Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A New Kira is in Town, 1 Aug 2008
The popular cult series Death Note continues with volume 2; which contains episodes 9 - 16.
If you have not seen Death Note before, it is about a young teenager who finds a notebook that has the power to kill someone if their name is written in it. With the power of the notebook, our protagonist, Light Yagami begins to kill off criminals in order to cleanse the world and bring about a utopia in which he will reign as God. However,these mass killings attract the attention of genius detective L who has cracked every case he's been given. Following from the events of the first volume, the story maintains it's thrilling plot and fantastic twists and turns.
This volume focuses particularly on the relationship between Light and L as they join forces, yet are also pitted against eachother. Furthermore, the appearance of the second Kira, Misa Amane, takes both geniuses by surprise. The 'cat and mouse' story gets even more gripping as they each want to make contact with this new Kira for their own separate devices. It is an interesting thing to watch as they are working together, yet secretly they are enemies both trying to discover eachother's true identity. This set up constantly leaves the viwe guessing which one will ultimately be victorious. Plenty of characterisation is dedicated to the character of L, as it becomes apparent that he is an unconventional detective to say the least. That, along with his 'slight' sweet tooth gives us an enjoyable and entertaining character. The character of Misa is also a nice addition to the show because she is a hyperactive yet naive pop idol, who also happens to own a death note. Her innocent and bubbly personality brings some nice comic relief to the episodes, as well as a nice change in mood and atmosphere.
This anime may not appeal to people to looking for an action packed gorefest. Death Note instead focuses on the characters and makes it seem more like a detective/mystery story. The animation continues to be superb as it is done by the acclaimed Madhouse Studios (Trigun, Perfect Blue, Ninja Scroll). Also, the music is really fitting to the series and as I said in my review of death note volume 1, the opening and ending themes are amazing. These two song are from J-Rock Band Nightmare, and they really go well with the spirit and the feel of the series. Voice acting for the english dub is actually really good, with Battlestar Galactica's Allessandro Juliani continuing to shine as L. Special features on these discs include interviews with the voice actor for Ryuk and voice actress for Misa. As well as commentaries and Trailers.
If you are new to Death Note then you should definetly start from volume 1 of the anime, watch the movies, or read the brilliant manga which started it all off. Death Note is one of the most gripping and addictive anime series out there, and is definetely a vital addition to any fans shelf. After watching this, I can not wait to watch volume 3 of this amazing series.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More! I need more!, 10 Nov 2008
This is the second installment of Death Note in the UK, and contains episodes 9-16 (this is different to the American release, where each volume contains only four episodes).
The story is as gripping and involving as before - the plots twists and cliffhangers are superbly executed. The cat and mouse game between Light and the L continues - however, a second kira is introduced which really keeps the story going. To the series' credit, whenever you start to wonder 'how can this possibly go on another 20-odd episodes', he whole plot is turned on its head.
As with the first installment of Death Note, the animation is fluid, and also includes some cracking CGI shots; additionally, the characters are still as detailed and well drawn as before.
The opening and closing themes haven't changed since the first dvd, and most of the incidental music is the same as before - but it's ok, as the music is great throughout.
As far as languages are concerned, you have the choice of English, Japanese, or Japanese with English subtitles. As per usual, the Japanese with subtitles is superior to the English dub; however, the English is not as bad as in most anime. The subs are always readable against the backgrounds, and are a fairly accurate translation of the Japanese.
The DVD is packaged in a single box with two discs, each containing four episodes. As before, it comes with a mini leaflet describing the rules of the Death Note and short plot synopses for each episode. There are also some extras if you're interested in how the series was made.
It's a worthy continuation of the series, and well worth watching even if you don't like anime! Only downside is that the series is still being released, so you'll have to wait for the conclusion (volume 3 is out already, but there are another 13 episodes to come after that).
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A second Kira surfaces, 1 Sep 2008
This second volume of the Death Note anime series contains episodes nine to sixteen of the show and to put it simply, it only gets better and better. The episodes of this volume see Light and L meet for the first time but as they try to manoeuvre themselves into positions to outdo each other a complication arrives in the form of a second Kira.
This series continues to improve with some great animation and is a generally faithful adaptation of the manga that is both fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable. The show does a great job at representing the game of mental chess being played between Light and L with some great symbolic scenes and imagery between the two. The main problem with the series is that the soundtrack can go rather over the top with the Latin chanting in places but it is otherwise very good and the vocal cast is also great. This anime is a great series that, if it keeps to the high standard that has been shown so far, will definitely become one of my favourites.
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