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I started watching Shinigami-kun some months ago and never finished it until now. I have a pretty mixed opinion on the drama as a whole. Some episodes I really liked, others I was ambivalent about, and a couple that I didn't like.
The first episode was one that I really liked. It may be lame to say so, but I related to the girl that was fated to die, except I'm not nearly as nice. I liked how genuine she seemed and was very much on her side the whole episode. I had tears in my eyes when they did the "reveal" at the hospital even though I knew what was coming.
The second episode was a bit "Death Note." Though I found it harder to sympathize with the episode's "main" character, the things he did were understandable. The conflict with his senior was also revealed to be a bit more than just that, as the latter was apparently trying to look out for him too. I found myself agreeing with Shinigami 413 with how the kid being fated to die was too much, but I liked how they resolved everything in the end.
The third episode was interesting because it introduced the Demon who directly opposes Shinigami 413. The episode characters, though, I don't remember liking them much? I only remember liking the fact that, in accordance with the usual trope, the "deal with the devil" didn't completely go as the person wanted it to.
The fourth episode was one that I didn't like. I appreciate how they tried to present moral issues such as some lives "being worth more than others" and how far one is willing to go for their loved ones. What I didn't like was the whole deal with the fire. I couldn't suspend my disbelief with the whole situation. I guess that killed the episode for me.
This episode was where I stopped watching the series. Even with the Demon being there to create conflict and make Shinigami 413's job harder, I lost interest after an episode that was just so-so, an episode I didn't like and an oncoming episode that didn't seem interesting. Nevertheless, I watched the next episode after a month's rest. XD
The fifth episode was another mediocre one for me. It seemed interesting at first, with how the grandfather actually looked forward to his death, and the grandmother whom you would least expect to make a deal with the devil actually went ahead and did it. I wasn't sold on the "grandchild" story but I liked how he was redeemed due to the kindness of the grandmother and the grandmother was saved due to the loophole. The scene at the end with the two of them in the supermarket went straight for my weakness for fluffy moments and so I decided to not give up on watching the series.
The sixth episode did not make me sympathetic to the dying character. I was sitting in front of the monitor thinking how the man was absolute trash, and how right Supervisor 45 was that the woman was better off without him. Though it was shown that the woman was actually in love with the man, I couldn't help but think that the fact that he was going to die was used to guilt the woman into taking care of the daughter after his death.Would the woman really have married him if she didn't know that she was going to die? Was it her pride that kept her from admitting that she was deceived and was only making excuses saying that she liked him even way back when they met from before? Even with these thoughts, I couldn't help but be swept along as the episode went on and was very much rooting for the woman and was satisfied that she found her happiness at the end. This episode was especially memorable because it had Supervisor 45 interacting with people other than her underling and her boss, and showed some great character development.
The seventh episode dealt with suicide and had the darkest tone. I thought the portrayal of the singer's frustration and envy was very realistic. I understood where she was coming from and couldn't hate her even when she was doing such cruel things. It was clear that she was unhappy with her life but I was hoping that she would change. I thought that after finding about the rival and then trying to fulfill the last wish of the dying girl, which was a very touching scene, the singer would find the will to live on. Instead, she decided to use her last wish from the Demon to help the rival and committed suicide from the roof of the building.
The eight episode was the other episode that I didn't like much. I didn't like the father from the start, with him trying to kill his family and criticizing the son and calling him useless. The mother tried to be responsible, but when she couldn't find a way to deal with losing their status and money, she also tried to kill the son. The son was pitiful when he thought that his parents hated him. Cruel as it sounds, I didn't find myself feeling much sympathy for the boy though and was not surprised when the Demon took advantage of him.
I found myself not having much sympathy for the dying father either, maybe because he wasn't shown much.
The ninth episode's highlight was the resolution. It was pretty much a revenge plot wherein the former employee was resolved to kill himself along with everyone else in the building. Shinigami-kun saved his soul by writing his name in the notebook, killing him in place of the other people's lives that the man was putting at risk. Was Shinigami-kun right to do that? In the end, I believe he did what he thought was right, even though it meant that his candle would be extinguished.
What I liked in the series is that it was different every episode. They showed ways in which characters on lived, died, or were left behind. I liked how there were no absolutes, even with the recurring characters (Shinigami world and Demon). I like how the naive Shinigami 413 learned more and more things about human nature, along with the Supervisor 45 berating him for his mistakes and his naivety; and Supervisor 45, despite her initial dislike of Shinigami 413 was eventually able to see past his seeming incompetence and decide on how to proceed from there, without relying too much on the boss and his creepy ways. I like how they showed contrast by introducing the Demon. Did he not take the souls of the old woman and the kid because of a technicality or was he really not that bad? I had no problem with the way that they introduced the rules of the Shinigami world like how Shinigami 413 would sometimes blurt out something that the character in the episode would use to his/her advantage, or near the end, the boss would say something that would become important in the coming episodes. Though I would like to know, does Shinigami-kun not know all the rules? Like the lifespan of the candles and what happens after it gets extinguished? How do they choose who will be Shinigami? Who are they? Hmmmmmm...
The first episode was one that I really liked. It may be lame to say so, but I related to the girl that was fated to die, except I'm not nearly as nice. I liked how genuine she seemed and was very much on her side the whole episode. I had tears in my eyes when they did the "reveal" at the hospital even though I knew what was coming.
The second episode was a bit "Death Note." Though I found it harder to sympathize with the episode's "main" character, the things he did were understandable. The conflict with his senior was also revealed to be a bit more than just that, as the latter was apparently trying to look out for him too. I found myself agreeing with Shinigami 413 with how the kid being fated to die was too much, but I liked how they resolved everything in the end.
The third episode was interesting because it introduced the Demon who directly opposes Shinigami 413. The episode characters, though, I don't remember liking them much? I only remember liking the fact that, in accordance with the usual trope, the "deal with the devil" didn't completely go as the person wanted it to.
The fourth episode was one that I didn't like. I appreciate how they tried to present moral issues such as some lives "being worth more than others" and how far one is willing to go for their loved ones. What I didn't like was the whole deal with the fire. I couldn't suspend my disbelief with the whole situation. I guess that killed the episode for me.
This episode was where I stopped watching the series. Even with the Demon being there to create conflict and make Shinigami 413's job harder, I lost interest after an episode that was just so-so, an episode I didn't like and an oncoming episode that didn't seem interesting. Nevertheless, I watched the next episode after a month's rest. XD
The fifth episode was another mediocre one for me. It seemed interesting at first, with how the grandfather actually looked forward to his death, and the grandmother whom you would least expect to make a deal with the devil actually went ahead and did it. I wasn't sold on the "grandchild" story but I liked how he was redeemed due to the kindness of the grandmother and the grandmother was saved due to the loophole. The scene at the end with the two of them in the supermarket went straight for my weakness for fluffy moments and so I decided to not give up on watching the series.
The sixth episode did not make me sympathetic to the dying character. I was sitting in front of the monitor thinking how the man was absolute trash, and how right Supervisor 45 was that the woman was better off without him. Though it was shown that the woman was actually in love with the man, I couldn't help but think that the fact that he was going to die was used to guilt the woman into taking care of the daughter after his death.Would the woman really have married him if she didn't know that she was going to die? Was it her pride that kept her from admitting that she was deceived and was only making excuses saying that she liked him even way back when they met from before? Even with these thoughts, I couldn't help but be swept along as the episode went on and was very much rooting for the woman and was satisfied that she found her happiness at the end. This episode was especially memorable because it had Supervisor 45 interacting with people other than her underling and her boss, and showed some great character development.
The seventh episode dealt with suicide and had the darkest tone. I thought the portrayal of the singer's frustration and envy was very realistic. I understood where she was coming from and couldn't hate her even when she was doing such cruel things. It was clear that she was unhappy with her life but I was hoping that she would change. I thought that after finding about the rival and then trying to fulfill the last wish of the dying girl, which was a very touching scene, the singer would find the will to live on. Instead, she decided to use her last wish from the Demon to help the rival and committed suicide from the roof of the building.
The eight episode was the other episode that I didn't like much. I didn't like the father from the start, with him trying to kill his family and criticizing the son and calling him useless. The mother tried to be responsible, but when she couldn't find a way to deal with losing their status and money, she also tried to kill the son. The son was pitiful when he thought that his parents hated him. Cruel as it sounds, I didn't find myself feeling much sympathy for the boy though and was not surprised when the Demon took advantage of him.
I found myself not having much sympathy for the dying father either, maybe because he wasn't shown much.
The ninth episode's highlight was the resolution. It was pretty much a revenge plot wherein the former employee was resolved to kill himself along with everyone else in the building. Shinigami-kun saved his soul by writing his name in the notebook, killing him in place of the other people's lives that the man was putting at risk. Was Shinigami-kun right to do that? In the end, I believe he did what he thought was right, even though it meant that his candle would be extinguished.
What I liked in the series is that it was different every episode. They showed ways in which characters on lived, died, or were left behind. I liked how there were no absolutes, even with the recurring characters (Shinigami world and Demon). I like how the naive Shinigami 413 learned more and more things about human nature, along with the Supervisor 45 berating him for his mistakes and his naivety; and Supervisor 45, despite her initial dislike of Shinigami 413 was eventually able to see past his seeming incompetence and decide on how to proceed from there, without relying too much on the boss and his creepy ways. I like how they showed contrast by introducing the Demon. Did he not take the souls of the old woman and the kid because of a technicality or was he really not that bad? I had no problem with the way that they introduced the rules of the Shinigami world like how Shinigami 413 would sometimes blurt out something that the character in the episode would use to his/her advantage, or near the end, the boss would say something that would become important in the coming episodes. Though I would like to know, does Shinigami-kun not know all the rules? Like the lifespan of the candles and what happens after it gets extinguished? How do they choose who will be Shinigami? Who are they? Hmmmmmm...