Death Note Vol 1

One of the best series ever.

Honestly, this is one of the best tv series ever simply because of the mental part of it. There isn't so much action in the sense of people fighting. It's all about the mental warfare. This series will keep you guessing what is going to happen inbetween each episode and as you're watching the episode itself. This is something that everybody and anybody should watch at least once through.

The Bad Part: It technically ended with the resolution at the end of the first "season". You can tell what part I'm talking about when you see it. Then because the fans loved it so much and they pressured him, he went about making a second "season". Think of it really being two books in the set. The second set of episodes takes some episodes to really get along. He had to take it slow to keep the human reactions in the show realistic as opposed to them "magically" figuring somthing out or slipping up. So that's it's only real downside.

There is one other part I don't particularly care for, but I can't say because it's a spoiler. If you enjoy the series, you'll know instantly what part I mean when you see it. ;) August 24, 2008

The Human Whose Name is Written In This Notebook...

will die.

Thus opens the brilliant saga of Deathnote, one of the most compelling and amazing animes of all time. It tells the story of Light Yagami, an intelligent university student with a strong sense of justice who accidentally picks up a notebook owned by a God of Death. Slowly, he starts killing off criminals under the guise of Kira ('Killer'), becoming more and more like those who kills in the process. The storyline is incredibly amazing and faithful to the original mangas, while the artwork is absolutely perfect. And the music and English vocals are a perfect match as well. As a result, this is one of those animes that even people who normally don't like cartoons can get into.

The first four episodes, which is where you SHOULD start, introduce the protagonist of Light Yagami, as well as his rival, the great detective known only as L. L, of course, is a fan favorite (hes certainly my favorite) and the first four episodes here tell the story of Light and L.'s mind games, each trying to lure the other out into the open without revealing their own identities. The confrontation between the two, in the episode appropriately named 'Confrontation,' was one of the most defining moments of the anime. Meanwhile, Light uses his Deathnote to kill criminals and set the Japanese police against L. Very well complex storyline, but quite enjoyable.

As an added bonus, the limited edition first run DVDs of the series each come boxed with a figure - in this particular case, Ryuk, the raven-like Shinigami (Death God) with a macabre sense of humor whose Deathnote Light picks up at the beginning of the story. May 24, 2008

Death Note=Serious Business

I was never a huge Death Note fan when it first started coming to the states, I just heard people talking about it all the time and loving it, telling me what all happens in the series, but now I wish I did get into the fandom when they had because this is an incredible, well thought-out series.

I mean, you have the lead, Light Yagami, who seems normal and excels at his GPA, but then he happens to stumble upon a note book with the words "Death Note" written on it. He tests the book out eventually, and realizes that it does, indeed kill people. He then eventually meets up with the "Shinigami" (Death God/Grim Reaper) who owns the book, and ends up having the Shinigami follow him around constantly. (Nobody else can see Ryuk)

Eventually, the CIA and Japanese police force start to get suspicious of the heart attacks happening to already criminals and try to find out who is doing all this. They bring in L who is known as a master mind at finding out who the murderers are who committed an act of crime.

Give Death Note a chance, and watch it on Adult Swim if you want to see what it's like at first. I love this series, the animation is beautiful, and not "goofy" looking at all.

And, if you like Dexter, I would think you would like this series as well.Dexter - The First Season December 22, 2007

It's, how you say.. "juicy"

This series is the best anime I've ever seen (and the best manga series I've ever read), and the DVD was quite enjoyable - but don't be fooled by Amazon, as this does NOT have 8 episodes, but only 4. The only complaint I really have about it is that I expected the "Interview with Voice Actors" to be more than just the director and the man who played Light. Oh well, maybe more will be on the second DVD...

I've been obsessed with this series since I saw it in May of this year (2007), and I was nearly hyperventilating when it came out in English on Adult Swim. Sure, the Japanese version is cool, but the the English dub isn't as bad as others make it out to be. It does take a bit to get used to Light's voice, and I never expected L to be given a British accent, but it's nonetheless amazing! I must add that I think Ryuk got the perfect voice - deep and demonic (and, personally, sexy) with a cackle to give the Japanese voice actor a run for his money. The dubbed version is very good; I've heard much worse dubs before, so don't just dismiss it because it's dubbed!

The Ryuk figurine that comes with this particular package is really cool looking and very detailed. However, mine somehow got a little extra black paint on the forehead, but other than that, it's looks beautiful. <3 December 9, 2007

The description doesn't match!

Negative points
- It only contains the first 4 episodes, not 8 as mentioned
- The is NO second dvd as mentioned, and the extras aren't that good...
- The english voice over is just plain awefull, the voices for Yagumi, Ryuk and L ... just horrible in english

Positive points
- The figure is just great, the details are awesome
- The box art and included landscape to put behind the figure are great
- Original japanese voices with good english subtitles
- The dvd packaging is amazing as well November 27, 2007

More reviews at Amazon.com ...