So thrilled with how much I ended up loving this. Started it only a week ago and only watched one episode on the first night and wasn’t 100% convinced. However throughout the next few days I could not stop watching this, it felt like an addiction. I have watched some great shows in the past year, but I don’t recall being as invested as I was whilst watching episodes 1-25 in a quite some time, it was so consistent and entertaining. There are so many plot twists and something crazy would happen so often, I loved it. The battle of wits between L and Light was so entertaining right from the get-go. Watching them go back and forth felt like following an intense game of chess between two masterminds, with both of them constantly finding a way to one up each other following extremely impressive moves. I absolutely love the competition between them but ultimately their dynamic is quite more than just a rivalry, I think this is perfectly exemplified through the masterpiece that is 1x25. I want to keep this review spoiler-free, but so many scenes in that episode between them are so rich in meaning, I think their dynamic is probably one of my favourites from any anime. Whilst I’ll admit the show wasn’t as exhilarating in episodes 26-35, I still enjoyed all of it. I like Near, I don’t feel like there’s much more to say about him that hasn’t already been said with the comparisons to L though, which yes, I can agree with. With him and Mello being mentored by L though I’m okay with their inclusion in the story. Ultimately there are some great moments along with some average ones in this run of episodes, but I’m so glad that they nail the conclusion (in my opinion), which I have already spoken about in my review of 1x37. With how well they managed to end it, I am more than happy to give the show a 4.5 rating. Just so I don’t miss any, I’ll quickly go through my thoughts on some of the characters I haven’t mentioned. Misa is an interesting one, she plays an important part in the story and has some good moments but the writing for her just wasn’t very consistent. Ryuk is good, I didn’t think I’d like him but he turned out to be really fun whenever he was on screen, give him all the apples he wants. The whole detective unit were cool but Matsuda was definitely the standout to me, I really appreciate how he got his spotlight moments. That’s probably all I can think of but overall Death Note has a great set of characters, with L and Light undoubtedly being the best. I’ve written a lot for this but it deserves it, I’m happy I landed it in my watchlist. It’s definitely going to join my top 5 anime for now, maybe even top 3 but I’ll have to think about it, as I have largely focused on the positives in this review. I’d also say L is up there with some of my favourite anime characters too. And before I forget, I can’t end this review without mentioning how cool the OST was, I’m definitely gonna relisten to some of it in the future. Top 3 Characters: 1. L 2. Light Yagami 3. Touta Matsuda Top 3 Episodes: 1. 1x25 ‘Silence’ (5/5) 2. 1x37 ‘New World’ (5/5) 3. 1x7 ‘Overcast’ (5/5)