to point out exactly who was Evil. The colours and shading of the characters when juxtaposed, posture and positioning, hell, even the music was bent on making sure we were sure of when badness was running amok. The lesson here to me isn't that Evil is relative, but that Evil is always Evil and abhorrent no matter who does it and for what purpose. A work aiming for moral ambiguity wouldn't have used every subliminal tool in the book, short of a twirling moustache, to define black and white.Caliostro said:
I like the whole thing except for this. A lot of what kept me watching was seeing what truly genius thing Light (or L or to a lesser extent Near) would do next, so only having one piece of the Death Note seems like an oversight for many but pretty much ridiculously stupid for him, and conversely stupid for Near to assume he didn't have one-- you can argue he read Light like a book which he clearly did but somehow I don't think L would've taken that chance, in fact when he said it I was pretty sure it was going to be "grab other piece --> write down names --> Light lives or dies --> roll credits" and of course that didn't happen-- you could say he got overconfident but I would think he wouldn't after being so careful for around six years, so yeah, it's either stupidly careless or just stupidly stupid and so didn't fit. Also I wanted to see Ryuk, as Light had mentioned early on, go back to the shinigami realm and reinvigorate it or something.blakfayt said:
That much power has to be in good hands. You said he was smart so it is ok i guess...
He also could go mad with power.. much to dangerous, but if you have a fake ID or something and no one knows your real name, your easily immune, so there some holes in this "hero"
He also could go mad with power.. much to dangerous, but if you have a fake ID or something and no one knows your real name, your easily immune, so there some holes in this "hero"
Doesn't sound like a plain, and simple plot the way you put it.Julianking93 said:
(sorry for double post D: )
i perposely left the poll with only those 2 options,Lullabye said:
because even tho the reasons for a persons actions are rarely black and white, the choice of whether or not to kill those people is. its simple, you can either choose to kill them, or choose not to kill them. there is no grey area to this choice, there is only grey area to its moral decency
But he was claiming to be a god from the beginning. Didn't he always seem slightly crazy to you? He told Ryuk he wanted to create a new world in which he was the god the first time they met, and was such an egomaniac that he killed that FBI agent even though he wasn't under suspicion.Caliostro said:
That being said, at least he was willing to go all the way with the Death Note and not just use it for personal gain.
Yeah, I know EXACTLY what would happen to a child molester in GenPop--which is precisely why s/he would be out of his/her misery with death.Viivrabe said:
And, sorry, I threw "taxes" out of the window when discussing a hypothetical situation brought on by the subject of a bad manga/anime series. One person has the power to judge life or death over all? Hmm...no.
Crappy cliche, "power corrupts".
But I did enjoy watching him get shot/die to Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek.
But I did enjoy watching him get shot/die to Imogen Heap's Hide & Seek.
Because Light is "red" and L is "blue"? They're both dark. Misa is darker than both of them, if you go by looks or "subliminal messages". We find messages wherever we want.Ultrajoe said:
As for the soundtrack, Kira's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3LeZNlI0Xg&feature=related] is no more ominous or sinister than L's theme [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvnjIEThU-U]. Coincidentally Light is the only one of the two that even comes close to a peaceful or joyful music [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvVoxrdqVQc].
If you were right about your point, and it was simply about power corrupting, then why wasn't L corrupted? L always had immense power, since the start. He had a fortune and the World's polices at his finger tips. Nobody knew who he was. Light himself never finds out his real identity.
You're only skimming the surface, go deeper.
Edit: Please read 2 posts bellow my other reply. I think it's pointless to copy paste here.
I think it was stupid, but for other reasons. Mostly it's because after he starts wasting criminals who are getting their comuppance, he just asses about, not doing anything.
Plus, he didn't write "Uwe Boll, ass-raped by machine-gun bear" in there. That really pissed me off. (For reference, a machine-gun bear is a bear with minuguns strapped to its sides.)
Plus, he didn't write "Uwe Boll, ass-raped by machine-gun bear" in there. That really pissed me off. (For reference, a machine-gun bear is a bear with minuguns strapped to its sides.)
This scene particularly I thought was very descriptive:the1ultimate said:
The whole thing.
Light sure is displaying some lunatic god complexes there. "You're in my way, so die because I can!"
...Yet, look at L...
L has no problem sacrificing someone, even if it was a criminal. He's a hypocrite. He killed someone, he put them on the chair knowing they might die, just to serve his purpose. Yet he hunts Kira for the same reason.
My particularly favorite part, watch around 4:48 to 4:57.
"I.AM.JUSTICE!"
Both of them say it. Both of them see themselves as some nearly divine personification of justice.
They both have very shaky morals. Light will kill people who stand on the way of his vision, yet L will give away precious details, like letting Kira know he knows, details which would have made his capture a LOT easier... Just to egg him on. Just to taunt him. It's personal. It's not a service for him, it's a hunt.
But L is corrupted, and just as deplorable. You point out why in the video you link later on, he's using his power and intellect to pursue personal goals just as much as Light and is doing some fairly criminal things to make it happen. You minsunderstand: I don't think things are black and white, I think they're entirely black. Light is growing a god-complex and L is inhuman (more so by the end), all because of the power they unjustly weild.Caliostro said:
To me, at the core, the message is 'Power corrupts' and the show is a fascinating excercise in exploring that and all it's details. But I don't think it's going for a balance of morals.
The problem was that Light may have started out with a noble intention, but he was corrupted by the power of the Deathnote and his own egotistical notions. He lost sight of the original point of it, to destroy evil, and instead became intent on becoming a 'God.' For that reason, I did not like him as a person (however fictional he was) or as a protagonist. He made several mistakes that I would not have, and he treated it like it was meant for him.
Like Excel Saga
I voted that it was bad, but honestly, I was rooting for Light the whole way. I wanted to see him create his new World with Misa at his side.