The last episode of Death Note aired this week, and I've downloaded and watched it. This may seem weird, but I have a strange attachment for Death Note, seeing as for the past five months, every Wednesday I would wait obsessively for the next episode to be released with subs, and then once watching it would go and proclaim it's glories to my brother while he rolled his eyes. Then there was the C&D letters sent out by Viz Media, where I spent three days worrying about where I was going to get my subbed episode, and then finally finding one. And now, it's all over.

     I think, that if there was an award for "the" anime of 06-07, then Death Note would probably win it. The manga was very successful, and was made into two live action movies, before the anime began airing. And then there's also the fact that three amazing soundtracks were composed for it. Granted, there were some tiny "holes" in it, where Light did something more complicated than needed, but all anime is like that. I doubt you could find one that doesn't have little tiny issues like that. Whenever I happen to discuss anime with a fellow fan I always ask "Have you watched Death Note?". If they say yes, then we both proceed to have a long discussion of the characters, and true justice, and if they say no, then I strongly encourage them to watch it, because it's one of those series that shocks you, changes how you see things, and makes you think about value of human lives. After watching the ten episodes, it took me three days to find the answer about whether Light was right or wrong. 

   One of the questions that always comes up in Death Note discussions is "Who represented justice?". My answer is this. Light's mission may have started out as an attempt to "purify" the world, but it ended as a matter of pride. L also treated the case as a game between him and Kira. He even said once "I am also childish and hate to lose". For Near and Mello, it was also a game, a game to see who could catch Kira first. In the end, I think the only one who really represented justice was Lights' father, Yagami Souchirou. 

     Now, I don't want to spoil it if anybody's planning to watch Death Note, but the ending was beautiful. One of the things I noticed was that the last few music bars played at the end of episode 37 were the same ones that were played right at the opening scene of episode 1. Whether this was intentional or not, I don't know, but it was a really neat effect for me. The ending while still the same basic story, was a tiny bit different from the manga. While, some parts I'm was were cut out, there was others I wish had been kept in. Right now, I'm really torn, because I do want to be able to watch Death Note with the official subs, and somewhere else besides a computer screen, but I also DO NOT want to buy Viz Media's subbed/dubbed episodes. And there's also the fact that you pay $15 dollars to get six episodes. I'm also facing the same issue with the manga. 

    I was wondering today, if Death Note will become one of the series, which you HAVE to watch to be able to participate in any discussion. You know, like Cowboy Bebop, or Neon Genesis Evangelion? Or even if it will be remembered eight years from now. Well, we'll see. 

Goodbye Death Note. 

EDIT: I've just found out that aparrently there's going to be a special aired this summer. Here's a quote from animeonline.

Surprise! An announcement at the very end of the final episode of Death Note, given by a group of the voice actors and a pair of cosplaying shinigami, announced that a special is going to air to wrap things up for the show.

The special is going to air sometime this summer during Golden Time (Japan's equivalent of prime-time, a.k.a. NOT at the usual Tuesday at 2am). What will happen during it? Presumably we'll find out what happened to all the characters after the final episode - the ones that lived, anyway.

So, at least, I have that to look forward. And in the meantime, I'll be trying to find a translated version online of Death Note: How To Read 13. Wish me luck with this, I'm going to need it.