Why you loved it
Anime like Death Note
Death Note asks one question and refuses to answer it: is Light a hero or a monster? Fans still argue. They also love it for different reasons: the battle of wits, the question of justice, or watching power rot a person. Here are three.
The 3 reasons people love Death Note
Read them all. One will sound more like you than the others.
A battle of wits
This was your reason if…
- The potato chip scene.
- L crouched on his chair, knees up.
- You loved it when both were thinking ten moves ahead.
Light and L never stop trying to out-think each other, and the tensest scenes are two people sitting still, calculating. If this is your reason, you want stories where the fight happens in the head.
What is justice?
This was your reason if…
- At first, you weren't sure Light was wrong.
- The crowds cheering for Kira made you uneasy.
- You argued about it with friends.
A notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, in the hands of a student who wants to rid the world of criminals. The show never tells you who's right. If this is your reason, you want stories that make you argue about right and wrong.
Power that corrupts
This was your reason if…
- "I am justice!"
- You watched Light change from the first episode to the last.
- Ryuk eating apples and enjoying the show.
Light starts out wanting a better world and ends up wanting to be its god. The story is a slow portrait of a mind taken over by power. If this is your reason, you want stories about ambition turning monstrous.
Picks that share your reasons
Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion2006
- Battle of wits
- Justice
- Corruption
A student gets the power to command anyone and leads a rebellion. Strategy, mind games and a hero you'll doubt.
Monster2004
- Justice
- Battle of wits
A surgeon saves a boy's life, and the boy grows into a killer. A slow, grown-up chase across Germany.
Psycho-Pass2012
- Justice
A future where a system measures how likely you are to commit a crime, before you do anything.
Classroom of the Elite2017
- Battle of wits
A school where students compete through manipulation, and a quiet boy who's always ahead.
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War2019
- Battle of wits
Two genius students in love, each trying to make the other confess first. A battle of wits played for laughs.
Dexter2006
- Justice
- Corruption
A killer who only kills killers. The same question about justice, in Miami.
Sherlock2010
- Battle of wits
Holmes and Moriarty in modern London, each trying to stay a step ahead of the other.
The Dark Knight2008
- Justice
- Battle of wits
Batman and the Joker, testing how far a hero will bend his rules.
Attack on Titan2013
- Corruption
- Justice
A boy who wants freedom so badly that it changes him. Fans argue about him the way they argue about Light.
Reasons and picks chosen by the Ipsomap team. This application uses TMDB and the TMDB APIs but is not endorsed, certified, or otherwise approved by TMDB.
That's one anime.
Ipsomap does this with everything you watch. Write a few honest lines after each one, and it works out which reasons are yours, then finds picks that share them.
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