Death Note - 1x16 - Decision

    Misa is still held captive by L.  Light decides to suggest that he might be Kira subconsciously, and asks that he be held in solitary confinement.  Light's father also decides to be held.
    The story takes a dark turn with this episode.  L's handling of watching his prisoners is strange, and he doesn't seem to consider the ethical implications of his plan.
    Also, Misa relinquishes her death note, which eliminates her knowledge of what it does, or any information she gathered from using it.  I'm a little disappointed with how this aspect has been handled.  It seems a little too convenient.  She forgets only very specific information, but retains other information that seems relevant to what she should know.
    Still, it seems like the story is building to something.

Death Note - 1x15 - Wager

    L is convinced that he's going to be killed by Kira soon.  He instructs the rest of the team that if he dies in the next few days, then Light is most likely Kira.  The two of them meet at school, where Misa shows up.
    This one was also pretty good.  L is playing the game pretty well, and it's hard to say how much he's figured out.  Misa gets arrested on suspicion of being the second Kira, and L has her blindfolded and bound in a room.

Death Note - 1x14 - Friend

    L gets a bit confused about what is happening with Light / Kira.  Misa agrees to let her Shimigami, Rem, be used to kill L at Light's request.
    At this point, the story is moving forward a little more solidly.  I think that the first season is nearing a finishing point (although the show didn't seem to run in seasons).  The episode is decent, and Misa brings some pleasant comic relief to the show.  The other development in this episode is that L specifies that he views Light as a friend, and that this has tainted his perspective of the case.

Death Note - 1x13 - Confession

    Misa figures out that Light is Kira.  She meets with him, confesses that she loves him, and wants to help him at all costs.
    It's a better episode than I expected.  We learn a little more about how Misa worked.  She made some efforts to handle her power carefully, and evade capture or leaving clues.  The episode also humanized Light a little more, and it created a situation where a character was fleshed out a little more than normal.

Death Note - 1x12 - Love

    Light and L make a video from Kira addressing the fake Kira.  The fake Kira responds.  Her response makes reference to the fact that she has the shinigami eyes, as well as to the existence of shinigami.
    A step down, since nearly nothing happens.  But the situation is a bit more fresh.  Misa is a little too silly.  She's a model!  They also tell a story about how shinigami can die.  If they make a kill with the purpose of extending the life of a human, that does it.  I'm sure that will fit into the story in some way, but for now, it just feels like world building.

Death Note - 1x11 - Assault

    Kira sends some tapes to a TV station trying to force the police into stating that they'll either help him, or refuse to help.  After these tapes air, L reveals that he doesn't believe that the killer is actually Kira, that it's a copycat.
    This episode worked a whole lot better than the other two on this disc.  It moves along at a reasonable pace, but the cliffhanger is great.
    Misa, the copycat, is in a similar situation, having a death note, a shinigami following her around, but she also agreed to take the eyes, so she's got a considerable advantage on Light.

Death Note - 1x10 - Doubt

    Light and L have a tennis match, then they try to test each other in an effort to confirm identities.  Light tries to get onto the task force.  Light's father has an unrelated heart attack.
    The tennis match at the beginning was great.  Everything else was fairly dull.
    I realized part of what makes this series suffer is that we get to hear the internal monologue for Light, which was useless enough, but now that the show has included L's monologue, it seems even more absurd.  The tension would play out much better without the narration.

Death Note - 1x09 - Encounter

    Light takes his exam, and comes out on top, along with L.  L reveals his name, and tells Light that he's L.  The cameras are taken down from Light's house.  Light spends most of the episode wondering exactly what he should do.  And L shares a name with a famous pop star.
    I don't have much to say about this one.  It seemed like a strange jump forward, since we didn't know this exam was coming.  Light is apparently in college now.  And L… I had no idea how old he was anyway.
    I think that L's huge eyes are hilarious.

Death Note - 1x08 - Glare

    L gets cameras and taps installed in the houses of the people that Raye Penber was trailing.  Light is aware of this, and comes up with a scheme to thwart the surveillance.
    The episode is one of the most humor-injected ones.  They finally use Ryuk as a comic element, and reprise Light's ingenuity in figuring out how to deal with these problems.  Similarly strong to the fourth episode, this one played nicely.

Death Note - 1x07 - Overcast

    Light spends most of the episode in conversation with Maki.  He tries to kill her, but her name isn't right.  So he spends most of the time trying to figure out how to get her to reveal her real name.  L is still having a meeting with the investigators, and gives them a bunch of stuff to help protect their identities.
    For an episode in which very little happens, it's not bad.  It ends on a nice, dramatic moment, especially the last shot, which is only symbolic of her impending death.  Otherwise, the episode felt like it was treading water.

Death Note - 1x06 - Unraveling

    L meets with the investigators in his hotel room.  They discuss some protocol for how to handle the case, as well as a few leads they can follow.  Light stops by the station to deliver a change of clothes to his father, and runs into Maki, the girlfriend of the FBI agent he killed last episode.  They talk about the case.  Maki is deemed a threat.
    An improvement over last episode.  This episode is much more about deduction of what we already know, so it doesn't feel like any real progress was made.  Light decides that he has to do something about Maki, since she's figured out that Kira can kill by means other than heart attacks.

Death Note - 1x05 - Tactics

    Light executes his plan, which involves killing the FBI agent that was following him.  He uses that agent to kill off all the other FBI agents that were sent to Japan to assist in the investigation.  Raye Penber's girlfriend survives, and plans on tracking Kira as well.  The FBI withdraw from the investigation.  There are very few people left that are willing to work on the case, and the remaining investigators strike a deal to meet with L, so that they can trust each other in their collaboration.
    The show has started to change a little.  Light's behavior has been moving into a much more villainous territory.  His decision to kill Raye - as well as a variety of other FBI agents he doesn't know - seems too preemptive for my tastes.  It's also that Light seems to have forgotten about his primary goal of eliminating criminals.  Now the elimination of criminals seems to just be his method of playing a cat and mouse game with investigators.
    This episode also had two really goofy bits.  The conversation between Raye and his girlfriend was hilarious, and Light's sister has some great enthusiasm at the dinner table.

Death Note - 1x04 - Pursuit

    Light comes up with a plan to find out the identity of the person who has been following him.  He orchestrates an event for his shadow to follow him on a date, eventually leading to the shadow revealing himself to be Raye Penber, an FBI agent.
    I thought this was easily the most solidly plotted episode so far.  Light has tested the limits of how much control he has over the deaths he dictates.  His plan is interesting, and it plays out as he expects.  Of course, it would be more interesting if he had to work around some unforeseeable problem, but this is still very nicely handled.

Death Note - 1x03 - Dealings

    It is revealed that the officer in charge of finding Kira is actually Light's father.  After Light finds out that the police suspect that the killer is a student, he changes his patterns to kill criminals on the hour.  Shortly afterward, Light finds that he's being followed, but doesn't know who is doing it.  Ryuk offers to make a deal with Light - Light can gain the eyes of a shinigami, in exchange for half of his remaining lifespan.
    There isn't as much plotting in this episode, but the developments were nice.  Mostly, I liked getting a clearer explanation of what Ryuk is.  While he's described as a shinigami, they also translate this as "death god."  He's a god that is supposed to user people into death.  This is good to know.  At first, I thought he was supposed to be some sort of demon.
    It's interesting that they ended the episode on the offer, but without any resolution.
    Also, they use photographs in the animation.  Sometimes, it's an establishing shot, sometimes, it seems to just be elements of the frame - like a stop light or something like that.  It's a bit jarring, but it actually makes the production look a little cheaper.  Plus, some of the animations of people talking remind me of G.I. Joe.

Death Note - 1x02 - Confrontation

    The authorities have put together that someone is behind all of the criminals suffering unexpected heart attacks.  An anonymous detective is assigned to the case, someone who uses the name L.  Light sees a broadcast where L reveals himself to the world, and takes the opportunity to kill him with the notebook.  After the person dies, it's revealed that the person who announced this was a criminal, and they've just proven that Light (although he is known online as "Kira") is able to kill at a distance.  L also reveals that the broadcast he was watching was only shown in a particular district.  So they've narrowed down his location substantially.
    For a very light plot, it moved along very well.  Plus, an additional rule is revealed - anyone else who touches the notebook will be able to see the otherworldly creature that follows Light around.  In order to defend against this, Light actually puts together a pretty ingenious trap in his drawer.
    The moral and ethical implications of the story have started to get more interesting.  Light is clearly too cocky about his power.  But he's still pretty bright, and he seems to not be entirely ruthless with his power.  But there's still the implication that he might be.

Death Note - 1x01 - Rebirth

    A high school student named Light finds a peculiar notebook.  It specifies that anyone whose name is written in it will die of a heart attack, unless the death is otherwise specified.  He also learns that the original owner of the notebook was some sort of otherworldly creature named Ryuk.  Light explains that he plans on eliminating criminals, and thus take it over.
    This is the first anime that I've been able to sit through, and I think this is a fairly interesting one.  The premise is interesting, although it doesn't seem like the sort of plot that would be able to sustain for a whole series.  The story is more straightforward than I expected.  There wasn't as much nonsensical development as I was expecting.
    The animation style is interesting.  It's clearly a bit cheaper than the type I'm used to, but they get around those weaknesses by using the camera in some clever ways.  There's a lot more shaking and other movement of the camera to compensate for the lack of actual animation going on.
    Also, the subtitles are fantastic.  The show has been dubbed in English, and there are English subtitles.  Except that they clearly are translated by different people.