Oh hey – there are going to be spoilers, if you’re one of the five people who haven’t seen it.
And okay, it didn’t really suck. It had quirks at the end that could have been avoided by following the manga as closely as it usually did.
The second opening
It was like something out of capslock_dn, which is only theoretically awesome. I want to watch Death Note and pretend I’m intelligent (the issues, the themes!). If the makers can’t even take it seriously…
Mikami’s death
Light’s death needed to be pathetic and miserable and realistic. For once, we needed to see that Light was a real person to be identified with – not some crazy fiend. We need to feel sorry for him. Or I did. Because he was so certain he was doing the right thing, and that in itself is the tragedy of Death Note. Look at me getting all melodramatic over an anime. Whatever, LIGHT4EVA!!
So. Considering all this, the anime then has Mikami spew fountains of blood from his chest via EPIC PEN STABBING. What a joke.
Compare it to the manga – Mikami saw Light as only human. He renounced him as God and was there when he died. I like that. If Death Note was going to be effective at all, Mikami needed to be human. Not someone to be dismissed as a deranged psycho. The anime simplified these characters at the worst time.
Light’s death
I preferred the manga death, in a stylistic sort of way, haha. I liked when he was begging Ryuk not to kill him – that he knew what was happening to him and couldn’t accept it. I liked how, the manga had flashbacks of an innocent, happier Light chucked in the middle of SCREAMING AND WAILING AND THE DRAMAAAAAAA.
Overall, the anime was very faithful to the manga – and maybe even handled the second half better (and not dragging it out..). But just when you get to the end, it falls flat. Mikami in his devotion becomes the comedy relief? Near unquestionably the victor? It’s a pity.
Dir en grey needs to make an album cover that isn’t black. Yes, you’re dark and morbid – but black is so cliche.
Surprisingly, Uroboros was harder to like than Marrow of a Bone (that’s right – I’m not a hater), but I know this album’s a lot better. It’s elegant. A little more chill. Overall, Kyo’s voice doesn’t stand out too much – sounds like it’s a result of production than Kyo himself though. But still, woeee.
Also, having listened to Amanda Palmer’s debut album (which is amazing from the first listen), and then getting this, I fully understand why Dir en grey is an ‘acquired taste’. I understand that stupid phrase now. Every single Dir en grey album is so different it’s like you have to start all over again trying to understand them.
What also make Uroboros more complex than their other albums, is how they use additional instruments. And then I think “It’s so experimental”. And then I think “wait, Marrow was experimental too. And Kisou…” Then I realise that’s what I love about them. They’ll go do what they like, and always turn out something interesting to listen to. Not only that, but I’ll bet that’s why they’ve lasted as long as they have.
That’s the point. You listen to them. And you listen to them again. And once the shock’s worn off you love it because it’s unlike anything else you listen to. <3
Hawdiggity, I survived a quarter of the academic year!
- The small lecture theatre means you muuust sit very close next to people you don’t know. Will it be a mouthbreather or someone whose laptop is adorned with (lame) ninja-related pictures from /b/? Exciting!
- Law readings are actually important. ;_; Readings were tough last year; I did them without taking anything in, but it doesn’t seem so tough this year. Probably helps that there’s so much of it (kill me now).
- You realise the pressure you felt last year was not so much the workload, but the stress you put on yourself to get into second year. That stress, however, continues into second year – it’s not difficult to wake up at 7:30 every day if your first thought is, “OH GOD LAW AT 9AM”.
- Even with all the work you have to do, you can still manage to watch four episodes of House in one day.
- …But when the criminal law exam is supposedly ‘open book’, you know the year’s only going to get worse.
I’m doomed.
‘Tis pretty cool.