Note: This piece does contain spoilers for the first nine episodes of the 2006 anime “Death Note”. The manga is a year older than me and the anime is 20-years-old, so I don’t think this is necessary, but just in case.

The 2006 anime “Death Note” is considered to be among one of the best anime of all time. Animated by Japanese studio Madhouse, who also animated “Black Lagoon”, “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End”, “Perfect Blue” and “Millenium Actress”, “Death Note” aired in Japan from October 4, 2006, to June 27, 2007, in Japan and October 21, 2007, to July 6, 2008, in English-speaking countries. In the almost 20 years since, the anime has received critical acclaim, and many feel it’s worthy of that all-time status.

However, I don’t really like “Death Note”. I’ve given the show a few attempts in the past but never was able to get too deep into it. Recently, while I was editing photos, I decided to give the show one final shot, this time with the English dub, since I had heard that was good as well.

I was able to get through nine of the 37 episodes that night, and I also realized why I don’t really like the series all that much. The argument of the main character, Light Yagami, is just stupid.

For context, Yagami uses the Death Note, a book that will kill any person who has their name written down in the book and face envisioned by the writer, to get rid of all the criminals and those he perceives as evil.

If you think about it for more than a second, this argument falls apart. At some point, Yagami is just going to get to the point where he’s killing people for small crimes like petty larceny, which for some people might be necessary for survival. Yagami killing all the criminals doesn’t erase the problem with crime. The system for which people would turn to crime would still exist, due to it being the status quo, so Yagami doing what he’s doing would amount to nothing because the systems in place are still there.

Even, on the infinitesimal chance that Yagami is able to achieve what he wants to achieve, there is still the issue of Yagami’s own existence. He would become a genocidal psychopath, and it would be hypocritical for him to exist.

Also, the way in which Yagami goes around achieving this goal is also odd. Obviously, this isn’t meant to be a realistic show. While it does take place in the real world (in Japan specifically), there’s supernatural and paranormal activity, which is something we don’t have. But even still, having a magic notebook that’ll kill anyone if you know their name and face is outrageous. It very much feels like an “I’m 13 and this is deep” power fantasy, and I don’t like that.

Not to say there aren’t any positives to the show. I think it’s animated very well, I like the first opening, and I think the voice cast for the English dub is very good. But, with the story being as dumb as it is, those positives don’t save it or make me want to finish the show.