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Learn How to Cosplay Misa Amane from Squad Six Cosplayers Own Second Kira - Lara Sizemore

22/5/2016

2 Comments

 
Death Note cosplayers Misa Amane by Lara and Matsuda by Justin

Squad Six Cosplayers Lara and Justin
don their Misa and Matsuda

As part of our Misa Amane Month on Death Note News, we've been tracking down those Misa-Misa cosplayers wherever they may squee.

They are coming here to share their tips, advice and anecdotes all about getting into costume as Death Note's Misa, so that you may gain insights into creating your own Second Kira cosplay.

Occasional Death Note News columnist Lara Sizemore is the founder member of Squad Six Cosplayers. 

As the name implies, she is a veteran cosplayer within numerous different genres and fandoms.

Recently this included a handmade Misa Amane costume to wear while Lara and her squad hosted a Death Note 10th Anniversary panel at Ichibancon 2016.

You are in good hands.
Misa Amane suicide dress cosplay by Lara Sizemore

Misa Amane suicide dress
cosplay by Lara Sizemore

Lara Sizemore Advises on Cosplaying Misa Amane from Death Note

Death Note cosplayers Lara Sizemore as Misa Amane and Cayanna Carma as Light Yagami

Lara cosplaying Misa Amane, with Light Yagami
cosplayed by Cayanna Carma
Have you cosplayed Misa now or in the past?
Yes - in the past

Any anecdotes about your experiences cosplaying Misa?
Dressed in a common Misa cosplay I get recognition especially from other Misa cosplayers.

However, dressed in her 'suicide dress' the only time I was recognized as Misa was during the Death Note panel I hosted.

How would you go about creating a costume for Misa Amane?
Each of Misa's outfits are precise with many details. You have to look at each individually to truly figure them out.

That's not to say you can't buy generic Gothic clothing and a blonde wig to cosplay Misa. But if you were going the extra mile to be accurate and make the outfits, her clothing is specific to her and there are many details that people overlook - from skull brooches to corset work on the backs of her dresses.

What clothing and/or props do you feel are essential Misa costume items?
Her necklaces and earrings. Misa wears her hair a few different ways (and in the manga her hair is fuller sometimes than others) but she always has specific jewelry.

Is there more to cosplaying Misa than the outfit? (Look/behaviour etc.)
You don't necessarily HAVE to act like Misa in Misa cosplay, but it's always fun to put on that bubbly personality and leap after Light cosplayers at conventions.

For me cosplaying Misa is more about the accuracy of the costume but for others it is more just because they love the character and I've even heard a lot of people say that they cosplay Death Note characters because "it's simple" but those people usually just thrift for their costumes.
What's your professional opinion about ready-made Misa outfits, such as those in the Death Note News Cosplay Store? Any other pieces in there decent enough for a Misa-Misa cosplay? (Be honest!)
I personally would never buy a Misa cosplay. I much prefer making her clothing and enjoy being able to say that I made it and it's accurate. Looking at the Death Note News store, the options are very nice and the most accurate I've seen for pre-made costumes.

last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to create their Misa cosplay from scratch?
From scratch? Make sure you pay close attention to your reference photos. Pick out every detail before you sketch it out and don't forget about her jewelry.

Cosplayers!

Would you like to have a go at answering these questions on your own behalf?

If you are a Death Note cosplayer - or indeed a cosplayer per se - and you're willing to share your tips, thoughts and advice with the fandom, then visit our cosplayer's questionnaire page to fill in the form.

Thank you in advance!

Posted as Part of

Month of Misa Amane Death Note News
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Honolulu Artist Lei K Shares her Misa Amane Art in Graphite Pencil

12/5/2016

1 Comment

 
Lei K, a professional graphite pencil artist from Nānākuli, Honolulu, has created this fabulous drawing especially for Month of Misa Amane.  Death Note actress, idol and Second Kira in pencil art.
Death Note's Misa Amane by Lei K
You heard it here first that Lei K will soon be joining Death Note News as a regular contributor.  She practically is already, having pencilled artwork for three out of the four Month of... events thus far - with apologies on the fourth, as she was busy with actual paid commission work.  Fair enough!  Check out more from Lei K at her own on-line gallery.

Artists!

Display your Death Note artwork here and/or answer our questionnaire about creating Death Note fan-art in any medium.

Check out the Death Note News fan-artist contribution page.

Posted as Part of

Misa Amane Month on Death Note News
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Death Note Tarot Tales V: Kira's Magician Versus the Wammy's Magi - Divine Wisdom and Poetic Justice in Death Note

8/5/2016

1 Comment

 

Every epic journey must begin
with a step upon its routes, roads and Ryuk directed by-ways.

Every great destiny must have a destination.

Explored against
the back-drop of Death Note,
the Major Arcana Tarot cards
feature the realm of The Magician

~ written by our guide into
all things esoteric
Tarot Mikami

Death Note Tarot Tales on Death Note News
Welcome seekers after sama, kana and qi!  You won't be the first to want to reverse your life's fortunes; otherwise embrace words to change the world; take steps to transform yourself into a hero; divert humanity away from its current perverse course; perfect its core that all may sing together - refraining from discordance, aligned in peace and harmony; gain insight into the working of the universe; realize your dreams; reach for the stars; sail across the cosmos and converse with the divine; enchant and charm Kannon at the gates of wisdom; seize manna from the Gods; invoke matter from the kether; traverse the mysteries and become God of this New World.

It's not unknown.

But no matter what foolish idea inflames your passion and ignites your will.  Before you take your first steps onto the path of making it real, you will need some guidance.  Sound the intro, maestro!  And enter The Magician.

The Many Roles of the Tarot Magician

The Magician Tarot Card
The second card of the Major Arcana starts the story proper.  It stands at number one, as The Fool is zero.  Without meeting or becoming The Magician, the Fool is merely a broiling mess of notions, running around like a headless chicken with no direction in which to pursue them. 

If nothing else, the Magician is a doorkeeper - providing access to another (or the wider) world, opening a gateway onto an appropriate path, or acting as a way-marker signing the route to take.  Usually this role contextualizes the bigger picture and sets out the destination.  The Wise Man is concerned with destiny.  Though the advice should be taken indiscriminately.

The Magician isn't necessarily on your side.  The guidance given or the way forward illuminated might be a service provided in all innocence and altruism. Nevertheless, he/she has an agenda of their own and the knowledge to manipulate others too. 

They may play a dual role - making Mafia profits sky-rocket, whilst diverting its resources into capturing a Death Note - and could as easily be trickster instead of consigliere. 

Or a charlatan.  This all-knowing being may present themselves as God, then turn out to merely be a man and a murderer at that.  Worse still, a serial killer implicating you in the guise of the great detective L. 

But the differentiation isn't always that clear cut either.  Nothing so black and white.

The Magician juggles many roles, generally playing all the same time; multi-tasking meaning depending upon who is being addressed.  One person's terrorist being another's freedom fighter and all that, while the manipulation might be to save yourself from yourself, or to aid a greater cause.

Either way, The Magician will certainly give our hero something to ponder and a route (or twelve) to take next.  There's the potential for destiny-laden adventure and opportunities lessons to be learned here, if only never to be that gullible again.

The Meaning of Magician in the Major Arcana

Christians are most familiar with The Magician as the Magi - Three Wise Men in modern versions of the Bible; twelve Pharisee priests in the closest we have to the original - who visited the newborn Christ with gifts. 

For everyone else, the name has largely denigrated to the level of sleight-of-hand illusionists and tricksters on stage, or grown fantastical in figures from stage or literature like Gandalf, Merlin and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

It used to mean so much more.  The hints of it permeate our lexicon.  We glimpse their greatness in words sharing the same root, like magnate, mega, magnitude, magnus, magus and majesty.  That last also containing a hint of their skill as spokespeople, mediators, lecturers, teachers and orators - 'gest', as in 'jester', 'gesticulate', 'gesture' and the 'gist' of a story.  It comes from Middle English 'to recite a tale', originating in Latin 'geste' or 'gesta' 'to perform deeds; to act'.  By the time it hit 13th century France, 'geste' meant to 'narrate an heroic tale'.

Stories could (and often still do) command the will of a people.  Which is why governments today are so keen to pressure the press into toeing the party line.  In Medieval Italy and France, which is where our earliest extant tarot cards were made, the majesty of magicians led to them adjudicating in delicate matters, acting as counsellors or speaking on behalf of less learned individuals.

The Magicians as magisters, in fact, or magistrates.  That 'gist' sometimes turning into its other form of 'iurare' to bring us to jury, and conjurer; or 'joculate' as joker or juggler.  Wise counsellor or trickster indeed.  Furthermore, the French word grammairien referred to 'learned men; magicians', whose ability to know the power and perfect usage of words gave us 'grammar'.

But akin to magician is also master, maestro, mahatma, maharaji, maharishi, yogi, guru, the one who knows.  The Japanese would call them dai-sensai, or O-sensai, doshi, Rōshi, or know them as sifi.  In addition to great wisdom and skill, The Magician brings into play the tools that the Fool might need t0 embark upon their journey.
Major Arcana Magician card
In ancient Persia, the Magos were the learned members of the priestly caste, adept at astrology.  They could give you the overview of your life and destiny, as it was written in the stars, taking in the knowledge of what constellation was on the ascendency or ruling within a certain house. It was up to you what you did with that information and how you let it guide your lives.

Over the centuries, their spiritual descendants have been known as the adepts in a variety of other fortune-telling, mind expanding, soul perfecting or perception enhancing skills.  For example, those magnificent seekers delving into the Kabbalah/Cabala/Qabala as scholars, scryers, practitioners, occultists, alchemists, diviners, philosophers, Hermetic code-breakers and ceremonial magicians.

Enlightened beings who know The Way and what it might mean for you.  But if it's shared - and done so entirely, selectively or else strewn with misinformation - and how that translates into relevancy for your own life's destiny, only a Fool can know in passing through the realm of the Magi.

The Magi In All Their Guises: Major Arcana Death Note's The Magician Card

Death Note: The Magician Tarot Card
Tarot Magician Death Note Rules
Death Note Enlightenment The Magican
The Death Note itself can be seen as falling right into the realm of The Magician.  In fact, it's practically the Three Magi represented here in the notebook, as its role is considered in relation to Light Yagami.

Firstly Light has to find the shinigami's notebook, which serves the dual purpose of opening his eyes to the existence of a world beyond his own and highlighting its possibilities. Hitherto unconsidered (or disbelieved) realities are presented as a pathway upon which to forge his own destiny.  It's the Tarot Magician as gatekeeper, signpost and luminary of higher knowledge.

However, its also the Trickster, or Charlatan, insofar as the falling Death Note serves Ryuk's agenda first and foremost. Its presence on Earth is set to alleviate the shinigami's boredom.  Light will pick it up and, primarily believing it an elaborate prank, use it to the detriment of his own future.  Not only will it curse his living years, but condemn his eternal being into the dissolution of Mu.  This ultimate destination for Death Note users means that a destiny is foisted upon Light Yagami, manipulated by ignorance and curiosity into foolishly using it without fully translating all of the rules beforehand.

The Death Note wasn't on his side, nor against him.  It's an item; a thing without judgement nor partiality.  It serves an agenda encapsulated by itself.  ('I am that I am' is the So'ham Sanskrit manta; also viewed as the Word of God in Christian mysticism; or 'As above, so below; so below, as above' in Hermetic teachings.  All very much part of The Magician's inner knowledge, and here beautifully descriptive of the Death Note too.)

Secondly, Light actually reads the rules written inside the Death Note.  Here the shinigami notebook becomes The Magician as a teacher; illuminating the arcane knowledge needed to utilize this supernatural tool.  The rules themselves inspire possible ways in which Light may now traverse in order to fulfil his projected destiny.

Even more dramatically comes that third moment of the notebook of death as The Magician in Death Note.  That's when the touch of it allows Light's mind to access his memories, previously locked away through rejection of the artefact.  Perhaps it's not quite what the ancient Magos would view as accessing the higher self, but it serves the same purpose within the storyline.  In an instant, Light Yagami's ignorance is dissolved, when the doors of perception are well and truly opened upon his past.  His destination now reached, just as planned.

The Magician as Death Note's Gatekeepers and Arbiters of Destiny

Ryuk as The Magician Death Note Tarot
Ryuk is another obvious contender for The Magician's Death Note tarot representative.  His appearance directs the plot in a myriad of ways, not least because it clarifies Light Yagami's overview and destiny.

Just like his notebook, the shinigami confirms the existence of previously unknown layers to reality, broadening Light's horizons and information base. 

Ryuk stands as guide and gatekeeper to the shinigami realm.  Not only can he speak for and translate the Gods, he is one.

Whilst denying Light access to any such services, unless the whim of the moment takes him.  Because he can.

The shinigami also acts as arbiter of knowledge concerning eternity and deals available to human users of Death Notes, which he does deign to share.  Albeit selective in his choice of snippets to pass on, and deliberately obtuse in the timing of all such communication.

It's too amusing for him not to cause maximum frustration in thus trolling his human Death Note user. 

Which all fits in completely with the reason for him being there, performing his role as Earthly sage and sometime mentor. Openly not on anyone's side - but that of his own amusement - Ryuk is the Trickster Mage personified. 

His entire performance is dedicated to his own agenda, aligning with those of others only where each party's motives/tactics run in tandem. Or he's persuaded that the potential for entertainment is strong.

The Death God is, after all, quite bored and he's here to alleviate said tedium. Everything that occurs must factor that in first, as top priority, because it's certainly the only reason Ryuk is acting in any capacity right now.

L's Messenger Mage Watari: Herald, Spokesperson and Point of Contact

Tarot Death Note Watari as The Magician

As gatekeeper to L, Watari's intervention at the Interpol meeting is pure Magician territory.

Not only does it alert all present to the avenue of inquiry now opening up due to the detective's interest in the Kira case, but it allows Matsuda - thus us too - to discover L's existence in the first place.

Thus the Fool takes the first step out of innocence, ignorance and a lack of context for the world.

For the veteran law enforcement agents there, Watari represents destiny in a very practical sense.  They don't need to discuss the way forward in their investigation now, because L is involved.   He IS the way forward; an option for the situation to be passed up to a higher authority. 

(Sneak preview for a later major arcana card - The Hierophant describes L for those with knowledge and experience of his work.)

For Soichiro and Matsuda, Watari's position is doorkeeper to destiny in a much more ethereal way.

To one it will prove downright Fateful, while the other will reach the proposed destination (catching Kira) changed beyond recall.

Destiny's Magister: Roger Ruvie, The Wammy House Ringmaster Tolls Part Two

Roger Ruvie as the Magician in Death Note tarot
One day, Wammy House warden Roger Ruvie will be Watari too.  His role will encapsulate The Magician in just the same way as Quillsh Wammy, as described above.

Nevertheless, in that Fateful moment imaged as tarot arcana (left), Roger already illustrates several aspects of The Magican card.  Each face or facet exhibited simultaneously.

For a start, he's a messenger, delivering the news that the children's idol and surrogate father are both dead.  Divining correctly the information received from a transmission's ending.  Liaison, wisdom, enlightenment, all wrapped up in that single act.

He's doing so as Wammy's House administrator - which has its root in 'ministry/minister' and from there becomes entrenched in symbolism linked with The Magician.  Minister meaning to 'act on behalf of a higher authority', hence a minister of the state in politics or the church (it literally meant 'priest' in Medieval Latin). It gets its secretarial sense from the French, where it became 'servant; overseer; watcher; manager'.

But may also relate to inspiration of a more tuneful note, hence minstrel and musician are both cognitive words. Each obviously pertaining to The Fool, yet The Magician too, as the latter can be former in receipt of self-awareness, context or knowledge, thus driving their own actions.

It all becomes much more blatant, when another cognate is brought into the mix - magistrate or magister.  One who directs or adjudicates; making decisions; laying down the law.

Roger is authorized to tell a twelve and fourteen year old that their idolized foster sibling and beloved guardian are dead. Yet nothing of sentimentality here. His job is to collect children from around the world, bring them to The Wammy House and train them as potential successors to L.

His results are majestic. After coldly dismissing Mello's emotional outburst, the first question asked was which of them was chosen as heir. No querying the fact that kids are about to be sent into an arena which killed two adults, one purportedly the world's most genius detective.  No options considered.

This Wammy Ringmaster magisterially sends both kids to fight round two; their destination seeming less destined than Fated, with such news extolled like passing bells, louder than ever tonight.

Mello the Consigliere: Death Note Mafia Mage with a Dual Agenda

Mello exemplifies The Magician with a dual agenda, while acting as consigliere within the Mafia family headed by Rod Ross.

It's similar to the previously examined outlook of that other magnate Ryuk, but Mello's motivational duality holds some important differences.

The Magician acts by manipulating an individual's lack of essential knowledge or wisdom.  However this doesn't necessary occur every time, only when it suits our canny counsellor's alternate agenda to do so.

Sometimes the concerns will align for both advisor and their directed individual; sometimes not. Regardless, the interests of the latter do not factor into the guidance given by this Mage - whether in counsellor mode, or as councillor representing their client's views and speech to others.

Consigliere (or consigliori) - Mello's position in the Mafia - meant both by the way.  Though technically describing solely the counsel given to the Don, consiglieri (in manga and in life) also fulfil many other roles ruled by The Magician.  Including, but not limited to, mediating in conflict; liaising on the Don's behalf with important contacts and/or authority figures (judges, police etc.); and keeper/archivist of secrets for the entire Family's, so to retain an overview and warn if trouble may be caused, for example, by a capo acting rashly through ignorance of matters concerning another.

Mello seems to be a good consigliere.  At one point Rod Ross is moved to comment that the genius teen has never been wrong in any decision made since joining their Family.

However, no-one should lose sight of reality. Mello was just using the Mafia to achieve his own goals.  

The wisdom imparted by Mello as consigliere causes Rod Ross's profits to sky-rocket.  Yet those and all other available resources are soon diverted into serving Mello's ambition to secure a Death Note. 

After Mello achieves his goal, thus placing a shinigami notebook in the hands of his Mafia family, all agendas probably fell in line, shared and indivisible. For a moment, indeed it seemed to Ross et al that they had absolute power.

And then, in the next moment, they ended up dead.  Mello using the lives of the last ones standing to make good his own escape.
Mafia Mello Death Note Magician

Sakura TV as the Charlatan: Showmanship Masquerading as Wisdom

Death Note Tarot The Magician Sakura TV Charlatan
When Sakura TV appoints itself as the voice of Kira, it's an attempt to appear as The Divinely Ordained or Enlightened Magician.  

As studio boss and anchor-man, Demegawa's overall aim is to trick unsuspecting individuals into believing the station has some conferred higher knowledge. Therefore attempting to gain the same trust or power given to The Magician.

Or in this case, boost ratings.

The Magician can well act as spokesperson for the people/individuals in dealings with authority, or magistrate dilemmas and/or direct juries.  They can certainly translate the divine for those less versed in the sacred mysteries.  However, its beholden upon us all to beware false prophets.

In its more negative (or domineering/pompous) aspect, our spokesperson Mage might not say what we wished them to convey.  

Think politicians declaiming sentiments which make us cringe or cry, all in our name; or the journalist who twists your words, yet 'quotes' you all the same, in pursuit of a sensational story bearing no relation to what actually occurs; or the parent/guardian/teacher expressing their own views as if they were automatically shared by yourself, ignoring or over-riding any attempt at dissent.

While Kira may experience Sakura TV's antics (in the persona of Demegawa) as the above, every other viewer is watching a charlatan or mountebank in action.  A pseudo-priest or trickster mantis preying upon the gullibility of their television audience turned congregation.

On the flip side, even the False Magician may inadvertently act as teacher.  The lesson today from Sakura being not to believe everything you hear on TV.  

(Particularly when tabled as a Trump; donkey imagery warns us off, as seen below The Magician's board in some ancient tarot decks.  Mistake the babbling showmanship of this charlatan for wisdom, and your only sure destiny is to be made feel like an ass.)

Kiyomi Takada: Enlightened Divine Messenger of Death Note

I don't remember who said it, but the quotation snagged in my mind.

Someone was told that David Icke - the footballer turned commentator and write - was now telling all and sundry that he was the Son of God.  There was a pause in which the informant gleefully awaited  the witty put-down that was sure to follow concerning the subject of their gossip.

"Well?" The other slowly asked.  "Has anyone checked if he is?"

And therein lies the rub.  How does one verify such a claim?  And if we can't, then how do we know for sure whether they're a mounteback babbling lies, or insane, or someone Cassandra cursed to be disbelieved in all the divine truth they tell?

The Magi would know.   It tends to be them. Whether reading the portents in divination; searching arcane knowledge to uncover higher truths; or acting as intermediaries between the Gods and us, as the priestly caste or ministering on career paths.

Just occasionally, we get the real thing.  Magos aglow with the numen nod - enchanters, prophets, seers, the chosen and invokers; attuned to the Great Music and entrancing with utterances lifted from source; merely mediums through which the universe flows.

Or television anchor woman/newscaster, who just happens to be the right person, at the right time, with a matching warped sense of morality and all the right contacts to be the Messiah. 

The divine intermediary aspect of The Magician is represented quite literally by Death Note's Kiyomi Takada, twofold.

She performs her role as Messenger of the God(s) in that Takada is the actual, publicly appointed spokesperson for Kira; while also being the conduit that allows both Kiras - Light Yagami and Teru Mikami - to communicate in open conversation.

No charlatan this.  Blessed Takada performs with gravitas; notably refined before this even began.  Now perceived by the ever-growing faithful as gentle, radiant, the real thing and absolutely full of grace. Buying into and believing all Light says; mind mired and amazed beyond all rationality. 

But then it was always thus:
Death Note Tarot The Magician Takada
Quem Deus perdere vult, dementat prius; quem di diligunt, adolescens moritu.
Those the Gods will destroy, they first make mad; and whom the Gods love dies young.

Le Bateleur Matsuda: Sleight of Hand Illusionist in Death Note

The Magician Matsuda - Death Note's Le Bateleur
Le Bateleur is the aspect of The Magician most familiar to us in the modern world; give or take a few fantasy movie mages, and their counterpart skills offered as an option for gamers.

This is the stage magician; the conjurer; the sleight-of-hand trickster; the illusionist; the abracadabra, now you see it, now you don't, bateleur drawing in crowds and thrilling them with misdirection, misinformation, smoke and mirrors distraction, before delivering all enrapt and gasping with awe to that climatic moment of The Prestige.

Le Bateleur - and its cognates Il Bagatto, El Bagatella, Bateleuse - refers to this tarot figure's stick, rod or, ta-daaaa, wand.

This aspect of The Magician appears throughout the Death Note series. There's even a whole chapter, in Death Note 13: How to Read, devoted to explaining all of the tricks inserted into the storyline by Tsugumi Ohba.

The Death Note Magician tarot card we've chosen to depict Il Bagatto in action features Matsuda faking his own death.  Before a stunned crowd of Yotsuba corporate executives, he pulls off The Prestige in garnering their belief that the dressed up Aiber far below on the ground is Matsuda's mangled corpse.  Meanwhile, Touta sits safely on a mattress a mere one floor below.

However, we could just as easily picked any of the dozens of scenarios, whereby Death Note's conjurers wash over truth with a new reality, attested by witnesses swearing on oath that they watched throughout.

Like when Light becomes aware he is being watched by surveillance cameras. He quickly acts to manipulate the evidence by a tricky sleight-of-hand illusion.

To the onlooker, it would appear as though he was only studying, while taking those potato chips and eating them. The reality being that Kira was killing criminals with a piece of the Death Note hidden, alongside a miniature TV, inside the chip bag.

Even L was fooled by that one.

So what's your favourite showing for the tarot Death Note Bagatella?   Just to check that you kept observing, through all there was to see.

The Three Wise Men (Wam-Magi?)

Picture
Picture
Picture
In the time of Watari, after Kira was born in Japan, wise men from the Wammy's House in Winchester came to Kanto, asking, "Where is the murderer who has been born God of the New World? For we observed his kill count at its rising, and have come to take him down."

When Takimura heard this, he was frightened and all world leaders with him; and calling together all the Kira Task Force and NPA public relations officers, he inquired of them when the Kira was to be arrested. They told him, "In the Yellow Box Warehouse; for so it has been written by Near: 'And you, Takimura, in the land of Japan, are by no means going to know a thing about it, because Mello would have got you killed by then.'"

Then US President David Hoope secretly called - via Watari - for the wise men and begged each in turn to stop threatening to control him into doing worse than Kira, whenever any of them get hold of a Death Note. Then he sent them to Kanto, saying, "Go and search diligently for Kira; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the POTUS, they got him killed and replaced with George Sairas; and there, ahead of them, went the star Misa Amane that they had seen rising as Second Kira, until she stopped because L had her tortured. When they saw that the Japanese idol had started begging to have her life ended, they were overwhelmed with joy.

On entering the Warehouse, they saw the megalomaniac with Mikami his worshipper; and Near knelt down (the other two forced to too, as they were now dead and puppets). Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of cake, Transformers, and chocolate.

And having painted a vivid picture for Ryuk warning of a future bound to a Death Note now stuck in Near's vault - while Light languished in a prison for the criminally insane for life - Near successfully manipulated the Death God into taking out Light before returning to the shinigami realm.  Then the Three Wise Wammys left for their own country, where verily two returned to the toy box and Near took L's Code for himself.  And probably Mello's too.
Hold on!  One missing from this listing of The Wam-Magi as read from the Book of God's New World: 

Bored out of his mind, Il Matto stayed put in Winchester, playing SuperMario and thanking the Gods of the Internet that Kira never came with cyber-terrorism on-line.  Else he'd never have been able to get away with hiding behind his lazy, mad, wise Fool routine; playing Tetris instead of getting himself killed in someone else's war.  So wise he only ever ranked third and remained forever Il Matto.  He probably wouldn't have amounted to much anyway.  Beep, beep, lulwut, nub?
Matt Death Note Il Matto tarot
Ok, I've stopped now.
As if by Magic - More Death Note Tarot Tales

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Amazing Matsuda Artwork in Graphite Pencil by Nānākuli Artist Lei K

21/3/2016

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Back for Month of Matsuda on Death Note News is professional artist Lei K with this incredible graphite pencil drawing of Touta Matsuda in happiness and in sorrow.  The Fool and the Hero: two faces of the same man.
Death Note Matsuda Artwork by Lei K on Death Note News
From her studio on the Isle of O'Ahu, Hawaii, USA, artist Lei K works primarily in graphite pencil, though she has been known to stray into other materials and media from time to time. Her Matsuda from Death Note art was created especially for our focus upon him this month, hence constitutes her most recent work.

Lei K was here last month too, bringing us her vision of Light Yagami and sharing insights into drawing Death Note characters.  You can view a whole lot more of her work on her website La808Lei, where some artwork from her gallery may also be bought.

Artists!

Display your Death Note artwork here and/or answer our questionnaire about creating Death Note fan-art in any medium.

Check out the Death Note News fan-artist contribution page.

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Death Note Tarot Tales 3: The Fool in Death Note Major Arcana

3/3/2016

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Teaching us the tarot's Major Arcana
with reference to Death Note -
its story-telling, plot and the symbolism
therein - here is
Death Note News columnist
Tarot Mikami

~ This time zeroing in on
the Trumps though Death Note
and The Fool tarot card

Death Note Tarot Tales Banner - Death Note News
The Fool is possibly the most interesting card of the Major Arcana (aka Trump cards). It's certainly unique - integral to all tarot based story-telling to follow, whilst simultaneously standing alone.

For a start, it is the only card to bear a Hindu-Arabic number - zero - if it carries one at all. The rest of the Trump cards are counted in Roman Numerals: I, II, III, IV and so forth. This remains true regardless of where it sits in the tarot deck - for The Fool has been known to wander from the prequel to the end of the Major Arcana (no. 22); or else in between.  Sometimes even drifting over into the minor arcana, where it sits outside any of the suits too.

The Fool is not numbered in Roman numerals with the other Major Arcana, because it doesn't really matter where it's positioned.  It's omnipresent; fitting in everywhere, and nowhere.

Even while seen as something apart, The Fool tends to play a part in proceedings, and can take a myriad of forms. This includes the environments, situations or states of mind that are nominally governed by any other card in the Tarot deck, but is especially true where the Major Arcana are concerned.

Many of which are found with Death Note's narrative.  But first...

What are Tarot Cards? What Do They Signify? Whom Do They Serve?

Words like 'arcana' and 'tarot' have been thrown around without me once delving into what they mean.  Thus you have no context for the folly to follow.  Let me fill in the blanks with explanation to define this world for you.

'Arcana' means 'secrets' or 'mysteries'.  It's plural.  One secret, one mystery, would be arcanum.  The Major Arcana are the big ones, known only to a select few.  The Minor Arcana is where the humdrum of ordinary things are hidden; far more accessible by the masses in society.  The latter make up the suits in common playing cards, which anyone can use.

This is where you'll find the minutiae of minor mysteries and everyday miracles - birth, death, love, hate, money, loss, friendship, family, long-time sickness, health, happiness, fear and all those other small things that may be found on any urban community sprawl.  They  make up reality, but they don't make it.

The former aren't in your average poker pack.  You can't use them to deal a hand in Blackjack or Snap.  They aren't a game for just anyone to play. 
That concealed in the Major Arcana is the domain of privilege - which means 'private law' - the preserve of rulers and the elite.  Their secrets and mysteries describe the process by which reality is formed; the building blocks for the creation and definition of a new world order.

For example, the commoners may have all the babies they like, and learn the arcana of childbirth. But it is their priests, law-makers, and leaders of the moral majority who tell them whether having that baby was alright.  Stepping out of line can mean social ostracisation, imprisonment, that infant taken from you or anything else which asserts control by those who have dominion over this particular realty; who own the domain or real estate.

Who shape this realm's reality. 

'Tarot' means 'colour' or 'illustration'.  Collectively, these cards paint a picture of the human world in which we live, its society, hierarchy and all the rest. While the minor arcana tells the story, the context is made from the major.  That's the arcana to illuminate the blocking blocks; point out the strings to pull; and fill in the fine detail with colour.  Those privy to the ways of the Major Arcana get to become Gods of the New World - or at least try.

Which is pretty much the story at the heart of Death Note too.

New God Challenges the Death Note World's Current Arbitrator of Reality

However, there is one to transcend arcana - one of the Trump cards, but also present in an ordinary deck of playing cards.  The wild card going wherever it will; difficult to pin down, yet with the potential to bring about the downfall of emperors and saints.  The hidden force behind it all.  The alpha and omega of any given tale - jester to some; joker to others; and in tarot, The Fool.
The Fool in Death Note Tarot card frame

The Fool and the Fall in Death Note

The story begins and ends with the fall.  Or Fool. It's the same word really to describe a similar state of being.

To know that we are ignorant, we first need to topple from our lofty ideals; our sense of understanding all the world about us has to shatter, or be shaken enough to make us grasp for more. Otherwise, we'd simply continue in our comfort zone,  never seeking to fundamentally alter reality and not once straying from our safe, secure domain into the great unknown.

We create Fools of ourselves.

Stepping out to seek our fortunes (even if it's simply starting on our first day at work); striving to educate ourselves (though that may merely be attending classes at school), in acceptance of the fact that we don't yet know what we don't know, and things once learned cannot be unlearned, they will change the way we view that sphere of universe forever; searching for truth, or enlightenment, or definition, or the results of lab experiments, whatever we research or seek to find out might change the nature of reality, not only for ourselves but all others too. 

As Newton discovered, when he foolishly pondered the meaning of that falling apple.  Do you know Gods of Death love apples?

We choose to become the Fool, blindly stepping off the cliff-edge precipice into the discovery abyss, whenever we willingly risk the changing of our reality.  We fall asleep; we fall in love; we fall for temptation; make landfall; fall out of line; fall down the rabbit-hole into a land where everything seems crazy.

And that takes courage; it makes us fool-hardy ('hardi' from the old French meaning 'bold').

The Fool at the beginning of the tale knows nothing, but bravely walks turns away from the mastered and familiar anyway, though it means the loss of his (or her) world.  The Fool at the end of the tale does the same, but this time with a smile.

It was worth the tomfoolery enough to do it all again.

There's No Fool Like an Old Fool

L hearing that shinigami are real

Too clever to ever be called a Fool, nevertheless L knew nothing
about the existence of shinigami, until he did and fell
from his chair in the shock of having to broaden his world view
Death Note Ryuk and the portal to the human world

Ryuk at least had the overview, but in boredom sought out something new; he let the Death Note fall, determined to follow wherever it may land - trusting to random chance that it would divert him at least, if not actually teach

Death Note's Royal Road Tarot Journey

The most famous part played by The Fool is as the subject in The Fool's Journey Through the Major Arcana, also known as The Royal Road.

This is a theme, or plot device that is so ubiquitous in popular culture - Death Note included - that it will need be tackled separately next time. The Fool's Journey fuels most major block-busters (plus sequels, and trilogies; rinse and repeat for a series). It certainly warrants a whole article devoted to it here! 

Yet in synopsis, it may be read like this:  a person ignorant of the world, or at least the bigger picture affecting their lives, encounters somebody/something which broadens their horizons, or else knocks them out of their comfort zone.  Forced to face that reality changing thing, our protagonist embarks upon some kind of quest, journey, mission and probably a steep learning curve as well.  Their story touches those states of being or realms governed by each of the other Major Arcana cards in succession. They arrive at the end changed utterly.  No longer unknowing, nor innocent, and certainly not ignorant, they are likely to be the masters/mistresses of this new world.  The one great expert to whom everyone else refers.

We're all looking at you, Luke Skywalker.  Frodo Braggins.  Harry Potter.  Light Yagami.  Mello.  Matsuda.  And a dozen other Death Note characters.

Every time an individual in the manga is shaken from their foundations, made to alter their perception of reality and/or diverted from their ordinary lives, they have stepped upon The Royal Road of the Fool.  They are entering the unknown and everyone they meet will have a profound effect upon changing them in some way - teaching, empowering, feeding, directing or sending them into untold danger.

Some, like Near, take the path laid out before them to cover the eventuality that they may one day have to take it.  That's still a Fool's Journey of sorts, but its purest essence is more fully concentrated in those who forge new paths.  Not only not taken by others before, but pathways which previously never even existed.

The true Fools are those who disdain the known to step out over the cliff's edge into uncharted territory. That first step is how they ultimately gain mastery over this domain, becoming its foremost authority with that single first cry of doing this 'my own way'.
Death Note Tarot Mello - The Fool's Journey Through the Major Arcana

Light Yagami and the Fool's Descent into Unreality

Death Note Light and Ryuk - didn't think the Shinigami's Notebook was real
Death Note Kira can act with certainty
The most obvious Royal Road undertaken in Death Note is that by Light Yagami.  When he first picked up the fallen notebook of death, he had no idea what it was nor what it might mean.  He was curious enough to find out. 

His ignorance was blunted with a perusal of the rules written inside.  After about three seconds worth of dismissing it all as a foolish prank, he decided to be that Fool.  Testing out the pages to see if someone really would die.  I mean, what's the worst that might happen?  Yep, what it said on the packet, or in this case, fly-sheet.  So Light continued using it, stepping foolhardily into the dark unknown, though he had no idea what it might mean for himself personally.

In fact, his best guess was that the shinigami would come for his soul, like the Death Note's usage was some Faustian pact.  Not at all literally - though it might as well be - Light was willing to sign a contract with the Devil, in order to journey yet further into the reality shaking conventions of this strange new book.

Did it send him insane?  That's another reading of The Fool - the madness inherent in losing all sense of that otherwise universal conviction that all share the same reality.  We don't.  Nurture, nature, the quicks of physicality and all those myriad personal influences, not to mention perspective, mean that none of us receive the same data, nor interpret it simultaneously and in the same way.   Nontheless, pretending that there's one dominion of the real (or royal) shared by all keeps us from straying onto such foolish pathways.

Light Yagami typifies the Fate of those who do.  With no-one to bounce his new reality off, but a semi-divine being who previously had no data to exist, Kira slips ever further into unreality.  Until he can't even see what everyone else judges to be real.  In his arrogance, he over-reaches his own domain and the resultant mistakes lead Mello and Near right to him, lending proof to their case.
Light Yagami - The Fool

The Foolish Light Yagami reacts to being outed with evidence that he is Kira

Until finally, ranting without sight of any objective reality, Light attempts  a secondary fall - this time from grace, as espoused by his task force, and from secrecy, in letting his veil of truth slip.   As he made his confession - I am Kira! And also God of this New World! - he sparked a seismic shift in the perceptions of most there present.  Confirming not only the reality of the Death Note, shinigami and all, but also his prolonged part its usage.

No wonder they shot him.  Thus precipitating his third and final fall, from existence and being into Mu.

The Fool in the sense of 'an empty-headed Fool' now embodied nothingness.  Back to the beginning again.
Death Note Tarot - Sayu The Fool as l'Excuse

The Fool as L'Excuse or Reason - Tricking Reality as a Game Changer in Death Note

There's a state of play involving the Fool which only turns up in the French Tarot.  It's called l'excuse - the excuse, the reason or the trick.  Herein the usage of the Fool forces a move to be made (or a previous move to be cancelled out).

This Fool exerts momentous influence over the contours of the game, or the shape of its reality; causing major players to act or else nullifying whatever the powerful just inserted into play.  Rendering their move meaningless; nothing.  Yet personal power remains elusive for The Fool in l'excuse.  They don't have to be ignorant, wise, mad, sane or anything.  The force they impose emanates from the mere fact of their existence.

Think Sayu Yagami in the desert.  Taken and held by the Mafia, her stance as the helpless Fool causes Soichiro to relinquish the Death Note, thus nullifying power in its possession for the Japanese Task Force.  It forces Kira to have to contend with Mello - recognizing him as a challenger for a start - whilst giving Mello more in his hand to play.

Yet Sayu herself never has a say in this.  She is played as the foolish excuse, her presence shifting the balance of power, thus opening up the potential/actuality of a new reality.  But she personally - as with The Fool card in French Tarot - never gains dominion over her world.  She remains the property of whomever holds her.  First herself/her family/Japan; then Mello and his Mafia family; before returning to her father's custody, a traumatized shell of the lady she was before.

Sayu as l'excuse becomes the Mad Fool - or in her case shell-shocked fool - by the end.  Yet ironically, that puts her beyond the reach of influence.  She's too catatonic to take any media on, thus cannot be swayed into any reality by those who would delineate it for her.

By becoming lost inside her own head, Sayu finally controls her own reality, but not that of others.  Excepting her Mother, for whom Sayu continues as l'excuse - the powerful Fool's tricks recreating Sachiko's life as one wherein she has to now care for a mute and unresponsive daughter.

Death Note and The Fool's Unreal Road

There's an inverse Fool's Journey in the tarot too.  A shadow path equally prevalent in stories around the world, yet rarely recognized as such.

The Fool should be silly, ignorant, innocent or insane in Western perception today.   Though we talk blithely of the Wise Fool, and pass about adages concerning the 'wisdom of babes and fools', the mainsteam imagination shrinks from what that might imply for the Journey. 

All-knowing Fools become sinister in our stories instead. The horror movie clown, or the supernatural smiling thing, no longer allowed to simply be.

In a typical Tarot deck, The Fool is usually depicted as a young man or a jester, walking near the precipice of a cliff with a dog alongside.

Frequently he is holding a haversack over a shoulder with one hand while the other holding a rose aloft.

The haversack is a symbol of the Wise Fool. It  represents wisdom acquired in a past life or on a previous journey, which are carried along to new experiences.

The Wise Fool can be viewed as an underlying driver of a narrative. In this aspect, he would not be considered the protagonist or main character. Instead, the role played is one which knowingly impacts one or more of the other 21 roles represented by the Trump cards as he encounters them.

Ergo the sage, old Fool has more control over the direction a narrative takes than might be readily apparent.

In Death Note, The Wise Fool is represented by Ryuk. The only reason we have this story told is because Ryuk was bored. Without much logic, planning or reasoning, Ryuk decided to follow his desire - represented by the rose held by the tarot card Fool - just to be entertained.

He was along for the ride, and for him, everyone else involved were incidental.  
Death Note Tarot - Ryuk the Wise Fool
Death Note Tarot The Fools in the Yellow Box

Jester in a Pack of Cards; The Fool One Step Removed

Some old tarot packs still refer to The Fool as The Jester.

Ordinary playing card decks certainly do - The Fool in the guise of The Jester being the only trump card to make it into an otherwise clean sweep of just the minor arcana.

Jester may incur visions of a silly man in dual coloured clothing, prancing around a medieval court with a bladder on a stick, and bells.  That's how he's presented in most playing cards, and often how The Fool of the Major Arcana dresses too.

Tarot cards tend to be based on those images fixed during the medieval period.  That's what jesters had become.  But it wasn't always thus.

Jester means 'to tell a story'; one who 'recites'.  Earlier medieval definitions matched the minstrels or troubadours more closely.  A jester then was just another name for someone who travelled about singing the epics and romances.  Informing the people of their history; reminding the mighty of their past.

The noun form is 'gesten' - 'recite a tale' - or 'geste' - 'exploit, inspire action'.  Suddenly he seems less innocuous, doesn't he?  Good job he was reduced merely to telling jokes.

Oh yeah!  The alternative name for The Jester or The Fool is The Joker.  Often the name that sticks in poker packs and other such gaming decks.

Joker is a shortened version of 'joculator', aka a professional jester or minstrel.  And 'joke' originally meant 'to speak, utter or express'; it gained its later connotation via satirical songs, those which ridiculed powerful individuals. People laughed in derision and that veneer of power was dented. The laughter stuck, and so did the danger, though no longer necessarily in the hands of professionals alone.

The Jester/Joker card in the minor arcana teaches us that we can all be Fools now.  We too get to tell the story and judge the mighty.  Why so serious?  Because we can.

The Role of The Fool in Tarot, Life and in Death Note

The Fool is the thorn in the side of reality; ergo those who own its real estate too. 

As wild card, it has partial immunity to the wiles and ways of the Major Arcana. Standing aside, yet also part of the minor arcana, so unable to be dismissed out of hand.  Despite the fact that the Fool will not, can not, or else alone decides when and where to, view the world as written by its creators of reality.  And that is dangerous insofar as it places a crack in the veneer of the real, which could fracture the picture entirely. Or else may breed revolution or dissent.

It has always been the province of kids and Fools to tell the Emperor that he wears no clothes.

Unwittingly or not, the Fool commands the story.  Acting as its fail-safe, in madness, ridicule, wit or slap-stick, this card can bring about the fall of all pretenders to power.  Worse still, the Fool could simply walk away, consigning the disregarded erstwhile God to nothingness.  Dissolving into the essential arcana that which allowed him/her/it to arise.
Any tale or testimony needs two fundamental elements to stick - someone or thing to tell it; another to hear and take it on board.

The Fool may be both, sometimes simultaneously.  In one guise story-teller; in another an audience member to be convinced to enter this new reality; buy into its vision and scope, then keep coming back for more.  To embrace a novel (or manga) universe, as if it was real and what happens within it matters.  And that, in itself, may be the story too, as Death Note proves.

Can Light Yagami regale those worldly Fools with enough bravado, soaring rhetoric and righteous judgement, for them to accept him as their God? 

Or will the natural river flow of his listeners decree, 'no, you're just a murderer' instead?

Thus sounding a death knoll on all credibility and demolishing Kira as no arbitrator of reality.  The denunciation far more fatal than a mere gunshot fired from Matsuda's gun.  That act itself a Judgement, signifying that Near's vision of what's really going on now trumps that of Light Yagami.

Finally, Ryuk as Death God steps forward in his secondary position as Wise Fool within the limitations of this world.  Here to trigger the fail-safe on Light's folly, and to initiate his Fall.

Wiping the slate clean for a new contender to come and fill the power vacuum.  To turn the cards and begin their bid to rewrite reality according to their own lights.  A new chapter, with a new Fool setting out to traverse the Royal Road, erecting a brand, new house of cards. 

An old story, retold in endless repetition, as so many movies, books and real life tales attest, for the hope of world dominion always lures the foolish onto a journey through the Major Arcana.

While The Fool as Joker watches from the audience masses of the minor arcana; and awaits the penultimate moment, wherein Judgement lies in the whim of those fools still paying attention.  Anyone can lead, but without those prepared to follow, their pretensions fade to Mu.
Light Yagami reality speech Death Note Manga
And the great cosmic joke seems ever historically to be that the watchful masses follow more gladly those with the power to entertain. They will dismiss any who leave them bored.

Why else do you think US presidential candidates spend $40m and more on their campaigns?  Those spellbound foolish Americans demand their spectacle, just like everybody else, and those seeking to impress them need to pay enough entertainers to ensure that everybody sing their song.

Never Trust the Story-teller, Only the Story: Fools from the Bardic Tradition

Death Note Sakura TV Kira's Kingdom

Kira's Kingdom on Sakura TV - Showmanship to raise or reduce a ruler
Of course back in the day, no millions were needed to make rulers stand tall before their reality's subjects.  Only a good deal of generous hospitality, or a tame bard or two.

Tarot cards arose in their modern from the medieval period, when Jesters and Joculators (Jokers) represented all that remained of the once proud Bardic System.   A branch of Druidry subsumed under Christianity; the staple of the old, crushed, Celtic courts.  Much of this tradition - tarot and bardic alike - came from France, where the groves of the Bretons and Gauls once dotted the land, and the great Romances bloomed.

An elite then who knew the dangers inherent in bards - who wove better stories then them in songs and recited tales, who could speak on behalf of people and spread dissent - hence doing all to reduce their power.  Edward I, for example, had over 500 Welsh bards killed, when they refused to sign praise-songs to him on their harps.   Others across the old Celtic lands of Europe followed his lead, if not his scale.

Most simply froze them out.  Not giving them a platform to sing at their hearth.  Give or take those who could be trusted to toe the line.  The rest wandered about as minstrels, denounced from throne and pulpit alike, and the foolish congregations by and large turned against them.

Skip forward a century or so, and the drip-drip of reduction in stature has allowed courts to keep 'jesters', who tell 'jokes' that are simply ridiculous instead of pointing ridicule at their sire.  Thus the Fool became silly, idiotic, without the power to sting.  Sort of.  The harp of my country survived - how about yours?

And this, I think, is the final point about the Fool.  He exists everywhere because he is legion.  He's included in the tarot, because he - or the idea of him - is still a threat.  All who tell and hear stories are the Fools, and that power could never be reduced.  All hail the story-tellers.  Bards and Fools all.

The True Fools of Death Note

They were there at the beginning.   They remain irretrievably linked at the end.  We feel their influence in every nuance of the story, and reference them whenever any other version is told.  They were there every step of the way, yet never once appear in it at all.

Of course, the Fools we talk of here are the story-tellers:  Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata; and those who heard their tale:  you, me and the whole Death Note fandom.  We fell for it big-time and wouldn't let them fail.  Within the confines of this story, we judged them Gods of this manga universe; instigators and arbitrators of canon. In our minds and imaginations at least, their Death Note domain became real; its creators had (re)written reality.
Death Note Tarot Tsugumi Ohba The Fool

Ohba

Death Note Tarot 0 - The Fool Takeshi Obata

Obata

Death Note Fans - The Fool Tarot

Us

Yet even the author and artist of Death Note, widely acclaimed and heralded as the best in their genre, could fail in the final judgement.  Even there, the fandom retained the potential to walk away as bored Fools lured into watching the spectacle elsewhere.

For evidence, just see the widespread rejection of the belated canon-directed colouring for Matt.  He's got brown eyes and brown hair, Death Note fans were informed, a decade after the fanon colouring had been fixed.  You're wrong, a few louder Fools yelled back at the Mangaka Gods.  But most simply said nothing at all.  Just pretended they hadn't heard a thing, and continued to colour Matt with blue/green eyes and bright red hair.  The shift denoted nothing and faded into nothingness. 

But on balance, the reality Ohba-sensei and Obata-sensei wrought remained.  It was enough to win them The World.

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Beginning.

Death Note
Tarot Tales

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Midst.

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Finis.

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Depicting the Darker Shades of Light Yagami with Graphite Pencil Artist Lei K 

26/2/2016

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Lei K draws upon her own experience to outline - via the Month of Kira artist questionnaire - how budding Death Note fan-artists might tackle a portrait of Light Yagami. Just like her own, reproduced below.
Lei K - Light art on Death Note News Month of Kira
Lei K's Light is just one of the many pieces of artwork on display in her gallery on DeviantART.  She's an artist from Nānākuli, on the Island of O'ahu, Hawaii, who specialises in graphite pencil art.  Her Light Yagami portrait was completed in May 2014, using graphite, charcoal and colour pencils.

To see more of her most up-to-date artwork, including another showing of her pencil drawn Kira, you really need to visit her website - La808Lei. 
Wherein you can view Lei K's works in progress; completed art in varying media; and, oh bless you!, a link back to Death Note News!  Not to mention social media links to keep up with all that's new from this talented lady's studio, and opportunities to purchase selected artwork from her gallery.

Low-Down on Drawing Light Yagami with Nānākuli Graphite Pencil Artist Lei K

Do you/have you created Kira art now or in the past?
Yes - in the past

Any anecdotes about your experiences as a Light Yagami artist?
I developed a strong appetite for potato chips, preferably Sour Cream and Onions.

How would you go about creating a Kira drawing/sculpture?
Find good references of Light. What I like to do is use the anime itself as a good reference for a Light. Also it's good to know what mood you want to give off in the drawing. It'll make it more visually appealing.

What attributes, clothing and/or scenarios, do you feel are essential to include in Light Yagami artwork?
His red eyes. I normally work with graphite pencils, but this time I added charcoal pencils into the mix. I wanted darker tones, so those red eyes could stand out. I also wanted the tone dark to give the drawing a dark vibe. Of course I had to have the smirk smile of his and the Death Note.

Is there more to recreating Kira visually than the outfit? (Expression/stance/slogan etc.)
Yes there is. I don't really want to quote another artist, but in this case it's the best answer I can give. Get his personality. It has to come across no matter what. Also get Kira expression right...either it's him writing names in the Death Note, doing the evil laugh or even eating a bag of potato chips. Having his expression right helps recreating Kira visually.

What, in your professional opinion, are fundamental tips/advice in producing art that's recognisably Kira?
Use good references and have them at a decent size. The larger the better, so you could zoom in on certain details. Also get all the references you might need beforehand. It's better to have references before you start, so they are ready for you to use while you are drawing. It’s a huge time saver.

What are the common noob errors made in drawing/modelling Light Yagami?
Not getting the details of Light right...like his eyes, hair, clothes, expression, etc. Having a reference from the anime, manga or even action figure is a great way to make sure you have the right details of Light.
Detail from 'Light Yagami' by Lei K - Death Note News
Any last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to start creating Kira artwork?
Draw what moves you. If it's a certain scene, emotion or you have a feeling to just draw Light...than draw him. When that creative mood hits act upon it. If you don't...it'll nag you until you do. Also you don't have to draw exactly how Light looks in the anime. As long you have his details right, you can do your own style of Light. That would make your artwork stand out more, because it’ll have your own personal touch to it.

Creating something is better than creating nothing.

Artists!

Would you like to have a go at answering these questions on your own behalf?

If you are a Death Note artist - or indeed an artist per se - and you're willing to share your tips, thoughts and advice with the fandom, then visit our fan-artist's questionnaire page to fill in the form.

Thank you in advance!

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Squad Six Cosplayers - New Panel at Triad Anime Convention March 2016

21/2/2016

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Sewing, and Props, and Wigs... Oh My! Panel at Triad Anime Con 2016
Only generally related to Death Note this, Squad Six Cosplayers' Lara has given us the heads up that she'll be part of an ensemble costuming quartet hosting a panel at Triad Anime Convention this March.   Sewing, and Props, and Wigs... Oh My! is an all-encompassing cosplay advisory gig, with freely available tips on just about anything you ever wanted to know about dressing up as your favourite manga/anime character, plus a few things you didn't know to ask.

However, it is worth mentioning the panel here, because there are at least two known Death Note cosplayers on it.  Hence attendee questions in that direction are likely to be more than adequately answered.

Lara will also be joining the rest of Squad Six Cosplayers the following night for Blasting Off Again! Team Rocket panel, celebrating two decades of Pokémon. 
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Are You Enjoying This Month of Kira on Death Note News?

16/2/2016

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It's been an exciting month so far, with much more to follow.  Let's recap!

Light Yagami - The God of the New World cosplay by FaustotheEndless

Fausto the Endless cosplays Kira: The God of the New World
(Reproduced with permission - FaustoTheEndless at WorldCosplay)

Kira Seiyū Interviewed by You!

Anime actors Brad Swaile, Sergio Zamora and Kim Hasper are answering your questions backstage as we speak.  They ALL played Light Yagami, providing the voice for him in the English, Spanish (European) and German dubs of the Death Note anime respectively.

Each actor has a new profile page - which will later transform into their individual interviews conducted by all who sent in queries to be asked.  The buttons beneath their pictures below will take you to that seiyū's profile too.

To make life easier on all, we even translated the question form into English, Spanish and German.  Though any of those languages may be used to ask what you will of all three Light Yagami voice actors.
Sergio Zamora interview Death Note News
Preguntar en Español
Brad Swaile interview Death Note News
Ask in English
Kim Hasper interview Death Note News
Fragen in Deutsch

All about Raito: Kira Profiles, Light Yagami Analyses, Papers, Discussions & More

Death Note News writers and readers alike have been sharing their thoughts and research expertise on all things Yagami. Thus far, we've read profiles penned by us:
  • Death Note Profile: Who is Light Yagami?
  • Casting Kira: Light Yagami Actors Across the Globe

Philosophy:
  • Nathaniel Overthinks Death Note #04: The Utilitarianism of Light Yagami
  • The Concept of Kira: Can you Really say Light Yagami is the God of the New World? (Guest Post by Lua)

and Linguistics:
  • Why is Light Yagami's Name Read as Yagami Tsuki? (Guest Post by Amaryllis)
  • What's in a Name? The Reason Why Light Yagami is Called Kira in Death Note (Guest Post by Renchan)
Then Death Note News columnist Lucas King was here to discuss and play us his piano version of Light's Theme from the anime. Whilst also ninja-ing in an appeal on behalf of a friend.

Meanwhile, an old friend of all who once haunted MangaBullet - the very epitome there of a Light Yagami fan - took centre-stage in a (not coincidentally) very relevant Focus on a Fan for this Month of Kira. 

Who better than Maru-Light for that?

Got anything more to add?  A paper, insight, opinion, commentary, review or general Thing About Raito to Share lying about your hard-drive or bouncing about your mind?  Then let us have it!
Kira Month Submissions

Where the Kira Fans Meet

In our aim to uncover the communities, forums, groups and other places where Light Yagami fans hang out - and to give such areas a little boost of publicity too - we had ComicVine's Light Yagami Forum respond, while also bigging up our own Pinterest Community Board for Kira fans.

Let us know if there are more out there!

Light Yagami Cosplayers Unite!

We've had Kira cosplay galore!  In addition to the fabulous God of the New World above by Fausto the Endless (of whom more later in the month), the whole thing kicked off with Cayanna Carma as Light Yagami welcoming us to this event.

She returned later to answer questions about cosplaying Kira, as did Squad Six Cosplayers and Light Yagami.  We're still to hear from Maru-Light, whose insight is already in and queued waiting to be published.
Kira Cosplayer Questionnaire

Paging the Writers of Light Yagami Fan-Fiction

There's been slightly less of a response from those penning Kira fan-fiction.  Matti gave it a go with Mu Amongst Fools; while the ubiquitous Maru-Light came clean on whatever happened to her co-authored Death Note novels The Redeemer Series.  Fascinating, even if you never read the books!

However, there may be more interest now that we've finally got our Death Note fan-fiction author questions up and running.  Will you be sharing your writing secrets there?
Kira Fan-Fiction Writers Questionnaire

Drawing in the Kira Fan Artists

The lovely Tate Forkel started us off with the fan drawn Light Yagami artwork.  Arrowchild added her own to the Redeemer piece already mentioned above. But then nothing more.

Come on Kira artists!  We're all dying to see what you have created.  To a given value of 'dying' obviously; thought we'd better mention that, given the subject and circumstances.  You may be interested to note that you have also now got a series of questions aimed at uncovering your artistic know-how!
Kira Artist Questionnaire

Did We Miss Anything?

There's much more to come from whence all of this derived, so keep reading and don't forget that everything Light Yagami related this month is being archived for a permanent display: The C0llected Archives of Death Note News Month of Light Yagami.

And next month, Matsuda.  Are you ready?

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Lucas King Plays Light's Theme on Piano (Along with a Heads Up for a Friend)

12/2/2016

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I hope you enjoy my piano version of Light's Theme from Death Note.  Great theme for a great character. 
I loved Light as a character, but he was at such a huge advantage against L that it was nearly impossible for him to lose and yet he was still caught (he managed to get out of his capture but the rules were clearly written in the Death Note, anybody could've found a way out with help from such a powerful device). 

From what I saw, Light was an intelligent yet arrogant teenager, and his over-confidence was his downfall. I never considered L and Light to be intellectual equals.  I agree with what L said - Light's goals and views were childish, a black and white concept of right and wrong. Which was due to a lack of life experience.  That's how I saw it anyway.
Light Yagami at seventeen Death Note manga
I found the ending heart-wrenching when Coda was playing and we see Light from the start of the show. It reminds us of how young he is and how he set out with (what he thought were) good intentions, it was a curse finding that Death Note.

That's what's so sad about the story of Light Yagami for me.

Light made a life-altering decision at a time when he wasn't mentally ready to make such a decision.  If I'd found a Death Note at 17 years of age, I know I would've wrote a lot of names in it.

If I found one today I would lock it in a box and make sure nobody would ever find it.

I wonder how Light's life would've turned out if he hadn't found that Note. 

Captain FriteNite Needs Help

Captain FriteNite is a wonderful human being and I’m lucky to have come across her.  She is a CreepyPasta narrator and writer on YouTube.  Please do go check  out her work.

However she has been diagnosed with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Chronic Pain Syndrome. She is receiving Chemotherapy to try and treat it. She has fallen on hard times. She’s a wonderful human being and I’m lucky to have come across her.

On top of all this bad luck, her computer has broken.  There is a donation page for her. Anything you can give will help.  Even if it’s a small help, The Captain really needs a break.
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Other Places Online to Find Lucas King Piano Music, inc Death Note Themes

I’ve started a blog where I will give tips on composition, piano playing, improvisation, playing by ear and setting up YouTube channels - Lucas King Piano Site.  I've also created a Wattpad where I upload stories. If you’re a writer yourself, it’ll be great to hear what you think!

Meanwhile, I’m taking commissions too. Head over to my website for details!!  Any donations would be really appreciated, any money donated will be used to get new instruments and other equipment to improve this channel. Here's my PayPal address - LucasKing1884@gmail.com.  Thank you so much for your support.

Finally I've created a new tutorial and MIDI download channel.  Do check it out.

All of this in addition to my usual haunts:
  • Ask me a question on Ask.FM
  • Like me on Facebook
  • Follow me on Twitter
  • Follow me On Soundcloud
  • Subscribe to my channel on YouTube

Light's Theme performed for

Month of Kira on Death Note News
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Nathaniel Overthinks Death Note #04: The Utilitarianism of Light Yagami

3/2/2016

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Philosophical Death Note News column - Nathaniel overthinks Death Note



What School of Thought produces Kira?

Taking a philosophical look
at the world of Death Note
is our deep thinking columnist
Nathaniel Brown

The curious thing about the ideology of Light Yagami is that while he shares his father’s passion for justice he seems to be a fundamentally utilitarian thinker.

Utilitarianism revolves around the idea that the worth of an action is the sum of the aggregate pleasure it creates for people. If an actions creates more good for society than it does bad, than it is a decent action. Under this line of thinking the means can justify the ends! During his insane soliloquy at the end of the series Light concedes that 'that killing people in itself is a crime', but that it had to be done.
For him, murdering people was a necessary crime to fix this 'rotten world'.

What strikes me about Light’s character is actually how perversely noble he is (that is not to say I agree with what he did). Of the five people who obtain and use the Death Note in the series: Higuchi, Light, Misa, Jack and Mikami (and possibly Near if Matsuda is to be believed) only Light and Mikami (under Light’s guide) used it for selfless purposes.

Higuchi used it to advance his career and Misa used the Death Note first to get close to Light, then later to impress him.  While Jack Neylon utilized it for purposes of organised crime. Light on the other hand used the Death Note purely to improve the world; and never for personal gain.

It’s hard to overstate just how few people in the World would ever do this. The Death Note represents the perfect opportunity to get away with anything you want for no cost.

Getting back to Light’s particular philosophy, it’s interesting to note that is his conception of using the death penalty as a deterrent is actually extremely successful (its success in reality is dubious at best). Crime rates drop drastically, organised crime and all that entails (slavery and the drug and sex trade) have almost completely ceased to exist and war is a thing of the past. This clearly provides a very real good for society.

This world is rotten - Death Note manga Boredom
While I wouldn’t argue Ohba is arguing that the death penalty is an effective deterrent, he is arguing humans have an innate fear of spirituality and the unknown, and perhaps an intuitive belief in God (hence why people are so willing to accept Kira as God). The reason why Light’s plan is so efficacious is because people perceive a God as infallible, but police officers regularly make mistakes. Hence why people were less likely to commit crimes when Kira was active.

In Yagami’s mind, the pain felt by criminals is nothing compared to the new found safety of innocent men, women and children and therefore his otherwise cruel actions are excusable.

Yagami’s beliefs come in the context of the Japanese legal system. Prosecutors often won’t take on criminals who haven’t confessed or there isn’t overwhelming evidence against in order to maintain a 100% conviction rate. Because of this many criminals walk free in Japanese society. The Japanese films make this element even more explicit than the anime with some of Light Yagami’s fury being actively caused by this absence of justice for the victims after he hacked into police computers and was horrified by the number of people who simply walked free.

Personally, I can’t help but wonder if Light Yagami’s utilitarianism might actually have been prudent within the context of his Universe. One could argue that it was a society based around fear, not justice, and while criminals certainly have a lot to be afraid of, for the common working man or woman I don’t think this holds true. Light Yagami is brilliant, and is unlikely to make errors when it comes to killing criminals, and so won’t kill innocents by mistake. While it’s likely some innocent people who have been arrested for crimes they didn’t commit are killed erroneously, I don’t think this would have been common. Light Yagami being too self-righteous to kill people whose guilt is uncertain. Furthermore, most people (from what we see) actively support Kira which would seem to imply that very few innocent people have been murdered by Kira (with the obvious exceptions of Raye, Naomi and other police officers who attempted to apprehend him).
 
With war and crime being a thing of the past, it’s fair to argue less people die by Light’s metaphorical hand than would have from crime in normal circumstances.

In 2012, the second last year of Light Yagami’s reign in the anime (and the only year I could find data for) over 437,000 people (approximately) were murdered.  In the universe of Death Note, Light says, “Global crime rates have been reduced by over 70%.” So lets apply this number to how many people were murdered under his rule that year, and 437,000 in that one year becomes 131,000; a difference of 306,000. This means 306,000 people were saved from murder in that one, hypothetical year. This number, if you assume it holds true to the four years Light rules after the death of L, becomes 1,024,000.

This naturally excludes lives indirectly saved such as those would no longer die from the drug trade in the absence of major cartels. It also doesn’t factor in the great reductions in other horrific crimes and the beneficial impact that will have on many innocent people’s lives. Light Yagami was in many ways therefore justified, though he killed many, less people died on the whole and so it can be successfully argued that the means justify the ends.
 
 One thing is certain though, even if you don’t agree with what I’ve written, Light Yagami is definitely a supporter of capital punishment.

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Death Note Tarot Tales II: Near's Tarot in the Death Note One-Shot Special

16/1/2016

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A continuing look at tarot cards, archetypes
and symbolism in Death Note
with Death Note News columnist
Tarot Mikami


~ This time exploring how
Near uses tarot
in the manga one-shot
to represent all that is going on

Tarot Mikami Death Note News columnist banner
The Death Note One-Shot Special was published in Weekly Shonen Jump's February 2008 edition. Created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, this 46 page stand alone chapter acted as a sequel to the events in the main Death Note manga.
When it seems a new Kira has emerged from the ether, former SPK agents Hal Lidner and Anthony Rester approach Near to see what he's going to do about it. After all, he is the new L now and everyone knows that L takes on Kira.  Or does he? 

Well, yeah, as long as he accepts that his opponent really is Kira.  If not, then why take a Fool's Journey along the same old pathway, as directed by an imitator. Near's already taken those steps and learned those lessons. He's already in possession of that world.  As underscored and illustrated throughout this one-shot Death Note manga sequel by use of tarot imagery.

L's successor - now L - quite literally occupies The World in tarot.  He's created a whole world from the cards!

Near's Position in the Death Note Manga One-Shot

As Matsuda makes clear before we even glimpse Near, the current L is in a position of considerable power in this new post-Kira world.  Especially as regards understanding and information. 

The story takes place nine years after Light Yagami received a Death Note from the Shinigami Ryuk, and three years since his serial killing persona Kira was killed by the same. All of which was not only orchestrated and witnessed by Near, but he also obtained custody of said Death Note AND calls the shots on what details enter the public sphere.  There is some intelligence known for certain only to Near - like the whereabouts/Fate of that deadly notebook - which he expects others simply to take his word on trust.

Near not only has the keenest overview of this world as far as Kira concerns it, but he is able to determine all future aspects of Kira within it.  Light Yagami might once have thought himself God of This New World. But in reality, it turned out to be Near.

He and/or the Death Note creators - Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata - choose to express that with use of the tarot, tarot cards and the Fool's Journey through the Major Arcana (though the latter is largely implied).   And by 'Near's world in tarot cards', I mean that quite explicitly.

Our First View of Near in Death Note One-Shot

Hal Lidner and Anthony Rester Death Note one-shot
When Hal Lidner and Anthony Rester enter Near's hub, it's to find themselves confronted by a wall of cards.  Superimposed against a view of the city, representing the world outside.

We see this urban sprawl first. It's a telescoping within from tower, as context and location, to room as specific spot wherein lurks the current L. But it also emphasizes the fact that we're seeing their environment/territory/universe.  At its centre, there's Near; architect and creator of the cityscape in cards.
Near inside a tarot world Death Note One-Shot

Death Note's Near tarot card world
In truth, these could be any old cards (though the minor arcana in tarot is the four suits of playing cards anyway).  However, it's made overt in the next clutch of panels that Near chose tarot with which to build his card tower's massive expanse.
Death Note One Shot Near's Tarot card tower
After underscoring again that that Near knows everything (the panel after this states that he's 100% certain that a Death Note is involved in the latest killing spree by one labelled Kira via those denizens of the world wide web), he goes on to prioritize in importance the safety of his 'tarot card tower'.

The world he's constructed in the wake of the previous Kira tops that being introduced by this new one.

The World in Near's Tarot Card Tower

I have repeatedly used 'The World' in conjunction with Near in this Death Note manga special. This is no accidental over-usage of the words. The World is the last card of the tarot's major arcana. It's the final trump to play.  It's what there is to play for.

The World's meaning is to return to the beginning but, as the poet says, see it again for the first time.  Those in control of The World, or in a World state, recognize the signs for an environment in which they originally tramped through in all ignorance. Only this time they have the overview; experience from lesson's learned and teachers along the way; and incorporate within their own personalities the archetypes enacted by the previous arcana.

To enter The World is to complete the circle, thus finish the story.  Typically, the possessor of The World will ape the stance of The Fool from card zero. Only instead of blithely heading straight towards an unseen cliff-edge, they will note the abyss before them, smile knowingly and step right over it.  Then they fly.

It achieves a bird's eye view of everything below in manageable, surmountable, graspable miniature. All they survey, they know.  The World is their oyster; it belongs to them entirely.

Thus is Near situated here.  Warning Lidner and Rester not to 'knock over his tarot card tower' - The World he holds; built of all he mastered in the journey towards its construction - because that would indicate a brand, new world for the making.  But first, he has to double check.  Only then can he soar over his cliff-edge in complete (intellectual) ownership of all he surveys.

Contemplating L - Original Wammy Fool of the Death Note Universe

Tarot Near thinking of L in Death Note One-Shot Special

Near uses tarot cards to think about L in Death Note One-Shot Special
It has to be assumed that Near understands the symbolism and archetypes inherent in the tarot. At least, insofar as that's all we ever see from his decks, those of the major arcana.  Assuming that he hasn't just got a pack arranged precisely beside him at all times, then Near is seen picking a card at random in order to begin his contemplation of L.

As his Wammy predecessor on the original Kira case, L may be viewed as the original Fool.  The first one to undertake this journey, which Near then inherited. Therefore all cards in the tarot would pertain to L.

And to Near too, upon the same journey.  He and L together may take an overview through the way-makers and ponder the states learned, mastered and/or understood.  His insight isn't into one specific point, but them all.  If Near knew less about the tarot, then he might have opted for a single card, one which he knew intimately and/or triggered the pensive subject.

Moreover, because he inherited this case from L the original Fool, it's to L's mindset Near must return to identify the start.  There to recognize it most fully when it's viewed again from the end.  'What would L do?' pretty much delineates the boundaries of this quest; the rules of the game, determining failure or success; and what Near must consider most important of all in concluding the same right now.

If you like, L drew the lines in the sand to begin the battle.  Now Near has to return to where that was, in order to draw a line under the Kira case, so to end it.

Death card in Death Note One-Shot Special

The Death Card and Light Yagami

We never see the card which Near pulled out to muse upon with, and about, L.

However we are privy to that which followed, pertaining to Light Yagami as the original Kira. It was the major arcana tarot card Death.

Usually I sigh when this turns up in fictional media, as it invariably means something other than is obvious to the non-tarot reading viewer.  Death indicates more of a transformation than actual base and physical death. Though that can factor, insofar as it is a transformative state.

However, this does mean here what the dialogue requires Death to mean.

It's never stated what Kira did (any Death Note fan reading by now will already know), only that his actions brought about a transformation in crime rate and war.  Both for the better, as the tarot's Death state is wont to achieve too.

In Near's personal life, Kira represented something of a watershed too. Before Kira, he was a jigsaw puzzling student at Wammy's House. During  Kira, he became a world-class detective, putting his life and liberty on the line in order to solve the case.

In that regard, the Death tarot card is a perfect representation for Kira here.

The Foolish C-Kira of Death Note's Aftermath World - a Cheap Copy Kira

In contrast to the game-changing transforming qualities of encountering Light Yagami's Kira, we have Near's condemnation of this new Kira.

The tarot card he chooses to represent this interloper is The Fool.

Numbered zero in the major arcana, The Fool is the signifier, or subject, of the whole story to follow.  The protagonist of the plot.  But that case journey undertaken by L, then Near, already had one of those in the form of Light Yagami's Kira.

Therefore Near identifies this new Kira not as Light's successor, but the instigator of a whole new tale.  It's not the quest he (nor L or Mello) was on. It's incitement to enter into another Fool's Journey; a separate quest entirely.

By 'identifies', I mean that Near quite literally pins this one down.  Spearing straight through the hidden cards indicating the rest of this Fool's story.

He uses a dart to do so - the prop of his own Foolish days.  As when Near first appeared in the Death Note manga as a contender for the L Code on the Kira case, his only 'toy' was a single dart.  The rest - tarot cards, transformers, puppets etc - all came later.

Near is stating symbolically, as well as verbally, that he's been here before. This is a different story, with all the lessons already learned from the first, therefore why should he be interested in it at all?
Near Death Note CKira idiot posing as Kira
Death Note One-Shot Special C-Kira The Fool in Tarot
The new Kira as a Fool setting out on a different journey from the first is reiterated in Near's conclusion, wherein he labels the killer 'some idiot'.

Fool, in one of its earliest connotations, was 'an idiot' - the folly of which still overhangs some modern usages of the term.

Thereon to label the imposter as C-Kira - a cheap copy of the original - and therefore nothing to do with Near at this stage, unless he chooses to accept the case as something new in its entirety.

The Other Tarot Cards on the Floor in Near's Tarot Musings

It may be of interest to contemplate the other cards spread out around Near's Death (Light Yagami) and Fool (C-Kira) cards.  They don't actually seem all that random, when placed in conjunction with Near's known history; and the card he surveyed whilst holding the L puppet aloft might be surmised. 

First there's Strength, which is pretty much what it says on the packet.  That's the sheer endurance and brute force intellect required to survive The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans.  Followed by The Priestess - the inspiration for entering the quest, or reason to be upon that great Fool's Journey - aka Roger telling Near and Mello that L was dead and Kira was reigning unchecked. 

Both are already on the floor by the time Near picks out a card to contemplate with L.  Later panels show that to be The Hermit - the isolated light in the darkness, which both Near and Mello would have represented at that time.  In short, Near's own instance of inheriting L's Fool's quest, and bringing himself up to speed in following the clues rippling out from L's investigation. 

This is followed by The Star, which could be summarized as 'hope', i.e. when Near sourced the means to fully integrate himself into the Kira case.  Then Death - Kira - and The Fool - C-Kira. 

It could be that Near is merely hunting through a tarot deck looking for the two that will illustrate his mind-set and direct his musing, discarding all others along the way.  Or it could be that he's spelling out the story thus far, in order to reach his conclusion.  Revisiting major markers on his own journey to this moment, so to recognize the reality of the situation in which he now finds himself.

Seeing The World for the cliff-edge it is, thus finding the courage to soar above it.

Toppling Near's Tarot World - Clearing The Decks with the Analytical Hermit?

Near tarot card tower falls
It's difficult to see which card acts as a catalyst for chaos; signifying such a lapse in Near's concentration that it begins to collapse the self-imposed prison barricade of his tarot card tower.

However, it seems significant that its with the fingers adorned with puppets of himself and Mello that Near swoops in to redeem its placement, whilst holding L in a watchful aside from his other hand.

Particularly since both panels give clues as to the nature of the card itself.

The first depicting it practically glowing with a halo of light against the darkness. The second affording a glimpse of what appears to be a staff, or torch held high and similarly glowing.  Both representing aspects of The Hermit then; the same card previously associated in Near's view with L.

The Hermit is a great card for Near now. An indicator of what is to come.

There are times when we have to step back, reflect and meditate upon our progress so far. This analytical retreat is necessary to shine a light upon those dark, overlooked, sometimes secret corners of the mind. Cleaning out the cobwebs and seeing things much more clearly than ever before, simply by stopping in order to see them.
Near building his tarot card tower in Death Note one-shot special
Death Note One Shot Near's Tarot tower falls

However, The Hermit also symbolizes a solitary time, when the thinker is at their most anti-social.

After all, you need space and silence in which to effectively contemplate the past and all its clues; to sift through the rubble of self and experience to find context for the present; to peer into those half-forgotten places of the mind in recollection of lived memory, enlivened by passing insights from retrospect and other people's points of view.

This is not a state in which to take on board the perspective of third parties, unless as recollection sparking previously unexamined aspects for meditation.

Thus the insertion of Mello and L, as finger-puppets causes some measure of chaos for Near in his tarot world. Despite them being figures from the past.

Unless, of course, Near purposefully degrades his tarot card tower with this introduction of Mello as a puppet - the chaos ran rife during his rivalry with his Wammy House peer in life too. Given that Near has expertly and precisely placed every other card in a vast and intricate tower to date, this seems likely.

For Near as The Hermit, Hal and Rester's continued presence is a distraction. Knocking down his own tarot tower serves to momentarily shut them up, and provides him with a reasonable excuse to send them away.   Albeit delivered in Near's own brusque, polite-but-rude manner.
Near's tarot tower in Death Note one shot special

This is Near's World, not for anyone to direct in either order nor chaos but himself

Death Note One-Shot Special: Near Claims The World in Tarot

It is the prerogative of the enlightened Fool, at the end of their Journey, with all their lessons learned, situations enacted and archetypal states fully realised to return to the beginning and see it again with its truths revealed.  The Wise Fool in possession of The World gets to soar beyond with a smile on their faces, enjoying a bird's eye view of all the components which make up reality. 

In mastery of their dominion, those claiming The World in tarot cards may even dictate its reality to others (though such elevated, returning Fools in symbolic reality generally feel no need to; displays of power play like that not only appear trifling but meaningless too in the face of other Fools and other realities). 

Thus Near finishes his contemplation of The World by opting out of it.  But not before he's seen pronouncing his conclusion through an overview of everything, as represented by a whole wall of tarot cards, each carrying their own component towards the whole picture.
Tarot Near You Abonimable Murderer from Death Note One-Shot Special

Near stepping outside The World to proclaim its truth from his lofty perspective
Viewed close up, Near seems to be symbolically revisiting a similar point on his own 'true' journey; contrasting this apparently easy conclusion with one which wasn't so simple to conclude.  Compare this frame with Near's previous derogation of Light Yagami's Kira.
Death Note Near 'Just a Murderer'
Death Note Near Crazy mass murderer
There are elements in the latter which recall the former - Near's finger twisting around a lock of hair; proxies in props for the real thing (puppet; tarot cards); his utter bluntness in calling the murders for what they were, stripping away all intrigue, justification and quasi-divine mystique - yet all is changed utterly.

Three years before, Near was smug, but also uncertain in his smugness. He peered down to speak, still thinking it through, before sneaking a look at Kira to see how his words had been received. Then felt the need to reiterate a point, this time a little more flowery, therefore losing some of its stark impact.

This time, Near's pronouncement is unfettered and direct. His gaze straight and sure. His confidence in the latter no doubt stemming from his living through the precedent set by the former.

In some ways, publicly giving clues to how the 'real' Kira was diminished by this public re-enactment, though only he and a select few will ever know that.

His world-view viewed through The World, as a wall of tarot cards.
Then we pull away for the long shot and know that Near truly has returned to the beginning and seen it for the first time. That he really has seen and accepted his truth in The World; that he is no mere successor to L, but L himself.  With the power to disdain lesser distractions that would teach him nothing new; to reject imprisonment inside an arena begun and delineated by some other Fool; to step away from The World, over the cliff top, and into new journeys bespoke to himself.

The Hermit's illumination, with Mello in hand (literally) to spark the courage for chaotic dismantlement, quickly escalated into Near knowing to pull down his own tarot card tower, and build the whole thing anew.  After all, Near now owned The World.
Death Note Near tarot L

Near gets to rebuild L anew from a world of tarot cards
Incidentally, this gets quite poignant when you realise whom Near is addressing here.  That speech bubble for his unseen partner in discussion is L.  It's the style used whenever L speaks through a monitor - over a television screen or computer - alongside a letter upon a white background. Throughout this Death Note One-Shot Special, that was Near himself speaking publicly as L.

Or put another way, this is Nate River conversing with Near right at the point when he mentally and emotionally accepts that he is L.  When he steps free of The World as delineated by L. Lawliet and embarks upon new worlds of his own discovery, and journeys of his own destiny.

From Sun to World: Near Steps Out of L's Shadow via Tarot Symbolism

A final world compares the images of Near from the beginning and end of this Death Note One-Shot Special. The front cover artwork depicts him still very much a successor to L, continuing the ways of his idol until completion of that particular journey.  Near's own voice is overtly silenced, subsumed beneath a finger-puppet of L. Himself acting entirely as L's proxy.

We travel through the story, witnessing Near's final leap from Wammy heir to the L Code to one actually in possession of it, mentally as well as physically.  There is no Lawliet by the final depiction of Near, in the manga's closing artwork.  Though Near now looks more like L than ever before, and sits confidentially beneath a shining tag proclaiming the same - backwards, forwards and in black and white.
Near cover of Death Note One-Shot Special
Near final artwork Death Note One-Shot Special
In terms of tarot, there are characteristics in the former which suggest that of The Sun tarot card.  Blazing far more keenly than The Hermit ever could, The Sun indicates those seeing their own being, environment and all anew.  They aren't necessarily illuminated, but ARE the illumination.  "Who are you?", asked The Fool of the Sun.  "I am you." The Sun replied.

It's the final stage before Judgement calls and, beyond that, The World.

There are fewer indicators that the last piece of artwork in Death Note's canon series depicts Near as archetype of The World.  Nor can we totally dismiss it.  There are no symbol creatures in each corner, but that central topmost circle could pass for a globe, and Near himself - L-esque as he appears - could arguably be perched with his back against a cliff-top; or at least the dark unknown.

Nevertheless it's a stretch, so we'll leave this here.

Next time we'll begin our journey through the Death Note major arcana proper, looking at the Fool tarot card
~ Tarot Mikami

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Nathaniel Overthinks Death Note #03: L's Philosophical Materialist Thinking

13/1/2016

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Nathaniel Brown Philosophical Death Note column on Death Note News




If even L can be met in his Philosophy, then
resident Death Note News columnist, our
over-thinking Nathaniel Brown
is the man for the job.

Near (no pun intended) the beginning of Death Note, L famously proclaims “I am justice”, which is funny because he has no such interest in justice.

It’s always been an amusing quirk that the character who heads the task force wasn’t pursing the world’s most prolific serial killer for moral reasons, but rather for his own amusement. In fact, there seems to be a massive juxtaposition between the L at the start of Death Note, and the L we see when the task force finally meets him in person.

Partially I think this is because Ohba didn’t fully know what he wanted to do with the character at the start of the series. The early L looks composed, almost handsome when we see his face. He talks about how Kira is evil to the International Criminal Police Organization with deep passion and seems to truly believe it. However, in the Death Note One Shot L tells the children of Wammy House, “It’s not a sense of justice. Figuring out cases is my hobby. If you measured good and evil by current laws, I would be responsible for many crimes.”

L Describes his Morality in the Death Note One Shot

L's Morality in Death Note
Death Note One Shot - L isn't justice
This is true - very early on into the series, an L who views Kira as evil is clearly a hypocrite. He lets Lind. L Tailor die to prove Kira can kill without being there in person. He attempts to let the Yotsuba Group kill criminals in order to prove their guilt and is willing to let a criminal possibly die to test the '13 day Rule'.

Whether or not you agree with these actions is moot, he’s prepared to kill criminals to catch a man who kills criminals. This is morally self-defeating in the worst way possible. The most consistent look at L (at least from the manga and anime) is one who, while not completely without redeeming features, isn’t concerned with higher values.
Death Note L with Skull

Alas poor Yagami, I knew him...
L. Lawliet in Hamlet mode
L, is in many ways the antithesis to Light. Whereas Light is handsome and meticulously dressed, L is dishevelled. Light is charming; L is almost autistic. Light is extremely moral; L doesn’t seem to believe in morals.

The only traits they do seem to share is that they’re both chronic liars and are extremely brilliant.
 
I doubt L ever thought about his Philosophy in these terms; but he is fundamentally a materialist thinker. Materialists believe that there is no objective morality and good and evil are entirely human concepts (think of Hamlet’s famous proclamation, “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.”) and that existence is entirely physical.

It’s not hard to view L in such terms.
Read More Philosophical Death Note Articles
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The Cosplayer Chronicles: Death Note Misa's Wig in the Spotlight

31/12/2015

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Squad Six Cosplayers Death Note News Cosplayer Chronicles banner

As they prepare to host a
Death Note 10th Anniversary panel
at North Carolina's Ichibancon 7,
we get the updates on their progress in
The Cosplayer Chronicles
by
Squad Six Cosplayers

It's not just the Panel itself that needs to be organised.  We are cosplayers - reasonably professional ones at that, insofar as these things can be measured with oodles of fun thrown in as the main event - therefore we need to look the part.  Act it too.  As well as physique allows, Squad Six Cosplayers must take the stage as near clones to those characters we choose to inhabit for a night.

That in mind, Lara has spent the holidays working on her Death Note Misa costume.  She cosplayed the character before, hence knows that her old wig is not up to scratch.  One should not have to redo those derpy pigtails ten times an hour!

This year then, she will be entering Ichibancon with a thicker, better quality Misa Misa wig; totally replacing the old with something new.  It was expensive, but worth it.  Here's your sneak preview of the hairy part of Lara's Misa Death Note cosplay, as it was restyled to match Second Kira's locks.
Lara's Misa cosplay wig being restyled

First there's the front to cut short
Lara's Misa cosplay wig being restyled

Then the rest to arrange
Lara's Misa cosplay wig being restyled

Before finally the pigtails make it
recognisably a cosplay Misa wig
Meanwhile, it's crunch time here with just a couple of days to go and all hands to the deck to make our anime con panel run smoothly.  Wish us luck!  And if you are attending 2016 Ichibancon 7, we'll see you there!

Squad Six Cosplayers will be hosting Resurrecting L - Death Note 10th Anniversary Panel at Ichibancon 2016, January 1st 11pm-midnight, in Events 4.
Read more in The Cosplayer Chronicles
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The Cosplayer Chronicles: New Timeslot and Exclusive Look at the Flyer for Death Note Panel at Ichibancon Anime Convention

11/12/2015

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The Cosplayer Chronicles banner on Death Note News

Resurrecting L - an anime con panel celebrating Death Note's 10th Anniversary - is set to be held on New Year's Day 2016, at Ichibancon 7 in North Carolina, USA.

Gearing up to host it, and here journalling
their preparations along the way, are its organisers
 Squad Six Cosplayers.
It's been a fraught few days with technical issues, mostly surrounding internet access, but that's all over now. We're plugged in and raring to go with the first major bit of news being that Ichibancon has just released its official schedule.  We're on it of course, but there's a surprise attached. Squad Six Cosplayers' Death Note panel - Resurrecting L: Death Note 10th Anniversary - has been bumped up an hour.

We're now on at 11pm, instead of midnight, on January 1st 2016.  Same venue, same room, just a different time.  A fine excuse to redesign the poster advertising our Death Note appreciation panel.  Though a frantic scramble to alert all who have already promoted it for us.
New Resurrecting L Death Note Anniversary panel poster Ichibancon 2016

New poster for 2016 Ichibancon Death Note panel by Squad Six Cosplayers
Next up is the flyer that everyone will receive as they walk into the panel.  You get to see it before they do!  It's a four page flyer, folded concertina style. In the box, on the inner page, is where a piece of candy will be placed for the guests to enjoy as we present. We'll also have candy and Death Note themed prizes throughout the presentation.  L eat your heart out!  We're resurrecting him indeed.
Ichibancon 2016 Resurrecting L Death Note Appreciation Panel flyer

Flyer for our 2016 Ichibancon anime con Death Note panel
Until next time!
~ Squad Six Cosplayers
Read more in The Cosplayer Chronicles
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The Cosplayer Chronicles:  Ichibancon Death Note Panellists Squad Six Cosplayers Update on their Special Guest Cayanna Carma (New Column for Death Note News)

1/12/2015

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Brand, new feature for Death Note News -  Squad Six Cosplayers keep a diary as they prepare for their Death Note panel at US anime convention, Ichibancon 2016.  In Death Note cosplay, of course!
Squad Six Cosplayers Death Note Notes The Cosplayer Chronicles
There's a lot of work to be done, if Squad Six Cosplayers are going to be ready to take the stage at Ichibancon - one of North Carolina's largest anime conventions - at midnight on January 1st 2016.  It's not only our Death Note panel in which we are performing, but out and about too.  On show just by being there, because we will be in full cosplay.

And those costumes need to be designed and made ahead of time.  We have a reputation to uphold.  It's not good enough merely to have those clothes fitting properly, we have to become the characters in our Death Note cosplay.  But in that, we've elicited a little help.

Cayanna Carma to Cosplay Kira at Ichibancon 2016 Death Note Panel

Cayanna Carma will be Squad Six Cosplayers' special guest at Ichibancon. Joining forces at our Resurrecting L: Death Note 10th Anniversary panel.

She will be cosplaying Light Yagami for us, and we just know that will bring in a huge crowd.

Cayanna Carma is known through the convention community for her ability to encompass the attitude and personality of each character she portrays. She's just fantastic.  She's a 24 year old that can draft her own cosplay patterns, taught herself to sew, and can piece together shoes, props, pants, shirts, gloves, and even wigs with no issues.

Though Cayanna Carma will be taking on Kira at the Ichibancon anime convention, she's MOST known for her cosplay from Kuroshitsuji and Naruto. You can check out her ability to become each cosplayed character on her Facebook page, though nothing beats seeing her in action.

Now all Squad Six Cosplayers have to do is live up to that precedence too. No pressure then!
Cayanna Carma cosplaying Light Yagami

Special guest at Ichibancon's 2016 Death Note panel -
cosplayer Cayanna Carma
We all really appreciate this opportunity and are so excited to share our progress with Death Note News readers, because Death Note is one work of art we are all very passionate about. 
~ Squad Six Cosplayers

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