Death Note bears the distinction of
being the single most popular anime of
all time at least according to my anime
list although they also think that
Penghu is one of the greatest anime of
all time so obviously they're right
about everything
Death Note is known throughout weed them
for its fantastic music it's dynamic
exciting direction and a tense tightly
plotted narrative about a psychological
battle of wits between
two intellectual Titans but before any
of that crap it is known for this I'll
take a potato chip this is one of the
most quoted and referenced lines not
just in all of anime but in all of media
period the potato chip scene is the top
meme spawned by a show that has created
more than its fair share of internet
names it is a go-to point of reference
for many people when it comes to talking
about how stupid and over-the-top anime
can be and it's a mission is the single
greatest flaw of Netflix's Death Note
movie it is also and I say this without
a hint of irony one of these single
greatest scenes in the history of TV
anime it is a showdown of epic
proportions one that can match any fight
from any shown in anime that you can
name and while not a lot seems to be
happening here it marks a turning point
for the entire series that defines
everything going forward it also tells
us a great deal about both el and light
as characters since it's the first time
that they ever really interact with one
another for an extended period of time
I'll be it indirectly to understand this
scene we need a bit of context Death
Note if you don't know is a show about a
promising and ambitious high school
senior named Light Yagami who uses a
magical notebook that kills anyone whose
name is written in it within a very
specific set of rules in order to punish
criminals in a bid to become the god of
the new world I told you he was
ambitious light or Kira as he's known to
the world is pursued by a Japanese
police task force led by his father
so Ichiro Yagami and a brilliant private
detective known only as L within a day
of taking the case L managed to
Eero the task force search area down
from the whole world to the Kanto region
of Japan so suffice it to say he's
pretty good at what he does and is a
massive threat to Kira's plans the
potato chip scene takes place in episode
8 of the series right after light
seemingly through the police off his
trail by killing all 12 of the FBI
agents sent to investigate Kyra but by
pulling on a few tiny loose ends Elle
manages to unravel even more of the
mystery because of this Elle has figured
out that Kira is not just related to one
of the task force members but that he's
part of one of the families being
investigated by Rey penber the FBI agent
who died in far and away the most
suspicious circumstances and whose
fiance now--my committed suicide shortly
thereafter
unfortunately for Kira l knew Nami from
a previous case and knew her well enough
to know that she wasn't the suicidal
type because of this L orders that
cameras and bugs be set up in lights
family home which light immediately
discovers because of the absurdly
paranoid security measures that he uses
to protect his room although of course
that paranoia is clearly justified in
this case light goads rheic normally a
neutral observer into searching for the
hidden cameras by pointing out that he
won't be able to eat his apples if they
can see everything but he finds zero
blind spots with light backed into a
corner and apparently extremely
dissatisfied with the contents of his
nudie mag he's called down to dinner and
the scene proper begins right off the
bat the scene is pulling double-duty
establishing the girly personality of
lights younger sister siyou while also
setting up the alias that L uses when he
confronts light in the next episode
Hideki Ryuga the star of the show that
she's watching this is pretty brilliant
since it's a background detail in this
scene and it puts us in the same
position as light in the next episode
feeling like we've heard ELLs names
somewhere before without immediately
being able to place it it also explains
why the normally reclusive L would pick
that name to confront light but the TV
show that the family is watching has
even more significance than that firstly
the way that the sound from it becomes
tinny
this brilliant transition from the home
to Elle's monitors gives Elle's
observations a cold detached vibe
compared to the warm family atmosphere
of the Yagami household this contrast in
emotion is a big part of what makes this
scene work going forward
[Music]
Elle tries to provoke a reaction from
light by broadcasting a message about
Interpol sending 1,500 investigators to
catch Kira which doesn't faze him at all
he reacts with detached disinterest
calling Interpol stupid and musing that
they must be trying to provoke Kira to
this point
Elle looks like he's just bored out of
his mind but then light gets cocky as
he's want to do and push his things a
step further he says frankly how
wouldn't be surprised if Kira sees right
through this this gets Elle's attention
he peers intently at the screen trying
to get a read on lights expression from
the low-res footage and he lets loose a
bemused chuckle at this moment a quiet
playfully pensive guitar track picks up
in the background of the scene a musical
cue often used for scenes of intrigue in
the show on the surface this is an
innocuous comment but if light is Kira
it's exactly the kind of thing he'd say
if he knew that cameras were on him and
he wanted to taunt Elle the gears are
now spinning as Elle constructs a
profile of light in his head and matches
it against his perception of Kira and
what they know so far as light goes to
get his chips from the one cabinet
that's obviously meant to be animated
his sister pokes fun at him for it an
indication that it's odd for him to be
eating chips this late he brushes it off
with a reasonable explanation but it's a
clue to us in the audience that this is
abnormal and therefore notable it's also
maybe a small clue to Elle looking
inside the cupboard were given further
hints that the chips are important not
only are the chips that he grabs a
different flavor from what the rest of
the family normally eats they're also
stuffed into the back of the cupboard
clearly he didn't want them being eaten
before he got to them the cut from the
cabinet door closing to light locking
the door to his room is pretty brilliant
as it creates a logical connection in
our minds between the actions and
negates the need to show him walking
upstairs and closing his door this is a
strong edit as light walks into the room
we see Rios splayed out on the bed
shaking from exhaustion which is a great
little character building moment when
Rios says I guess
you gonna get higher than they were God
that tells us that searching this one
little room may be the hardest that he's
ever worked in his entire life this adds
a bit of levity to what is otherwise a
dry exposition scene setting up the
rules of the confrontation between L and
Kira his goofy exaggerated pained
expressions also work to this effect the
way that light talks to him without
actually talking to him is also quite
clever after pretending to study for a
moment L rips open his bag of chips and
the most exaggerated and over-the-top
way imaginable
then peers into it to see something
hidden in its depths I mean he's
probably actually just opening it
normally but the fast camerawork and
editing turns the mundane action into
one of the most dynamic explosive
movements in animation history dynamic
camera movement like this is a signature
of stylistic flourish for director
Tetsuro Araki who also worked on high
school of the dead guilty crown and
attack on titan and this is some of his
finest work from this moment the scene
really ramps up in intensity light
starts laughing maniacally as bass heavy
dramatic music accompanied by a freakin
gospel choir kicks up in the background
signifying to us as an audience that
[ __ ] just got real
[Music]
as the music builds white slowly reveals
the details of his plan he needs to
ensure that while he's being watched
some criminals that he can't possibly
know about are killed to give him an
alibi he continues studying but we see
him glancing out of the corner of his
eye rather than looking directly at the
paper this close-up on his eyes serves
two purposes firstly it gives us a very
raw and intense picture of how cold and
driven he is in this moment totally
focused on what he needs to do but it
also sets up a bit of incongruity with
the next shot we see the light off a
screen reflected in his eye pretty
clearly but cutting away reveals that
his computer and TV are turned off this
creates intrigue which is paid off once
it's revealed what's in the bag and man
do they ever go all out in building
up to this the camera moves dramatically
jumping from crazy sweeping shots too
intense close-ups of his pen as he
furiously scribbles his movements our
onion skin creating a trail that makes
everything feel like it's moving in slow
motion and emphasizes the importance of
certain actions when we finally zoom
into the bag we see that light has a
portable television and a piece of the
death note taped inside it
a pretty clever plan for getting some
kills in while Elle is watching although
one with a fatal flaw that we'll get to
in a second light monologues to himself
about the brilliance of his own plan
leading up to that infamous line I'll
take a potato chip as this is happening
rheic goes into Apple withdrawal in the
most needlessly and hilariously
over-the-top manner possible
giving the scene a certain comedic bent
I've often heard this scene talked about
as an example of unintentional hilarity
in anime but I think Ryoka is a dead
giveaway that it's anything but you
could maybe convince me that the
director was simply overzealous in
trying to make the act of writing as
exciting and serious as possible with
over-the-top music and camerawork but
when those elements are played against a
big lip demon standing on his head and
doing bicycle kicks for apples it
becomes clear that what we're seeing is
an intentional juxtaposition I mean in
the split-screen montage that comes at
the crescendo of this action Ryoga
flailing body is literally used as a
punchline the fact that light is taking
this so seriously and that the scene is
presenting something this silly and
mundane so dramatically is the joke when
you mean on this scene you are not in
fact laughing at it you're laughing with
it which is not to say that it can't
simultaneously be tense and exciting
those feelings are part of the fun
alongside the comedy this contrast also
informs us of the perspectives of el and
light for light this is a dramatic
life-or-death scenario it's beyond
exciting and while his heart is probably
racing he can't show even a hint of a
reaction to all of the mounting
tenshun 4l meanwhile it's a quiet
thoughtful moment after all he's just
sitting there watching a kids study on
TV while his family gets ready for bed
but we can tell that he's already
suspecting something is off
after all the tense music grows quiet as
he asked detective Yagami about his son
but it doesn't cut out entirely
instead it builds to a final slow
triumphant chant from the choir as light
relaxes and continues to study as he
waits for a criminal to die the music
dies down as Elle gets the news from
watery that two criminals have died just
now which should prove likes innocence
but only if you're looking exclusively
at the facts as a detective Elle's real
brilliance lies in getting into the
heads of other people and figuring out
why they do what they do he's good at
poring over evidence but every break
that he makes in the Kira investigation
comes from observing the behavior of
others or exploiting Kira's cockiness
this is likes big slip-up in terms of
evidence that would hold up in court he
gives himself a rock-solid alibi here
but in doing so he makes Kira act in a
way that only really makes sense if he
knows the police are on to him and he's
trying to throw them off the trail which
is consistent with light subtly taunting
L early in the scene he does correct for
this later by killing more petty
criminals but the damage is already done
at least subconsciously L is on to him
likes more obviously suspicious behavior
like putting a paper alarm in his door
jamb doesn't raise ELLs eyebrows to him
that's just normal teenager stuff it
would be weird if light weren't hiding
something from his parents the things
that light does in his room that he
thinks will divert suspicion digging
through a hidden stash of dirty
magazines and spending his whole night
studying with no distractions don't add
up not only is the magazine too
pedestrian to justify rigging the door
it doesn't make sense that the kind of
kid who hides porn in encyclopedia cases
would study for hours on end without
procrastinating or doing something else
add to the
the fact that on this one night in
particular Kyra just happens to change
his entire modus operandi to kill two
petty thieves who just happen to be on
the news and it all seems a little too
convenient
he might create enough doubt that the
cameras can't be justified anymore but
in his haste and arrogance he cements
himself as Elle's number-one suspect
light thinks that he's playing checkers
but Elle is playing like Harry Potter
wizard chess this seam makes it clear at
least if you're paying attention that L
is much much smarter than light of
course light does ultimately outsmart
Elle in the end but only with a
combination of luck outside help and
straight-up magic light would tell you
that it was all his own brilliance but
then so would Baku go Death Note is
really good at introducing plot turns
that take the story in a new direction
every few episodes or so but this is
arguably one of the most decisive
because of this one night Elle decides
to confront light in college the very
next episode obviously the main reason
that we remember the potato-chip scene
is because of just how insane it is but
it wouldn't have had the impact that it
did if it weren't so pivotal to the
overall plot and so novel as far as
anime conflicts go it embodies both the
intense mind games and the
unconventional over-the-top sense of fun
that makes Death Note such a classic and
it deserves to be remembered as more
than just a mean though if the comments
on my last video about heroic as third
OPR anything to go by memes may actually
be the highest form of culture that
anime can aspire to reach so let me know
in the comments below what other anime
memes you'd like to see me pick apart on
this channel and while you're down there
I sure would appreciate it if you'd hit
the subscribe and notification buttons
to keep up to date on everything I make
and if you want to support me even more
directly consider pledging to my patreon
at patreon.com slash mother's basement
like the fine folks whose names you're
seeing right now have done if you want
to see me talk about madhouse some more
than check out my rundown of their 10
best anime openings right here or click
here for a great video from just write
about death notes lightning fast highly
story structure or you can click down
here to subscribe to my second channel
and my podcast where will soon be
discussing the fall 2017 season and if
this is the last you see of me today
then I'm Jeff thew professional [ __ ]
signing out from my mother's basement