Death Note

Death Note is a Japanese manga series written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata in 2003. An anime adaptation was made in 2006 and aired on Télétoon and YTV in 2007.

The story follows Light Yagami, a teen genius who stumbles across a mysterious otherworldly notebook: the "Death Note", which belonged to the Shinigami Ryuk and grants the user the supernatural ability to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. The series centers around Light's subsequent attempts to use the Death Note to carry out a worldwide massacre of individuals whom he deems morally unworthy of life to change the world into a utopian society without crime, using the alias of a god-like vigilante named "Kira" and the subsequent efforts of an elite task-force of law enforcement officers,consisting of members of the Japanese police force led by L,an enigmatic international detective whose past is shrouded in mystery,to apprehend him and end his reign of terror.

## **Development:**

The *Death Note* concept derived from a rather general concept involving Shinigami and "specific rules". Ohba wanted to create a suspense series because he did not feel that he could have created a fight-style series and that the genre had few suspense series available to the public. After publication of the pilot chapter, the series was not expected to be approved as a serialized comic by the author, who did not consider it to "fit with *Jump*". Ohba said that, when he learned that *Death Note* had received approval and that Takeshi Obata would create the artwork, he "couldn't even believe it". Due to positive reactions, *Death Note* became a serialized manga series.

When Ohba decided on the plot he internally visualized the panels while on his bed, drinking tea, or walking around his house, needing to feel relaxed while visualizing the panels. On many occasions, the original draft was too long and needed to be refined various times before the desired "tempo" and "flow" for the chapter was finalized. The writer remarked on his preference for reading the previous "two or four" chapters carefully to ensure consistency in the story.

## **The Pilot Chapter:**

The *Death Note* process began when Ohba brought thumbnails for two concept ideas to Shueisha; Ohba said that the *Death Note* pilot, one of the concepts, was "received well" by editors and attained positive reactions by readers. Ohba described keeping the story of the pilot to one chapter as "very difficult" and he said that he remembered it took over a month to begin writing the chapter. He added that the story had to revive the killed characters with the Death Eraser and that he "didn't really care" for that plot device. Obata said that he wanted to draw the story after he heard of a "horror story featuring Shinigami".  According to Obata, when he first received the rough draft created by Ohba, he "didn't really get it" at first and he wanted to work on the project due to the presence of Shinigami and because the work "was dark". He also said he wondered about the progression of the plot as he read the thumbnails, and if *Jump* readers would enjoy reading the comic. Obata said that while there is little action and the main character "doesn't really drive the plot", he enjoyed the atmosphere of the story. He stated that he drew the pilot chapter so that it would appeal to himself. Ohba brought the rough draft of the pilot chapter to the editorial department. Obata came into the picture at a later point to create the artwork. They did not meet in person while creating the pilot chapter. Ohba said that the editor told him he did not need to meet with Obata to discuss the pilot; Ohba said "I think it worked out all right".

## **The Attempted Bans:**

Early in 2005, school officials in Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning (People's Republic of China), banned *Death Note*. The immediate cause was that students had been altering notebooks to resemble Death Notes and then writing the names of acquaintances, enemies, and teachers in the books. The ban was designed to protect the "physical and mental health" of students from horror material that "misleads innocent children and distorts their mind and spirit".The ban has been extended to other Chinese cities including Beijing,Shanghai and Lanzhou in Gansu Province. Legally published Chinese-language versions of *Death Note* are published in Hong Kong. On June 12, 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Culture listed *Death Note* among 38 anime and manga titles banned in China. In 2007, the education bureau in Pingtung County, Taiwan asked teachers to heed any negative influence on elementary school students reading the manga. The Albuquerque Public Schools in New Mexico, U.S. held a hearing in May 2010 to ban the *Death Note* manga from their district's schools; it was unanimously voted down. After volumes of *Death Note* were found at the February 2013 suicide of a 15-year-old girl in Yekaterinburg, Russia, a local parents' group began campaigning to regulate all media based on the series, saying that it had an adverse effect on the minds of children. In March 2014, investigators concluded that the manga did not cause the girl to commit suicide.

## **Copycat Crimes and Imitations:**

There have been various copycat crimes around the world which were based on *Death Note*. On September 28, 2007, two notes written with Latin characters stating "Watashi wa Kira dess",a mis-transliteration of "I am Kira",were found near the partial remains of a Caucasian male in Belgium. The case has been called the "Mangamoord" (Dutch for *Manga Murder*) in Belgian media. It was not until 2010 that four people were arrested in connection to the murder.

A senior at the Franklin Military Academy in Richmond, Virginia, United States was suspended in 2007 after being caught possessing a replica "Death Note" notebook with the names of fellow students. The school's principal wrote a letter to the student's parents linking to an unofficial website where visitors can write names and circumstances of death for people they want to die.

In South Carolina in March 2008, school officials seized a "Death Note" notebook from a Hartsville Middle School student. District officials linked the notebook to the anime/manga. The notebook listed seven students' names. The school planned a disciplinary hearing and contacted the seven students' parents. In Gadsden, Alabama in April 2008, two sixth-grade boys were arrested for possession of a "Death Note" that listed names of several staff members and fellow students. According to Etowah County Sheriff's Department Sgt. Lanny Handy, the notebook was discovered the previous afternoon by a staffer. The students were suspended from the county's schools, pending a juvenile court hearing. The students, their parents, and school officials had met with Handy and a junior probation officer. In Gig Harbor, Washington, one middle school student was expelled and three were suspended on May 14, 2008, for having 50 names in their own "Death Note" book, including President George W. Bush.

It was reported in September 2009, that a Year Eight boy in Sydney, Australia, created a "Death Note" that along with names contained a "battle plan" detailing where bombs could be placed inside his school. In December 2009, two students at an elementary school in Oklahoma were disciplined for a "Death Note" with the names and descriptions of deaths of two girls that had angered them. A Michigan middle school student was suspended indefinitely in March 2010 for a "Death Note". In May 2010, a middle school student in Avonworth School District in Pennsylvania was suspended for a "Death Note" with names of fellow students and pop singer Justin Bieber. In February 2015, a fifth-grade student of an elementary school near Pittsburgh was suspended for owning a "Death Note" and writing other students' names in it.

## **Concerning Sidoh:**

Tsugumi Ohba said that he used Sidoh as another Shinigami appearing in the human world because he liked Sidoh's appearance; Ohba described Daril Ghiroza as a "candidate" and that he wanted a "pretty pathetic" character. Sidoh was chosen over Ghiroza because her high rank made her ill-suited for being pushed around by Mello. Takeshi Obata described Sidoh as "very funny," citing the time when Sidoh becomes the first Shinigami to distribute flyers. He also claimed to have wished that Sidoh had appeared more often in the story. Obata said that when he discovered that another Shinigami would appear on Earth, he filed through designs and nominated Sidoh and Daril Ghiroza. Obata said that he believed that Ghiroza would be chosen and prepared for that decision; instead, Ohba selected Sidoh. Obata said that he based Sidoh's design on the appearance of a bird with his mouth being based on a beak of a canary and with foldable, "insect-like" arms.

### **Trivia:**

* various video games have been published by Konami for the Nintendo DS.
* An American film adaptation was released exclusively on Netflix in August 2017 and a sequel is reportedly in the works.
* Ohba and Obata rarely met in person during the creation of the serialized manga; instead,the two met with the editor. The first time they met in person was at an editorial party in January 2004.
* Ohba claims that the series ended more or less in the manner that he intended for it to end; he considered the idea of L defeating Light Yagami with Light dying,but instead chose to use the "Yellow Box Warehouse" ending. According to Ohba,the details had been set "from the beginning". The writer wanted an ongoing plot line instead of an episodic series because *Death Note* was serialized and its focus was intended to be on a cast with a series of events triggered by the Death Note.
* The Death Eraser was supposed to be a thing in the anime to revive the death characters but ended up scrapped in the end. Writer Tsugumi Ohba had no particular themes in mind for *Death Note*. When pushed,he suggested: "Humans will all eventually die and never come back to life,so let's give it our all while we're alive".
* The series won the 2008 Eagle Award for Favourite Manga as voted by UK fans.
* The anime was originally supposed to end in episode 25 after L's death. But the creators has decided to continue the storyline. Douglas Wolk of *Salon* said that a rumor circulated stating that the creators intended to create *Death Note* to last half as long as its actual run and Ohba and Obata had been persuaded to lengthen the storyline when *Death Note'*s popularity increased,noting that the rumor "makes sense,since about halfway through the series,there's a point that seems like a natural ending". In addition,he said that fans wrote "thousands" of *Death Note* fan fiction stories and posted them on the internet.
* In the 2015 television drama,L dies a few days after August 24, 2015. That date is marked in episode 8,about 20 minutes and 55 seconds into the episode; L dies around two days later.
* An unused concept was that of L being the father of two sons,notably Mello and Near as twin brothers.
* Ryuk,being the mascot of the series,has almost been made as ''sexy'' and more human looking.
* Naomi Misora was meant to have a larger role,but she gets killed off for being ''too smart''.

## **Broadcast:**

The series has broadcast on both Teletoon and its French counterpart in 2007 as part of its October line-up. It has also premiered on YTV. Death Note no longer air on the channel due to lost of rights.