Check It Out

No.190 (6/24/11)

DEATH NOTE

By Natsuko Ishii
Guest Writer
(Translated by Nao H. Kauffman)

“The human whose name is written in this note shall die.”

The story goes as one young man picking up a notebook, in which was written such a startling sentence.
“DEATH NOTE” swept thru the weekly magazine, “SHONEN JUMP” from December 2003 till May 2006. The brilliant high school student, Light Yagami, found a notebook left by Shinigami (死神)/Grim Reaper. If a name is written in the notebook, the person shall die. He encountered the owner of the notebook, Shinigami Ryuk, which had a huge effect on him. It was then that Light has his mind set on playing God and taking criminals out and thus creating a new ideal world with no crimes.

As criminals started to die off in succession the world noticed somebody enforcing sanctions against those criminals. They started calling him Kira. Police agencies internationally acknowledge Kira’s methodology as a serial killer and assigned a person called “L,” who had special alliances with Federal Bureaus from many countries, to run the investigation. “L” set up his investigation headquarters in Japan because he confirmed Kira to be in the Kanto area. The story expands the battles of the “brains” between “L” and Kira (Light.) At last, “L” is going to run Kira into ground.

Out of all the popular JUMP comics, this series was relatively short; however, the work was used in a variety of media such as television animation, live-action film, gaming etc. Furthermore, it was the first live-action film in Japan to consecutively hit the screen as diptych. It is based on the original story, but different endings were created for the films so everyone could enjoy the stories without understanding the original scripts. The character of L is so unique and bizarre that it shines out and becomes a hit in the movie. As a result, the spin-off special movie “L Changed the World” also hit the screen even though there was no story like that in the original scripts. The brilliant actor, Kenichi Matsuyama from Mutsu City, Aomori played the role and broke through as a star.

The dubbed versions of animation and movies became available in many foreign countries. The original scripts were translated in many languages. Moreover, Warner Bros has hired Shane Black to direct a live action adaptation of DEATH NOTE. Many fan-made trailers can be seen on You Tube if you search using “Death Note.” You can also purchase comics and DVDs through Amazon.com. If this comes true, I am very curious to see how Hollywood creates a new world of DEATH NOTE.

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