Death Note
From Animepedia
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| Death Note | |
|---|---|
| Image:Deathnote011.jpg | |
| デスノート (Desu Nōto) | |
| Genre | Detective Fiction, Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Psychological Thriller, Shōnen, Supernatural |
| Manga | |
| Written by | Tsugumi Ohba (story) Takeshi Obata (art) |
| Publisher | Template:Flagicon Shueisha |
| Original run | December 2003 – May 2006 |
| Volumes | 12 |
| Anime | |
| Directed by | Tetsurō Araki |
| Animation by | {{{animator}}} |
| Music by | {{{composer}}} |
| Script by | {{{writer}}} |
| Studio | Template:Flagicon Madhouse |
| Network | Template:Flagicon NTV Template:Flagicon VIZ Template:Flagicon GMA Network Template:Flagicon Animax |
| Original run | October 4 2006 – |
| No. of episodes | 37 |
| Novel: DEATH NOTE Another Note Los Angeles BB Renzoku Satsujin Jiken | |
| Authored by | Nisio Isin |
| Publisher | Template:Flagicon Shueisha |
| Publish date | August 1 2006 |
| No. of volumes | |
| Game: Template:Flagicon Death Note Kira Game | |
| Developer | Konami |
| Publisher | Konami |
| Genre | Action |
| Platform | Nintendo DS |
| Released | Template:Flagicon February 15 2007 Template:Flagicon TBA |
Death Note (デスノート Desu Nōto?) is a Japanese manga series originally written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. The series primarily centers around a high school student who decides to rid the world of evil with the help of a supernatural notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it.
Death Note first began as a manga series. It was first serialized by Shueisha in the Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from the first issue in December 2003 to May 2006, with 108 chapters in total. The series has been published in its entirety in 12 tankōbon volumes in Japan, and is currently in publication in North America. The series has been adapted into a pair of live-action films (released in Japan on June 17 2006 and November 3 2006 respectively), and an anime series which commenced airing in Japan on October 3 2006. Also, a novelization of the series, written by light novelist Nisio Isin, was released in Japan on August 1 2006.
Contents |
Plot
Light Yagami is a brilliant, but bored, high school student who resents the crime and corruption in the world. His life undergoes a drastic change when he discovers a mysterious notebook, known as the "Death Note", lying on the ground in the year 2003. The Death Note's instructions claim that, if a human's name is written within it, that person shall die. Light is initially skeptical of the Death Note's authenticity, believing it is just a prank. However, after experimenting with it and killing two criminals, Light is forced to admit that the Death Note is real. After meeting with the previous owner of the Death Note, a Shinigami named Ryuk, Light seeks to become "the God of the new world" by passing his judgment on criminals.
Soon, the number of inexplicable deaths of reported criminals catches the attention of the International Police Organization and a mysterious detective known only as "L". L quickly learns that the serial killer, dubbed by the public as "Kira" (derived from the Japanese pronunciation of the English word "Killer"), is located in Japan. L also concludes that Kira can kill people without laying a finger on them. Light realizes that L will be his greatest nemesis, and a race to prove mental superiority between the two begins.
Characters
Main characters
- Light Yagami (Kira) (夜神 月 Yagami Raito?)
- The main character of Death Note, Light is a brilliant but bored 17-year old student. When he finds the Death Note, dropped in the human world by Ryuk, he decides to use it to kill all criminals. His ultimate goal is to cleanse the world of evil to create a utopia and then reign over this new world as its God. He calls himself Justice.
- L (エル Eru?)
- L is the world's three top-rated detectives (through two additional aliases), tasked with tracking down and arresting Kira. As such, he is Light's principal nemesis. His disheveled appearance masks his great powers of deduction and insight. L has many quirks, such as sitting in an odd manner (he squats on the edge of his seat, with his knees up by his chin), snacking on sweets in the middle of meetings, and holding his cellphone and other objects in a peculiar manner. He often takes drastic strategies to confuse and force his opponents, and on several occasions he has willingly disclosed several of his weaknesses to Kira at the risk of his own life in the hopes that he would lure him into a trap.
- Misa Amane (弥 海砂 Amane Misa?)
- A girl with an immense crush on Kira. She is a popular idol in Japan, and tends to wear clothing in many different styles, depending on what she is doing. She is immature and has a tendency to refer to herself in the third person (calling herself "Misa-Misa") in an attempt to be cute. Misa is completely devoted to Light, and she once said that she loved him "at first sight". Light, however, only views her as an asset to his plans because of her Death Note and her "Shinigami Eyes" (that she obtained at the cost of half of her remaining life span). These "Shinigami Eyes" give Misa the ability to know people's names by looking at their faces, thereby giving Kira an edge in his battle against his enemies. Misa read in the newspapers that the murderer of her family was punished by Kira, explaining her total devotion to him, regardless of whether she thinks of his actions as good or evil.
- Mello (メロ Mero?)
- Mello was an orphan who grew up with Near in Watari's shelter for gifted children. Like Near, Mello was one of the candidates to become L's successor. Similar to L's fondness for sweets, he is often seen eating bars of chocolate. Although Mello is quite intelligent, he often lets his emotions get the better of him, unlike Near or L.
- Near (ニア Nia?)
- Near was a primary candidate to become L's successor and calls himself N during the course of his investigations. He shares a number of similarities with L. Much like how L plays with things such as sugar cubes and forks, Near is frequently shown playing with toys or his hair. Near also sits in an unusual manner similar to L, but with some slight differences. He offered to join forces with Mello to fight Kira, but Mello turned him down. Near then gained the support of the US government and formed the Special Provision for Kira (SPK).
Shinigami (The Death Gods)
- Ryuk (リューク Ryūku?)
- The original Shinigami who dropped the Death Note in the human world, which Light would pick up. Acting out of pure boredom, Ryuk begins the story of Death Note on a whim. It is stated that Ryuk found the second Death Note in the Shinigami world. The most important facet of Ryuk's character is that he is not Light's friend. Ryuk often refuses to aid Light and instead enjoys watching him struggle for his goal. He acts for his own interests and entertainment, and often fails to tell Light key details about the Death Note. However, Ryuk will aid Light if it serves his own goals, such as providing amusement or obtaining apples.
- Rem (レム Remu?)
- The female Shinigami who first gives Misa her Death Note and "eyes." Similar to Ryuk, Rem possesses two Death Notes; however, she purposely gives one of them to Misa Amane. Rem inherited her second Death Note from Jealous, another Shinigami who died when he saved Misa's life, and thought it only right to pass it on to Misa. Oddly enough, Rem inherits Jealous' love for Misa as well and is prompt to defend Misa even at the cost of her life. She shows this when she openly shows her lack of trust for Light, stating that she will kill him if Misa dies before her time.
Death Note
A Death Note is a book held by a Shinigami which has the power to kill people if certain conditions are met. All Death Notes follow a long set of specific rules, and the writer revealed a few of these rules with each volume of the manga in Japan.
Rules of the Death Note
Written rules
Before releasing his Death Note into the human world, Ryuk wrote some of the more basic rules on the first page in English, because he believed that English was the most popular language in the world. The rules written by Ryuk are the following:
- The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
- This note 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.
Each volume of the manga has a page containing new rules or possible uses for the Death Note. In the anime series, each eyecatch contains a different rule written in both English and Japanese, similar to how they were revealed in the Japanese manga. Two new rules are revealed every episode.
False rules
In addition to these original rules, Light persuaded Ryuk to add a set of fake rules to mislead L and company. The reason behind this was to remove all suspicion of him and Misa being Kira and the Second Kira and preventing L from destroying the Death Note.
- If the owner of the Death Note does not kill within 13 days of the last entry, he or she will die.
- If the Death Note is burnt, destroyed, or otherwise damaged in any way, all those who have touched that Death Note will die.
Media
Death Note began as a manga series which was later adapted to become a set of live-action films, an anime based on the manga, and a Light Novel. A game has also been released for the Nintendo DS in Japan.
Manga
The Death Note manga series was first serialized in the Japanese manga magazine Weekly Shonen 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. Later, a 13th volume titled "Death Note - How to Read" was released, helping to elucidate some mysteries left at the end of the manga, like the destiny of some characters. Death Note was eventually licensed for North American publication by VIZ Media,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and the first English language volume was released on October 4 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The manga has since been published in several different languages including English, German and Chinese. Currently, VIZ Media has released ten volumes of Death Note in English.
To date, Death Note has sold around 20 million copies in Japan.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Death Note was nominated for Best Manga at the 2006 American Anime Awards.
Novel
A novel adaption of the series has been written by Ishin Nishio, called Death Note: Another Note.<ref name="novel">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> 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. Insight was given into Watari's orphanage and how the whole system of geniuses such as L, Mello and Near were put to work
Movies
Anime
The Death Note anime, directed by Tetsurō Araki and animated by Madhouse, began airing in Japan on October 3 2006,<ref name="sbook">Template:Cite web</ref> and is currently scheduled to run for 37 episodes.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Contrary to the movies, the anime series follows the manga's original storyline with only a few changes on the character designs, done by Masaru Kitao, and the order of facts, as well as a few additional scenes not featured in the original manga. It is also set in the year 2007, instead of starting at the year 2003. The series currently airs on the Nippon Television network "every Tuesday [at] 24:56".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The series is co-produced by Madhouse, Nippon Television, Shueisha, D.N. Dream Partners and VAP.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
As of January 10, 2007, the series has been licensed by VIZ Media for United States residents to use "Download-to-Own" and "Download-to-Rent" services while it is 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".<ref name="licensed">Template:Cite news</ref> The downloadable episode will contain the original Japanese audio track and English subtitles.<ref name="DVD">Template:Cite news</ref> DVDs of the series will also be released,<ref name="DVD"/> containing both an English dubbed audio track and the original Japanese audio track with English subtitles.<ref name="comiccon">Template:Cite news</ref> Release dates have not been confirmed for either release,<ref name="DVD"/> but VIZ has implied that the first DVD will be released in the fourth quarter of 2007.<ref name="comiccon"/>
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Episodes
DVDs
The following volumes have been released in Japan
(Note, first editions included the figures in the parentheses.)
- Death Note 1 (Light Yagami Figure)
- Death Note 2 (L Figure)
- Death Note 3 (Ryuk Figure)
- Death Note 4 (Misa Amane Figure)
- Death Note 5 (Rem Figure)
- Death Note 6 (Light Yagami Figure)
Anime theme songs
Opening themes
- "the WORLD" by Nightmare (episodes 1 - 19)
- "What's up, people?!" by Maximum the Hormone (episodes 20 - )
Ending themes
- "Alumina" (アルミナ Arumina?) by Nightmare (episodes 1 - 19)
- "Zetsubou Billy" (絶望ビリー Zetsubō Birī?) by Maximum the Hormone (episodes 20 - )
Video game
A Death Note video game for the Nintendo DS, entitled Death Note Kira Game, was released on February 15 2007.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The gameplay is very similar to that of the common party game Mafia.
A sequel to the game has been announced and will be released in Japan in 2007. The storyline will be based off the second part of the manga, featuring characters such as Near.
Several characters from Death Note appear in Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars, a fighting game featuring a plethora of characters from Shonen 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.
Soundtracks
There have been several soundtracks released for this series, such as the ones for the movie adaptations and also for the anime adaptation.
Shenyang incident
Some schools in Shenyang, China have banned the manga after some of their students started to tease friends and teachers by altering a notebook to resemble a Death Note and writing their names in them.<ref name="shenyang">Template:Cite news</ref>
The newspaper Shenyang Night Report called Death Note "poison, creating wicked hearts".<ref name="shenyang"/> Others however, including one major Chinese newspaper, felt that the ban is an overreaction and is inappropriate.<ref name="shenyang"/>
References
<references/>
External links
- Shueisha's Death Note manga official website Template:Jp icon
- Official anime website Template:Jp icon
- VIZ Media's Death Note website
- Template:Ann anime
- Death Note at AnimeNfo.com
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