Death Note Finale tonight!

[rocklobster]

Tonight's the night! Will Kira's plan go awry? Will the world finally bow down to his god complex? Find out tonight!

[Popsicle]

haha...I watched it already on adult swim fix a couple days ago. But I'll watch it again tonight!!!

[Haruhiko]

So, one question.

[spoiler]How was Light's hilariously scary psychotic end laugh in the dub? And more or less amazing?[/spoiler]

Cause I've been dying to here it ever since it started dubbing.

[Radical Dreamer]

I caught this the other night. XD I watched the first 12 or so episodes of Death Note back when it was still in fansubs, but I wasn't interested enough to keep watching it. Still, I was curious as to how it ended, so I watched it on Saturday. XD My thoughts?

[Spoiler]REALLY good acting on Light's actor's part. Seriously, he was completely cracked.

Mikami's (I think that was his name) death scene: ZOMG BLOOD LASER. SERIOUSLY WHO BLEEDS LIKE THAT? XDD I LOL'd. XD

The rest was just okay. XD I wasn't blown away by the plot or anything 'cause I hadn't been following it all along, but it felt good to finally see Kira go down for once. XD And I thought it was interesting that Ryuk was the one who ended up killing him after all.[/spoiler]

[KhakiBlueSocks]

[font="Trebuchet MS"][SIZE="4"]I would like to nominate Brad Swaile for best male V/A of 2008 for that last scene with that creepy, spot on laugh.

I saw the last episode, and my jaw was on the floor. Granted, I knew what was going to happen, but still! It actually surpassed the Live Action movie! And was I the only one who really loved Ryuk's final dialogue? In a way, he was actually telling Light/Kira "Thanks for the memories, man." [/SIZE][/font]

[Roy Mustang]

Brad Swaile said at one con earlier this year, that he had to do alot of takes for this ep. He really enjoy playing Light/Kira and started to cried at the end of this ep and he had to stop and take a break.

He said that since it was end of the series, that he wanted to be dead on with his acting.


[spoiler]I knew he could have this down pat of Light going nuts. After all, he did play Quatre Raberba Winner in Gundam Wing and Endless. The lovable, caring and peaceful Quatre that after seeing this dad die right in font of him. Brad Swaile played a great role of him going nuts and turning into a cold hearted kill for a few eps, untill he saw the error of this ways. He also did creepy laugh.[/spoiler]

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[Popsicle]

Haha...Brad Swaile did a great creepy laugh! I was afraid that scene would ruin the whole episode if it wasn't spot on.

[SPOILER]Yeah, RadicalDreamer, I agree on the whole Mikami blood scene. I started cracking up 'cuse I was like, "Who the heck spews blood like that?!" It looked like he poked himself with a pen too...I dunno how that would make a humongous puncture wound to make you bleed to death. lol[/SPOILER]

[GeneD]

I wasn't actually all that impressed with the original laugh, but it's probably just me. I haven't seen the dub yet, so I can't compare.

[spoiler]Lol; "blood laser". It was only the second time that I watched it that I realised he apparently stabbed himself with the pen. The first time I was like O.o. Why's he randomly spouting blood?[/spoiler]

[SnoringFrog]

[spoiler]Blood laser...yeah...that was a little crazy. That's what I preferred about the manga, in the manga, you were just old that he went to prison and went crazy in there, no stabbing with pens and fountains.[/spoiler]

[KhakiBlueSocks]

Shame on you all for not remembering the 18th Law of Anime which states, and I quote:

Law of Hemoglobin Capacity- the human body contains over 12 gallons of blood,
sometimes more, under high pressure.

[ADXC]

Hmm, yeah I saw it as well. Light's laugh was just... scary. But a good scary laugh. I was wondering why this episode was rated TV-MA. Can anyone tell me why? Was it rated for Light's laugh or Mikami's blood? Because I really didn't see much reason for an TV-MA rating.

I don't know, I just feel sad now. Maybe because it's over but still I just don't know what it is.

[uc pseudonym]

That is quite a few people commenting about Light's laugh. Enough that I think I'm going to go look it up, strange as that is.

[Roy Mustang]

But a good scary laugh. I was wondering why this episode was rated TV-MA. Can anyone tell me why? Was it rated for Light's laugh or Mikami's blood? Because I really didn't see much reason for an TV-MA rating.

I do, because you had bloody violence and suicide. There is no way that Adult Swim could have ran it uncut if they didn't have the TV-MA rating.

Ghost in the Shell:SAC was the same way, there was times that a few eps were TV-14, but the rest where TV-MA rating.

Its really the only way that show stuff without it being edit or very little edit to it.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

[ADXC]

It's just weird because all the episodes before that one was rated TV-14.


Also here's something else that suprised me...

[SPOILER] Well maybe not surprise but still freak me out. Did anyone else see how mad Matsuda when he figured out that Light was Kira and also when he shot Light?! Man, after watching all the episodes before this one, Ive never seen him so mad. Ever. He may have gotten annoyed and agitated when he felt like he wasn't doing anything helpful,(Reference episode- Matsuda. I think episode 19.) but he never got that mad before.[/SPOILER]

[Roy Mustang]

It's just weird because all the episodes before that one was rated TV-14.

Yeah, but how many times in those eps did you see bloody violence and suicide?

Its just the same as other animes on Adult Swim and ratings, Blood + mostly had a TV-MA rating, because of the blood violence that was in it, but I know at least one ep that was TV-14.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang [/color][/font]

[ADXC]

Well, no. I guess not, but still there were suicides before this episode(Two important ones at least.). But they weren't really shown on the screen, just assumed. So yeah I guess I see your point. I guess Ive just gotten so used to violence that I forget that young people shouldn't watch it. (I grew up on DBZ so I so quite a bit of violence in my younger days.) At one point in the episode I even cringed a little bit.

[Raiden no Kishi]

[SPOILER]Did anyone else see how mad Matsuda when he figured out that Light was Kira and also when he shot Light?! Man, after watching all the episodes before this one, Ive never seen him so mad. Ever. He may have gotten annoyed and agitated when he felt like he wasn't doing anything helpful,(Reference episode- Matsuda. I think episode 19.) but he never got that mad before.[/SPOILER]

[spoiler] I believe that was out of betrayal as much as anything. I mean, you've got this guy who's become a part of your team on a stressful and important case for quite some time, and you find out HE was the serial killer all along and was using you from the very beginning. Talk about cruel. I'd have shot Light too if I was in Matsuda's place. No ifs, ands, or buts.[/spoiler]

.rai//

[Fish and Chips]

I do, because you had bloody violence and suicide. There is no way that Adult Swim could have ran it uncut if they didn't have the TV-MA rating.

Ghost in the Shell:SAC was the same way, there was times that a few eps were TV-14, but the rest where TV-MA rating.

Its really the only way that show stuff without it being edit or very little edit to it.

[font="Book Antiqua"][color="Red"]Col. Roy Mustang[/color][/font]

Episode 51 of FullMetal Alchemist was also TV-MA.
[spoiler]Considering Pride snaps Salim's neck before being burnt to death by Roy Mustang.[/spoiler]

[SnoringFrog]

That is quite a few people commenting about Light's laugh. Enough that I think I'm going to go look it up, strange as that is.

Echoed. And I watched it already...lol. I need to go rewatch that part subbed, and watch it for the first time dubbed.

It's just weird because all the episodes before that one was rated TV-14.


Also here's something else that suprised me...

[SPOILER] Well maybe not surprise but still freak me out. Did anyone else see how mad Matsuda when he figured out that Light was Kira and also when he shot Light?! Man, after watching all the episodes before this one, Ive never seen him so mad. Ever. He may have gotten annoyed and agitated when he felt like he wasn't doing anything helpful,(Reference episode- Matsuda. I think episode 19.) but he never got that mad before.[/SPOILER]

[spoiler]What came to my mind during that part was how Mastuda's behavior then suddenly reflected the exact same behavior they had all fought against in Kira. Kira sought to 'clean up' the world by removing evil from it via murder, and as soon as Matsuda knew Light was Kira, he immediately went insane ((similar to light's laughter/drunk on power stuff was, or Mikami's craziness while 'deleting' people)) and tried to kill Light/Kira, presumably to 'cleanse' the world of his evil.[/spoiler]

At least, that's how I saw that.

[rocklobster]

Matsuda became my favorite character. I think I probably would've done some of the stuff he did too.

[Raiden no Kishi]

[spoiler]What came to my mind during that part was how Mastuda's behavior then suddenly reflected the exact same behavior they had all fought against in Kira. Kira sought to 'clean up' the world by removing evil from it via murder, and as soon as Matsuda knew Light was Kira, he immediately went insane ((similar to light's laughter/drunk on power stuff was, or Mikami's craziness while 'deleting' people)) and tried to kill Light/Kira, presumably to 'cleanse' the world of his evil.[/spoiler]

At least, that's how I saw that.

Hmm. An interesting thought. I'd have to have seen the way they handled it in the anime to have better knowledge (I've read all of the manga, but it's been a while since I read vol. 12), but

[spoiler]I don't know if I would call Matsuda's shooting of Light the same thing as Light going power-hungry with the Death Note. Number one, Matsuda's always been one of the more emotional characters in the story, which also contributed a bit to his mistakes earlier in the series. Whereas the more veteran officers were more capable of being calm even in high-stress situations, Matsuda just wasn't that sort of person. Second, put yourself in his shoes. You've been working on what may be the most high-profile and most important case ever (certainly the biggest of your life), and your team's ace in the hole - whom you've come to trust and rely on - is revealed as the same mass-murdering mastermind you've been hunting. He's killed scores of people. Comrades have died on account of him. He's proven capable of killing with virtually no trace (after all, it took prodigy-level master detectives to even figure out his methods, much less track him down), orchestrating his work even after willingly losing all memory of it (and providing to regain that memory), manipulating people he's never even met, killing your previous genius ace in the hole (L) with a slip of paper hidden on his person while in the presence of the very people trying to track him down (if memory serves), and fooling even those who know him the best. He's almost if not the most dangerous man on the planet, and you thought he was your best ally. He's been manipulating you and your team from day one. Who knows how far ahead he's thought? All of this new and disturbing information floods your head in just three words: Light is Kira. Matsuda realizes just how mind-boggling a threat Light is, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer drew a gun]

.rai//

[SnoringFrog]

Hmm. An interesting thought. I'd have to have seen the way they handled it in the anime to have better knowledge (I've read all of the manga, but it's been a while since I read vol. 12), but

[spoiler]I don't know if I would call Matsuda's shooting of Light the same thing as Light going power-hungry with the Death Note. Number one, Matsuda's always been one of the more emotional characters in the story, which also contributed a bit to his mistakes earlier in the series. Whereas the more veteran officers were more capable of being calm even in high-stress situations, Matsuda just wasn't that sort of person. Second, put yourself in his shoes. You've been working on what may be the most high-profile and most important case ever (certainly the biggest of your life), and your team's ace in the hole - whom you've come to trust and rely on - is revealed as the same mass-murdering mastermind you've been hunting. He's killed scores of people. Comrades have died on account of him. He's proven capable of killing with virtually no trace (after all, it took prodigy-level master detectives to even figure out his methods, much less track him down), orchestrating his work even after willingly losing all memory of it (and providing to regain that memory), manipulating people he's never even met, killing your previous genius ace in the hole (L) with a slip of paper hidden on his person while in the presence of the very people trying to track him down (if memory serves), and fooling even those who know him the best. He's almost if not the most dangerous man on the planet, and you thought he was your best ally. He's been manipulating you and your team from day one. Who knows how far ahead he's thought? All of this new and disturbing information floods your head in just three words: Light is Kira. Matsuda realizes just how mind-boggling a threat Light is, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer drew a gun]

.rai//

[spoiler]Maybe not exactly the same, but similar.

Matsuda realizes just how mind-boggling a threat Light is, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer drew a gun ; he drew his own weapon and neutralized the threat. What would you have done?

Light realizes just how mind-boggling a threat human depravity and criminal acts are, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer [as I'm sure we can agree that criminality as a whole is] drew a gun; he drew his own weapon and neutralized the threat. What would you have done? It works both ways. Although Light's was definitely larger scale and more extreme in nature, it was still "justice" just as the death penalty we use today. Only, because Light went about this on his own and without a legal system, as well as killing the innocents that tried to find him, he was branded as horrible.

Think about it, you stumble upon the power to remove whomever you want from the face of the earth, and you're the only one to know of this power. At first, you wonder if it's possible, you're curiosity gets the best of you and you test it out ((of course on some horrible person to make it 'justified', right?)) it works, and then you do it again to help someone in need ((that girl that was being robbed, I believe, early in the series)). All you're doing is good, correct? Getting rid of evil.

Similarly, Matsuda is shown the face of evil, and in his hands is the power to cleanse the world of that evil. Is it still killing, murder, the taking of a life? Yes. But is Matsuda justified in his actions any more than Light? Yes, Light did more, but Light had the bigger gun, so to speak.

[/spoiler]

I'm out of time at the moment, I may edit this later.

[Raiden no Kishi]

[spoiler]Maybe not exactly the same, but similar.

Light realizes just how mind-boggling a threat human depravity and criminal acts are, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer [as I'm sure we can agree that criminality as a whole is] drew a gun]

I'm out of time at the moment, I may edit this later.

It seems we are at an impasse here due to differing base-level assumptions.

[spoiler] In short, I don't believe that it "works both ways". For reference . . . I would never use the Death Note, nor would I allow anyone else access to it. Recognizing human depravity as the threat that you stated, I would also be impartial enough to recognize it in myself - something Light failed to do. He did not take into account that he was as corruptible and weak as the very people he sought to erase. And also, I do believe that the protection of a legal system makes one significant difference between the two. I believe that Matsuda's position as a police officer gives him much more justification (if you want to call it that) to use his weapon than the civilian uber-vigilante and God-wannabe Light. If Matsuda had fatally shot Light, I would not have considered it an instance of murder.[/spoiler]

At any rate, there are more fundamental theological issues at play that influence our respective readings of the series, and since I can't justify the time and effort that would be expended to argue them, we'll have to recognize said differences and leave them be. Enjoy the series.

.rai//

[Fish and Chips]

[spoiler]Light realizes just how mind-boggling a threat human depravity and criminal acts are, and responds in the same manner any police officer might do if a mass murderer [as I'm sure we can agree that criminality as a whole is] drew a gun]

And Ray Penbar's crime is...? Naomi Misora? Watari?

A police officer shooting a killer at the scene is reasonable. A police officer assassinating people for standing in his way is an abuse of authority.

[ADXC]

@ Rai and Snoring Frog-Wow deep stuff guys, deep stuff.

[SPOILER]@ Rai- I wasn't saying that I was surprised he shot him, I was just caught off guard by his emotions because Ive never seen him that mad.[/SPOILER]

[SPOILER] Nothing new in this post. Im just posting my opinion. Murder without reason(Now Im not saying to go out and kill someone for stealing something from you or because they killed a loved one of yours. Just listen to the next sentance.) is wrong. Light's murders were wrong, there's no justification for getting rid of bad people unless your in a position where you must to ensure the safety of others and yourself. Or in self defense. Im not sure whether Matsuda was doing it because he wanted to protect the others or for revenge.( Can someone help me? Im not even sure anymore.) If he had done it because he was avenging someone(Like the cheif's death.), that's wrong. Let God handle your problems. But if it's for defense of the others and yourself then you shouldn't be questioned. Im not getting into the issue of what to do to Light afterwards if Matsuda didn't shot him and Ryuk didn't write his name down.(Well I will say that Ryuk not writing his name down would be impossible. Because as Ryuk said, he didn't want to wait many years in prison with Light before killing him.) If they executed him in prison then that shouldn't be wrong because he was a 3rd degree-mass murderer. I guess that's why we didn't see a whole lot of blood before the last episode because the victims mostly died of heartattacks.[/SPOILER]

Well that's all I wanted to say. But I think we should stop this, if we debate any longer then this thread could be locked.

[SnoringFrog]

And Ray Penbar's crime is...? Naomi Misora? Watari?

If you want to stretch it, you could say they were trying to 'prevent the cleansing of the world', but like I said, that's a stretch. In the end, it's those murders that would make Light wrong even if he had been right in killing off criminals ((which I can't honestly say he was, for the record)). But even without those Light was still recognized as horrible for his actions, which is what I was getting at in my earlier post.

[spoiler]Nothing new in this post. Im just posting my opinion. Murder without reason(Now Im not saying to go out and kill someone for stealing something from you or because they killed a loved one of yours. Just listen to the next sentance.) is wrong. Light's murders were wrong, there's no justification for getting rid of bad people unless your in a position where you must to ensure the safety of others and yourself. Or in self defense. Im not sure whether Matsuda was doing it because he wanted to protect the others or for revenge.( Can someone help me? Im not even sure anymore.) If he had done it because he was avenging someone(Like the cheif's death.), that's wrong. Let God handle your problems. But if it's for defense of the others and yourself then you shouldn't be questioned. Im not getting into the issue of what to do to Light afterwards if Matsuda didn't shot him and Ryuk didn't write his name down.(Well I will say that Ryuk not writing his name down would be impossible. Because as Ryuk said, he didn't want to wait many years in prison with Light before killing him.) If they executed him in prison then that shouldn't be wrong because he was a 3rd degree-mass murderer. I guess that's why we didn't see a whole lot of blood before the last episode because the victims mostly died of heartattacks.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]I'd say it was more of the revenge, really. I can't recall if Matsuda went into his more full fit of rage before or after Light made his fnial attempt to write on the piece of the Note in his watch. If it was during that or afterwards when Light tried to write with his blood, you could call it defense, but after Light was obviously not trying anything else, then it would turn towards vengence again. Either way, the way Matsuda acted while he did it makes me think that revenge was a very strong motivation. [/spoiler]

[GeneD]

Okay, I just had a look at the last episode again.

[spoiler]The first time Light tries to write N's name on the hidden piece of Note, Matsuda shoots him once in the arm. Then Light tries again to write with his own blood and Matsuda shoots him 4 times in the chest. This is where Matsuda goes a little nuts saying he has to kill Light and shoots at his head, but this shot lands next to Light as the other policemen stop Matsuda.

Personally I can't say I blame him, I would probably have done something similar were I in his position. It seems that at least his first few shots were basically in self-defence.[/spoiler]Sorry if this is contributing to debate.

[Yuen Fei Lung]

[spoiler]I could totally understand Matsura going rather nuts. Like you said Gene, if I was in that position I think I would have also done the same thing. I think we also need to remember that Matsura seemed to somewhat idolize Light's father... maybe idolized it a bad word but never the less he looked up to him. So knowing all that Light had done and all those years that had gone by, I can only imagine how horrible that would be.

In many ways, I feel Light himself was a victim of the Death Note itself. As the series went on that power Light had continued to consume him. I can't say I wouldn't have used the Death Note in the same way Light did--which is horrible to admit... but at the beginning of the Death Note series when Light spoke of the world being rotten I found myself in total agreement with him. Were Light's actions justified? Well, one could say he was doing good by killing criminals but my problem with Light was later on in the series when he began involving innocent people such as Ray Pinber (sp?) just to save himself.[/spoiler]

It's funny, my brother and I were talking about the finale of Death Note last night and we almost talk about the characters as if they were real people. I think that's how you know you've got a special series.

[SnoringFrog]

Yuen Fei Lung, I think that's what makes the series as good as it is. The fact that the 'bad guy' is the protagonist, but thinks he's the 'good guy' and is doing good by doing bad and all the rest of those types of things that make you question the ethics of what Light's doing really draw you in. For me, it was catching myself seeing things Light's way that made me realize how good a job the series does of portraying things, not something you find too often, I'm afraid.

[Yuen Fei Lung]

So true, Frog. I also think Light is a character that has many real life traits about him. It makes many of us think "what would we do if we had that kind of power"? I think Death Note has probably caused many people to question their ethics a bit. A lot of anime in recent years have become very cliche but Death Note really does have characters that draw you in.