Death Note is a supernatural thriller anime directed by Tetsurō Araki. It is based on a manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The Japanese animation studio Madhouse produced it. This review might have some spoilers for part 1.

After the death of his archrival L (Alessandro Juliani), Light Yagami (Brad Swaile) takes over command of the task force meant to capture Light’s secret identity of Kira. While keeping Misa (Shannon Chan-Kent) at bay romantically, he finds himself the target of child genius Near (Cathy Weseluck) and the SPK, an investigative unit from America. To main an alibi, he has Ryuk (Brian Drummond) give a Death Note to Teru Mikami (Kirby Morrow), a prosecutor and Kira fanatic. However, the Mafia allies with an old ally of L’s named Mello (David Hurwitz) who will stop at nothing to prove he can defeat Light.

Like I said previously, the animation is incredible. They do such a good job showing emotion and especially highlighting Light’s temperament and Ryuk’s amusement throughout. It was clear they wanted to bring out the best in this series and they brought it.

This next part had one major flaw. The lack of L. Many fans abandoned the show following the death of L and I do think that was premature. While Near is not as interesting as L, the show is still enthralling with its twists and turns.

Light continues his descent into mania as he feels what he thinks is invincibility. We follow him as he continues his reign of terror, but this time, as the leader of the very task force sent to stop him and his identity as Kira. This shift in attitude and behavior is what pulls you in.

The theme of “absolute power corrupts absolutely” is totally at play. Light went from wanting to make the world a better place to thinking he was the king of the world. He is a full-on villain and he bested his first rival, but a new one emerges. I found it enthralling and stayed with it for every episode. Death Note is truly a classic anime that keeps you on the edge of your seat from beginning to end.

Check out the trailer below:

This review is based on the dub produced by Ocean Productions.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Violence, Some foul language, Suggestive themes, Crude humor, Frightening elements

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This article has been updated from a previous version.