Death Note
"Death note" redirects here. For other uses, see Death Note
(disambiguation).
Death
Note
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デスノート
(Desu Nōto) |
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Genre
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Manga
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Written by
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Illustrated by
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Published by
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English publisher
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Demographic
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Magazine
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Original run
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December 2003 – May 2006
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Volumes
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12 (List of volumes)
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Novel
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Written by
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Published by
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English publisher
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Published
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August 1, 2006
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TV anime
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Directed by
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Written by
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Studio
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Licensed by
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Network
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English network
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Original run
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October 3, 2006 – June 26, 2007
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Episodes
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37 (List of episodes)
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Game
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Death
Note Kira's Game
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Konami
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CERO:
A
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Released
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Game
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Death
Note: Successor to L
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Konami
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Konami
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Action
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CERO: A
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Nintendo DS
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Released
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Anime
film
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Death
Note: Relight: Visions of a God
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Directed by
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Written by
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Studio
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Released
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August 31, 2007
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Runtime
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130 minutes
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Game
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L the
Prologue to Death Note: Spiraling Trap
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Konami
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Konami
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Action
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CERO: A
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Nintendo DS
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Released
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Anime
film
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Death
Note: Relight 2: L's Successors
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Directed by
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Written by
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Studio
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Released
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August 22, 2008
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Runtime
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100 minutes
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Novel
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Death
Note: L: Change the World
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Written by
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M
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Published by
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VIZ Media,LLC
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Published
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October 20, 2009
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Death Note (デスノート Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese manga
created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga
artist Takeshi Obata. The
main character is Light Yagami, a high
school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on
Earth by a shinigami (a god of death) named Ryuk. The Death
Note grants its user the ability to kill anyone whose name and face they know, by
writing the name in the notebook while picturing their face. The series centers
around Light's attempt to create and rule a world "cleansed of evil"
as "God" using the notebook, and the
efforts of a detective known as L to stop him.
Death Note was first serialized in 108 chapters by Shueisha in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. The
series was also published in tankōbon format in Japan
starting in May 2004 and ending in October 2006 with a total of twelve volumes.
The series was adapted into live-action films
released in Japan on June 17, 2006, November 3, 2006, and February 2, 2008. The
anime series aired in Japan from October 3, 2006,
to June 26, 2007. Composed of 37 episodes, the anime was developed by Madhouse and
directed by Tetsuro Araki. A light novel based on the series, written by Nisio Isin, was released in Japan. Additionally,
various video games have been published by Konami for Nintendo DS.
Viz Media licensed the Death Note manga in
North America and has published all the twelve volumes from the series, a 13th
volume which serves as a "reader's guide", as well as the light
novels. The episodes from the anime first appeared in North America as
downloadable by IGN. Viz later licensed the anime series and it
aired on Bionix. The live-action films briefly played in
certain North American theaters since 2008. However, none of the video games
titles have thus far been published in North America.
Contents
[hide]
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[edit] Plot
summary
See also: List of Death
Note characters
Light Yagami is an
intelligent young adult who resents crime and corruption in the world. His life
undergoes a drastic change when he discovers the Death Note, a notebook that
contains five written instructions:
·
The human whose name is written in this notebook will die.
·
This notebook will not take effect unless the writer has the
subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people
sharing the same name will not be affected.
·
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the
subject's name, it will happen.
·
If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die
of a heart attack.
·
After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should
be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
There are many other rules that are revealed as the story develops,
usually in the form of sequence breaks in between scenes. After several
experiments with the Death Note, Light realises the notebook's authenticity and
encounters the previous owner, a shinigami
called Ryuk. Light
explains to Ryuk his plan of exterminating all the criminals in the world.
Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of criminals catches the attention of
the International Police Organization and the world-famous
detective, "L". L
quickly learns that the serial killer, publicly known as "Kira" (キラ?, derived from the Japanese
pronunciation of the word "killer"), is located in Japan and
can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realises that L will be
his greatest nemesis, and begins a cat and mouse game
with L.
Light attempts to create an alibi by helping L and his investigate
team track down Kira. His plan is impeded by a second Kira, famous model Misa Amane, and her shinigami Rem. Misa
and Light meet and work together; they are increasingly suspected by L. To save
themselves from execution, Misa and Light temporarily relinquish control of
their Death Notes—erasing their memories of the shinigami and the
notebooks—and are placed under constant surveillance by L.
During their detention, a third Kira under the employ of the Yotsuba Group
appears. Light and Misa are freed when it becomes apparent that they are not
responsible for the murders of Yotsuba's rivals. The investigative team
infiltrate Yotsuba and discover the third Kira is Yotsuba member Kyosuke
Higuchi and attempt to capture him. Upon Higuchi's capture, Light regains the
Death Note "just as [he] planned" and kills Higuchi. He completes his
complex plan by manipulating Rem into killing L. Light becomes the "new
L" upon L's death, and continues a charade of searching for Kira.
The narrative continues four years later, with Kira attracting a
large network of contacts and a swell of public support. Two children, Near and Mello, raised by
L's former guardian Watari to follow L's legacy, serve as antagonists to Light:
Near as an independent detective; and Mello as a member of the Mafia. Mello's
first action to oppose Kira is to kidnap the director of the NPA, and after his
murder, Light's sister Sayu, to use as a bargaining chip to obtain the Death
Note. Light's Task Force recapture Sayu and learn Mello's real name after
Light's father Soichiro trades half of his remaining life for the ability to
discover anyone's names, but Soichiro later dies of gunshot wounds.
Concurrently, Near and several members of the Task Force begin to
suspect Light of being Kira. In response, Light persuades Misa to give up her
Death Note and raises another Kira, Teru Mikami, a prosecutor and fervent
supporter of Kira. Mikami kills Kira's former spokesman for being greedy and
recruits Kiyomi Takada, a newscaster and Light's former girlfriend, to replace
him. Mello returns and kidnaps Kiyomi, who manages to kill Mello with a hidden
Death Note piece. Light then makes Kiyomi commit suicide to prevent her from
implicating him, but Mikami, unaware of Light's actions, attempts to kill her
with his own Death Note. Near reveals that Mikami's notebook is a fake, and is
therefore able to prove Light is Kira. In desperation, Light tries to use the
last Death Note piece in his watch to kill the rest of the Task Force, but
Matsuda shoots him repeatedly. On the verge of dying, Light begs Mikami to
write their names in his own Death Note, however Mikami commits suicide by
inflicting a wound to himself. Realizing Light has lost, Ryuk uses his Death
Note to kill Light with a heart attack, which is a part of the agreement of the
Shinigami with the first person who uses the death note.
[edit] Production
The Death Note concept derived from a rather general concept
involving Shinigami and "specific rules."[1] Tsugumi Ohba wanted to create a
suspense series because he did not feel that he could have created a
fight-style series and that the genre had few suspense series. After
publication of the pilot chapter the series was not expected to be approved as
a serialized comic by the author who did not consider it to "fit with Jump."
Ohba said that when he learned that Death Note received approval and
that Takeshi Obata would create the artwork he "couldn't even believe
it."[2] Due to positive reactions, Death
Note became a serialized manga series.[3]
"Thumbnails" were created incorporating dialog, panel
layout, and basic drawings, and were sent to the illustrator. The editor
reviewed the thumbnails and sent them to the illustrator (Obata) with the
script set in stone and the panel layout "mostly done." Obata then
determined the expressions and "camera angles" and created the final
artwork. Ohba concentrated on the tempo and the amount of dialogue, making sure
that the text was as concise as possible. Ohba commented that he believed
"reading too much exposition" would be tiring and would negatively
affect the atmosphere and "air of suspense." Significant artistic
license was given to the illustrator who worked on basic descriptions, such as
"abandoned building",[4] and this extended to the design of the
Death Notes with Obata possessing free rein. Obata originally thought of the
books as "'Bible-like'...something you would automatically
think was a Death Note." He also felt this design would seem
"difficult to use" and instead opted for an easy-to-use college
notebook. At a later point the concept of Death Notes looking different from
one another, depending on the human era (such as Death Notes in ancient Japan
looking like scrolls and Death Notes in medieval Europe looking like The Old Testament) was conceived.[5]
When Ohba decided on the plot he internally visualized the panels
while being on his bed, drinking tea, or walking around his house, needing to
feel relaxed while visualizing the panels. On many occasions the original draft
was too long and needed to be refined various times before the desired "tempo"
and "flow" for the chapter was finalised. The writer remarked on his
preference for reading the previous "two or four" chapters carefully
to ensure consistency in the story.[1]
The typical weekly production schedule consisted of five days for
creating and thinking and one day using pencil to insert dialogue into rough
drafts; after this point the writer faxed any initial drafts to the editor. The
illustrator's weekly production schedule involved one day with the thumbnails,
layout, and pencils and one day with additional penciling and inking. Obata's
assistants usually worked for four days and Obata spent one day to finish it.
Obata said that sometimes he took a few extra days to color pages and that this
"messed with the schedule." In contrast, the writer took three or
four days to create a chapter on some occasions, while on others he took a
month. Obata said that his schedule remained consistent except when he had to
create color pages.[6]
Ohba and Obata rarely met in person during the creation of the
serialized manga; instead the two met with the editor. The first time they met
in person was at an editorial party in January 2004. Obata said that, despite
the intrigue, he did not ask his editor about Ohba's plot developments as he
anticipated the new thumbnails every week.[2] The two did not discuss the final
chapters with one another and they continued to talk with the editor. Ohba said
that when he asked the editor if Obata had "said anything" about the
story and plot the editor responded '"No, nothing" [laughs].'[4]
Ohba claims that the series ended more or less in the manner that
he intended for it to end; he considered the idea of L defeating Light Yagami with Light dying but
instead chose to use the "Yellow Box warehouse" ending. According to
Ohba the details had been set "from the beginning."[3] The writer wanted an ongoing plot line
instead of an episodic series because Death Note was serialized and its
focus was intended to be on a cast with a series of events triggered by the
Death Note.[7] 13: How to Read states that the
humorous aspects of Death Note originated from Ohba's "enjoyment of
humorous stories."[8]
Ohba said that a theme that he wished to express throughout the
series was that, "no human has the right to pass judgement on another's
actions. No one should play god." He said that he intended Death Note
to push an ideology about good and evil, and that Near's statement in Volume 12
about deciding right and wrong came about from his own personal belief.
When the writer was asked, during an interview, whether the series
was meant to be about enjoying the plot twists and psychological warfare, Ohba
responded by saying that this concept was the reason why he was "very
happy" to place the story in Weekly Shōnen Jump.
Ohba was also asked what he considered the most important thing in Death
Note, and he responded by saying, "the human whose name is written in
this note shall die"; in contrast, Obata responded to the same question by
answering "impossible to say."[6]
[edit] Pilot
chapter
The Death Note process began when Ohba brought thumbnails
for two concept ideas to Shueisha; Ohba said that the
Death Note pilot, one of the concepts, was "received well" by
editors and attained positive reactions by readers.[3] Ohba described keeping the story of the
pilot to one chapter as "very difficult" and he said that he
remembered it took over a month to begin writing the chapter. He added that the
story had to revive the killed characters with the Death Eraser and that he
"didn't really care" for that plot device.[9]
Obata said that he wanted to draw the story after he heard of a
"horror story featuring Shinigami."[2] According to Obata, when he first
received the rough draft created by Ohba, he "didn't really get it"
at first and he wanted to work on the project due to the presence of Shinigami
and because the work "was dark."[9] He also said he wondered about the
progression of the plot as he read the thumbnails, and if Jump readers
would enjoy reading the comic. Obata said that while there is little action and
the main character "doesn't really drive the plot" he enjoyed the
atmosphere of the story. He stated that he drew the pilot chapter so that it
would appeal to himself.[9]
Ohba brought the rough draft of the pilot chapter to the editorial
department. Obata came into the picture at a later point to create the artwork.
They did not meet in person while creating the pilot chapter. Ohba said that
the editor told him he did not need to meet with Obata to discuss the pilot;
Ohba said "I think it worked out all right."[2]
[edit] Adaptation
Tetsuro Araki, the director, said that he wished to convey aspects
that "made the series interesting" instead of simply "focusing
on morals or the concept of justice." Toshiki Inoue, the series organizer,
agreed with Araki and added that, in anime adaptations, there is a lot of
importance in highlighting the aspects that are "interesting in the
original." He concluded that Light's presence was "the most
compelling" aspect; therefore the adaptation chronicles Light's
"thoughts and actions as much as possible." Inoue noted that, to best
incorporate the manga's plot into the anime, he "tweak[ed] the chronology
a bit" and incorporated flashbacks that appear after the openings of the
episodes; he said this revealed the desired tensions. Araki said that, because
in an anime the viewer cannot "turn back pages" in the manner that a
comic reader can, the anime staff ensured that the show clarified details.
Inoue added that the staff did not want to get involved with every single
detail, so the staff selected elements to emphasize. Due to the complexity of
the original manga, he described the process as "definitely delicate and a
great challenge." Inoue admitted that he placed more instructions and
notes in the script than usual. Araki added that because of the importance of
otherwise trivial details, the notes became crucial to the development of the
series.[10]
Araki said that when he discovered the Death Note anime
project he "literally begged" to join the production team; when he
joined he insisted that Inoue should write the scripts. Inoue added that, because
he enjoyed reading the original comic, he wished to use his effort.[10]
[edit] Media
[edit] Manga
Main article: List of Death Note
chapters
The Death Note manga series was first serialized in the
Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump published by Shueisha in December 2003. The series has since
ended in Japan with a total of 108 chapters. Later, the individual chapters
were collected into twelve separate tankōbon. In April from 2005 Death Note was
licensed for publication in North America by Viz Media,[11] and the first English-language volume was released on October
10, 2005.[12] In February 2008, a one-shot special
was released. Set two years after the manga's epilogue, it sees the
introduction of a new Kira and the reactions of the main characters in response
to the copycat's appearance.[13] Several Death Note yonkoma (four-panel comics) appeared in Akamaru Jump. The yonkoma were written to be
humorous. The Akamaru Jump issues that printed the comics include 2004
Spring, 2004 Summer, 2005 Winter, and 2005 Spring. In addition Weekly Shōnen Jump Gag Special 2005 included some Death
Note yonkoma in a Jump Heroes Super 4-Panel Competition.[9]
In addition, a guidebook for the manga was also released on October
13, 2006. It was named Death Note 13: How to Read and contained data
relating to the series, including character profiles of almost every character
that is named, creator interviews, behind the scenes info for the series and
the pilot chapter that preceded Death Note. It also reprinted all of the
yonkoma serialized in Akamaru Jump and the Weekly Shōnen Jump Gag Special 2005.[14][15] Its first edition could be purchased
with a Death Note themed diorama which includes five finger puppets inspired by
Near's toys. The five finger puppets are Kira, L, Misa, Mello, and Near. In North
America, 13: How to Read was released on February 19, 2008.[16] As of February 2011, the manga is
being re-released in omnibus format, dubbed "Black Edition".[17][18]
[edit]
Live-action films
Main article: Death Note (film)
Death Note was adapted into a series of live-action films
in 2006. The first 2 films were directed by Shūsuke Kaneko and the third
was by Hideo Nakata and produced by Nippon Television, CG production of all three
films were done by Digital Frontier
and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Japan. The first film, simply titled Death Note,
premiered in Japan on June 17, 2006 and topped the Japanese box office for two weeks, pushing The Da Vinci Code
into second place.[19] The first movie briefly played in
certain North American theaters on May 20–21, 2008[20] The film was broadcast in Canadian
theaters for one night only on September 15, 2008. The DVD was released on
September 16, 2008, one day after the Canadian showing.[21] The sequel, Death Note: The Last
Name, premiered in Japan on November 3, 2006.[22] It was featured in U.S. theaters in
October 2008.[23] A spinoff from the films named L: Change the World
was released in Japan on February 9, 2008. It is focused on the final 23 days
of L's life, as he solves one final case involving a bio-terrorist group.[24] Two dubbed versions of the film were
shown in the United States on April 29 and 30, 2009.[25]
[edit]
United States remake
Death Note has been optioned for a live-action Hollywood
remake. A 2007 article in The Star (Malaysia) states that more than ten film
companies in the United States expressed interest in creating a remake. On
April 30, 2009, Variety magazine announced that Warner Bros. acquired the rights for the Death
Note manga to be adapted into a live-action movie in the United States.
Warner Bros. has hired screenwriters Charley and Vlas
Parlapanides to adapt the manga into a screenplay. Unlike the
Japanese Death Note live-action movie trilogy, the US-version will be
directly adapted from the material in the manga and will not follow the
storyline of the Japanese movie adaptations.[26] On January 13, 2011, it was announced
that Shane Black, the director of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,
has been hired to direct the film, with the script being written by Anthony
Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry.[27][28] Warner's studios planned to change the
background story of Yagami, into one of vengeance instead of justice, and also
the removal of Shinigami. But Black opposed this change and has not been under
the green-light.[29]
[edit] Soundtracks
Main article: Death Note
original soundtracks
Cover of the live-action film soundtrack Sound of Death Note
featuring Tatsuya Fujiwara
(left) as Light Yagami and Kenichi Matsuyama (right) as L.
There have been several soundtracks released for this series, such
as the ones for the film adaptations and also for the anime adaptation. Sound
of Death Note is a soundtrack featuring music from the first Death Note
film composed and arranged by Kenji Kawai. It was
released on June 17, 2006 by VAP.[30] Sound of Death Note the Last name
is the soundtrack from the second Death Note film, Death Note the
Last name. It was released on November 2, 2006.[31] Death Note Tribute is a tribute
album dedicated to the live action movie for
the Death Note film. Published by BMG Japan on June 21, 2006 Japan, it contains 15
tracks performed by various artists, such as Shikao Suga, M-Flo,
Buck-Tick and Aya Matsuura. The soundtrack came with a cosplay Death Note notebook.[32] Another tribute album is The Songs
for Death Note the movie〜the Last name Tribute dedicated to the second film. Published by Sony Music
Entertainment Japan on December 20, 2006, it contains 14 tracks
performed by various artist, such as Orange Range, abingdon boys school,
High and Mighty Color,
Doping Panda and Galneryus.[33]
The music from the anime was composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, while the CDs were also
published by VAP. The first one was Death Note Original Soundtrack, which
was released in Japan on December 21, 2006. It contains music from the series
with the first opening and ending themes sung by the Japanese band Nightmare
in the TV size format.[34] Death Note Original Soundtrack II
was first released in Japan on March 21, 2007. It features the new opening and
closing themes by Maximum the Hormone
in the TV size format.[35] The third CD, Death Note Original
Soundtrack III was released on June 27, 2007. The tracks 1-21 were composed
and arranged by Taniuchi, while the tracks 22-28 were composed and arranged by
Hirano. The album features one track sung by Aya Hirano, who was also the Japanese voice
actress of Misa Amane in the anime series. Also appearing on
this soundtrack is the ending theme Coda〜Death Note, which can be heard at the
end of the final episode of the anime as the credits are shown.[36]
[edit] Light
novels
A light novel adaptation
of the series has been written by Nisio Isin, called Death Note Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases.
The novel was released by Shueisha on August 1, 2006.[37][38] It serves as a prequel to the manga
series, with Mello narrating the story of L's first encounter with Naomi Misora
during the Los Angeles "BB Serial Murder Case" mentioned in volume 2
of the manga. Beside Naomi's character, the novel focuses on how L works and
one of the criminals L has to chase down. Insight was given into Watari's orphanage
and how the whole system of geniuses such as L, Mello, Beyond Birthday, Matt
and Near were put to work. Viz released the novel in English on February 19,
2008.[39] The film L: Change the World
was also adapted into a light novel with the same name on December 25, 2007 by
"M",[40] While the novel is similar to the
movie, there are many significant changes to the plot (for example, Near is not
a Thai boy, but the same Near that appears in the manga). It also reveals more
information about L and his past. Viz released it on October 20, 2009.[41]
[edit] Anime
Main article: List of Death Note
episodes
The Death Note anime, directed by Tetsurō Araki and animated by Madhouse, began
airing in Japan on October 3, 2006, and finished its run on June 26, 2007,
totaling 37 twenty-minute episodes.[42] It begins in the year 2006, instead of
2003. The series aired on the Nippon Television network "every Tuesday at
23:34".[43] The series was co-produced by
Madhouse, Nippon Television, Shueisha, D.N.
Dream Partners and VAP.[44]
In North America, the series has been licensed by Viz for residents
in the United States to use "Download-to-Own" and
"Download-to-Rent" services while it was still airing in Japan. This
move is seen as "significant because it marks the first time a well known
Japanese anime property will be made legally available to domestic audiences
for download to own while the title still airs on Japanese television."[45] The downloadable episodes contain the
original Japanese audio track and English subtitles,[46] and is available through IGN's
Windows-only
Direct2Drive service.[47] DVDs of the series are also being
released,[46] containing both an English dubbed
audio track, produced by Ocean Productions, and the original Japanese
audio track with optional English subtitles.[48] Viz announced at Anime Expo 2007 that the first DVD was officially
released on November 20, 2007, in both regular and special editions,[49] and also confirmed at Comic-Con
International 2007 that the first 15,000 copies of each DVD contains
collectible figures.[50]
Death Note was slated to make its North American television
premiere in Canada on YTV's Bionix programming block on September 7, 2007;[51] however, the show was removed from the
schedule at the last minute.[52] The Canadian premiere was pushed back
to October 26, 2007, at 10:00 p.m., when it finally premiered. Death Note
premiered in the U.S. on October 20, 2007, at 11:30 p.m. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim,[53] until January 10, 2010, when the
contract expired.[54] The last episode aired on Canada's YTV
channel on July 4, 2008, and on Adult Swim two days later. YTV took away the show
on July 5, 2008, with the last airing being the last episode rerun at 1:30 a.m.
ET, as part of
YTV moving the Bionix block to a 2-hour only block on Saturdays.[55] The show also streamed online for free
on Adult Swim Video, with a new episode available every Saturday afternoon, on
the day of its broadcast premiere.[56]
A two-hour animated Death Note Rewrite: Visions of a God' (DEATH
NOTEリライト·幻視する神 Desu Nōto Riraito: Genshisuru kami?) TV special aired on Nippon
Television in Japan on August 31, 2007, at 8:00 p.m. It is a recap which takes
place after the series end, where a Shinigami approaches Ryuk in the Shinigami
realm in order to learn more about the human world. Instead, Ryuk tells him of
all the events leading up to the last story arc, about Light Yagami and his
rival L. Originally, this special was advertised as a retelling told from
Ryuk's point of view, but it does not give a different point of view from what
was originally told. However, it contains updated dialog, as well as a few new
scenes.[57]
The Japanese broadcaster NTV aired the Death Note: Rewrite: L's
Successors (Death Note Rewrite: L o Tsugu Mono) special on August
22, 2008. Like the first special, this new compilation summarized a part of the
2006–2007 television anime series. Specifically, it recounted the final half of
the suspenseful supernatural story, including the investigators Near and
Mello's confrontations with the vigilante Kira.[58] This version features more updates
than the previous one, most notably omission of the mafia plot.
[edit] Video
games
A Death Note video game developed and published by Konami for the Nintendo DS, titled Death Note Kira Game (デスノート キラゲーム Desu Nōto Kira Gēmu?), was released on February
15, 2007.[59] Kira Game is a strategy game
where the player takes on the role of Kira or L. These are just titles, as any
character can be Kira or L. The player will attempt to deduce who their enemy
is (Kira will try to uncover L's identity and vice versa). This will play out
in 3 phases: Investigation, where the player will discuss the case and clues
with other characters; Voting, where each member of the investigation team
casts a vote on who they suspect is L or Kira based on the player's performance
in the previous phase; L/Kira, where the player can either focus their
investigation on one member to see if they are Kira (L part) or force a member
off of the team (Kira part).[60] A sequel to the game, Death Note L
o Tsugumono (デスノート Lを継ぐ者 Desu Nōto Eru o Tsugu Mono?, literally "Death
Note: Successors to L"), was released in Japan on July 12, 2007. The
storyline is based on the second part of the manga, featuring characters such
as Mello and Near.[60]
A third game, L the Prologue to Death Note -Rasen no Trap- (L
the proLogue to DEATH NOTE -螺旋の罠- L the proLogue to DEATH
NOTE -Rasen no Torappu-?, literally "L the
Prologue to Death Note: Spiraling Trap"), was released for the
Nintendo DS in Japan on February 7, 2008.[60][61] The player assumes the role of a
rookie FBI agent who awakens in a strange hotel and attempts to escape with the
help of L, who provides assistance via an in-game PDA. The story is set before
the Kira investigation in the original series.[61]
Several characters from Death Note appear in Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars,
a fighting game featuring a plethora of characters
from Shōnen Jump titles. Light, Ryuk and L appear in Jump
Super Stars as support characters. In Jump Ultimate Stars Misa,
Near, and Mello are added as support characters as well.[62][63]
[edit] Reception
As of June 2006, Death Note had sold around twenty million
copies in Japan.[64] On December 31, 2008, Comipress
reported that the twelve volumes from the series had sold 26,500,000 copies.[65] It was also nominated for Best Manga
at the 2006 American Anime Awards
but lost.[66][67] In 2007, the first three volumes of Death
Note were on the American Library
Association's 2007 Great Graphic Novels for Teens Top Ten list.[68] On ICv2's "Top 10 Shonen
Properties Q2 2009", Death Note was the third best manga property
from North America.[69] During January from 2007, Oricon made a poll in which they asked Japanese fans from
manga and anime which characters from any series they would most like to see in
spinoff series. The overall winner from the poll was L, who also ranked first
in the women's poll and second in the men's poll.[70]
Various publications for several types of media have commented on
the Death Note manga, adding praise and criticism. Anime News Network
(ANN) writer Zac Bertschy noted that the difference between Death Note
and other manga from the same genre was very big due to the murders the main
character (Light Yagami) commits
as well as how he hides his identity of Kira. Although Bertchy mentioned some
readers from other shōnen would be surprised with the
dark themes of Death Note, he praised the series for its "great
art, great story, compelling characters."[71] Julie Rosato from Mania Entertainment
found the story to be very entertaining, having liked Light's development in
the story and L's introduction as well as how the latter starts suspecting of
the former's identity. Additionally, he praised the story as it is
"building a climax" with each detail introduced in the first chapter,
making the reader to look forward to upcoming chapters.[72] Briana Lawrence from ANN liked the
series' ending as most of the characters from the story were "given a
chance to shine" and due to the fact the notebook and other aspects from
the series had little importance in the focus of Death Note and now they
play a more important part. However, she did not like how the epilogue made no
mention of what happens with Misa Amane and how Near
and Mello were still treated like parts of L.[73] Shūsuke Kaneko, director
of the first 2 film versions of the series, said that the manga series
"barely touches" pain felt by the Death Note's victims, so he decided
to use a different focus with the film series.[74]
Douglas Wolk of Salon said
that a rumor circulated stating that the creators intended to create Death
Note to last half as long as its actual run & Ohba and Obata had been
persuaded to lengthen the storyline when Death Note's popularity
increased, noting that the rumor "makes sense, since about halfway through
the series, there's a point that seems like a natural ending". In addition
he said that fans wrote "thousands" of Death Note fan fiction stories and posted them on the
internet.[75] Carl Kimlinger, in Protoculture Addicts,
called Death Note "morally repellent" and said it
"presents a worldview that is both shallow and repulsively
misanthropic."[76]
The anime was also commented with Tom S. Pepirium of IGN saying
that Death Note's "heavy serialized nature" is what
"makes the show so engaging and discussion worthy."[77] Pepirium, saying that translating Death
Note is "no small task," said that Stephen Hedley created a dub
with "nothing clunky." Pepirium added that Karl Willems, director of
the dub, assembled a "stunning voice cast of professionals" with a
"solid tone minus some of the cheesy yelling and screaming of other
dubs."[78] John Powers of the NPR
show Fresh Air finds the show
"addicting" and equates its similarity to the American TV series Lost.[79] It was also listed as the 51st best
animated show in IGN's Top 100 Animated Series.[80]
"Running over
thirty-seven 20 minutes episodes, the anime sticks much closer to the manga so
takes a far more languid approach to storytelling, better fleshing out the
fantastic characters of Light and his nemesis, L. Light in particular is one of
the most layered characters to appear in anime in a long time. -Hyper[81]
The novelization L: Change the World became the second top
selling light novel in Japan during 2008.[82] A.E. Sparrow of IGN reviewed the novel
Another Note and gave it a 9.5 out of 10. Sparrow said that the author
understood "what made these characters click so well" and
"captures everything that made the manga the compelling read that it
is." Sparrow said that fans of Death Note who read Another Note
will "find a welcome home" in the Nisio Isin's work that "adds a
few more fun layers" to the Death Note franchise.[83]
[edit] Banning by People's Republic of China
Early in 2005, school officials in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province (People's Republic of China),
banned Death Note.[84] The immediate cause was that students
had been altering notebooks to resemble Death Notes and then writing the names
of acquaintances, enemies, and teachers in the books.[85][86] The ban was designed to protect the
"physical and mental health"[87] of students from horror material that
"misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit."[88] Jonathan Clements has suggested that the Chinese
authorities acted partly against "superstition" but also against
illegal, pirate publishers of Death Note.[89] The ban has been extended to other
Chinese cities including Beijing,[87][90] Shanghai and Lanzhou in Gansu
Province.[91] Legally published Chinese language
versions of Death Note are published in Hong Kong and in Taiwan.[89]
[edit]
Copycat crimes and imitations
A Death Note
There have been various copycat crimes around the world which were based
on Death Note. On September 28, 2007, two notes written with Latin characters stating "Watashi wa Kira
dess", [sic] or "I am Kira" (私はキラです watashi wa Kira desu?)[92] were found near the remains of a Caucasian male in Belgium. The case has been
called the "Mangamoord"
(Dutch for Manga Murder) in Belgian media. Nothing was found on or near
the victim besides these two notes.[93]
A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia,
United States was suspended after being caught possessing a replica "Death
Note" notebook with the names of fellow students.[94]
In South Carolina, U.S.
in 2008, school officials seized a "Death Note" notebook from a
Hartsville Middle School student. District officials linked the notebook to the
anime/manga. The notebook listed seven students' names. The school planned a
disciplinary hearing and contacted the seven students' parents.[95]
In Gadsden, Alabama,
U.S. two sixth grade boys were arrested for possessions of "Death
Notes" that listed names of several staff members and fellow students. According
to Etowah County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Lanny Handy, the notebook was found
the previous afternoon by a staffer. The students were suspended from the
county's schools. The students, their parents, and school officials had met
with Handy and a junior probation officer.[96]
In Gig Harbor, Washington,
U.S. one middle school student was expelled and three were suspended on May 14,
2008 for having their own "Death Note" books.[97]
