the controversey that is known as DEATHNOTE
If you have been following me, you know how much I enjoy Japanese anime and manga. There is one though that sticks with me that took on a strange concept that has left it banned in China and is getting school children suspended around the world. There has even been a death linked to it in Denmark. This story is called DEATHNOTE. It is a best selling manga, a popular anime, and has spawned two movies, and a movie spin off. As i have stated before the Japanese creators tackle many subjects and weave a moral as none other can. The premise of DEATHNOTE.... a college genius finds a notebook, called a deathnote. It has rules, but the main one is, write the name of the person in the book remembering their face and they will suffer a heartattack in forty seconds. Our genius, son of a policeman, studying law to follow his father's footsteps, has suffered from the lack of justice in this world he finds. Criminals are getting off... the police are seen as weak and useless... and there is no justice for the victims or their familes.
Hence, our young naive genius now posesses the deathnote. Will he use it? Does he understand the consequences of being judge and jury and executioner? Of course he does and he wields this power like none other can. As long as they are a criminal of a heinous crime, they should die. and Die they do.
The oringinal owner of the deathnote is RYUK. A shinigami by trade, he gets bored one day with his eternal life and drops the notebook that is found by Light. The owner of the deathnote can now see shinigamis. RYUK reminds Light constantly that he is not a friend, but only wants to be entertained for a while. Thus a strange relationship is established and RYUK becomes the tutor of the student.
The public start to believe in KIRA (KIRA is the japanese pronouciation of the english word, KILLER). It is a pseudoname that Light uses to promote his unique form of justice.
The police find themselves in a stranger situation. When the entire deathrow dies of heartattacks, the police have to protect the criminals.... interesting.... HUH?
The situation becomes a world wide threat and L, a specialist in solving crimes is now assigned to head up the japanese task force, since he has profiled KIRA and knows he is in Japan. He establishes the general whereabouts of KIRA in Japan as he uses a death row criminal to impersonate him and announce a challenge to KIRA on Japanese television, only to have the man die of a heart attack. The show was actually limited to only one section of Japan, and L knows KIRA is located in that section. L, a genius who loves sweets and needs to sit in a chair with his feet up, is positive that Light is KIRA... he just can't seem to prove it, yet.
Light, the purveyor of justice, is now forced to kill police. His sense of moral justice is broadened to killing whoever tries to stand in his way. After all, he is GOD. RYUK laughs and gently reminds Light he is killing his own. Light rationalizes that they should die for their beliefs in Justice.
The CAT and MOUSE game is on.
Manga, anime, and movies all live in the world of fantasy... even documentaries are just one's views of events... not necessarily the truth. Humans have the ability to try to live out their fantasies... Hence, school children are purchasing death note books and then, writing names of those they feel most hurt by... teachers, bullies, rivals in the book. That is why these note books were banned from schools, and the children caught with them suspended. Should this particular piece of literature be banned? Maybe. Or maybe it should be discussed openly, as an example the absolute power corrupts absolutely....
This is a hub suggested by Yiasa. She and I like the story for different reasons. As by my avatar, L is my hero. One who seeks the truth at all costs and is not that concerned as how he is percieved by others, he shines in his own way thru this story. Light shines also, but becomes a victim to his own ego. L as his antithesis makes the story. thankyou for reading this. I would love to hear your thoughts. take care.
