The Energon Pub

I've heard several people raving about that series, so I checked into a few episodes myself. I actually have to say, I find it fairly inane, and am actually rather sickened by it. I actually found myself in the sheering line for the people working against the protagonist. Anyone feel the same, or am I just weird?

You are just weird. It's incredible. The lines between good and evil are so blurred, that they barely exist beyond "He's the main guy, he's his rival."

If you' not paying attention to all the brilliant moves that go on on both sides, you aren't actually watching the series.

Shadowman wrote:You are just weird. It's incredible. The lines between good and evil are so blurred, that they barely exist beyond "He's the main guy, he's his rival."

If you' not paying attention to all the brilliant moves that go on on both sides, you aren't actually watching the series.

Oh, the turns are brilliant, I just like my good guys to actually be good. As well, the violence just seems to wanton, death just for the sake of it.

EDIT: And it's not so much that the lines of good and bad are blurred, it's just that you constantly have to listen to the ramblings of a psycho.

I'm a fan of it myself, but can see how it can't a great show for everyone. I do get the feeling that theres no way in hell it will have a positive ending. It seems well written and well paced.

I adore Death Note, and it amazed me that during the progress of the show my allegiances switched so easily. I can understand why you say some of it is inane, it isn't the most action oriented show and Light and L always seem to "just know" exactly what the other is going to do next without any deductive reasoning at all. The whole concept of the show however drew me in and I was hooked.

Originally I would have supported Kira to the bitter end, but as the show progresses and you see what a self centred, nasty piece of work Light actually is. My allegiance shifted toward L and his comrades almost instantly.

I won't post any spoilers but once a certain key death has occurred I really found the show harder to watch. I felt no affinty toward Near or Mello, and Light remained as un-admirable as always. But that didn't stop me from thinking L and Ryuuk were superb, they had to be the two main reasons I watched the show. That and I just had to see who would win in the end, and in truth despite my feelings... I was a little sad about the eventual outcome.

Tekka wrote:I adore Death Note, and it amazed me that during the progress of the show my allegiances switched so easily. I can understand why you say some of it is inane, it isn't the most action oriented show and Light and L always seem to "just know" exactly what the other is going to do next without any deductive reasoning at all. The whole concept of the show however drew me in and I was hooked.

Originally I would have supported Kira to the bitter end, but as the show progresses and you see what a self centred, nasty piece of work Light actually is. My allegiance shifted toward L and his comrades almost instantly.

I won't post any spoilers but once a certain key death has occurred I really found the show harder to watch. I felt no affinty toward Near or Mello, and Light remained as un-admirable as always. But that didn't stop me from thinking L and Ryuuk were superb, they had to be the two main reasons I watched the show. That and I just had to see who would win in the end, and in truth despite my feelings... I was a little sad about the eventual outcome.

That's what bugged me. My own sense of morality begs for me to at least be empathetic of my adversaries. To at least see the pain I had caused and at least cringe. To see the families cut off, etc. Besides, conflict, enemies, are what make me strong. It irks me that Light just seems to think of everyone else as worms just because he has some damned book.

So if I've suddenly got a gun, I'm instantly better than someone without? No, it's just unsubstantiated power-- I did nothing to earn it, and I have no respect for what it is. Just write them away with no struggle, no conflict? That's not interesting, that's not heroics-- that's cowardice. He's the big bad guy who sits behind a desk, the fat pig that you play the whole video game through just to be able to kill. I really don't even like hearing from an individual like that. I need a protagonist I can respect.

And these aren't despicable people he's fighting against-- I wouldn't feel half as bad when he killed someone if he at least showed some emotion.

I personally don't get how he expects to build a 'perfect' world based on death. At least how he's going about it. The only way to even build a society is through some sort of collaboration. The book is an accessory at best. And why not assassinate dictators, world leaders? People that are actually going to count on a world scale. All this really is is a local game of cat and mouse. Frankly, I think the whole premise, the whole drive of the main character, is bogus.

EDIT: There's my vent. And onto the discussion of 'morality'...

Morality is such a subjective matter. Light's personal morals were solid until he killed Lind L. Taylor, that's when he started the long spiral off the deep end. Turning from criminal killer to killing whoever he had to, to keep himself in the clear. I still respected him up until he killed Ray Penbar, that was the point when he crossed the line for me, he had thoroughly tramped on his own moral compass and was truly evil, there was no doubt about it.

Tekka wrote:Morality is such a subjective matter. Light's personal morals were solid until he killed Lind L. Taylor, that's when he started the long spiral off the deep end. Turning from criminal killer to killing whoever he had to, to keep himself in the clear. I still respected him up until he killed Ray Penbar, that was the point when he crossed the line for me, he had thoroughly tramped on his own moral compass and was truly evil, there was no doubt about it.

True, but there's always has to be something identifiable in the 'hero.' Incidently, I did just pop in at about where Ray came in. That whole operation just struck me as unnecessary and sickening. And, if anything, he brought more suspicion and hate towards himself. It made no sense at all to me.

If he hadn't killed Taylor and Penbar though we wouldn't have a story. It's essentially demonstrating that Light is digging his own grave with his arrogance.

Tekka wrote:If he hadn't killed Taylor and Penbar though we wouldn't have a story. It's essentially demonstrating that Light is digging his own grave with his arrogance.

Well, maybe not the story the authors want. I personally think it could have been a decent enough statement on socio-anarchism and different form of political morality if the authors had wanted to go that way.

It always wouldn't have been nearly as exciting watching Light pass judgement on the daily criminal in a power ranger-esque kind of way.

Anyhoo, stick it out at least until the end of the first arc. It's well worth watching.

Tekka wrote:It always wouldn't have been nearly as exciting watching Light pass judgement on the daily criminal in a power ranger-esque kind of way.

Anyhoo, stick it out at least until the end of the first arc. It's well worth watching.

I'm not so sure. Global anarchy would be pretty exciting. Killing criminals that are already locked up is kinda lame.

I hearead a bit about this show, will I enjoy it if I'm a fan of Gantz and Elven Lied and Hellsing?

DesalationReborn wrote:

Tekka wrote:It always wouldn't have been nearly as exciting watching Light pass judgement on the daily criminal in a power ranger-esque kind of way.

Anyhoo, stick it out at least until the end of the first arc. It's well worth watching.

I'm not so sure. Global anarchy would be pretty exciting. Killing criminals that are already locked up is kinda lame.

So I take it you weren't paying attention to WHY he offed the guys already locked up?

L had taken all the information about the killings: 1. That most of the death's were in Japan. 2. That Kira could kill anywhere he wanted (By using Lind L. Taylor to find Kira's method), and 3. The specific times of death, particularly that they didn't go far past Midnight on weekdays, but did on weekends, and never during school hours. Using that, he (Correctly) assumed that Kira was a student. As a student, there would be times when Kira would be asleep for school in the morning, and times when he was in school, where he wouldn't be able to access his means of murder. (In this case, his Death Note)

Light/Kira found this out (With access to the police records via his Dad), and, using another rule in the Death Note: That he could pick the specifics of the death. He figured that he could also pick the TIME of death, so he used that as an alibi. By writing a time of Death when he'd be in Gym Class (Where writing in the Death Note would be highly suspicious), or asleep, he could easily give himself a solid (albeit completely false) alibi.

It is BEYOND brilliant.

Dead Metal wrote:I hearead a bit about this show, will I enjoy it if I'm a fan of Gantz and Elven Lied and Hellsing?

Maybe. This is a Supernatural Detective story, and nothing like the ones you mentioned.

There are no gigantic exciting battles, wonderfully choreographed fight scenes, no giant energy attacks. This is a detective story. It's like watching a chess game played between two super geniuses with incredible deductive power, except every time you lose a piece, someone gets killed, and they have no idea who the other is, or even what he looks like.

Shadowman wrote:

DesalationReborn wrote:

Tekka wrote:It always wouldn't have been nearly as exciting watching Light pass judgement on the daily criminal in a power ranger-esque kind of way.

Anyhoo, stick it out at least until the end of the first arc. It's well worth watching.

I'm not so sure. Global anarchy would be pretty exciting. Killing criminals that are already locked up is kinda lame.

So I take it you weren't paying attention to WHY he offed the guys already locked up?

L had taken all the information about the killings: 1. That most of the death's were in Japan. 2. That Kira could kill anywhere he wanted (By using Lind L. Taylor to find Kira's method), and 3. The specific times of death, particularly that they didn't go far past Midnight on weekdays, but did on weekends, and never during school hours. Using that, he (Correctly) assumed that Kira was a student. As a student, there would be times when Kira would be asleep for school in the morning, and times when he was in school, where he wouldn't be able to access his means of murder. (In this case, his Death Note)

Light/Kira found this out (With access to the police records via his Dad), and, using another rule in the Death Note: That he could pick the specifics of the death. He figured that he could also pick the TIME of death, so he used that as an alibi. By writing a time of Death when he'd be in Gym Class (Where writing in the Death Note would be highly suspicious), or asleep, he could easily give himself a solid (albeit completely false) alibi.

It is BEYOND brilliant.

Nah. It's lame. Doesn't matter how flashy it's made-- a crap move is still a crap move. This is really just a series about a pretty criminal compared to what he could actually do with the thing. And a story without an assertion, an idea to address, is really nothing at all, pathetic. It's as you said-- a chess game. Death for the sake of death, everything just for the sake of a titillation match. That's boring.

I'm not expecting you to be converted through words alone. All I ask is that you keep watching 'til the end of the first arc. If you haven't changed your mind after seeing some of the great stuff that goes on with Misa and Yotsuba then by all means stop watching.

But it's great for the visuals if nothing else. Lol, you can't beat a smug sneer like this.

Meh. 40 seconds is all I'd need to break that!

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:I hearead a bit about this show, will I enjoy it if I'm a fan of Gantz and Elven Lied and Hellsing?

Maybe. This is a Supernatural Detective story, and nothing like the ones you mentioned.

There are no gigantic exciting battles, wonderfully choreographed fight scenes, no giant energy attacks. This is a detective story. It's like watching a chess game played between two super geniuses with incredible deductive power, except every time you lose a piece, someone gets killed, and they have no idea who the other is, or even what he looks like.

Sounds quite interesting, I love chess and intelligent stories, and if it has a bit of horror to it it's even better.
I'll give it a try, oh and there is a live action movie of it, or am I mistaking that now?

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:I hearead a bit about this show, will I enjoy it if I'm a fan of Gantz and Elven Lied and Hellsing?

Maybe. This is a Supernatural Detective story, and nothing like the ones you mentioned.

There are no gigantic exciting battles, wonderfully choreographed fight scenes, no giant energy attacks. This is a detective story. It's like watching a chess game played between two super geniuses with incredible deductive power, except every time you lose a piece, someone gets killed, and they have no idea who the other is, or even what he looks like.

Sounds quite interesting, I love chess and intelligent stories, and if it has a bit of horror to it it's even better.
I'll give it a try, oh and there is a live action movie of it, or am I mistaking that now?

Yup. There's supposed to be two DS games coming out. One where you play as L and his gang, and one where you're trying to off them all as Light.

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:

Shadowman wrote:

Dead Metal wrote:I hearead a bit about this show, will I enjoy it if I'm a fan of Gantz and Elven Lied and Hellsing?

Maybe. This is a Supernatural Detective story, and nothing like the ones you mentioned.

There are no gigantic exciting battles, wonderfully choreographed fight scenes, no giant energy attacks. This is a detective story. It's like watching a chess game played between two super geniuses with incredible deductive power, except every time you lose a piece, someone gets killed, and they have no idea who the other is, or even what he looks like.

Sounds quite interesting, I love chess and intelligent stories, and if it has a bit of horror to it it's even better.
I'll give it a try, oh and there is a live action movie of it, or am I mistaking that now?

Yup. There's supposed to be two DS games coming out. One where you play as L and his gang, and one where you're trying to off them all as Light.

Well, I can't do much with the names right now,haven't watched it yet, but if I like the show enoght I may give those two a look, oh by the by, can you import the Gantz game from somewere?