@wallhackio Not only is he hilariously evil he's also fucking stupid

@wallhackio Then again he DOES lack all self-awareness so in that sense they're correct

@coriander im pretty sure the people who wrote the anime adaptation believe that anyone who had the power to indiscriminately kill those deemed criminals would do so and immediately become mad with power, and im sorry mr death note anime writer but not everyone has the same sickness of the soul you have

@wallhackio I haven't seen the anime but I've read the manga a few times and the pacing is actually really deliberate, like, it's less "power makes you instantly an evil motherfucker" and more "power is an insidious and corrosive force that, if left unchecked, will have you abandon every principle you ever held dear in the name of those same principles"

@wallhackio You should read the manga tbh

It's extremely slow, especially in the middle period where it arguably gets a little TOO slow so that it could end with precisely 108 chapters, but GOD it's good

@wallhackio 108 is one of those bad-luck numbers, is why

@coriander from what ive read from comments on reddit the manga does a much better job of portraying light undergoing a progression. as someone who only watched the anime he starts killing indiscriminately REALLY fucking fast

also the anime softens the ending for light quite a bit to try to make it more tragic instead of judgmental which is.... certainly a choice

@wallhackio The sense of tragedy is there in the manga but that doesn't stop it from casting judgement. The tragedy is "Look what happened to this poor boy, look at his sense of justice and what became of it." It condemns him while also recognizing that he was manipulated every step of the way.

@wallhackio @coriander i think the anime retcons Light as having undergone a progression; once he loses his memories he is like very clearly a different dude than before, even tho you don’t notice the progression when it happens the first time

but also L does say straight to Light’s face “yeah i always thought you had serial killer energy”; i think it’s pretty clear that the Death Note did not make him a killer it just gave him means

@wallhackio @coriander like i do not think the anime thinks Light is tragic or corrupted by power. it thinks he was born evil and just got lucky for a bit, and then at the end his luck runs out

@coriander @wallhackio I think even from the beginning, the seeds are there just from being the son of a cop and sorta having the idea that Criminals™ and Regular People™ are two distinct classes

Yeah, power corrupts but I think even from the start he had a wack worldview lol

@IntrepidVector @wallhackio I'd have to go back through it again to see where the manga actually stood on cops but I don't remember it being particularly ACAB

@coriander @wallhackio yeah I may be reaching with the son of a cop thing lol, but still, he starts with a very black and white worldview about crime

@coriander @IntrepidVector @wallhackio it might be worth noting that IIRC one thing that is definitely coloring Light's view is the conviction rate in the JP justice system.

Like I don't know all the details but basically it is VERY rare for the prosecutor in a case to not cinch it. IIRC 99% conviction rate?

It's part of why I laughed at that part of Persona 5 where it's like "this person's mind palace is a Casino because every court case is a gamble and it's like Bitch You're A Prosecutor you're THE HOUSE."

@lapis @coriander @wallhackio oh yeah, the Japanese justice system is very much an influence, I think a conscious one

@IntrepidVector @coriander @wallhackio Yeah Phoenix Wright (while fun) is a little less fun (at least in my mind) when you remember in the original it was not a dystopia taking place in the US but a reflection (with punny names) of the JP Court system

@fool @wallhackio If we're talking Jared Leto Skelator then count me out but I'd take old cartoon Skeletor no question

@coriander @wallhackio he always seems like he's having a good time https://youtu.be/FyyTzkktjsI

@fool @coriander wait this is awesome

@fool @wallhackio My favourite Skeletor moment is when he goes MYAH!! in HEYEYEYEAAAAH