(should have added a “please” to the end of the title. My bad.)
My 14yo daughter is seriously into this thing. She has watched all episodes (around 40 of them) and was telling me yesterday about it.
However, as smart as Sophia is*, the child can’t summarize for shit. Goes into to much detail, can’t simply say “Well, it’s a crime story with a moral twist”, gets too lost in the woods explaining everything so that, at the end, all I got was “it’s a crime story with a twist.”
So… anybody want to clue me on on their thoughts about this show? (is “show” the right word?)
*99%-ile on her Iowa Skills Scores for the entire language arts section 3 years running. Whoo-hoo - she’s in the top 1%!
There are a few threads about it here in CS. It is a very well done, intense anime. Totally makes sense that a 14yo would get engaged - my son loved it.
It is…operatic in it drama. It invokes magic and demons and death and the power of good and evil.
The SDMB search function isn’t working through my company’s firewall. Here is the Wiki entry: Death Note - Wikipedia
I watched it all this summer and it is really good.
Yeah, basically an older teen gets a book that lets him write anyone’s name in it. If he writes their name, they die. He can specify when and how they die and if he does not specify, they die in a few seconds from a heart attack.
He is our lead character, but is also an antagonist. He plans to use the book to kill off villainous people and eventually become the god of a new perfect world. He’s nuts, but brilliant.
He is persued by a brilliant Sherlock Holmes like detective who is also nutty, but brilliant.
It’s a cat and mouse series where the detective is persuing him and the lead character is attempting to get away with his crimes.
Thanks. As a father, I’m a bit relieved that responses aren’t of the “If you’re letting her watch this, do y’all also watch Human Centipede on family movie night?” variety.
Why did he kill the tv reporter who he was using to communicate with the outside world (I think it was in a fire in an old church type of building) near the end of the show?
I think it would be great for a 14-year-old. If it has any flaws, it’s that some episodes consist of little more than talking through a chain of logical reasoning and Lord knows kids can use more of that.
To prevent her from being captured by the police and revealing Kira’s true identity. I think it very unlikely that Kiyomi Takada (the reporter in question) would have revealed anything; however, being so close to victory Kira wasn’t taking any chances.
I talked a bit about this in another thread, that Kira berates Mikami for taking action on this issue, but really I think Mikami did what he thought was best. Kira gets very lucky (and unlucky) at the very end. He very nearly wins, which is one of the cool things about the show in my view.
It also is usually regarded as having some homoerotic overtones between the protagonist and antagonist. I’m sure that doesn’t matter to you, but I think it might might add to the appeal for your daughter.
I will also add that one reason that the antagonist is able to even have a chance is that he keeps his name a secret. He is only known as L, although he has fake identities as Hideki Ryuga , Ryuzaki , Eraldo Coil , and Deneuve (thought not all in the main anime). And while the protagonist’s name is Light Yagumi, he is known by everyone else as Kira, a Japanese transliteration of “killer.”
Just thought knowing some names might be helpful in understanding your daughter.
Definitely a great show, probably one of my favorites. My kids absolutely love it. In fact, all three of them have Death Note posters on their walls, in addition to related random bric-a-brac. My 13-year-old just got a little plushy Ryuk doll this past weekend.
I haven’t seen Human Centipede but I gather it’s intended to appeal to viewers’ sadistic sides. Whereas *Death Note *(I’ve seen the anime but not the movies) is intended to appeal to viewers’ intellects and humanity. Granted, there’s some wish-fulfillment power fantasy involved. But though some characters do suffer fear and even death, the show is not about inviting us to enjoy their fear (or pain).
It’s a terrific anime. I came across it on Adult Swim; it’s one of a handful of shows that I would think about all week, looking forward to the next episode quite urgently.
Yeah, I didn’t see it either. Like, at all. But I could see those two getting 'shipped or something by fan fiction writers. A lot of wishful thinking, maybe.
