The Brilliance of Death Note's Potato Chip Scene (Yes, Really)

Death Note bears the distinction of being the single most popular anime of all time at least according to my anime list although they also think that Penghu is one of the greatest anime of all time so obviously they're right about everything Death Note is known throughout weed them for its fantastic music it's dynamic exciting direction and a tense tightly plotted narrative about a psychological battle of wits between two intellectual Titans but before any of that crap it is known for this I'll take a potato chip this is one of the most quoted and referenced lines not just in all of anime but in all of media period the potato chip scene is the top meme spawned by a show that has created more than its fair share of internet names it is a go-to point of reference for many people when it comes to talking about how stupid and over-the-top anime can be and it's a mission is the single greatest flaw of Netflix's Death Note movie it is also and I say this without a hint of irony one of these single greatest scenes in the history of TV anime it is a showdown of epic proportions one that can match any fight from any shown in anime that you can name and while not a lot seems to be happening here it marks a turning point for the entire series that defines everything going forward it also tells us a great deal about both el and light as characters since it's the first time that they ever really interact with one another for an extended period of time I'll be it indirectly to understand this scene we need a bit of context Death Note if you don't know is a show about a promising and ambitious high school senior named Light Yagami who uses a magical notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it within a very specific set of rules in order to punish criminals in a bid to become the god of the new world I told you he was ambitious light or Kira as he's known to the world is pursued by a Japanese police task force led by his father so Ichiro Yagami and a brilliant private detective known only as L within a day of taking the case L managed to Eero the task force search area down from the whole world to the Kanto region of Japan so suffice it to say he's pretty good at what he does and is a massive threat to Kira's plans the potato chip scene takes place in episode 8 of the series right after light seemingly through the police off his trail by killing all 12 of the FBI agents sent to investigate Kyra but by pulling on a few tiny loose ends Elle manages to unravel even more of the mystery because of this Elle has figured out that Kira is not just related to one of the task force members but that he's part of one of the families being investigated by Rey penber the FBI agent who died in far and away the most suspicious circumstances and whose fiance now--my committed suicide shortly thereafter unfortunately for Kira l knew Nami from a previous case and knew her well enough to know that she wasn't the suicidal type because of this L orders that cameras and bugs be set up in lights family home which light immediately discovers because of the absurdly paranoid security measures that he uses to protect his room although of course that paranoia is clearly justified in this case light goads rheic normally a neutral observer into searching for the hidden cameras by pointing out that he won't be able to eat his apples if they can see everything but he finds zero blind spots with light backed into a corner and apparently extremely dissatisfied with the contents of his nudie mag he's called down to dinner and the scene proper begins right off the bat the scene is pulling double-duty establishing the girly personality of lights younger sister siyou while also setting up the alias that L uses when he confronts light in the next episode Hideki Ryuga the star of the show that she's watching this is pretty brilliant since it's a background detail in this scene and it puts us in the same position as light in the next episode feeling like we've heard ELLs names somewhere before without immediately being able to place it it also explains why the normally reclusive L would pick that name to confront light but the TV show that the family is watching has even more significance than that firstly the way that the sound from it becomes tinny this brilliant transition from the home to Elle's monitors gives Elle's observations a cold detached vibe compared to the warm family atmosphere of the Yagami household this contrast in emotion is a big part of what makes this scene work going forward [Music] Elle tries to provoke a reaction from light by broadcasting a message about Interpol sending 1,500 investigators to catch Kira which doesn't faze him at all he reacts with detached disinterest calling Interpol stupid and musing that they must be trying to provoke Kira to this point Elle looks like he's just bored out of his mind but then light gets cocky as he's want to do and push his things a step further he says frankly how wouldn't be surprised if Kira sees right through this this gets Elle's attention he peers intently at the screen trying to get a read on lights expression from the low-res footage and he lets loose a bemused chuckle at this moment a quiet playfully pensive guitar track picks up in the background of the scene a musical cue often used for scenes of intrigue in the show on the surface this is an innocuous comment but if light is Kira it's exactly the kind of thing he'd say if he knew that cameras were on him and he wanted to taunt Elle the gears are now spinning as Elle constructs a profile of light in his head and matches it against his perception of Kira and what they know so far as light goes to get his chips from the one cabinet that's obviously meant to be animated his sister pokes fun at him for it an indication that it's odd for him to be eating chips this late he brushes it off with a reasonable explanation but it's a clue to us in the audience that this is abnormal and therefore notable it's also maybe a small clue to Elle looking inside the cupboard were given further hints that the chips are important not only are the chips that he grabs a different flavor from what the rest of the family normally eats they're also stuffed into the back of the cupboard clearly he didn't want them being eaten before he got to them the cut from the cabinet door closing to light locking the door to his room is pretty brilliant as it creates a logical connection in our minds between the actions and negates the need to show him walking upstairs and closing his door this is a strong edit as light walks into the room we see Rios splayed out on the bed shaking from exhaustion which is a great little character building moment when Rios says I guess you gonna get higher than they were God that tells us that searching this one little room may be the hardest that he's ever worked in his entire life this adds a bit of levity to what is otherwise a dry exposition scene setting up the rules of the confrontation between L and Kira his goofy exaggerated pained expressions also work to this effect the way that light talks to him without actually talking to him is also quite clever after pretending to study for a moment L rips open his bag of chips and the most exaggerated and over-the-top way imaginable then peers into it to see something hidden in its depths I mean he's probably actually just opening it normally but the fast camerawork and editing turns the mundane action into one of the most dynamic explosive movements in animation history dynamic camera movement like this is a signature of stylistic flourish for director Tetsuro Araki who also worked on high school of the dead guilty crown and attack on titan and this is some of his finest work from this moment the scene really ramps up in intensity light starts laughing maniacally as bass heavy dramatic music accompanied by a freakin gospel choir kicks up in the background signifying to us as an audience that [ __ ] just got real [Music] as the music builds white slowly reveals the details of his plan he needs to ensure that while he's being watched some criminals that he can't possibly know about are killed to give him an alibi he continues studying but we see him glancing out of the corner of his eye rather than looking directly at the paper this close-up on his eyes serves two purposes firstly it gives us a very raw and intense picture of how cold and driven he is in this moment totally focused on what he needs to do but it also sets up a bit of incongruity with the next shot we see the light off a screen reflected in his eye pretty clearly but cutting away reveals that his computer and TV are turned off this creates intrigue which is paid off once it's revealed what's in the bag and man do they ever go all out in building up to this the camera moves dramatically jumping from crazy sweeping shots too intense close-ups of his pen as he furiously scribbles his movements our onion skin creating a trail that makes everything feel like it's moving in slow motion and emphasizes the importance of certain actions when we finally zoom into the bag we see that light has a portable television and a piece of the death note taped inside it a pretty clever plan for getting some kills in while Elle is watching although one with a fatal flaw that we'll get to in a second light monologues to himself about the brilliance of his own plan leading up to that infamous line I'll take a potato chip as this is happening rheic goes into Apple withdrawal in the most needlessly and hilariously over-the-top manner possible giving the scene a certain comedic bent I've often heard this scene talked about as an example of unintentional hilarity in anime but I think Ryoka is a dead giveaway that it's anything but you could maybe convince me that the director was simply overzealous in trying to make the act of writing as exciting and serious as possible with over-the-top music and camerawork but when those elements are played against a big lip demon standing on his head and doing bicycle kicks for apples it becomes clear that what we're seeing is an intentional juxtaposition I mean in the split-screen montage that comes at the crescendo of this action Ryoga flailing body is literally used as a punchline the fact that light is taking this so seriously and that the scene is presenting something this silly and mundane so dramatically is the joke when you mean on this scene you are not in fact laughing at it you're laughing with it which is not to say that it can't simultaneously be tense and exciting those feelings are part of the fun alongside the comedy this contrast also informs us of the perspectives of el and light for light this is a dramatic life-or-death scenario it's beyond exciting and while his heart is probably racing he can't show even a hint of a reaction to all of the mounting tenshun 4l meanwhile it's a quiet thoughtful moment after all he's just sitting there watching a kids study on TV while his family gets ready for bed but we can tell that he's already suspecting something is off after all the tense music grows quiet as he asked detective Yagami about his son but it doesn't cut out entirely instead it builds to a final slow triumphant chant from the choir as light relaxes and continues to study as he waits for a criminal to die the music dies down as Elle gets the news from watery that two criminals have died just now which should prove likes innocence but only if you're looking exclusively at the facts as a detective Elle's real brilliance lies in getting into the heads of other people and figuring out why they do what they do he's good at poring over evidence but every break that he makes in the Kira investigation comes from observing the behavior of others or exploiting Kira's cockiness this is likes big slip-up in terms of evidence that would hold up in court he gives himself a rock-solid alibi here but in doing so he makes Kira act in a way that only really makes sense if he knows the police are on to him and he's trying to throw them off the trail which is consistent with light subtly taunting L early in the scene he does correct for this later by killing more petty criminals but the damage is already done at least subconsciously L is on to him likes more obviously suspicious behavior like putting a paper alarm in his door jamb doesn't raise ELLs eyebrows to him that's just normal teenager stuff it would be weird if light weren't hiding something from his parents the things that light does in his room that he thinks will divert suspicion digging through a hidden stash of dirty magazines and spending his whole night studying with no distractions don't add up not only is the magazine too pedestrian to justify rigging the door it doesn't make sense that the kind of kid who hides porn in encyclopedia cases would study for hours on end without procrastinating or doing something else add to the the fact that on this one night in particular Kyra just happens to change his entire modus operandi to kill two petty thieves who just happen to be on the news and it all seems a little too convenient he might create enough doubt that the cameras can't be justified anymore but in his haste and arrogance he cements himself as Elle's number-one suspect light thinks that he's playing checkers but Elle is playing like Harry Potter wizard chess this seam makes it clear at least if you're paying attention that L is much much smarter than light of course light does ultimately outsmart Elle in the end but only with a combination of luck outside help and straight-up magic light would tell you that it was all his own brilliance but then so would Baku go Death Note is really good at introducing plot turns that take the story in a new direction every few episodes or so but this is arguably one of the most decisive because of this one night Elle decides to confront light in college the very next episode obviously the main reason that we remember the potato-chip scene is because of just how insane it is but it wouldn't have had the impact that it did if it weren't so pivotal to the overall plot and so novel as far as anime conflicts go it embodies both the intense mind games and the unconventional over-the-top sense of fun that makes Death Note such a classic and it deserves to be remembered as more than just a mean though if the comments on my last video about heroic as third OPR anything to go by memes may actually be the highest form of culture that anime can aspire to reach so let me know in the comments below what other anime memes you'd like to see me pick apart on this channel and while you're down there I sure would appreciate it if you'd hit the subscribe and notification buttons to keep up to date on everything I make and if you want to support me even more directly consider pledging to my patreon at patreon.com slash mother's basement like the fine folks whose names you're seeing right now have done if you want to see me talk about madhouse some more than check out my rundown of their 10 best anime openings right here or click here for a great video from just write about death notes lightning fast highly story structure or you can click down here to subscribe to my second channel and my podcast where will soon be discussing the fall 2017 season and if this is the last you see of me today then I'm Jeff thew professional [ __ ] signing out from my mother's basement

Channel: Mother's Basement

Views: 3,480,441

Rating: 4.9129066 out of 5

Keywords: Mother's Basement, What's in a Scene?, Anime, Anime Analysis, scene analysis, Death Note, Light Yagami, L Death Note, chip, scene, death, note, potato, light, ryuk, potato chip, death note potato chip, yagami, potato chip scene, i'll take a potato chip, and, eat, it!, misa, funny, death note chip, hd, 1080p, death note potato chip scene, kira, shinigami, anime (tv genre), video essay, animation, Meme, Anime Meme, Death Note Meme

Id: eoHC_rfX50U

Length: 15min 58sec (958 seconds)

Published: Fri Oct 20 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/ambi94]

I think Nerdwriter had a video about how Death Note has more story beats than typical shows and that's why it's so fast paced. One of the most intense episodes (the whole Naomi Misora thing) is just two people walking down a street.

[u/808natsu]

One of my favorite anime analysts!