carol!

UTENA STOP TRYING TO BECOME A PRINCE THE LAKERS NEED A CENTER

Death Note was thoroughly fine. It kept a good pace and moved along smoothly; each episode was decently entertaining and I was pleased that the narrative always pushed into new places. There is a particular kind of shonen anime that primarily constructs its plot through establishing a set of rules that characters use, bend, and break. These kinds of bits risk creating hollow characters whose inner lives get swallowed by a deluge of if-then statements. Sometimes Death Note characters suffer from this, and other times the script delves into the psychological or thematically relevant (hubris is a big theme, for example). Light Yagami is sufficiently shitty and it's fun to watch him be a little bitch. L is a likable and mysterious, if a bit hollow, character. The narrative isn't afraid to get homoerotic with it... just a little. It's unfortunate that the author hates women, but he has managed to convince much of the audience that it is Light Yagami who hates women, which is also true. I felt that Death Note is at its most compelling and psychological in the first ten to fifteen episodes; later on it becomes a game of scattered strategic politics and throws in a few goofy characters to spice things up. At this stage of the narrative it does feel like Death Note is on life support, but the climax is sufficiently satisfying. It's a decent classic. I had fun, and I enjoyed that the dub was good enough for me to knit while I watched, but I doubt it'll stick with me for too long.

'whatever' is a pretty cool word. but if only there were a version with more swag....