I'll be honest I was a bit worried when
back in March my patron Arthur D
Gonzales Martin suggested I cover the
Death Note openings and all of you voted
for them I didn't really want to do it
which is why it's taken me so long to
get around to this next patron request
video I mean don't get me wrong they're
very good openings with a lot to the
sect but I remember watching Death Note
when I was younger and being
phenomenally disappointed with how the
story panned out for a long time until
Sao came along it was my benchmark for
biggest disappointments in anime and I
wasn't looking forward to rewatching it
at all which is my way of saying that
even I can be dumb and wrong sometimes
just because I'm the anime Pope doesn't
make me infallible Death Note is [ __ ]
great
a well-written impeccably directed
thriller built on great animation and
phenomenal acting in both Japanese and
English it's not perfect near and Mello
feel kind of like eleventh-hour [ __ ]
and the pacing of the story after their
introduction is atrocious
but even when it's bad it's a very fun
can't be kind of bad that's highly
entertaining in its own right and the
good parts are really good and stay good
throughout the series two of the best
parts are the openings which are densely
packed with symbolism and feature great
animation music without further ado
let's talk about the first one we'll
definitely be getting to the second one
at a later date but first some context
the first death no dopey the world is an
homage to Renaissance era Christian
artwork there are several direct
references but outside of those the shot
composition and symbolic concepts all
draw from those sources it's also an
immaculately shot and cut music video
wherein every frame matches perfectly
with the music which is something that I
don't want to get lost in all of the
symbolism and analysis the way that this
LP builds up to a crescendo in order to
get you hyped is profoundly impressive
in its own right that said let's get
into the nitty-gritty we open on a
thoroughly unconventional shot of Light
Yagami 's eyes shooting open almost as
though he's waking up what makes the
shot odd is that the following shots
create the
pression that light is lying down yet
here he is looking straight downward
it's a very godly perspective to start
from almost like light is painted on the
ceiling of a chapel and a not exactly
subtle way of alluding to the godlike
position to which he aspires the red in
his eyes is an equally unsubtle
reference to the killing intent that he
develops after finding the death note
something that carries over to the main
show as well something that come Alito
Ito borrowed for erased from here we
flashback to react looking skyward in a
washed-out cityscape the clouds in the
sky rush by as though in time-lapse this
is Rio for the events of the show idling
away year after year bored out of his
mind in the Shinigami world we then see
a grim face light walking across broken
tiles and then an image of Rio chato
looming over him as he lies on the
ground this is meant to contrast with
the more godly image of him lying on the
ceiling and can be taken to allude to
his position both in the beginning and
end of the series lying in the dirt puts
light as far from godhood as he can get
and the looming shadow of rehook can be
taken to represent either his corruption
due to using the Death Note or the
inevitability that he will die at Rios
hands this is followed by the most
blatant illusion in the entire opie a
parody of Michelangelo's the Creation of
Adam from the roof of the Sistine Chapel
the painting depicts rheic descending
from the Shinigami realm to give light
an apple the death note itself as we see
at the end of the opie the apple is also
of course a very prominent symbol in
christian mythology representing
temptation in the original sin a fitting
metaphor given how the Death Note seems
to a road light soul over time
interestingly light is wearing the
manacle that chains him to L in this
image indicating that perhaps this is
meant to be the moment when he reclaims
the death note after giving it up to
divert suspicion from himself and Misa
the last thing that we see before the
title is this impressive rotating shot
of light staring down L atop some sort
of platform high above the city
we see light standing on skyscrapers
several times throughout the lp
skyscrapers are a symbol of the modern
world and thus I think this imagery is a
literal reflection of lights ambition to
be the god of the new world the inherent
meaning of the shot their showdown is
pretty obvious but the craft that went
into it is commendable regardless the
rotation around L and light is
incredibly smooth and well composited it
really looks as though they're rooted to
these CGI objects which is impressive
considering that a show made six years
later couldn't even manage that on top
of that though the models are also
impressively detailed it's relatively
easy to do something like this if you're
working like masaaki yuasa with
simplified styles but doing it with line
work and shading this complex is
something else entirely it's so detailed
that you can see the reflection of L in
lights I in Elle's eye we see lights
reflection as well imposed against an
image of a wilting rose now in
Renaissance art the rose symbolizes
basically everything related to Jesus
and a lot of stuff besides that from his
blood to his mom but the emphasis on the
thorny vines and lights head brings to
mind specifically the crown of thorns
and a sense of martyrdom so this could
show Al's perception of Kira's god
complex but it could also symbolize the
fragility of lights pride or possibly
his loss of innocence after the title
card plays we see an apple again
representing the Death Note falling from
the sky as the drum kicks light catches
it
despite walking on a precarious high
beam suspended above the city even
before using the Death Note light put
himself above the rest of the world the
high beam on which he's walking as he
considers using it is a fairly direct
representation of the mental balancing
act that he's performing and the danger
of falling into madness which of course
he does you can tell that the struggle
is metaphorical because it's reflected
within the Apple that he's holding and
staring at intently here we can see
another biblical symbol a flock of doves
projected onto the wall behind like like
the Rose the Dove is a symbol of lots of
things
but here I think it represents the
purity and virtue that light seasoned
himself whereas the crimson shadow that
he casts belies his true nature
dubs can also be interpreted as
messengers of God so this could also
represent that Kira sees the Death Note
as a sign
either way the important thing here is
that the image is projected not real
next we see Misa for the first time
lying splayed out on the ground
seemingly devoid of energy this is
probably her experiencing depression at
the news that her parents killer would
walk free but we can see in her eye a
reflection of something in front of the
moon as we tilt up we see that this is
light atop yet another skyscraper giving
in to temptation and taking his first
bite of the Apple making his first kill
with the Death Note his killing spree as
Kira is of course what saves Misa
from her depression and gives her a
sense of purpose the actual moment where
light takes this first bite is built up
to perfectly and has an incredible
impact thanks to the music as we cut to
the building the drummer starts tapping
on the cymbals counting down to the
inevitable moment of truth which is
punctuated by a heavy drum kick then the
tempo picks up as we pan across shots of
the various pawns and observers of Kira
and Elle's game the investigation team
watery nami miss hora and rape Enver and
a cadre of Shinigami the Shinigami
serves an interesting point of contrast
to the investigation team everyone on
the team is looking off in a different
direction visibly flustered and confused
as they try to pin down Kira
except for souichirou Yagami who looks
straight forward sternly the Shinigami
meanwhile are all leaning in with smiles
on their faces as though watching a show
the image of nami holding Rey's body is
also interesting because this pose is a
take on the classic Christian art
subject of the pietá or lamentation Mary
cradling the dead body of Jesus this
particular pose most closely resembles
Michelangelo's famous take on the
subject it's hard to draw precise
parallels between now me and the
Virgin Mary but she does handle the
death of her fiance with an unusual
serenity and grace under pressure much
like Michelangelo's take on Mary as the
music builds to a crescendo we see light
feverishly writing names in the death
note as prisoners around the world begin
dropping dead within his mind a glass
effigy of himself drops and shatters
looks like he couldn't hold his balance
after all the implication of this is
that using the Death Note has
obliterated light leaving only Kira it's
also possibly an allusion to the scene
where he tells rehook that he wants to
give up the Death Note and loses his
memories which would make sense of the
next shot the music kicks up and a
grinning Ryu takes off into the night
sky revealing that he was standing in a
cemetery representing the world of the
Shinigami a door opens in front of Kira
bathing him in light and blasting him
back with wind as he struggles to step
forward once again we see light and Kira
staring each other down this time in an
underground hallway the transition from
one perspective of the standoff to
another through the reflection in light
sigh is really something but this time
Elle's eyes aren't on him they're on
Misa Misa wanders in a haze through the
pouring rain
clearly Haggard and exhausted but then
she stops and looks up expectantly to
see Kira her salvation standing in the
light in front of her he reaches out his
hand beckoning her and she limply
extends her arm in turn if I had to
guess what part of the series this
represents I'd have to say it's the part
where she's stuck underground being
interrogated by L and light has to come
save her it seems like an act of mercy
but light space is shrouded in ominous
shadow and his expression seems smug and
self-satisfied
not full of the warmth that you'd want
from your Savior
this shot transitions into a shot of
light standing in front of an angel
painted in Renaissance style with a
contemptuous smirk on his face it really
doesn't get much more arrogant than this
the painting behind him doesn't appear
to be any specific painting from the
Renaissance era in fact it would be odd
if it was because I'm fairly certain
that the angel it's depicting is meant
to be Lucifer rebelling against
and falling from grace you wouldn't
expect Renaissance artists to depict
this moment so triumphantly the angel's
wings appear to be turning black as
feathers fall off them and behind them
we see the Sun set against the night sky
this brings to mind mourning and
Lucifer's name literally means dawn
bringer or Morningstar in more literal
Latin the name means light bringer and I
don't think I need to explain the
connection between that and death notes
protagonists this connection also fits
lights image as a good man who has
fallen to evil as the new day dawns the
last thing that we see is the Apple
cotton the sun's rays on light's desk
which then fades into the Death Note
which both makes for a great secondary
title card and cements the connection
between the two objects in case you were
still wondering death notes first Opie
is pretty much everything that I want
from an opening it's layered with
meaning the animation is impressive and
the music rocks and the show attached to
it is pretty damn good too a damn sight
better than most of the other ones that
I watched when I was young if you want
to take a look at another good show from
my youth check out my video running down
all of the Opie's from Full Metal
Alchemist and FMA Brotherhood and if you
like this sort of bold directing style I
recommend watching my analysis of a race
from director tomohiko Ito a student of
Death Note director Tetsuro Araki and if
you enjoy any of these videos be sure to
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if you want the nitty gritty on what I'm
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up to when I'm not working special
thanks go out to my patrons for
suggesting this and making it possible
for me to do videos for a living in the
first place when I become the god of the
new world
you will all be spared as always this is
Jeff thew professional [ __ ] signing
out from my mother's basement