Justus-von-Liebig-Schule GöppingenSozialwissenschaftliches GymnasiumFach: EnglischBeurteilende Lehrkraft: Frau Zenn

Death Note

Franziska FezerSG 1/1Schuljahr 2011/2012Leistungsnachweis Nr. 1Abgabetermin: 15. Februar 2012

Contents

1. Development

2. Plot

2.1. Chapter 1 - 58

2.2. Chapter 58 – 108

3. Characters

3.1. Main characters

3.1.1. Light Yagami

3.1.2. L/Ryuzaki/Hideki Ryuga

3.1.3. Misa Amane

3.1.4. Near

3.1.5. Mello

3.2. Supporting characters (the most important ones)

3.2.1. Soichiro Yagami

3.2.2. Watari/Wammy

3.2.3. Touta Matsuda

3.2.4. Kiyomi Takada

3.2.5. Kyosuke Higuchi

3.2.6. Teru Mikami

3.2.7. Raye Penber

4. The authors

4.1. Tsugumi Ohba

4.2. Takeshi Obata

5. International

5.1. Good or evil?

5.2. The case of the manga murderer

5.3. Fans

6. Variants

6.1. Manga

6.2. Anime series

6.3. Movies

6.4. Novels

7. Pictures

8. List of sources

8.1 Internet

8.2. Books

8.3. Pictures

1. Development

In 2003, Tsugumi Ohba wanted to create a manga series which should include Shinigami (Ja-

panese: 死神, „god of death“, a part of the Japanese mythology ) and some kind of special

rules which had to do with these creatures. Ohba was sure that he would not be able to create

a fight-style series because this genre was not famous for its successful works. He created the

pilot chapter of Death Note – which was, as Ohba mentioned, very hard to write – and re-

leased it in “Shounen Jump”, the most famous manga magazine in Japan, powered by

Shueisha (publisher). Because of the positive reactions, Death Note became a manga series

and it is said that Ohba couldn’t believe it when he learned that Takeshi Obata would do the

artwork. Takeshi Obata had already become famous with his artworks for Hikaru no Go.

Though Obata and Ohba rarely met in person, Death Note developed quickly and both authors

worked hard on their tasks. There were days when Ohba didn’t eat or sleep much because he

had to finish every chapter on time. Obata didn’t even ask about the plot which Ohba had cre-

ated, he just did his work and just talked with the editor about the specific details. Ohba and

Obata first met at an editorial party in January 2004.

Ohba’s wish was to bring a message to the readers. He said: “No human has the right to pass

judgement on another’s actions. No one should play god.” Death Note should show “an ideol-

ogy about good and evil”. He also brought his own opinion about it into the manga.

Takeshi Obata created Light Yagami as a handsome, intelligent young man and thought that

he had to create L the same way, but then he decided to create L’s appearance completely

different.

2. Plot

2.1. Chapter 1 – 58

The story begins in 2006 in the world of the Shinigami. Some of the Shinigami sit together

and play cards, when one of them, Ryuk, starts to talk about the loss of one of his Death

Note’s in the human world. A long time ago, Ryuk had stolen a second Death Note from the

Shinigami King. Just because he still owns a Death Note he doesn’t die. Ryuk decides to look

for his lost Death Note in the human world and leaves.

The young and brilliant seventeen-year-old student Light Yagami stares out of the window at

school when he recognizes a notebook lying on the floor outside. After the lesson he goes

outside and takes the notebook with the title called “Death Note” with himself at home. At

first he doesn’t believe in what’s written in the Death Note and puts it aside, but then he de-

cides to try it, following the rules which are written in the Death Note. He writes the name of

a criminal into the Death Note and his victim dies forty seconds later. Light realizes that the

notebook is rea, is overwhelmed by it and writes more and more names of criminals down.

They all die by heart attacks.

After a few days, Ryuk appears in Light’s bedroom. Ryuk was the previous owner of the

Death Note and at the moment the Death Note touched the human earth it became a part of

the human world. Because Light took the Death Note he became his only owner. According to

the rules of the Death Note, Ryuk has to stay with Light until he dies or until he rejects the

Death Note. Ryuk is impressed by the unscrupulousness of Light, who has written hundreds

of names into the notebook. Light asks Ryuk why he had chosen him and Ryuk answers that

he never chooses any human. He was just bored. Light is obsessed by the idea of becoming

the god of a new world without criminals and starts killing.

After a while the whole world realizes that all these deaths are not normal anymore. Espe-

cially the inhabitants of Japan start to split up in two parts. The one part celebrates and sup-

ports the secret God who kills the bad people and gives him the name “Kira”, which is a

derivation from the English word “killer”. The other part judges Kira as a murderer and wants

the government to fight against the unknown one. In the meantime, Lights father, Soichiro

Yagami (who is a police officer), is entrusted with the Kira case. He leads the Kira investiga-

tion team together with Touta Matsuda and some others. Because they have no idea how to

fight against the unknown enemy they decide to ask L for help. L is the most famous detective

in the world who has closed every case the governments of the world gave him. L demands

that he wants to work how he wants it and realizes that Kira needs the faces of his victims to

kill. Because of this very important realization many members of the special investigation

leave the team, afraid of a possible death. Just a few members stay with L and his mentor

Watari, an old man.

Light knows that his father leads the investigation team of the Kira case and starts using infor-

mation from the police server, knowing that L could became his worst enemy. L realizes that

Kira is using information from the police server and starts to keep a watch on the family

members who belong to the police officers. All FBI agents who had kept a watch on these

people get killed by Kira and L starts to suspect Light because of his brilliance, lifestyle and

character. To kill the FBI agent who follows him, Light develops a detailed plan and uses the

FBI agent Raye Penber as his victim. Raye gets manipulated by Light’s Death Note and is

forced to write the names of his colleagues on some pages from the Death Note down in the

subway of Tokyo, unknowing what he is doing. His fiancée Naomi Misora, follows him into

the subway and watches him writing the names on some papers, while Light is watching him

from another wagon. Raye Penber dies three seconds after he left the wagon. Naomi Misora

gets recognized by Light, which ends fatal for her. Being an FBI agent, Naomi determines on

her own and is on the best way to prove that Light is Kira, but Light stops her by using his

Death Note and Naomi is forced to commit suicide.

L decides to meet Light Yagami by using the pseudonym Ryuzaki to protect himself. Light

convinces L and the others to work with him against Kira. Light is confident that he is going

to uncover L’s true identity by working with him.

The young singer and actress Misa Amane finds another Death Note and discovers how Kira

is able to kill. She fell in love with Kira after he had killed the murderer of her parents and

starts to kill with her Death Note, trying to contact Kira this way. Light is horrified by the way

how the second Kira kills. She sends encrypted video messages to Sakura TV, which include

words which can only be understood by Kira, like “Shinigami eyes” and “notebook”. Misa

orders Light to a place in Tokyo where they would show each other their notebooks. Light

and Matsuda decide to follow the demands of the second Kira. They meet with some of Lights

friends and start shopping. Light is sure that the second Kira will not be able to assign Ryuk,

who is always following Light, to him. In the meantime, Misa sits in a café and watches the

people passing by. When she sees Light and his friends, she is not able to see Ryuk, but she

recognizes that Light is the owner of the Death Note, because she is not able to see his re-

maining lifetime above his head. After she had found her Death Note, she had made a deal

with her Shinigami Rem. Rem, one of the rare female Shinigami, got the half of Misa’s life-

time and Misa got the ability to see like a Shinigami. Shinigamis are able to see the names and

the remaining lifetime of their victims. Due to the fact that she’s not able to see Light’s re-

maining lifetime, she identifies him as Kira and follows him home, where she shows him her

Death Note and tells him her story. Light realizes that Misa could be a great help and decides

to bring her under his control by taking her Death Note. But Misa is still the owner of the

Death Note and Rem has to stay with her. But Light has to follow Misa’s demand of becom-

ing her boyfriend, although he has no feelings for her. He tells her that if she would do any-

thing he wants he would love her forever. Misa consents happily.

Due to the fact that Misa got the Shinigami eyes, Light wants her to find out L’s true identity,

which is the only way to end him. But L realizes that there’s a second Kira and suspects the

people around Light, including Misa, who insists to have some dates with Light. The only

way for Light to escape L is to take his and Misa’s memories by returning the Death Notes.

When Light and Misa get arrested by the special investigation members, they have lost all

memories which include the Death Note and everything which has to do with these. But Light

has made a plan before he returned his Death Note back to Ryuk.

L is sure that he had caught both Kiras by arresting Light and Misa, but he is not able to prove

that. The murders continue although Light and Misa are arrested and monitored 24 hours a

day. Before Light had returned his and Misa’s Death Note, he had buried Misa’s Death Note

in the forest and asked Rem to give his Death Note to someone without scruple. Before he had

buried and returned his Death Note back into Ryuks’ ownership, he had written hundreds of

criminals in the Death Note who should die a few days after he would get arrested. Ryuk con-

vinced Rem to trust Light by telling her that he had never seen any human before who would

plan things that exactly like Light.

L has to set free Light and Misa who still have no memories of their deeds. Nevertheless they

stay monitored by L and the others and Misa and Light get an own flat in the skyscraper

where the special investigation is located. Light is able to work with L against Kira, unknow-

ing that he is the real Kira.

In the meantime Rem gave Light’s Death Note to Kyosuke Higuchi, a cold and unscrupulous

businessman who works for the Yotsuba company. Higuchi kills in a completely different

way and uses the Death Note to promote his own career. Rem starts to worry about Misa and

touches her with a piece from Light’s Death Note, so she’s able to see Rem, but she does not

recognize her. Rem tells Misa that Light is Kira and promises to help her.

The investigation team realizes that the opponents of Yotsuba loose more and more market

share while Yotsuba grows slowly but steady. During a film shoot of Misa in a park in Tokyo,

Matsuda thinks about the possibility of Kira being a member of Yotsuba and starts to deter-

mine on his own. He enters the Yotsuba building and listens to the group members by sitting

behind a door. When the group members catch him, he introduces himself as Taro Matsui, the

manager of Misa Amane, and says that he wanted to knock on the door. He would love to

introduce Misa Amane as a possible company model. Higuchi and the other group members

believe him and want to meet Misa as soon as possible. After a few days, Misa introduces

herself at Yotsuba and invites all group members to a little party with her colleagues. During

her visit at Yotsuba, Rem deems her promise and helps Misa to find out who Kira is. After

Misa recognizes Higuchi as Kira, she starts to attract him.

During the party, Matsuda simulates his suicide by jumping from the balcony. The members

of the investigation put a doll on the street while Matsuda jumps on the balcony one floor be-

low. The Yotsuba group members think Matsuda – known as Matsui – has died and don’t

think about him anymore.

After meeting Rem, Misa decides to help Light as much as possible. She escapes after a film

shoot from her new manager into a hospital. In the hospital she meets a friend and tells her

that she would have a date with someone and that she needs her clothes to escape from her

manager. Her friend returns back to the car in Misa’s clothes and Misa enters Higuchi’s car,

who is waiting for her – with Rem. During the drive Misa tells him that she is the second

Kira, still unknowing that she had been the second Kira a while ago. She also mentions that it

is her dream to marry Kira if she’d meet him. Higuchi thinks about it and then tells her that he

is Kira. Misa wants him to prove that he is Kira, only then she would marry him. Rem kills

the man Misa wants to die but Misa continues playing the game with Higuchi. She demands

him to stop killing people. Only then she would believe him.

Misa returns back to the head office and shows Light and L what she recorded with her cell

phone. Together they create a plan to catch Higuchi. In cooperation with Sakura TV they

make a broadcast where Matsuda has to talk with the moderator about Kira’s true identity. L

and Light expect that Higuchi will panic and that he will try to stop the broadcast. Everything

happens as expected and the whole special investigation manages to catch him in cooperation

with the police on the highway. Soichiro Yagami and his colleagues touch Higuchi’s Death

Note and become able to see Rem, who is seen as a monster. L also touches the Death Note

and seems to be not that horrified than the others. When Light touches the Death Note, his

memories come back and he kills Higuchi by writing his name on a piece of paper from the

Death Note – which he had hidden in his watch – by using his own blood and a needle.

Higuchi dies immediately by heart attack and Light becomes the new owner of his old Death

Note. He starts to remember everything and returns back to the head office with the others,

where he gives Misa some instructions.

Later, Misa takes a walk to the forest and digs up a little cardboard box, which includes her

Death Note and a letter. She first touches the Death Note and gets her memories back. Now

knowing that Light is Kira and she the second one, she opens the letter and reads Light’s in-

structions. He wants her to write L’s real name into the Death Note, but Misa can’t remember

what she saw so long ago. Ryuk appears and greets her warmly. Misa decides to split up her

remaining lifetime again and receives the Shinigami eyes.

Misa returns back to the head office and touches Light with a piece of paper from the Death

Note, so he’s able to see Ryuk again. Light persuades Misa to start killing for him with the

Death Note. In the meantime the members of the special investigation try to get some infor-

mation from Rem, who is not willing to help them, but still tells them what they want to

know. One day later the killings continue and L starts suspecting Misa and Light again but he

is still not able to prove it. Light mentions that there could be another Death Note. Rem

doesn’t understand his plans until L talks about arresting Misa again. She realizes that Misa

would be identified as Kira and then executed – and that everything was planned by Light

Yagami. Rem first kills L’s mentor Watari, who delegates Misa to the head office, and then

finally L. By killing the people who wanted to harm Misa, Rem executed herself and decayed

into dust. Rem had broken the first rule of the Shinigami world: Never save a human.

Taking his last breath, L realizes that Light is Kira but is not able to speak anymore. He dies

in Light’s arms. A computer signal contacts the principal of Wammy’s House, where L grew

up, and informs the principal about L’s and Watari’s death. Mello and Near, the most promis-

ing teenagers in the orphanage, get into an argument about L’s succession. They decide to

work separated against Kira.

2.2. Chapter 58 - 108

After L’s death Light takes over his role as L. In the following years more and more criminals

die and even some states accept Kira’s way of justice. In the meantime Mello became part of

a mafia group and hijacks the head of the Japanese police. Due to the fact that the mafia de-

mands the Death Note in exchange with the police director, Light kills the director with the

Death Note. Mello hijacks Light’s sister Sayu. Unable to kill his own sister, Light and the

whole team ask Near for help, who has founded an own organization against Kira, called

SPK. Near tells Light that he knows about the death of the true L but promises to help them.

Soichiro Yagami gives Mello the Death Note, unknowing that the whole operation failed and

that the special investigation is not able to find his exact place. Nevertheless the investigation

team attacks the building and gets the Death Note back. A mafia member shoots Soichiro

Yagami, who later dies in the hospital, still believing that his son is innocent.

Mello hijacks a member of the SPK and has to talk with Near against his will. Near tells Light

and the others everything Mello told him, and Light decides to kill Near. He demands the

President of the United States to stop the SPK but they manage to escape. Light realizes that

some people have started to suspect him as Kira again and convinces Misa to send her Death

Note to Teru Mikami, a supporter of Kira. Mikami thinks the same way as Light does and

continues killing for him without asking any questions. Light contacts one of his old friends,

Kiyomi Takada, and asks her for a meeting. During their meeting, Mikami calls Kiyomi

Takada and Light starts talking with him. Light tells Kiyomi in a safe moment that he is Kira.

Kiyomi is also a supporter of Kira and wants to help him. Light instructs Mikami to create a

copy of the Death Note, wanting him only to use the wrong Death Note. He gives Kiyomi

some pieces of paper from the Death Note and wants her to kill for him. But a member of the

SPK, Gevanni, has followed Mikami and knows about the wrong Death Note. But Gevanni

thinks that Mikami still uses the real Death Note.

A team member, Aizawa, discovers that Light stays in contact with Kiyomi Takada and tells

Near everything. Misa gets hijacked by the SPK and Mello hijacks Kiyomi. Light has told her

Mello’s real name and wants her to kill him. After Mello’s death, Light kills Kiyomi with a

piece of paper from the Death Note which he had hidden in his watch.

Light and Near want to meet each other in an empty warehouse, together with all members of

the special investigation and the SPK. Light wants Mikami to kill everyone in the warehouse

with the real Death Note, but the real Death Note had already been replaced by a wrong Death

Note which was created by the SPK. Mikami gets arrested and Near opens the wrong Death

Note, in which every name was written, except Light’s name. This is the last proof for his

guilt. Light loses his mind and bursts into laughter, telling Near and the others why he killed

so many people. He tries to kill Near with another hidden piece of paper from the Death Note

but gets shoot by Matsuda. Mikami commits suicide and Light escapes. Near orders not to

follow Light. Light is bleeding heavily and he knows that he is going to die. Ryuk appears and

writes Light’s name into his Death Note, following the rules. Light dies lying on the stairs of

the warehouse, which symbolizes that he can neither go to Heaven nor Hell.

Neither his mother nor his sister ever find out that Light was Kira.

3. Characters

The story of Death Note includes more characters than necessary. Due to that fact the follow-

ing pages only introduce the most important ones.

3.1. Main characters

3.1.1 Light Yagami

Light Yagami (夜神 月, actual reading Yagami Tsuki; here read as “Raito”, which is pro-

nounced like “Light” with a rolled R; born on February 28, 1986, died on January 28, 2010),

aged 17 at the beginning, is the main protagonist of Death Note. Before Light finds the Death

Note he is a highly intelligent student with a huge sense of justice. Light has the wish to be-

come a police man like his father, Soichiro Yagami. After the finding of the Death Note,

Light becomes cold-hearted and arrogant. His dream of creating a new, crime-free world ob-

sesses him completely and he loses his mind bit by bit. Later in the series, he is engaged with

Misa Amane.

After his triumph over L, Light becomes careless and finally fails against Near because of his

self-overrating and devilment.

Tsugumi Ohba describes Light Yagami as a “pure character”.

3.1.2. L/Ryuzaki

L. Lawliet (エル・ローライト, read Eru Rōraito, born on October 31, 1979, died on Novem-

ber 5, 2004), is the second main character in the series and the biggest enemy of Light

Yagami. L grew up at “Wammy’s House”, one of Watari’s orphanages for children with spe-

cial talents. Due to his high intelligence L becomes the world’s most successful detective and

uses three different names to stay incognito. His way of thinking is very similar to Lights’. L

always wears the same clothes and does not sleep more than three hours a day. It is said that

he has an underweight of 15kg, although he only eats sweets. By his own testimony, his brain

needs extremely much sugar to work optimally. His special – and very unhealthy – way to sit

is very characteristic for him and is often copied by fans.

L has French, German, English and Japanese origins. He has lived in England for five years,

where he became junior champion at Tennis. He always knew that Light was Kira.

3.1.3. Misa Amane

Misa Amane (弥 海砂, Amane Misa, born on December 25, 1984), is the second Kira and the

fiancée of Light Yagami.

Misa grew up in Tokyo and lived a happy life until her family was killed by a murderer. Misa

became depressive and was not able to live in a normal way anymore until Kira killed the

murderer of her parents. After she got the Death Note from Rem, she started looking for Kira

and found him in Light. Misa is described as a very pretty young woman who works as an

actress and as a photo model. She never comprehends that Light is only using her for his

plans. Although her lifetime becomes shortened twice she lives longer than Light. It is said

that she committed suicide after Light’s death or died of natural cause just one month later.

3.1.4. Near

Near (true name Nate River, ネイト・リバー, Neito Ribā, born on August 24, 1991) is one

of L’s potential successors and also grew up at Wammy’s house. It is possible that his nation-

ality is American or British. Near is shown as a very intelligent but childish person who seems

to have a preference for toys. In contrast to L he is not able to communicate with his environ-

ment in a normal way – he always needs a special reason to talk or to interact with it. Near is

the only main opponent of Kira who does not die.

3.1.5. Mello

Mello (true name Mihael Keehl, ミハエル・ケール, Mihaeru Kēru, born on December 13,

1989, died on January 26, 2010) is one of L’s potential successors and also grew up at

Wammy’s house. His nationality is unknown. He also has the gift of a high intelligence but is

often lead by his emotions, which are his biggest mistake. He is killed by Kiyomi Takada,

who writes his name on a piece of paper from the Death Note.

3.2. Supporting characters

3.2.1. Soichiro Yagami

Soichiro Yagami (夜神 総一郎 Yagami Soichiro, born on July 12th , 1955, died in 2009) is

the father of Light Yagami and the head of the special investigation against Kira. Mr. Yagami

is described as a strong and honest police man and as a loving father of Light and his sister

Sayu. He dies after he tried to get the stolen Death Note back from Mello, believing his son is

not Kira.

3.2.2. Watari/Wammy

Watari (ワタリ, real name: Quillsh Wammy, born on May 1st, 1933, died in 2010) is the

founder of the orphanage where L, Mello and Near grew up and also L’s assistant. Watari is

not his real name. He only uses this name when he is working for L. Watari is always well-

dressed. At the beginning he is the only connection between L and the police. In the end he is

killed by Rem.

3.2.3. Touta Matsuda

Touta Matsuda (松田 桃太 Matsuda Tōta, born on December 14th, 1978) is the youngest and

most enthusiastic member of the special investigation team and a big fan of Misa Amane.

Matsuda is one of the few police men who are ready to fight against Kira. Although he is

afraid that he could lose his life, he brings himself in real danger by pretending being the

manager of Misa. Matsuda often has arguments with L who seems not to accept him as a real

police officer. He always believes that Light isn’t Kira but when they know the truth he shoots

Light. It is also mentioned that Matsuda feels attracted to Sayu Yagami, Light’s sister.

3.2.3. Kiyomi Takada

Kiyomi Takada (高田 清美 Takada Kiyomi, born on July 12th, 1985, died in 2009) is the first

known girlfriend of Light Yagami and one of the third Kiras. She meets Light at To-Oh uni-

versity and he pretends to be her boyfriend because he can’t show himself as the boyfriend of

Misa Amane. Later, Light uses her as the third Kira, knowing that Kiyomi is a supporter of

Kira. She kills Mello but also dies through the Death Note.

3.2.4. Kyosuke Higuchi

Kyosuke Higuchi (火口 卿介 Higuchi Kyōsuke, date of birth unknown, died in 2004), is the

first third Kira and a member of Yotsuba. Rem gives her Death Note to Higuchi on Light’s

order and shows him the skills to kill. At first he only kills criminals and then he starts killing

members of other companies. After Misa finds out that he is the third Kira, he wants to marry

her. When L deceives him with the faked TV show he is caught by the police. He is killed by

Light Yagami with a piece of paper from the Death Note.

3.2.5. Teru Mikami

Teru Mikami (魅上 照 Mikami Teru, born on June 7th, 1982, died on January 28th, 2010) is the

last Kira and a big supporter of the real Kira. Light sends his Death Note to Mikami, who sees

him as a god and does everything what his god wants. It is not clear how Mikami really died –

it is said that he dies in prison after going mad. In the anime, he commits suicide by stabbing

himself with a pen.

3.2.6. Raye Penber & Naomi Misora

Raye Penber and Naomi Misora (レイ・ペンバー Rei Penbā, 南空 ナオミ Misora Naomi, un-

known dates of birth, both died in 2006) are FBI agents. Raye Penber has to follow Light

Yagami and gets discovered by him, who kills him later at the subway. Naomi Misora, the

fiancée of Raye Penber, suspects Light that he is Kira and is nearly able to prove it but gets

killed by Light with the Death Note. She commits suicide. When she was younger, Misora

lived in the United States and worked with L.

4. The authors

4.1. Tsugumi Ohba

Tsugumi Ohba (大場 つぐみ Ōba Tsugumi, born in Tokyo, Japan, date of birth unknown) is

one of the authors of Death Note. His real identity is unknown; Tsugumi Ohba is only a pen

name. Some people assume that his real name is Hiroshi Gamo. There is not much informa-

tion about Ohba, but it is known that he loves collecting teacups and that he sits in a similar

way like L does. He met Takeshi Obata at a party. Both of his works, Death Note and Baku-

man, were drawn by Takeshi Obata and were published in Weekly Shonen Jump.

4.2. Takeshi Obata

Takeshi Obata (小畑 健 Obata Takeshi, born February 11, 1969 in Niigata) is a famous

manga illustrator and has drawn the whole Death Note series. He worked with Tsugumi Ohba

twice and also illustrated their project called Bakuman.

Although he was still a student, Obata applied as a manga artist with a short story called 500

Kōnen no Shinwa at Shueisha, the publisher of the Jump! magazines. He received the famous

Tezuka prize for his work. This prize is only won by new talents.

He got an award for his illustrations in Hikaru no Go, where his interest for fashion was first

shown. The people he draws are always well-dressed. Obata also designed characters for

some video games and illustrated a few light novels.

5. International

5.1. Good or evil?

The whole fan community of Death Note tries to find an answer for this difficult question. Is

it right to call Light Yagami a good guy, or is he evil?

It is very interesting to read what the fans think about Light and his way of thinking. The one

side tries to defend Light’s actions wherever it’s possible, the other side judges him as the

worst and most evil fictional character ever.

The mangafox forums show an interesting discussion about it. One user said: “Personally I

would say that he is one of the most evil person EVER !!! He just totally lacks human feelings,

all that he seems to care about is how to kill and use people, whoever they are...”1

Another user had a different opinion: “I wouldn't say he was completely evil. He was just try-

ing to use the Death Note (or murder) to improve the world while not getting caught in the

process.”2

It is impossible to say if Light Yagami’s actions were right or wrong. We also have to think

about the fact that he is just a fictional character and that a Death Note does not really exist.

Light Yagami himself once mentioned in book 1 that a student, if he or she were asked if it is

right to kill criminals, would never say yes because this answer would not be an answer the

society wants to hear.3 So it also has something to do with our society. Can Death Note ma-

nipulate us? The sad truth is: Yes. The case of the manga murderer shows this best.

1 http://forums.mangafox.com/threads/46220-Light-Yagami-pure-evil-! 2 http://forums.mangafox.com/threads/46220-Light-Yagami-pure-evil-!3 Death Note – book 1, number of page not available

5.2. The case of the manga murderer

The cruel murder happened on September 28th, 2007 in Brussels, Belgium and received a lot

of attention from the Japanese media. Two people found a dismembered corpse in a park and

called the police. The police found some notes next to the corpse. Some sentences were writ-

ten on them. One sentence was: “Watashi wa Kira desu”, which is Japanese and means “I am

Kira”. The police found some other notes when they found the other parts of the corpses’

body. But there was a misspelling of the known Japanese sentence. The murder had written:

“Watashi wa Kira dess”. A trail had also been found. In 2010, the police managed to arrest

four suspects. After a while, they confessed everything. The suspects had had an argument

with the victim who had lived with them. This argument ended up in a murder and they de-

cided to leave the notes next to the corpse because they were fans of the series.

5.3. Fans

The Death Note series has fans all over the world, especially in Japan, where it was released

first, but also in the United States, Australia and Europe. There are some fan conventions in

Japan every year, where the fans can meet each other and talk about their favorite topic. Most

of the fans also do cosplay, which is a pun with the words costume and play. The fans make

their own Death Note costumes and show themselves as Light, L, Misa and other characters

from the series. This is also very popular in Europe. The most cosplayers can be seen at the

following conventions:

Japan Day Düsseldorf

Animexx meetings

Dokomi conventions

Book fair of Frankfurt

Ring*Con

When a costume is self-made it earns more recognition.

Many fans also have own Death Notes. It is possible to buy them or they make them on their

own. It had happened that students had become expelled from school because they had written

names of students and teachers in their notebooks.

6. Variants

6.1. Manga

The first variant of Death Note was the manga. It was published by Shueisha in Weekly

Shonen Jump and later released in 12 single manga books. Tsugumi Ohba wrote the texts and

Takeshi Obata illustrated it. In 2007, Obata was even nominated for the Osamu-Tezuka-prize

and Seiun-prize because of his illustrations. The manga was translated in many languages,

including Korean, Chinese, English and German. In Germany, the manga was released by

Tokyopop and became one of their most successful releases ever.

6.2. Anime series

The anime series started in Japan in 2006 and includes 37 episodes. It was produced by Mad-

house. The music was composed by Hideki Taniuchi and Yoshihisa Hirano. The first episode

was shown on October 3rd, 2006 on NipponTV and became very popular. The German pay-

TV channel Animax showed the first episode in German on April 11th, 2009.

6.3. Movies

Three movies were produced. Tatsuya Fujiwara and Kenichi Matsuyama played Light

Yagami and L. The first two movies tell the story of Light Yagami, but the plot was a bit dif-

ferent than it had been in the manga or in the anime – L and Soichiro Yagami survive, Mello

and Near don’t appear. The third movie shows the last days of L who has to close his last case

together with two children.

6.4. Novels

Two novels were released – Death Note: Another Note: Los Angeles BB Renzoku Satsujin

Jiken and Death Note: L Change the world. They were written by Ishin Nishio and released

by Shueisha. They were also released in Germany by Tokyopop. The first novel tells the story

of L and Naomi Misora. The second novel tells the same story as the third movie.

7. Pictures

Light Yagami

Misa Amane

L /Ryuzaki

Left: Rem Right: Ryuk

8. List of sources

8.1. Internet

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takeshi_Obata

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsugumi_Ohba

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manga_Murder

http://forums.mangafox.com/threads/46220-Light-Yagami-pure-evil-!

http://de.deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Light_Yagami

http://de.deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Mihael_Keehl

http://de.deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/L_Lawliet

http://de.deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Nate_River

http://de.deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Misa_Amane

8.2. Books

Death Note 1 – 9

Death Note: How to use it

- A copy of a “real” Death Note is meant!

8.3. Pictures

http://media.desura.com/images/members/1/351/350882/Light-Yagami-picture.jpg

http://images.wikia.com/deathnote/images/f/fe/L.png

http://img-cache.cdn.gaiaonline.com/e0e3334b4c980cdb1dbdd2e9af7eb06b/http://i205.photobucket.com/

albums/bb103/enciclopediabt/Death%20Note/Amane%20Misa/1139103269570.jpg

http://sp1.fotolog.com/photo/1/38/49/videlllllll/1295404519812_f.jpg