Friday, December 19, 2008

Something About the Eyes



Death Note is addictive and intoxicating in a lot of ways. The story and characters are great, unexpected and genre-defying in many ways. But the art–the art is mind-shatteringly beautiful. At first, it seems strange and harsh, maybe even grotesque. As I continue in the series, though, it makes me sigh and pause to just look and take in the drawings.

The main character, Light, experiences a reversal of character in book 4 or 5, I can’t remember which. He loses his ambition for godhood and his power to cause death. And when he does, his eyes change. His gorgeous, half-closed, and penetrating eyes become wide-open windows into his pure soul. The change was startling and unwelcome.

The change in the character’s actions and words are not so hard for me. But his eyes are changed, feel wrong. I never knew there could be so much power invested in what seems to be a somewhat insignificant detail. Just the width of the character’s eyes.

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