Death Note

Death note is widely known as a Japanese anime that is adapted from the manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The anime and the manga both follow the story of Light Yagami who is an exemplary high school student who happens to pick up a mysterious notebook that is not from Earth. He later discovers that the notebook itself is a Death Note that belongs to a God of Death otherwise known as a “Shinigami” named Ryuk. Light quickly discovers that the Death Note is no ordinary notebook and can grant it’s owner the power to kill anyone by merely writing a person’s name while simultaneously envisioning their face. The series continues through Light’s attempts at creating the perfect utopian world free of criminals as he kills them off using the Death Note. He aims to become the God of the new world he wishes to create as a vigilante named Kira. His efforts are soon put to the test as L who is a brilliant detective conducts an intense investigation in hopes of bringing Light to justice. As L and Light play the ultimate cat and mouse game, both strategies become more complicated as other people start growing involved until Kira (Light Yagami) is eventually caught by L’s successors Near and Mello.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Although Death Note is one of the most popular anime and manga series of all time as numerous platforms rank it, the anime isn’t merely an original story put together for entertainment. It takes a jab at what justice truly means and if it can ever exist. We know that justice is a matter of perception, but that is not the point of death note, there is no real argument being made about whether or not L and Light have conflicting views on justice, that much is given already. What is worth looking at is whether or not “Kira” or Light is true justice and what does Death Note say about death penalties in terms of court systems that have significant issues with false convictions, exonerations, and prisons.

In addition to that, because Death Note is so popular, many people have jumped at the opportunity to dissect further answering questions such as “How Deadly is the Death Note.” By providing realistic calculations as to how many people were killed by the death note, and how many killings it would have prevented, we must stop to consider the following: have we been wholly dehumanized? Are humans just numbers? Do the ends justify the means? If so, are the ends even justifiable in the case of the death note or the terms death penalty? These are the questions that should be explored and will be in the following blog posts.