Cowboy Bebop was the first anime to demand my respect. Ever since, I have searched high and low for something that matched its brilliance. I would rent anime after anime at Kim's, Columbia's own local rental store (that oozes with film majors and alternative musics). Having finished most of the popular animes and returning Record of Lodoss War (a little more than average anime, but everything that the animated Dungeons & Dragons should have been), I shrugged my shoulders and decided to look at Top 50 Anime websites - apart from AnimeNfo.com.

Following animenewsnetwork.com's top ratings, I surfed YouTube (that place is wonderific) and found english-subs of two fantastic animes that I think finally rival Cowboy Bebop: Monster and Death Note. To be honest, Death Note is the more intense of the two. Though Monster tells the story of a doctor gone mercenary detective, anything about Death Gods usually wins by default. Death Note's examination about a notebook that kills people whenever a name is written in it seals the deal with chilling effect. Coupled with compact and smart writing, watching three episodes of Death Note feels like watching seven episodes of many other animes. The series isn't finished yet, but I still recommend it without any reservations.

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	EmP - January 13, 2007 (07:08 AM) I don't like Death Note. And I'll tell you why! The two leads are too perfect and drip with pretentious overkill. Everything that happens happens because of one of their meticulous plans and even the slightest happenstance -- no matter how unlikely or complex -- is simply one of the maculation in some form. Every single episode ends with one of them looking smug and saying "exactly as I planned!" If something that they didn't plan happens, it's because the other one manipulated it to be so. I hate that character archetype. The one where they're completely perfect and so mentally superior to the rest of the world that nothing happens by chance; it's all merely a step in their greater plan.
	draqq_zyxx - January 13, 2007 (03:50 PM) The battle of wits is actually what I like most about Death Note. And though the god-complex is cliche, in this case, I find that the execution in the dialogue and the plot makes this cliche solid and powerful. At this point, most every anime out there will be cliche in some way, drawing from previous works and reinterpreting them. I just find the reinterpretation here stronger than what I've seen in the past. There's a chess-like counterbalance that makes it interesting to see how these two characters will cause their ultimate end (or survival). And there are parts in the story in which both L and Yagami are not in control. Ray Penbar's fiancee and the girl who also has a Death Note are third wheels that pull on both of them.