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Wammy's House Uniform? TV Near's Costume Worn by Death Note: Relight Orphan Too

16/9/2015

We may have identified a default school uniform for Wammy's House in Death Note's canon universe. Or perhaps one worn by those gifted and talented orphans around the house.

Though its a theory that would carry more weight, if every child there donned the same attire.

Mio Yuki as Near in Death Note live-action TV drama (2015)

We've grown used to seeing Near looking perky and bright wearing a distinct outfit in television's 2015 Death Note drama.

Technically there have been three costume changes thus far. Nevertheless TV live action Near cosplayers will likely choose grey pinafore trousers over a white shirt. That flannelette dungaree look remains the most recognizable, readily identifying the cosplay as Near from Death Note (2015).

However, this could equally be a more obscure Death Note costume, with the fan turning up dressed as a random Wammy's House orphan, as glimpsed on the institution's staircase in Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors (2008).

Wammy's House orphans from Death Note: Relight

Crying Wammy's House orphan from Death Note: Relight

Wammy's House child wearing same outfit in Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors

The best of it being that the scene above was recalled in flashback by Near. So perhaps the character just likes the costume.

What do you reckon? Coincidence? Wardrobe staff from the new Death Note drama taking inspiration from Takeshi Obata's animation in the older adaptation? Or an actual canon Wammy House uniform blithely ignored by most of its denizens?

Who cares?! This is fodder for fan-fiction writers everywhere and probably artists and cosplayers too. Off you go!

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Mysterious Death Note Counter Clock Stops

14/9/2015

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Countdown to Death Note 2016 announcement

Death Note countdown timer ends on movie site

At 10.30pm GMT, the countdown timer came to a close on an official website normally devoted to Warner Bros. Death Note movies in Japan.

I caught the moment in .gif form above, but wasn't filming widely enough to capture the message that ultimately popped up. (Nor did I start soon enough. I was sooo going to have this counting down for 40 seconds...)

Here's a still of the final screen:

And a translation from the wonderful Amaryllis:

There is an important announcement in the final episode of Death Note (referring to the drama)! Don't miss it!

Which is a little strange, as said Death Note television drama had finished airing several hours before, and I'd already blogged about the announcement.

Did somebody mess their timings up?

As expected, the website was counting down to telling us about a new Death Note film, set within the Japanese live action movie universe, due for release in 2016. See earlier blog entry for more details.

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Viz Announces Death Note Omega Edition on Blu-Ray - Much Extras, Coming December 2015

14/9/2015

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On the hunt for Christmas 2015 Death Note gifts?

Viz Media have a potential present for Death Note fans winging its way to our stores in time for the festive season.

But only if you happen to own a Blu-Ray player.

For many of us, this is going to seem like the same old, same old. Coupled with a heartfelt - how often can they repackage and sell this stuff?!

Actually this one appears to be a little different. There's a lot included in the package for a start.

Death Note: The Omega Edition includes all 37 episodes of the Death Note anime. However, you can choose between a variety of dubs and subs. The dubbed languages are English, Japanese, Spanish, French, Portuguese; all of them (minus Japanese) are also available as subtitles.

In addition, this Blu-Ray box set includes Death Note Relight 1 & 2. Those are the feature film length re-edit of the whole series; detailing the story with highlights, with the occasional scene not in the original telling.

You will be able to enjoy the Death Note: Relight Blu-Ray Omega Edition in Japanese with subtitles in English or French. Or else hear both anime movies dubbed into English or French instead.

Blu Ray Death Note Omega Edition Box Set

Death Note: The Omega Edition box set for Blu-Ray

The blarb (and picture) is telling me that there's a Death Note art book in this package too. I haven't got much to tell you about that, other than the pages open in the image are from the Death Note prequel one-shot.

We're not quite over yet - this Death Note Blu-Ray box set comes in a 'premium, metallic chipboard box', whatever that means. (Metallic AND chipboard? So is it metal made to look like chipboard? Or vice versa? And premium as opposed to, I don't know, shabby?)

Let's just assume that Viz Media have poshed up the box enough to make it look good on your shelf and underneath the Christmas tree.

Blu-Ray Death Note: The Omega Edition will be available to buy on December 1st 2015. However, it's probably only a Christmas gift for a Death Note fan you love very, very much, given the recommended retail price tag of $69.99.

Back cover of Blu-Ray box set Death Note: The Omega Edition

Report back if you decide to go for this, in order that we get the low-down on its relative greatness or otherwise.

In the meantime, don't forget that there are plenty of Death Note Christmas gift ideas in our store too. Including a whole section devoted to festive Death Note decorations, cards, table ornaments and the like.

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Apology - Death Note News Contact Form

14/9/2015

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The Contact Form of Shame

Ooops.

Last night I finished writing my blog entry and went tatting around the lesser explored buttons on this site.

Imagine my shock, consternation and cringing when I discovered the contact form entry list.

i.e. Everyone who has tried to e-mail me using the bespoke form on the Contact page.

This shouldn't have been an issue at all. I'm usually pretty good at replying to people reaching out to me, even if it takes me a couple of days to do so. But I'd received none of the e-mails on this list.

Some of them dated back to February 2014.

You'd have thought I'd have noticed, wouldn't you? But there are several ways to e-mail me from this site and I've received plenty over the years. No-one once mentioned that they'd tried to e-mail me and I'd maliciously and with intent ignored their missive.

I've glanced through and it's been illuminating. Folk leaving me information which would have created the content for some fabulous (and exclusive) blog entries; people offering me book contracts; all sorts. And also shame evoking. Folk locked out of my forum and desperate to get back in; those too shy to comment, but wanting to say hello, as I seem like a nice person.

Oh kami.

So what went wrong?   Pure and simply, I'm a nub. I don't check my coding, when I'm seduced by the dark side into content management systems. I'm quite capable of writing whole workable websites of my own. But I didn't realise this particular site would end up being quite so popular, nor taking up a lot of my time. So I stashed it on a free Weebly 'colour by numbers' type affair.

Contact forms normally trigger an e-mail alert, because I code it thus. They should here too. They would have done, if I hadn't stuck a typo smack bang in the middle of my e-mail address.

Like I said, I'm a noob. With all due self-kicking in attendance.

Naturally, the contact form is working now. Tested and double-tested. Meanwhile I will go back through all those e-mails from the past nearly two years and answer them all.

*sigh*   I'm sorry.

Edit: Several hours later:   Everyone should have received a personal response now. If you haven't, then please contact me again, as more than the usual must have failed.

Matti clear.

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TV Death Note Episode 8: Chess Games, Watchfulness and Villainy in Yellow Pt 2

13/9/2015

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It turns out that I had way too much to say about this episode. But I do love dissecting the symbolism and drifting off on a voyage of thematic discovery re Death Note.

You should read part one of my discussion about episode 8 in Death Note's TV drama before carrying on here. This is merely a continuation of that.

Death Note Episode 8 Watari brings cake for Near

Watari was delighted to prove that Near's favourite cake was not a lie

Yellow for Nobility and Courage in Japan

The colour yellow seemed to be everywhere in Death Note's episode eight. Particularly in the vicinity of the hapless Kudagawa and/or providing hints towards the emergence of Mello.

Previously, I was speculating that yellow, in television Death Note's colour themes, had something to do with thuggery or violence.

However, there was a very poignant moment with the colour yellow, seemingly teeming with significance, which fell back upon the traditional meaning of yellow in Japanese culture. Namely the hue of courage or nobility.

Near with yellow jigsaw piece for L (Death Note 2015)

This was the moment when Near handed L a yellow jigsaw piece and suggested they might add the final bit of the puzzle together. And L slotted it perfectly into the partially completed jigsaw on the floor.

It was all in stark contrast to the mirror scene in episode seven, when L distractly tried to force a piece into the wrong position on a white jigsaw.

Then handed Near the errant jigsaw piece with dire warnings that it might not be himself to insert the last one. Maybe it would be Near.

Near takes white jigsaw piece Death Note 2015

White is the colour of purity and spirituality. Yellow is the hue of majesty and bravery. The photography and direction of both scenes were extremely similar, but bathed in light to match the colours on the jigsaw.

Though they sat in the same relative positions, L faced Near the first time around. He sat sidewards on the second, wherein the personality could well have been Mello. Or Near under internal barrage from Mello's scathing tones.

Near/Mello and L Death Note TV episode 8

Plus the emotions of the major players were at odds.

In the first instance, receipt of the jigsaw piece caused consternation in a hitherto jubilant Near. It triggered Mello into momentarily coming out, both personae swinging back and forth in domination of their body.

Meanwhile, a despondent L merely left.

In the second, a watchful Near purportedly had control of their body after earlier taking it back from Mello. Near seemed quite pensive, until L took the jigsaw piece.

Meanwhile, a determined L simply sat back down. Then fitted the piece into the puzzle.

Death Note's L and Near Jigsaw Dialogue

To my mind, a whole sub-current in unspoken conversation was going on here.

In the first iteration, L was unsure if Near (and/or Mello) were even on side regarding the Kira case. They'd joined in with the whole Babel thing, but then so had Light.

Previously Near had left Wammy's House without sanction and proceeded to hack L's computer and interfere with his investigation vis-a-vis handing information to the errant Kira Countermeasures police team.

Right now, Near was sitting back in a position of purity, innocence or spirituality. Chaotic neutral at best, but certainly not fully signed up as L's successor in anything, let alone the battle with Light Yagami.

L handed over the white jigsaw piece as a challenge. Pretty much saying, "Who's side are you on, Near?"

White jigsaw Near and Mello in Death Note episode 7

Episode 7: Left alone with the uncompleted white jigsaw

We'd seen that yellow jigsaw previously in episode eight. It was after Near/Mello had been off breaking and entering, then murdering folk, then had popped back to enjoy an afternoon with L and Watari.

The former NOT playing jigsaw puzzles with his younger foster ward. The latter baking Near's favourite cakes as a lovely treat.

Near anxiously queries L's safety with Mr Wammy, who doesn't do much to alleviate their concern. Mello, as puppet, gleefully concludes that L is prepared to die to 'finish Kira'. Near tells him to shut up with such talk.

Thus we get a long shot, the mirror of that above, but with Near and Mello turned 90 degrees from their prior position.

Their allegiance appears already cast with L, if the evidence of the puzzle board is to be believed. Even Mello has his sights set firmly on (the) board.

Episode 8: Left alone with the uniquely completed yellow jigsaw

Internal decision made, all that is left now is to inform L that they will become his successors in the Kira case, if circumstances require it. Hence the undue significance placed upon Near (or was that Mello; it works best as a combination of the two) handing over that yellow jigsaw piece.

Yellow for courage and/or nobility.

And note that we're not yet over the hidden chess-piece symbolism either. Near's come from a position of white - spirituality, priesthood, monks - and he's now sitting in L's gigantic chessboard room, occupying the Bishop spot.

Moreover, look at how prominently L's White Queen pillar is displayed, along with all that lighting picking out Near/Mello, in the instant immediately prior to the yellow jigsaw piece being handed over.

Near and Mello may play black or white in this particular, or indeed any, game of chess. But right now they are firmly aligned with the White Queen, in whose defence L is prepared to become over-shadowed.

In short, the second iteration of this scene is a continuance of the first. "Who's side are you on, Near?" "Yours, L."

Death Note: Not the Ayes But The Eyes Have It

Light's strategy, early on in episode eight, surrounded setting up matters so that Misa acquired shinigami eyes.

It didn't quite work out like that, but it set up an on-going theme involving eyes and watchfulness per se, which ran throughout this entire chapter in television's Death Note story-telling.

Here are a few such recurrences:

Mr Wammy getting sentimental about 'that sparkle in (L's) eyes' when
his ward solves serial killer cases without clues

Watari again vowing to 'watch over L for as long as (he) lives'.
Note only L, not any other Wammy kid. (Poor Mello, Matt and Near.)

2015 Death Note L advises not to avert our eyes

Aligning centre-right of the White Queen, L tells Soichiro'not to avert
(his) eyes' from whatever follows (plus a demonstration of the same)

Mr Wammy again explaining that the cameras in the
YELLOW box warehouse are so they can all 'bear witness'

L pointing out to Light that, even under surveillance,
Kira could kill 'with everyone watching you'

'What follows has no bearing on the investigation' L tells Soichiro,
before pointedly averting his eyes and ending the camera feed
through which everyone was watching

All through the Yellow Box scenes, uplighting has us focusing
upon each actor's eyes; then we were treated to crazy Kira eyes, as he got the news...

Television Death Note Mikami shinigami eyes

... that Mikami had used his new shinigami eyes to get L's
name, at the exact moment that L averted HIS eyes. Did Soichiro get the hint?

Thus we end the episode as we began, focusing upon Light's watch.

Only this time, L had pulled off the most delightful twist. Circumventing Near's trick from the Yellow Box scene in canon - swapping the Death Note for a fake, thus surviving.

Thus giving all us old timers watching something unanticipated to enjoy. No-one's averting their eyes here, I can tell you. It's aye all round!

L: Is this a Death Note I See Before Me?

I am in blood
Stepp'd in so far that, should I wade no more,
Returning were as tedious as go o'er.
~ MacBeth (Act 3, Scene 4), William Shakespeare

There was a bit, quite early on, wherein Light bent over his Death Note was attempting to justify his use of it. He said something which seemed to me to paraphrase MacBeth's famous line, quoted above from his eponymous play by William Shakespeare.

All this spoken whilst staring down at his clawed fingers in a 'will these hand ne'er be clean?' kind of way.

I wish I could find where I wrote about that, because it was very much mirrored by L's feigned first usage of his own Death Note. Only with the hooked hands bit substituted for a 'is this a dagger I see before me?' sort of pen-holding stance.

Same MacBeth quote in modern form though.

Most people stop holding a pen like that when they're five, L...

Oh! And he had a Tolkeinesque moment too - with L practically recasting himself as Samwise right at the instant when the hobbit realises his best friend Frodo can't escape the fatal pull towards using the Ring.

L accusing Light of losing to the allure

L as Samwise Gamgee in another Lord of the Rings inspired scene in Death Note

All in all, it's (patently) left me fascinated, and I can't wait to catch up with the three remaining episodes. Though writing their analyses in blog entries might take longer.

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Brand New Death Note Live Action Movie Coming in 2016 - Sequel to Japanese Films

13/9/2015

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A new Death Note story will be told in a fourth instalment to Japan's movie saga, it was announced today.

Ten years after the events in L: Change the World, six Death Notes are simultaneously dropped into the human world. Six Kiras arise in a bid to wipe out cyber-terrorism.

One of them will be Light Yagami returned.

Each of the Death Notes will naturally have a shinigami in attendance, thus adding an even more supernatural element to the tale. Crucially, a 'six note rule' is triggered by such prevalence. Though what that entails is yet to be known.

Death Note 2016 - its working title - will be produced by Nippon and distributed worldwide by Warner Bros.

This is what that mysterious countdown was all about, and what was announced after the Death Note television drama completed its final episode in Japan tonight.

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TV Death Note Episode 8: Chess Games, Watchfulness and Villainy in Yellow Pt 1

12/9/2015

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Yes, I know I'm lagging behind the whole world here. I'm on it. I'm on it.

We're up to episode eight of the Death Note live-action television adaptation, wherein Light has his memories back; Kira has his Death Note in his Golem-esque clutches; and the Wammys are pursuing new leads, whilst telling everyone to witness, watch and don't avert their eyes.

Don't blink. Whatever you do. Don't blink. And now, how about a nice game of chess? White moves first...

Great Acting in Death Note TV Drama

Teru Mikami in
Death Note (2015)

I know I've said it before, but I think it's worth the reiteration. There are some truly wonderful performances from the actors in Death Note (2015).

After this episode, we were discussing Shugo Oshinari's portrayal of Teru Mikami. He seems born to play him!

Fitting the role so perfectly that I can't imagine anyone else doing so.

Even physically, there's a resemblance between the actor and the manga/anime depiction of Mikami. It makes you wonder if the cast were chosen as much for their looks in comparison to the characters, as anything else. Or if the actors are just so good, that they draw that likeness down onto themselves.

Then there's Matsuda. Anyone else feel like Gouki Maeda has brought our bubbly hero Tota to life so completely, that it appears nothing short of preternatural?

I could highlight several more fabulous actors from this series, but those pair are the current stand-outs from Death Note episode eight.

Light Up Kira in his Shinigami Gaze

Talking about great Death Note actors, some are perennial and none more so than Masataka Kubota as Kira. He can eject Light with a look; bring Kira slithering in on a glance.

Light Yagami quite notably never got the shinigami eyes. But that isn't to say that the Death God can't been seen in his gaze.

As Light, he can seem quite wide-eyed and innocent, self-effacing even, nevertheless able to focus straight on. Head high, facing the world, though internally he may be scheming.

Light Yagami in Death Note TV live action drama 2015

Then see him turn to Kira in a sudden sidewards shifting of his vision. Like the killer stands alongside him, stepping in.

From now on, that stare will rarely meet any sight head on. Kira's gaze slides like a snake has control of each orb, weaving, winding, coiling in their sockets, taking his head on a nodding, sinking, roller-coaster orbit too.

Just as it always will, when Kira presence is known.

Kira in Death Note 2015 television live action

In the sequence above, Light - as Kira - is captured in stills taken from the midst of a sweeping gaze. The second part with L following hard on the first in his room, as a continuation of the same internal dialogue.

His sidewards glance from the initial couplet carrying straight into that smug perusal of L. Then onwards; his vision moving across the floor, defocusing upon a spot beside him and up finally in smirking contemplation.

Shifting, sliding, crooked; just like Light's suddenly hooked index finger in the second of the four images, snapped at the instant that Kira fully comes to the fore.

Or Light Yagami gets a plan worked out to fruition. Which is pretty much the same thing.

But there's much more to see here, and I'm having fun revisiting my Uni housemate's Film Studies degree (which I might as well have added to my own CV, the amount of times I was in the actual study part of it...).

So let's head on into the nitty-gritty.

TV Death Note's Kira on the Left Hand Path

Look again at those four screenshot images and note how often Light and/or his Kira persona are filmed on the left hand side of the frame. Even in close up, you get a lot of background scenery seen on the right.

In fact, his Kira gaze first looks left, then settles into whichever way it'll slither.

All over the world, the left has historically been denigrated as a cultural no-no. Some societies reserve the left hand for unsavoury necessities, like using it for cleaning oneself after using the toilet. Others have considered left handed folk to be luckless, awkward, stupid or downright criminal.

Language too, on a global scale, routinely disdains the left - 'the left hand path' is used in Abrahamic religions (and some Pagan ones) to describe selfish, sinful or destructive practices in worship and/or magic; from ancient Mesopotamia, through the rise and fall of the Roman Empire, and into modern times, 'left' has been inserted into phrases meaning evil, wrong or otherwise not quite what should be done.

Nor is Japan exempt from this left disdaining social etiquette.

It's considered impolite - and bad luck - to eat with your chopsticks in your left hand there. The majority of left-handed children are still forced to use their right hands to write.

However, given the prevalence of Christian imagery in this adaptation of Death Note (and indeed the original too), it's worth noting that the Archangel Gabriel sat at God's left hand. And he was the Angel of Judgement.

Judgement Incarnate or possibly Satanic (in the traditional modern sense) evil doer? You decide.

Though I will say that imagery in previous episodes has suggested Light aligning more with Lucifer the Light Bringer, than Gabriel the Bringer of Life from the baby spirit banks of Sheol. I haven't seen Kira raise a trumpet to his lips once.

'We All Fall Down Like Toy Soldiers'

Noticing what's in the background is generally quite worthwhile in Death Note's television adaptation. There's no exception here.

While Light ponders strategy, we clearly see his troops lined up against the wall behind him. Symbolically, at least, in the form of toy soldiers.

We're meant to spot them. They fill half of the screen, in perfect clarity, vividly green against a white background. Apparently green means 'freshness; eternal life; youthfulness' in Japan's colour coding. Innocent then, in the prime of their lives, individually placed so each stands out.

Yet overlooked, thus dominated by the antlered head of a Japanese Kirin - as already discussed in my review of episode two - positioned like Light to the left.
This mythological being is representative of vengeful judgement and justice. Its placement making it almost seem like a sheepdog herding those toy soldiers into their orderly rows. Like sheep corralled into the fold.

And below there is a human skeleton, not unlike Rem in aspect, standing slightly off the ground, aping Misa's stance whilst captured by L and the Japanese police. It's flanked by the skeletal reproductions of two dinosaurs - both extinct.

Does anyone know what purple creature features prominently in that bottom corner? It's staring straight at Light.

Possibly a mythological Japanese totem for luck or protection? Most of those pertaining to Light generally fall into that category, unless they're representing Kira in murderous reckoning. It looks like a horse to me. Please do shout up, if you can identify it.

Now keep your attention on Light's carefully placed pawns - those plastic troops - as he switches persona more noticeably into Kira.

He fades in. They fade out. Still commanding half of the screen, but utterly out of focus. Kira's looking away and our eyes naturally follows his direction.

No-one cares now what happens to the once vivid and innocent, penned and ignored toy soldiers. Losing their individuality as they fade from view. Just pieces to be played on Kira's personal battlefield. Deployed in dialogue, and already moving out of sight. Out of mind to follow suit quite swiftly.

Like any other war really.

White Knight L Upon a Death Note Chessboard

Of course, if you're going to create a combat driven gaming board of your surroundings, then nobody does it better than L.

His entire inner sanctum seems fashioned upon a gigantic Wammy House chessboard - a game which was invented to equate a theatre of war, requiring tactical moves not unlike those found upon real life battle-fields.

L and Light chessboard imagery in Death Note 2015

I know it's been highlighted before, but look at that colour scheme and ceiling squares. Everything square or rectangular really, even the paper that L is holding up. The whole theme suggestive of a chequered board in chess.

Kira's biggest problem being the white knight sitting one step before him and two beside. That's an L shape and knight can own any piece from there, not least the black king currently held in check.

And is that a giant white king chess-piece looming alongside Light? Bit dangerous. It can only move one square, but that's enough to take him completely should he get too close.

Luckily it's only a pillar. Randomly ornate in a room full of squares, mostly in black and white with a nice blue border. (Cloudlike patterns for blue sky thinking.)

See the double row of identical shirts, white pawns awaiting play upon their white squares. With an option on snakes and ladders, as an option at the back.

No, no, I'm sorry, I'm a noob. Double row, stacked squares - bricks in a castle, spiral staircase leading up into the tower. Besieged by a darker ladder with the potential to breach. Sky above. Placed in a corner of the chessboard, precisely where one would expect to find a white side's rook.

(Black rook sits opposite. The entrance way into the room, all dark steel cages and stairs to descend within.)

The pawns are the white computer chairs standing all in a row. Presumably that's a bishop disguised as a triangle shaped meditation tent over to the side. Spiritual and triangular to imply diagonal.

Ignore the flowing curves of L's desk. A little fancy, but still L shaped. Positioning the White Knight, who has so often got his feet up; astride his table - equine in its stead - as befits a rider.

That L is the White Knight in a giant chessboard also accounts for his choice of lucky ring. The horseshoe signet which had me so befuddled back at the beginning of Death Note's television series run, when I thought it was actually a crescent moon.

Perhaps this explains too the purple horselike creature surveying Kira in that last picture from his own room. Black gets a knight too, though I'm not sure purple counts as black.

Nevertheless, Light's better off now than he was two episodes back, when white captured the black queen and took her clean off the table. A move which forced black king Kira to play repeatedly in check, relying upon stalemate to remain in the game.

White Knight takes Black Queen

CHECK!

CHECK!

A desperate recourse to hope that he lasted long enough to win freedom by default. But it all worked out as planned.

At least he's got a queen. Stop looking at Near, no white queen there despite the actress playing them. Weren't you paying attention last week with the Tower of Babel and all? Or the week before that, with Near positioned up above in surveillance from a camera? Or a few weeks back with that big, red monument beckoning them on to the field of play.

Dude's playing rook right now.

Meanwhile L's having to pretend white has a queen too. Played psychologically - to be subtly intimidating, standing right alongside him - and introduced by dint of installing a suitably regal chess-piece pillar halfway across the board.

L's white queen pillar in Death Note 2015

The white queen was a pillar of strength for L, and difficult to remove from play

Divergent Plotline for Death Note (2015)

Just when I thought that television's Death Note plot was firmly back in the canon groove, it goes and changes things around again.

The glee in this household was palpable. After years of knowing the same old story inside and out, it's wonderfully exciting to have something new to enjoy within the same broad contours of this fascinating, familiar tale.

So Misa goes into the forest to collect her Death Note, finds it, digs it up and reads the title. All in red, like a woman on the brink of powerful ascension, as per long established colour coding in imagery for this Death Note television adaptation. Power right there in her grasp, with all due regard to those scarlet fingernails, which with she raked a manicured touch right across the cellophane.

Then in lieu of regaining her memories, she gets smacked around the head with a spade instead.

Talk about shock! And good fight with this show's propensity to surprise. Now us old timers can watch without knowing what is about to happen next.

And It was All Yellow - Colour Coding Villainy & Violence in Death Note Television Show

Meet Mikami's new friend Hiroki Yudagawa. Misa's assailant in the woods; temporary conveyor of the Death Note; quickly sought and identified by L; and an unwelcome distraction for Light.

Yudagawa was brought to us today by the colour yellow.

I'm not kidding. Look, it follows him around.

Mikami and Yudagawa in tv's Death Note 2015

Death Note Light and Matsuda in Yudagawa's house

He was yellow, Light. Everything about him yellow, from the random hook on his front door to the children's slide outside his house and about a trillion other things besides.

Including the fact that Near is part way through completion of a plain yellow jigsaw (in place of the usual white one), whilst discussing Yudagawa with L.

You'd think it was just his colour, but then yellow crops up again and again. Like in the childhood bullying scene reminisced by Mikami, wherein a much more junior thug was indeed wearing yellow.

Hence yellow is slowly being introduced as the Death Note TV series hue of violence. It's the colour associated with villainy of a much more bog standard level than hitherto encountered in murderous notebook owners, or authority figures advocating torture, and proclaimed geniuses applying the same in blatant disregard of its ineffectiveness as a vehicle for truth.

Yellow applies to the kind of physical violence you'd find in any dodgy pub on a Friday night. Plus the sort of villains who might live in your street.

Like Near.

They Call Me Mello Yellow (Quite Rightly)

Soft glow illuminating from Wammy's desk, drawing the eye at the centre of the screen. Casting yellow shadows that bounce from the white and fade into black, showing us Near, sitting there staring back.

Except its not Near, is it? And I think we all know whose persona watches from the sidelines there.

Lamp like a spotlight, picking out just one figure to be fully lit in this scene: the Mello marionette. Glow bouncing blond like a halo around the top of its head; its shadow reaching out in the pool of yellow light before it.

Near hasn't twirled a single lock in ages. The same lamplight shades that white hair in hues of blond and grey. The puppet lies abandoned a few feet away. To my mind, that's already Mello staring back at us.

So does yellow also mean Mello in this show's internal colour coding? He'd certainly factor into the Man of Violence designation, vis-a-vis the Mafia.

Not to mention the more obvious link with the colour of his hair.

Except when he's Mello

So We're Going to Ignore Murder in Death Note Then?

We've already had a definite glimpse of Mello in episode eight of Death Note (2015) and there was certainly much violence involved, and a profusion of the colour yellow.

It makes the scene above downright weird.

Basically we have to accept that Wammy and L are blithely welcoming Near into their midst - introducing them to high-ranking police officers as L's highly intelligent 'right hand man' (despite looking like a child) - and calmly hanging out playing jigsaws.

All without mentioning this:

I don't know, but I'm pretty sure that my parents would have freaked. I think I would have at least been grounded.

What I'm 100% certain about is that my Mum and Dad would not have plonked me in front of the Meditation Tent equivalent of a naughty step, then not mentioned the sodding great corpse I created with my own bare hands, while helping me complete pretty puzzles and complimenting me in front of their friends.

But then again, my parents aren't child traffickers in pursuit of detective dollars (unlike Watari) nor enthusiastic torturers (like, say, L). So perhaps this behaviour is normal in Wammy circles. The evidence seems to point towards as much (yes, we're all looking at you, Beyond Birthday).

Nevertheless, let's just review what the Wammy House massive are overlooking in their child today:

First their little cherub broke into the home of a known violent assailant.

With inevitable results, when their ward was violently assaulted. Thus accounting for the split lip sported in later scenes. (Then mysteriously healing in order to disappear for scenes set just hours later.)

However, this triggered some kind of honour code within the mindset of the emerging Mello persona. No longer smirking from a puppet's face, Mello sneered, "You've done it now."

And whatever showed upon his expression - turned away from the camera, thus hidden to us - was enough to cause panic to pass across a grown thug's face.

Mello continued, "Remember, you're the one who laid a hand on me first." Thus proving that he was raised right, in the correct and sane values that it's ok to commit cold-blooded murder, as long as they hit you first.

Death Note live action Mello fighting back

Mello and/or Near - in the pursuit of evidence to support their theory that viciously killed Kudagawa was in receipt of the missing Death Note - then completely trashed the place.

Before calling home to report upon their investigative breaking, entering and criminal damage;' 'fess up to murder; and get invited around for a nice evening eating cake and doing jigsaws.

Kids today, eh?!

Near had read about remorse once in a book, but didn't see
how it pertained to the situation in hand.

Shedding Light on Community Policing in Death Note's Japan

Imagine the scene. A young lady has been viciously attacked. A police officer arrives in her hospital room to take her statement.

Just on it, her boyfriend turns up. He gabbles stuff about them being friends and asks the constable to go away, so that the couple could talk.

The officer does not know if this is actually the assailant, as he has no verification nor yet a statement. But he is aware that there's a dangerous woman battering thug out there in his city today. He needs information fast, so the next female digging in woods might do so without a spade across the head.

So the policeman says, "Yes, no trouble. I'll just leave you to it and take yet more time out of my busy schedule to come back at a time more convenient you to, Mr Random Stranger." Or words to that effect.

Actually, you don't need to imagine it. That's precisely what happened in Death Note this week, and the police officer wasn't even being sarcastic in his polite agreement before leaving.

Bizarre.

Death Note TV drama Misa, Light and police officer

"Sorry, Ms Amane, I know you're concussed and confused, but I'm going to leave you to this
strange man for the asking. I'm sure he won't turn out to be a homicidal maniac. "
"That's quite alright, officer."

Dodgy Scriptwriting and Police Procedure in Death Note Television Drama (2015)

Yet not even close to being the most bizarre moment.

That's when the Kira Countermeasures task force hears about the attack upon Misa, and L basically hacks the city's CCTV cameras to find out who did it.

Armed with a name and address, the assembled police officers pretty much discuss whether they can be bothered to investigate further. The conclusion being that they're too busy with the (largely stagnant) Kira case to nip over and arrest the spade-wielding psycho.

Not even with all that circumstantial evidence linking Kudagawa WITH the Kira case. Nor does anybody check with head office that Misa's assault is on somebody's else's desk as a case file.

After all the police officer originally tasked with collecting her statement was too busy being polite to actually do his job. (See above.)

New Death Note episode 8 Misa, Light and police officer

So far, so sadly indicative of many police force attitudes around the world.

Though perhaps not the message that Death Note's scriptwriter and director intended to convey in this scene. That would have been - show the caring, supportive presence of nice law enforcement agencies, then get him the Hell out of here ASAP, so we can move the plot along with an anxious exchange of words between Misa and Light.

THEN the bizarrest moment of all kicks in.

Matsuda decides that actually, he CAN be moved to check out the assailant. But he would like to take his boss's son along with him, perhaps for work experience or something.

Moreover, Mogi supports Matsuda's suggestion. Telling their gaffer that Matsuda is so crap at his job that he can only be trusted to investigate if Light is with him.

Death Note Matsuda taking Light on work experience

In lieu of, say, any trained police officer, who's sworn an oath to uphold the law and thus given a mandate by the people of Japan, to act on their behalf in the protection of civilians, pursuit of criminals and preservation of the peace.

After all, the victim was Light's girlfriend, so taking him into the home of her supposed assailant is fine. I mean, what could possibly go wrong there? It's not like there's any potential for an emotional reaction, like avenging his missus with swift and bloody retribution, and/or leaving something nasty inside Kudagawa's home.

Plus you know, getting a warrant to search the property is too much paperwork. So Matsuda will just call the suspect's landlady instead and get her to open his front door.

Death Note's Matsuda, Light and landlady in Death Note television show 2015

... surely a consideration before they entered a citizen's home?

Anyhow, much waffling done and much more to continue, so I'm going to call this another two parter. Be back soon with the other half.

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Fourth Live Action Death Note Japanese Movie in the Offing?

11/9/2015

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A rather intriguing countdown timer has appeared on the official Warner Bros website for their Japanese live action Death Note films.

Gif showing the timer on the Japanese live action Death Note film site Sept 11th 2015

Countdown on the Death Note live action movie website
- gif captured on September 11th 2015

Ordinarily, the site is dedicated to the earlier trilogy of Death Note movies - Death Note (2006); Death Note II: The Last Name (2006); and L: Change the World (2008).

They were all distributed by Warner Bros., with the first two produced in conjunction with Nippon Television (NTV).

This is significant, as the timer on that website runs out on September 13th 2015, at 10.30pm Japanese time. Also known as the moment when the final installment of NTV's Death Note television drama finishes airing.

In short, the small screen climax will coincide with whatever news for the big screen this will bring. A double w(h)ammy for Death Note fans then.

Naturally I've checked the source code to see what clues might lie in there. Nothing much. Just a plain, old page with the apple icon bouncing and the countdown completing.

Its meta tags are all in Japanese, but for one English language rendering of the title Death Note and the words 'movie, trailer'. Which are repeated in the native tongue too, alongside the kanji for Yagami, Light, Raito, Kira, Shueisha, Nippon Television, NTV, official, film, Warner and Warner Bros.

All of which could pertain to the content this counter replaced. Or might not.

The current buzz, across the fandom and anime/manga news sites, is that we're about to see a fourth Japanese live action Death Note film announced. But it's all speculation at this juncture.

What do you think?

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Singer Christina Grimmie Cosplays L in Shrug

10/9/2015

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Madonna jumps into Mello

Everyone claims to have seen the television interview in which Madonna admitted loving Death Note and cosplaying Mello in Jump. Or else they know somebody who did. Only no-one can ever find said video, nor recall precisely when or where it occurred.

And we can speculate all day about Taylor Swift's Blank Space pretensions towards Light Yagami, Misa Amane or Ryuk.

Hence it makes a refreshing change to actually confirm a celebrity Death Note cosplay, cited and heard from the horse's mouth.

American R&B singer Christina Grimmie is apparently a bit of an L fan. Known for her chart hitting contemporary pop covers, plus coming third in the US talent show The Voice, Grimmie's now branching out into recording her own tunes. Including latest release Shrug, where she cosplays L.

Christina Grimmie's Death Note cosplay from her music video Shrug

Death Note cosplaying Christina Grimmie as L

Slouch or shrug?
Christina Grimmie's L

Christina Grimmie Confirms L Cosplay in Shrug Music Video

Frankly, this one's so obvious that we barely need to be told. But told we were.

'Guys guys guys I look like L today And I'm dressed like L Omg' Christina Tweeted, on September 1st 2015. It soon transpired that it was for her Shrug music video, which was being recorded at the time.

There was soon a clamorous demand for more. 'Pics or it didn't happen,' one fan replied - that being the general ethos running through all the rest too. And Christina Grimmie complied.

'cosplayed L for my music vid #deathnote #shrug', She Tweeted, along with a still from the Shrug video reproduced above.

There we have it. Naturally I will post the video up once it becomes live, and see if she would be up for chatting with us about her Death Note fandom credentials. In the meantime, here's an official lyric version of the music video for Shrug, unfortunately devoid of Wammy House detectives and their celebrity cosplayers.

However, the song itself is already available for download, and apparently has been for the past two months! Maybe this is one of those moments where being foreign means that I've missed something fundamental in the telling. One day hopefully we'll revisit this and see.

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Kylina's Death Note Card Game from Germany

9/9/2015

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Sample card from Death Note game

This is little more than a heads up for the German Death Note fans out there. I'd like to tell you more, but frankly I have no German and Google Translate is garbling the information.

Hopefully someone will step in to tell us what we're looking at here!

Kylina has created a deck of Death Note playing cards. It appears to involve some kind of strategy with monsters, traps and ways to continue on to win. That's really all I could adequately discern.

Sorry Kylina! (Though if you want to come and introduce your Death Note game yourself, you are more than welcome.)

Clarification!

Below in the comments, the lovely Nathaniel has clarified what this Death Note pack of gaming cards is all about:

The card game she has made is actually just a deck in a pre-existing card game: "Yu-Gi-Oh". Yu-Gi-Oh is a popular card game that was made by Konami and is played across the world. What she has done is made a deck using cards that already exist; using a Death Note theme. Sorry! Just trying to clarify. :)

Thank you, Nathaniel!

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Taylor Swift's Blank Space Death Note Reference in Both Video and Lyrics?

8/9/2015

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Death Note's Kira with apple

The theory definitely gains credence, when you consider the accompanying music video. It depicts Swift holding aloft an apple whilst singing that chorus.

Not to mention that the book in which she writes said names is revealed to look not unlike a Death Note.

But to what extent is all this conjecture concerning Taylor Swift's Death Note credentials true?

There have been rumours circulating that Taylor Swift is a Death Note fan, since she released her 1989 album in October 2014.

In particular, since a certain lyric turned up in Blank Space - her first single issued from the album:

'I've got a blank space baby,
and I'll write your name...'

Sounds a bit Kira to you?

Taylor Swift's Blank Space

What is Taylor Swift's Blank Space About?

It seems that the media were giving Taylor Swift a hard time. Scathing journalists wrote nasty editorials warning would-be lovers to keep well away.

As one reviewer put it, these stories framed her as 'an overly attached man-eater who dates for songwriting material' (Sam Lansky, 1989 Marks a Paradigm Swift, Time Magazine, October 23rd 2014)

So the singer had a bit of fun with that.

Blank Space is all about her hunt for a new boyfriend, whom she'll date in a highly possessive manner, then turn psycho upon. In the meantime, his name will be added to her notebook entitled My True Loves.

Taylor Swift's Death Note... sorry, My True Loves notebook

Anti-Hero Taylor Swift as Blank Space Villain

Much of the fun in the video for Blank Space by Taylor Swift comes after she catches her partner (Sean O'Pry) texting other women. That's when our heroine's romantic inclinations turn psychotically sour.

And some Death Note fans start to see Misa Amane in her overly-possessive retribution for the slight.

Misa-Misa

Taylor-Taylor

We can confirm the 'crazy villain' part with a quotation from her director:

Director Joseph Kahn said that Swift came to him with the idea for the treatment, saying she was all too aware of the jokes made about all of her ex boyfriends and how she likes to include them in her songwriting. Taylor said she wanted to address the general thought of her in the clip in a fun way by playing a crazy villain.

“When I heard this concept, I thought ‘This is amazing!’” Kahn said. “This is a deconstructivist version of Taylor Swift!”
- Hugh McIntyre, Yahoo Accidentally Leaks Taylor Swift's New Music Video For 'Blank Space', Forbes, November 14th 2015

Kahn was also at pains to create a film set feel to the music video, borrowing from many different styles of cinematography in a technique which he calls Spielbergian. This allowed one story to be told, while also making it seem like a compendium of separate tales stuck together.

The notion of Taylor Swift as anti-hero or villain was helped along by Kahn taking much inspiration from Kubrick's classic A Clockwork Orange.

But what other popular cultural references were pinged in Swift's Blank Space music video? Some fans and other commentators think they know.

I've never realized @taylorswift13 is a fan of #DeathNote More apples for you @dude_mysterious pic.twitter.com/iRB3KV1rGF
— Melissa Dickinson (@BlazingRoselia) August 11, 2015

Socio-Cultural References in Taylor Swift's Blank Space Video

Far from Misa Amane, Elle Magazine saw a Law & Order: SUV shout out in the scene with the birthday cake and the cat. Not least because the cat is called Olivia Benson after a character in that show.

They also highlighted The Great Gatsby and Titanic. Plus poses from an Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue.

KQED Arts spotted the nod to Katy Perry's Mean Girls in the way Swift cuts holes in her man's shift. Also included in Bustle's purportly definitive list of all Swift's Blank Space cultural references:

Ghost Rider;
Partition - Beyoncé;
Twilight;
Shake It Off - Taylor's earlier music video;
Before He Cheats - Carrie Underwood;
Mean Girls - Katy Perry;
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte;
The Picture of Dorian Gray - Oscar Wilde;
The Parent Trap;
Once Upon a Time/Beauty and the Beast;
Romeo and Juliet.

Yet no Great Gatsby there - which seemed quite blatant to my mind - nor 10 Things That I Hate About You, which my partner was quite certain about seeing there.

And not one of them mentioning Death Note.

Twilight or Death Note: Taylor Swift's Apple

Taylor Swift's Blank Space apple sequence

What do you see in the gif sequence above? Most seem view a blatant homage to Stephanie Meyer's Twilight saga in all those apple-based shenanigans.

Unless they are Death Note fans, then Taylor becomes a Death God a la Ryuk - loving apples enough for a celebratory spin, before taking a hearty bite.

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Death Note Ryuk action figure

NB Here she sings that she has a blank space (baby) to write your name.

Are Twilight's vampires known for writing names in notebooks? Because Death Note's shinigami and their notebooks' human owners sure are!

Taylor Swift Admits Being a Death Note Fan?

Naturally, there's nothing like hearing the truth from the horse's mouth to clear things up like the confusion above. So I went on a search to see if Taylor Swift had ever admitted to being a Death Note fan.

I instantly thought I'd hit pay-dirt, when I found this:

Taylor Swift Blank Space inspired by Death Note

However, that appears merely to be a mock-up created by a contributor to FunnyJunk.com, as I can't find the interview itself in (cyber) real life.

Though Mikikazu Komatsu is indeed a prolific contributing writer for Crunchyroll. There was nothing of the sort posted on February 6th 2015, as the archives for that date reveal.

So what do you think? Is Taylor Swift alluding to Death Note in Blank Space? Have you heard/read her say as much? Or just noted it yourself in watching its music video?

Here it is again for your viewing pleasure:

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Death Note and the Death Penalty

7/9/2015

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An opinion piece in a British broadsheet prompted one fan to laud the anti-death penalty message hammered home in Death Note.

The editorial by Clive Stafford Smith (The death penalty is in its final throes, but too many are still being executed) took a world wide view of capital punishment in its current state. Only 37 of the 195 countries recognized by the UN retains the death penalty on its statute books, including Japan.

Stafford Smith opined that those nations are out of step within a modern world and that history will judge them harshly. Soon no state will seek to execute those it deems criminal according to its laws. The arguments have already been lost.

The death penalty is no deterrent and its continued usage seems more and more like political expediency.

Naomi Misora approaches the gallows in Death Note

In response to the editorial, Death Note fan jameshogg commented:

In Death Note, no doubt one of Japan's greatest ever parables against the death penalty, Light Yagami comes across a supernatural notebook that allows him to kill anyone by writing their names. Instead of accepting responsibility for his first killing by testing the truthfulness of the notebook on a street gang member, he rationalises his murder by insisting that the criminals of the planet must perish in the name of deterrence in his "new world", something he's been long dreaming of. Ryuk, the Death God that watches over Light, remarks that at the end of this plan he will be "the only bastard left". Light replies:

"What, me? I'm just a straight-A student. A law-abiding citizen."

It is remarkable how death-penalty advocates are convinced they themselves won't fall into corruption, or self-righteousness... or even mistake. I am reminded of that immortal quote from Robert Bolt's play "A Man For All Seasons":

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!
Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?
William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!
Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake.

Light's story sees him adopt a God complex, which is rather fitting since God himself is also a tyrannical judge, jury and executioner. Political readers and journalists of totalitarian regimes will no doubt be very impressed with the manga/anime upon seeing it for the first time.

One thing that is so striking about the story is how well it attacks the totalitarian impulse of those who think human sacrifice is their way to civil salvation. Crowds flock to praise Light (who is hidden under the alias "Kira") and attack those who defy his anarchy and disorder. The police even start to collude. It seems as long as there are enough people who insist that Light will never become corrupt, even as he executes innocents, he is always seemingly in the right.

I wouldn't be surprised if Death Note proved to be the end of the death penalty in Japan entirely. And I hope even more that the influence will spread into China, where the battle will be far harder.

And of course, by definition you cannot deter a religious fascist who is willing to kill himself. And if your intent is to deter emotion instead of to educate and reason, do not be surprised when that emotion explodes when there is no safety net of reason.

And for goodness sake, stop assuming there is such a thing as an incorruptible state.
- James Hogg, comment 58297474, The Guardian (August 27th 2015)

What do you think? Is the climate for capital punishment changing in Japan? And will Death Note's central message factor into that? If indeed you agree that fundamentally Death Note is an anti-death penalty story. Is it?

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Much Cuteness as Final Curtain Closes on Korea's Death Note Musical Stageshow

4/9/2015

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The Korean cast of Death Note the Musical were clearly having a fabulous time performing the show. In fact, as the last curtain fell, a handful of actors didn't want to go.

Led by Kwang-Ho Hong, the group didn't exit stage left, as they were supposed to do, once the final bows had been given on August 15th 2015.

Kwang-Ho Hong reaching for Sun-ah Jung in Death Note Musical Korean curtain call

The Kira actor raced to catch up with Sun-ah Jung (Misa), reaching out to pull her back into the limelight.

She'd already left the stage by the time he was able to grab her. Undaunted Hong dragged her back from the wings; grasping the arm of Hong-suk Kang (Ryuk) for good measure too.

Korean Kira drags Misa and Ryuk back on stage (Death Note Musical)

Shinigami and Second Kira secured, Hong then called out across the stage to forestall another actor's exit over there.

Cast of Korean Death Note the Musical at final curtain call

Death Note Musical cast final curtain call

Attention caught, kisses were blown in the direction of Jun-su Kim (aka Xia Junsu, JYJ KPop idol now playing L) - who was taking his own sweet time in leaving the stage; too busy waving to the audience to have yet disappeared into the wings.

Kim Junsu Death Note Musical in Korea final curtain

Naturally his colleagues' kisses were reciprocated...

Xia Junsu kisses at Death Note Musical final curtain

... prompting a fair amount of bouncing and applause from Jung and Hong, as Kang looked on. Kim answered with a much more cursory wave back, albeit grinning like a Cheshire Cat.

Korean Death Note cast members applaud each other at final curtain

Jun-Su Kim waves to fellow Death Note Musical cast members

Jung now patently considered all extra-curricula shenanigans to be over, as she made her way back towards the wings.

Korean Misa Amane Death Note Musical Sun-ah Jung

Before Hong's reaching cry brought her to a jolting stop, half in the wings on tip-toe, her arms flying into the air. She turned quickly about, hand out-stretched towards her on-stage beau.

The Light Yagami actor had already grasped the forearm of his shinigami pal, lest Kang also entertain ideas about bringing this curtain call to a premature end.

Korea Death Note Musical Misa returns for curtain call

0815 데스노트 총막 홍라이토가 퇴장하려는 미사랑 류크 잡아끌어서 같이 인사 #홍광호 #정선아 #강홍석 pic.twitter.com/ZB4oaypWxS
— 딩봇 (@DINGbot227) August 15, 2015

After all, Junsu was still on-stage, blowing kisses and waving to fans in the audience, who loudly replied with rapturous accolades...

Xiah Junsu as L at Death Note the Musical last curtain call

... growing yet more in volume, as Junsu tearfully took a long, long bow. His actions emulated on the other side of the stage by Jung, Kang and Hong.

Korean Musical Misa, Ryuk and Light bow to Death Note audience

Junsu Kim bows to Death Note Musical audience

All four eventually standing to issue one last laughing wave at the theatre crowd, before leaving the stage for the last time.

Korean Death Note the Musical Final Curtain

There was more than one fan in the audience with a camera. They captured footage of that prolonged curtain call for Death Note the Musical's final performance in Seoul, with others additionally filming the official ending - and speeches - which preceded it.

Seoul Musical Death Note After-show Party

The celebrations didn't end there. After fifty-seven performances, it was only right to wind things down with a post-show Death Note party for the cast and their guests.

Pictures have flown around Twitter to give you a taste of how that played out.

At closing party last night with other actors #KwangHoHong #deathnote pic.twitter.com/Wk85leK3cI
— Kwang-Ho Hong Fan (@hkhmusical) August 16, 2015

광호형! 형과 함께여서 정말 행복했습니다. 같이 서로를 바라보며 호흡하고 노래하며 느꼈던 짜릿함과 전율들..평생 잊지못할거예요 우리 또 함께 무대에 설 날을 기약하며..데스노트의 마지막날 pic.twitter.com/L7l9oablXr
— 김준수 (@1215thexiahtic) August 15, 2015

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Pseudomiracle Focus Upon Misa-Misa the Mass Murderer - and Why the Fandom Forgets

3/9/2015

2 Comments

Have you ever stopped to truly consider the character of Misa Amane?

I don't mean as a cute celebrity or loud-mouthed pea-brain. Those things are merely distractions. But as a serial killer in her own right.

One who fundamentally gets away with it, walking free by the end of Death Note.

Writing in her journal Pseudomiracle, Teruzuki has more than contemplated the disconnect between fan perception of Misa-Misa and the reality as presented in the Death Note universe. She also notes how that 'innocent but wronged by Light' attitude has echoes in canon itself. Particularly in how Misa is never brought to task for her own murderous rampages.

By Teruzuki's reckoning, Misa kills over 100,000 people, as chronicled within the pages of the Death Note manga. Maybe even double that amount.

Misa redefines fatal
attraction in Death Note

Yet all we ever focus upon is her childish personality, as noisily expressed in all its banal, shallow conversation; her strange, but stylish fashion sense; and her tragic relationship with Light (plus exploitation by the same).

None of us quite registering that Misa killed people long before Light came onto the scene.

The Murderess Misa Amane in Death Note (2015)

Murderess Misa Amane (Hinako Sano) as a spectator at her own victim's crime scene

Nor did she have any compulsion to target only those deemed 'guilty' by any moral code - be it societal consensus, state law or personal judgement. She used her Death Note to murder anyone who it occurred to her to do at the time.

Including those pretty much used as leverage in a terror campaign.

If you do not try to capture me, no innocent people will die.
- Misa Amane, holding police and the press to ransom in Death Note

All this and more is highlighted and picked over by Pseudomiracle's Teruzuki -
who also reaches some conclusions as to why we're all so willing to ignore Misa's darker predilections as second Kira.

Can we say gender bias and sloppy story-telling?

Fully illustrated, with every point raised supported by Misa images from the manga - demonstrating quite clearly where we're missing a trick or ten (or several trillion), blind-sided by banal chatter and romantic sentiments - it's very much worth the read.

Check out Teruzuki's take on the matter on Tumblr, in her Pseudomiracle journal entry entitled: Some thoughts on Misa’s presumed victim status and the strange absolution of all her crimes for no apparent reason.

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Takeshi Obata Draws Bakuman (& Death Note)

2/9/2015

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This is an old news item, but it's been taking up space in my 'Death Note News stories' folder. Despite only tenuously having anything to do with our story.

Death Note mangaka Takeshi Obata was featured in a Shonen Jump special video, which showed the artists behind four of their most successful series creating their characters from scratch on a pad.

Obata was included, of course, though he opted to draw the main characters from Bakuman rather than those from his earlier run-away success with Death Note.

Takeshi Obata's segment begins at 4.20. Also featured are Tite Kubo (Bleach), Masahi Kishimoto (Naruto) and Eiichiro Oda (One Piece).

It was uploaded on July 29th 2013.

Watch Artist Takeshi Obata Ink Manga Page

Also available on YouTube is a far more leisurely view of Obata drawing a page from Bakuman, back in April 2013.

Filmed in real time, the footage will be of particular interest to those wanting to know what goes into a mangaka's work, maybe to become one themselves.

It takes Takeshi Obata half an hour to ink the previously sketched manga artwork for this page.

It seems wrong in a Death Note blog to skip any examples of Takeshi Obata drawing our characters. Hence I've found a couple of moments for you.

Takeshi Obata Draws Ryuk from Death Note

This footage is from 2012, when Obata attended Lucca Comics and Games in Tuscany. He's beginning to sketch Ryuk. Unfortunately all fan filming and photography was banned, hence this is a very short clip.

Takeshi Obata Sketches Death Note in NY

We've already featured a clip of Obata drawing Ryuk and L at New York Comic-Con in 2014. But here it is again.

Death Note News covered Obata's US visit far more extensively at the time. Read more about it:

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Death Note news articles

Yellow for Nobility and Courage in Japan

Death Note's L and Near Jigsaw Dialogue

Death Note: Not the Ayes But The Eyes Have It

L: Is this a Death Note I See Before Me?

Great Acting in Death Note TV Drama

Light Up Kira in his Shinigami Gaze

TV Death Note's Kira on the Left Hand Path

'We All Fall Down Like Toy Soldiers'

White Knight L Upon a Death Note Chessboard

Divergent Plotline for Death Note (2015)

And It was All Yellow - Colour Coding Villainy & Violence in Death Note Television Show

They Call Me Mello Yellow (Quite Rightly)

So We're Going to Ignore Murder in Death Note Then?

Shedding Light on Community Policing in Death Note's Japan

Dodgy Scriptwriting and Police Procedure in Death Note Television Drama (2015)

Christina Grimmie Confirms L Cosplay in Shrug Music Video

Clarification!

What is Taylor Swift's Blank Space About?

Anti-Hero Taylor Swift as Blank Space Villain

Socio-Cultural References in Taylor Swift's Blank Space Video

Twilight or Death Note: Taylor Swift's Apple

Taylor Swift Admits Being a Death Note Fan?

Korean Death Note the Musical Final Curtain

Seoul Musical Death Note After-show Party

Watch Artist Takeshi Obata Ink Manga Page

Takeshi Obata Draws Ryuk from Death Note

Takeshi Obata Sketches Death Note in NY

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