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All the latest information about Death Note: reports, gossip, releases, analyses, speculation and discussion.

Death Note news articles

Tragic Murder of TV Celebrity, Singer and L Cosplayer Christina Grimmie

13/6/2016

351 Comments

 
Our interest here in singer, songwriter and US NBC The Voice competitor Christina Grimmie is rather peripheral, which makes news of her fatal shooting by a previously unacquainted killer no less saddening.

Police investigators in Orlando, Florida, have yet to uncover a motive for gunman Kevin James Loibl's actions. He had apparently set out to kill her on June 10th 2016, armed with several weapons and travelling two hours across the US state to reach her.

Outside concert hall The Plaza Live, Christina Grimmie and rock band Before You Exit were signing autographs, posing for pictures and chatting with those who had come to watch them perform that night. Or merely to be there meeting them afterwards.  A voracious updater of social media (wherein she'd grown to fame as a star on YouTube), Christina had encouraged folk to pop down and say hello, if they could.  It was fun, exciting, a happy and friendly event; eye-witnesses said she opened her arms to hug Loibl as he approached upon his turn to do so.


He opened fire and killed her, then shot himself dead too.

A sickening, senseless story, as I'm certain most here will agree.  But what has it got to do with us?

The fact is that Christina Grimmie was one of us.  For all her celebrity and meet and greet press of crowds vying for a moment in her company, she was also a Death Note fan.  Who got excited when she was able to wear her L cosplay while recording a music video.

That's what she took to social media about at the time, that's what she wanted to share - not the fact that she was making the promo for her own song Shrug. 

A notion no doubt met wryly by more than a few of us with the ability to chuck an L cosplay together from the contents of our wardrobes, but not film a music video to transmit to thousands, who wanted to actually hear us sing our songs.
Christina Grimmie Death Note L cosplay for Shrug
Seventy weeks before she was killed, Christina Grimmie sat with friends and watched the last episode of the Death Note anime.  As so many of us have done, and like us all, it was viewed with gleeful anticipation, as her Instagram snapshot confirms.  An event worth recording.  An excuse for a party.  One of us.

Watching the Death Note ending.......

A video posted by Christina Grimmie (@therealgrimmie) on Feb 6, 2015 at 1:18pm PST

Christina Grimmie Death Note computer background

Just over a year ago, she was showing us Mello, L and Near on her computer's wallpaper and telling us it makes her happy.  I don't know about you, but I've got Mello on my PC background image and it makes me happy.

For the record, I've also got Matt as a theme on my browser.  It also makes me happy.

The purpose of all this?  No matter how remote and star-studded, scratch the surface and we're all the same.  If not in the specifics, then the generalities certainly: one fan likes Mello, another L, a third is Team Kira, a fourth is for Mikami, a fifth prefers Naruto and the last can't stand manga/anime, but has a passion for NASCAR.

In the passion, we find points of commonality with all humankind, regardless of its focus.  In tears and love too, we touch the same, no matter that we might not grieve or infatuate our hearts upon identical loves.  Different subjects irritate; things distastefully seen or grinding sentiments heard might drive us to fury according to our own perspectives; yet she share with all that well of anger ready to propel us into attempting to improve our world as per our lights.

No-one is so alien to our very own humanity that they should be hunted down and shoot for whatever motive.

Christina Grimmie might have been a glittering star in the limelight and a vivacious entertainer. But she was also somebody's daughter, somebody's sister - her brother nearly died trying to save her - somebody's friend and confidante. 

And she was a Death Note fan just like us. We are bereft, one down tonight, and that has to do with us all.
351 Comments

Robbuz is Not Kira.  Crime Scene - Death Note Misa Misa Digital Portrait Art

7/6/2016

146 Comments

 
Italian portrait artist Robbuz is Not Kira.  Nevertheless, she's responsible for this beautifully colourful, Gothic dark Crime Art starring Death Note's Second Kira Misa Amane, with skull and chequerboard floor.
Misa Amane portrait art - Crime Scene by Robbuz is Not Kira.
Misa Misa portrait artist Robbuz (is not Kira) but is the founder of DeathNoteFansClub on DeviantART.  She's been at its helm for seven years, welcoming fans with a global interest in Death Note and watching the group attract nearly 4,000 active members - including Death Note News, circa two seconds ago, if our request to join is approved - with another 3,000+ passively observing from the sidelines. Their page views are running into the hundreds of thousands.  Busy place and vibrant community.

While back to the plot, Robbuz is the fantastically detailed digital artist behind the Misa Amane art reproduced with permission above. Called Crime Scene, it took  her three hours to even begin.  Much careful decision-making went into selecting the perfect outfit to be depicted in the portrait.

This Italian talent likes to work with colour, yet fittingly her Misa Misa portrait was part of a Death Note artwork series experimenting with darker tones and hues.  Writing about Misa and the picture Crime Scene in particular, Robbuz wrote, 'I like how she's cheerful and lively, when she's definitely dead inside. Consider it, she sacrificed all her morality, her conscience, herself to be loved by someone who clearly just used her."

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Misa Death Note event
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Mello and Matt Fan-Fiction It Matters Series Collected in Omnibus eBook Editions... and Indexed!

1/6/2016

5 Comments

 
MRSJeevas It Matters Series Vol 1 chronological omnibus Mello and Matt
It Matters: Complete Series Vol 1 by Matti (aka MRSJeevas)
- Download the free eBook (totally free of charge)
- Use software like Calibre to switch the ePub into the format of your choice

This is directed towards the Mell0/Matt fandom.  The rest of you just talk amongst yourselves for a while.

How would you like every novel, drabble, short story and scrap from the Matti!Universe tidied chronologically into omnibus editions?  And how would you like it if those tales - full and partial - were all properly indexed?

Matti knows that you would, because she's been repeatedly asked for something of the ilk by various readers of her fan-fiction over the years. Though the index part is a bit of a bonus.

The impetus for finally doing this thing came when those on the He Moves Me Differently (The Fan-Fiction of MRSJeevas) forum decided to read every tale in order, following the internal timeline to see how it all panned out as a whole.

Feel free to join them there.

Tipped off, Matti quietly opened Sigil and began work.  The first volume was completed from scratch, including much hands on imperative tatting and learning via ALL of the mistakes, that the thing might receive that cross-referenced index.

Stephen Gevanni surely didn't do so well, when he spent a night copying a Death Note from start to finish. At least he didn't have to teach himself forgery first!

The free eBook It Matters: Complete Series Vol 1 covers every tale right up until the end of the '90s.  Some have never been made public before, having languished with their existence forgotten and unknown. 

Vol 2 will be 2000-2009;  Vol 3 - 2010-the present day.  Eventually the plan is to amalgamate that trilogy into one big, hefty, totally indexed cyber-tome that could figuratively batter binary to death.

You're welcome.
5 Comments

MCM London Comic Con Anime Karaokers Belt Out Songs from Death Note

30/5/2016

7 Comments

 
MCM London Comic Con May 2016 logo
MCM London Comic Con 2016 is currently in full swing with convention goers able to wow the crowds with Death Note theme tunes, if they so wish.

The Manga UK stage has been taken over by Anime Karaoke, which is precisely what you think it's going to be.  Punters called up into the spotlight get a choice of over 150 songs from anime across the board.

Their tuneful menu includes two helpings of Death Note music - The World and Alumina both by Nightmare, both made famous as Death Note theme songs.

Let's hope that any fan brave enough to try it knows what they are doing.  Each track has the potential to trip folk up - The World by being faster than intrepid songsters might fancy; while Alumina on the surface seems much the easier option, while being pitched an octave higher than most routinely recall.  Until it's too late and there's a microphone in their faces and expectant hordes of Londoners looking right up at them.

Good luck, brave and beautiful Death Note karaoke singers!  Ignore the cockneys and sing like Kira's coming tomorrow!

Staged at ExCeL London, May 29th 2016 is the third and final day of MCM Comic Con, but the website reports that there are still tickets left.  Anime Karaoke kicks off at 11am today.  We dare you.

7 Comments

Heads Up for Death Note Misa Amane Community - Pinterest Misa Misa Fan Board Awaits You! Sign Up and Join in the Pinning for Second Kira Now

24/5/2016

33 Comments

 
Death Note's Misa Amane Pinterest Community Board run by Death Note News.
 We're a little late into our event now in posting to announce this Misa Amane fan club.  But regular readers must have known  it was coming - given that every other Death Note News monthly focus thus far has prompted a similar invitation to come and join in.

The topic titles might change from month to month, but the location does not. 

We have Pinterest Community Boards dedicated to Death Note characters; fandom genres; differing adaptations; music; manga; anime; movies; cosplay; creators; academia; you name it and Sod's Law practically dictates that it'll be the only remaining aspect within the Death Note universe that none of us thought to build a board around.

Naturally, all of this includes a forum for Misa Amane fans or, if 'fan' seems too strange to speak about a genocidal maniac genki girl, those with an interest in sharing random, related things about Misa found on the internet may come too.   We already have a lively Team Misa Misa posse pinning away and hundreds more enjoying the spectacle by merely following.
All you need do is follow the board.   One of the Death Note News team will be along - hopefully shortly - in order to answer every alert with an invitation. Click yes or no, as your is your wont, then jump in and pin, pin, pin, or watch, if you chose the latter.  Every community member may invite others too, so bring your mates along for the ride.

And enjoy!

Posted as Part of

Death Note News Misa Amane event
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Indie Band Speedy Ortiz Release Death Note - Anime Inspired New EP Track

14/5/2016

1 Comment

 
Announcing their newly released Death Note, Massachuttets band Speedy Ortiz
American Indie Rock band Speedy Ortiz, active since 2011, announced a new four-track EP to be released June 3rd. Moreover, they shared one of the new tracks included on their Foiled Again EP. It's called Death Note.

Frontwoman Sadie Dupuis confirmed the track is named after the anime, and we can even tell she’s probably not a fan of Light’s New World.

In the press release, she explained the title by pointing out the actual death note in the anime was an 'about an evil supernatural notebook that causes the death of anyone whose name is written inside of it'.

Although the title is meant as a reference, the actual song isn’t about Death Note. The lyrics are meant to touch on a more delicate subject. As Dupuis explained: “The song is about writing through your depression as a way to get better, and how in that way a death note can be kind of love letter to yourself.”

The song is available on Soundcloud.  Or you can give it a whirl below too.  If you love it lots, then buy the MP3 - download Death Note now, or wait until June 3rd to purchase the entire Foiled Again EP.
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Thank you Everyone who Joined the Month of Quillsh Wammy!!

8/5/2016

2 Comments

 
This month, the honours are performed by one of our most prolific writers - the lovely Lua Cruz.  Over to her with thanks for all she does too; no background task too small, no analysis too obscure nor too deep. All completed with intelligence and grace. The rest to follow is all her. 

Lua writes:

The themed months are gone in the blink of an eye, and, risking repeating what was said in the previous months, wasn’t this awesome!?


It feels like there isn’t enough time to touch on every subject, which isn’t unexpected when fans come together to talk about interesting stuff. One article brings up more discussions, and, before you noticed it, you got lost on meta-analysis and caught yourself re-reading/re-watching Death Note.

And when you come back to the party, the party is over before someone calls the cops on you for making too much noise and playing loud music far into the night.

But it’s all good; now you know where the other fans are (which means the party never ended and you can keep the conversations going until everyone is satisfied. Just…quieter? To not disturb the neighbors because we are all nice, polite people here).

Anyway.
Death Note Wammy with ice-cream

All the Thanks are Due For Death Note News Wammy Month Contributors:

I’m not really sure how to go about thanking everyone because it always feels like I’m missing someone who contributed and that’s so unfair of me. So, first, let me thank everyone involved because you guys did a brilliant work. The month of Wammy pointed a bunch of fans at an amazing topic, and it resulted in fantastic articles, great discussions and the analysis that this fandom comes up with that’s really awesome to read.

Matti, all the thanks to you for being an amazing hostess and making this site such a lovely place for Death Note fans to find. You put a lot of work into this, and, as a DN fan, I’m really happy you came up with the character of the month idea and that you’re making it happen. I’m really happy you came up with the whole Death Note News!

Not only that, thank you for writing fantastic fic focused on Watari. You do a lot and the result is amazing, thank you.

Orangepunch, thank you for the support behind the scenes. I saw maths happening and that’s awesome; it brought up more discussions, even if I can only admire maths from far far away.


Georgina Aguilar, thank you for adding beautiful fanwork to this fandom we all love and for allowing your art to be shared here.

Kinky Mattila, thank you for bringing to life a character we all appreciate in one way or another and for giving us tips so we can do it too.

CupofSquirrel, thank you for also bringing Watari out of the pages of Death Note and telling us a lot about it and encouraging more fans to cosplay.

Renchan, thank you for writing a great analysis on Watari’s blood type for us and giving us food for thought on the topic.

Everyone from the Pinterest Community for Wammy and Wammy’s House, thank you for keeping selecting and pinning stuff, grouping them in one place for all the other fans to find.

Ethereality, thank you for holding discussions with me about anything that can come up related to Death Note and that sparks the interest.

DeathNotegirl3675, for writing a great Watari fanfic to share with us.


Aerial Sky, for contributing to fandom in another awesome way and, in doing so, giving us more Watari fan-fiction to enjoy.

Tarot Mikami, for exploring the parallels of Death Note and Tarot with such depth and giving us interesting analysis to think about.

There is way more being discussed than we have time to write about in a month. That’s always a pleasant surprise.

It was fun; thank you all for making it happen. See you in the Month of Misa!!

Posted to Finish

Month of Watari Death Note
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Poised to Begin

Month of Misa Amane
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Fabulous Quillsh Wammy Cosplay by Guess Greenleaf from CupofSquirrel

29/4/2016

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US cosplay collective CupofSquirrel have turned their attention to Death Note characters in costume.

And that includes Watari cosplay courtesy of Guess Greenleaf - pictured right with fellow group member Rhyme Lawliet as, well, L.

Moreover, Guess has popped in to explain to us how we can create a Wammy costume of our very own. 

All the win!
Discover more from CupofSquirrel cosplayers on their YouTube channel.

CupofSquirrel's Guess Greenleaf on How to Cosplay Quillsh Wammy

Have you cosplayed Quillsh Wammy now or in the past?
Yes - currently.

Any anecdotes about your experiences cosplaying Mr Wammy?
I was Watari for a video that my L was making for their YouTube channel. Even though I was only in a few scenes, it was a joy to be Watari.

His personality is special to me--he is caring, kind, and intelligent.

What clothing and/or props do you feel are essential Watari costume items?
I collected a second-hand suit for Watari to wear. His outfit is very simple, which makes him easy to cosplay for people just beginning.

His hair is swept back, so I purchased a lace front wig. Watari is defined by his glorious moustache, so I purchased a nice one from a local theatre store.

I feel that it is nice for Watari cosplayers to have a similar hat, so on occasion I use a vintage fedora my mom found at a garage sale.

To complete the cosplay, simple ageing make-up was important for me, because I am a young woman instead of an old man.

Is there more to cosplaying Wammy than the outfit? (Look/behaviour etc.)
More important than the quality of your Watari cosplay is his demeanour. People will know you are Watari if you carry yourself with pride and are deliberate in your actions. He has a serious kindness about him that is essential to his character.
CupofSquirrel Cosplay Death Note Watari and L

CupofSquirrel cosplay Watari and L

Watch CupofSquirrel in Action Cosplaying Death Note Characters

What's your professional opinion about ready-made Death Note costumes, such as those in our Cosplay Store? Any pieces in there decent enough for a Mr Wammy cosplay? (Be honest!)
I didn't see any Watari cosplay items in your store, so I don't think these would work out!  [Ooops! ~ Matti]  Ready-made cosplay items are nice for people who do not have the skills to make things themselves.

When I started cosplaying Watari, I did not have the skills to make a suit coat, which is why I bought one from a thrift store. When buying ready-made items, the most important thing is how they fit you. If you want it to look like it was made specifically for you, you should probably go with a site that takes your measurements to make sure you have a nice fitting costume.

If not anything there, where would YOU source items to cosplay Quillsh Wammy?
I would go to a local thrift store and try on the nicest looking men's suits there.

Any last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to create their Watari cosplay from scratch?
Spend extra time on make-up and wig/moustaches. These parts of your costume will give a recognizable face to your cosplay.

Cosplayers!

Would you like to have a go at answering these questions yourself? 

A different Death Note character forms the focus each month.

If you cosplay Death Note - or indeed a cosplayer of any tale - 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!

Death Note Wammy month
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Casting Call: Fan-Dub Auditions to Sing Death Note 'The World'

18/4/2016

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The audition site Casting Call has an opening listed for singers amongst the Death Note fandom to flex their tonsils for a cover of The World.

Vocals can be in English or Japanese and the project appears to be some kind of anime cover album or play-list.

Before anyone gets excited thinking they're going to be on an official Death Note music release - otherwise in one of the forthcoming movies - let us reiterate here that this is a fan created project.  Yet no less wonderful for that.

There's scope for another Death Note tune to be covered, if you'd prefer.  As the call out lists the opportunity to record instead the anime track of your choice.  Other tunes requiring singers include:
  • Fight Together from One Piece
  • Super Driver from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya
  • Memories of You from Persona 3
  • Never More from Persona 4
  • Irony from Oreimo
  • Yowamushi na Honoo from Yowamushi Pedal
  • Let Me Hear from Parasyte
  • One Reason from Deadman Wonderland

A track from Bleach has already been cast.
Anime singers wanted on Casting Call
Deadline is May 6th 2016.  Anime vocalists may be male or female, but must own a good microphone through which to record their work.  For more information visit audition listing itself - Casting Call Club: Anime Cover Singers Needed!
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Join a Pinterest Community Group for Wammy and Wammy's House!

15/4/2016

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Death Note Wammy Pinterest board run by Death Note News.
A whole group of us are already pinning our Wammy's House and Mr Wammy related items of interest over on Pinterest.  You can too!
We have a community Pinterest Board for Death Note's Wammy cohort, which anyone may join and contribute what they will.

It's part of a whole collection of character or other subject specific boards created and maintained by Death Note News.

So click away on the follow button, wait for your invitation to be added to the board - prompt us with a comment here* containing your Pinterest name if you want to hurry us up with that, though we will try to be quick with the Wammy additions during this Month of event - then pin, pin, pin all you've got on Watari and his wards.

And once you're in, feel free too to invite your friends along. All our members can add other pinners to the group. That's what community is all about!
* If you wish to be added to other boards too, then list those in your comment as well.  There are so many of you that these things otherwise go in bursts and starts!
Follow Death Note News's board Mr Wammy and Wammy's House on Pinterest.
Latest pins on our Watari Pinterest Community Board
Do you have a group, forum, community, fan-club or other website dedicated to Watari, Wammy's House or anything connected with the Wammys?  Let us know via our submission page and we'll big it up for you during this Month of Watari on Death Note News.  Help us get the community connected with like-minded members of the same fandom!

Posted as Part of

Wammy Month on Death Note News
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Wearing Mr Wammy: Finnish Cosplayer Kinky Mattila with Watari Costume Tips

13/4/2016

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Death Note Wammy cosplayer Kinky Mattila

Death Note Wammy cosplayed by Kinky Mattila
Another Death Note character event;
another cosplayer willing
to spill the beans on
how to dress like them.

This time it's
Month of Mr Wammy
on Death Note News and
Kinky Mattila is here
to tell you all how to
don your Watari wear
in style.

Kinky Mattila has been cosplaying since 2005 with her group Team Fabulous Awesome. Over in their native Finland, TFA have been creating costumes within a raft of fandoms, including Death Note, of course.  As the image above amply demonstrates, that means Wammy cosplay too (flanked by his wards Mello and Near courtesy of fellow TFA members). 

TFA show no sign of waning after more than a decade in costume - 'still doing it happily', Kinky Mattila confirms - with plenty of pictures to fill the TFA-Finland cosplay gallery on DeviantART.  But first she has advice to share on cosplaying Mr Wammy.

Death Note Costume Tips: How to Cosplay Watari by Kinky Mattila

Have you cosplayed Quillsh Wammy now or in the past?
Yes - in the past.

Any anecdotes about your experiences cosplaying Mr Wammy?
It was my very first male cosplay with a moustache.

My friends were creating a Death Note cosplay group and the only available character left at that time was Watari. It was suggested that I should cosplay with his face hidden,  but I decided to be wild and his face visible with a moustache.

At that time I didn't know you could buy fake moustaches, so I made my own - sacrificing my white wig for it. It looked kinda okay and, cos I don't use make up, so also that time I didn't use either.

I liked cosplaying Watari. It was a nice experience. Plus I heard I was the first Watari cosplayer here in Finland at the Tracon 2 cosplay event!

For the first time, I got asked for so many pictures to be taken of me. I was so overwhelmed by the attention I received.

I just loved that cosplay.  Also that Watari costume made me want to keep on cosplaying, no matter if I got noticed or not.
Kinky Mattila cosplays Watari New Hero of Death Note

Kinky Mattila's Watari cosplay - originally posted to her
DeviantART gallery, with her variation on a theme here
How would you go about creating a costume for Watari/Mr Wammy?
Find at a flea market some suit that fits you and buy some white shirts for men.  They are not that expensive here - about like 10euros. Buy some fake moustaches, and a pair of Santa's glasses, then colour them grey. Add men's shoes, of course.

A nice wig is also good to get, but your own hair works too.

What clothing and/or props do you feel are essential Watari costume items?
Men's suit.

Is there more to cosplaying Wammy than the outfit? (Look/behaviour etc.)
Just to have fun.  That is most important to me and nothing else. <3

What's your professional opinion about ready-made Death Note costumes, such as those in our Cosplay Store? Any pieces in there decent enough for a Mr Wammy cosplay? (Be honest!)
I haven't looked for any custom made Death Note costumes; but the ones that I found right now, most of them seemed really nice and need just a little bit of changing.

Any last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to create their Watari cosplay from scratch?
Go look for a cheap men's suit and start from that. :D  Nowadays it is way easier to look like a man than it was then (when I cosplayed Watari).

But do it!!! GO FOR IT!"!!! You can rock it. :D

Cosplayers!

Would you like to have a go at answering these questions yourself? 

A different Death Note character forms the focus each month.

If you cosplay Death Note - or indeed a cosplayer of any tale - 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!

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Death Note Wammy Month
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Thank You All Who Contributed to Month of Matsuda on Death Note News!

5/4/2016

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Another epic monthly event! Redeemed after a shaky start by all who flooded in with their submissions to make this a focus worthy of the character himself.

The archives will show that Death Note Month of Touta Matsuda was an unparalleled success!

Good fight all.

So what went wrong at the beginning (and most of the middle) to make this event move so slowly?  Then in true Matsuda style speed up unfathomably towards the end, and in the nick of time to save the day.

While Death Note News has a plethora of writers, columnists, researchers and the occasional guest penning articles too, it only has one person to actually press the button to publish their considerable output.

If she gets carted off to hospital in the back of an ambulance, then everything grinds to an ignoble halt.

We've spotted the obvious flaw in our administrative set up; and Matti is completely fine now.  Once back at her desk, the contributions for Matsuda Month could flow once more and fabulousness ensued.
Touta Matsuda Death Note month

Thanks are Owed to All Who Participated in Our Matsui Month Event

All due applause and accolades are directed towards:

Sakiko Rau - who kicked us off with an essay on why she (and we) should like Matsuda from Death Note. She will also be jumping on board as a regular columnist writing from a Japanese perspective.  You heard it here first.

Lua
- who did so much in the background to keep the home fires burning, as well as penning a philosophical analysis of Touta Matsuda's importance within the Death Note narrative.

Aerial Skye - who gave us cosplay advice for Matsuda costume creation.

All on the Death Note News Community Touta Matsuda Pinterest Board, for maintaining a steady flow of interesting images and links whatever the month.

Lei K - who turned her considerable talent to Touta Matsuda artwork especially for this event.

Silent Reaper - who allowed us to share her classic comic strip Matsuda's Rant.

Deacon (and the Tuxedo Team), especially Beyond Infinity/Jin - who let us publish their photographs of an amazing Matsui cosplayer.

Ziferonan - who gave us full rein to plunder an extensive collection of Matsuda fan-art, fan-fiction and cosplay too.

Stella Meyer - who not only sent in her Matsuda artwork, but answered questions providing insight and tips on creating the same.

Liam Dodd - who brought an air of the academe to proceedings with a scientific examination of Death Note's infamous Matsuda rescue with a mattress.

Emerald-Moonlight - who let us loose on her gallery and permitted the republication of three pieces of her Matsuda art.

MRSJeevas - who wrote Matsu fan-fiction for this event, though that's not nearly all, considering that in another guise, she is Matti - who researched, edited, proof-read, wrote and caused a backlog on much else that was published this month.

Tarot Mikami - who took us once again into the depths of the tarot's secrets, this time with a distinctly Matsuda Death Note flavour in regard for his monthly focus.

And, of course, all who read and commented, shared links and discussed these articles elsewhere. 

All Added to our Permanent Collection

Matsuda Month Archives
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And prepare to do it all again, this time with the focus on Wammy.
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Matsu's Musing, a Decade On: Death Note Matsuda Fan-Fiction by MRSJeevas

4/4/2016

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Death Note Tota Matsuda pensive
There was a documentary about Kira on television tonight.  Matsuda sat and watched, thought he'd had himself convinced until the last minute that he would not.  Then duly sat in silence for a long time after the TV had been shut off, partway through its closing credits.

Not thinking anything much about it.  Despite its scheduled high intentions, the depiction told him nothing he didn't already know.  Same old, same old, only slightly rehashed.  One or two added examples of the pitiful nature inherent throughout the dregs of humankind - a camera lingered over Kira worshipping websites still running; interviewed the leader of a cultist enclave, who maintained a shrine in honour of a mass murderer's divinity.

Yet the statistics piled up, droned through an announcer's bland diction and sounding all the more dire for it than worse read in spreadsheet on Matsuda's work computer.  A tiny part of himself wondering once again if he'd ever been on the right side of anything.

Not thinking about it otherwise, mostly because what was left to dwell upon after a decade spent doing just that? There madness lay, or outrage. Guilt. A sense that one day he should snap. If only to honour the dead in showing he was not so unscathed in surviving. If only he wasn't so stubbornly, optimistically, stupidly sane.
Ten years was such a long time to be blinked into passing, while Matsuda was distracted by the close-up minutiae of life. Time enough for academic papers to be produced; published across a range of disciplines in peer-reviewed journals and books; the occasional thesis cropping up amidst an avalanche of dissertations; private reports for classified viewing (some only leaked, glimpsed upon Aizawa's desk, or divulged as a result of his quiet, semi-depressed venting with someone who was there; worse still, stumbled upon online due to a hackers' craft in cyber-theft and sharing). Dry facts delivered with seeming objectivity. The endless debates and analyses so complex as to render distant that whole Kira case. Polarizing conclusions losing something in translation from the academe into common sense.

Like emotion. Empathy. Reality.

It was as if Kira and all he embodied has been set behind glass. Immutable. Divorced from true experience. In the process of becoming severed from that through which Matsuda had lived. And Mogi. Aizawa. Casting them all surreptitiously adrift from involvement in that thing that changed, traumatized in subtle ways, still loomed large over everything, all society, the whole world.

Funny the things that got left in or lost; errors perpetuated into pseudo-fact, until reality shifted and tipped them off its plate. Those Who Were There. The steady drip-drip of Kira becoming a legend through credible channels. He'd long since been legendary among the digital, popular and/or vulgar culture moguls, and masses.  Bellwethers of fashion bringing him in and out of consideration according to their whim. Sometimes it was good to approve of his methods, that strange phantom God who came and went and never came back. Sometimes Kira was to be condemned, the papers said, and all their readers spurted rhetoric stating the same.

And Matsuda felt cold. And contemplated that scar raw ancient moral dilemma for the latest in uncountable time. Boring himself with the stab of angst and indecision before any conclusions ever seemed reached. Just his conscience rocking back and forth on the winds of wondering what was right. Honourable. What Soichiro would have done. Said. Ultimately sided with.

The officer shook off a poised lingering now. This moment was already too laden with potential pathos. Tedious the things that unsettled him so far down the road. More distractions. Distraction aplenty. That's what he needed. Him and the world.

And where was Near?

Matsuda's hand stilled en route to lifting his bottle of beer to his lips. The chill coming white-hot this time. That modern L was the aspect in all of this upon which terror or fury could dwell, not at all muted by time. Made worse by the waiting for his greatest fears in context of that strange Wammy to metamorphose into real life. But either Matsuda was wrong - which was great - or Near's silent psychopathy in secret possession of multiple shinigami notebooks, and all the unfathomable power they afforded him, hadn't yet surfaced in the public sphere. Maybe Near was too clever for them all - which was probable - and they would never know what he did with that divine gift in vault, nor how he managed the death gods loitering in his vicinity 24/7. How he kept them from boredom. Enough to explode an imagination and jolt a mind into terrible places.

The young man continued to engineer reasons for some kind of reunion, usually in Japan, often en situ, on the anniversaries of Light Yagami's death.  Matsuda had only managed to avoid three throughout the decade.

Near liked the Yellow Box Warehouse. He knew it. It was a good place for confrontations.  "Lucky?" Matsuda had asked him once, and Near had sneered. Pure evil, Matsuda thought, surveying the foreigner's features. But Mogi had chuckled at the description, shared later, and Aizawa had merely looked grimly on and said nothing. Well, they could belittle him. They'd earned the right. Near had not. Or had. And Matsuda wished he knew which.

He occasionally saw Sachiko Yagami. She was keeping well. Sayu with her. She was not. It used to sadden him for all that lost innocence and glee. You got used to the most messed up situations given time. That they'd had. Yet Soichiro would have wanted him to ensure they were alright. Keep his eye on them. Of course they were alright. Sachiko was steel beneath the mumsy face and apron. What would dare not be alright with her to face it down?

And he hated that she remained not knowing what happened to Light. That she'd never know what her boy became. Nor yet his true Fate. It wasn't her fault. Kira. Bloody Kira.

Had it really been ten years ago?  When the sudden cessation of Kira's regime caused a momentary global hush; as if the whole planet in chaos and ransom awaited with bated breath developments from its tyrant. Then exhaled as one and forgot about him. Overwhelming the void with pretty much a return to everything that had governed before. The Kira case reinterpreted; encased in ways more palatable to the new-old Powers That Be. Plastering over cracks each time the ripple effect marked the smoothness of their political surfaces.

Cementing it in studies too. Kira re-affixed as yesterday's fad; not so much out of vogue now as refashioned into old news - a failed endeavour; a detached legend; a tired topic eased off most fora. Slowly consigned by populists and professors into nothing much at all.

It was in hours like this that Matsuda felt himself falling. Not physically. But inwardly ajar. Survivors' guilt, somebody once said and he'd thought it must be, after a greater period considering it just guilt. Gullible; ineffectual; Matsuda knew he could have done more.

He did all he could. Heroic.

A message from Mogi beeped onto his device. Startling Matsuda into jerking, swept from his darkening reverie into reading it. "Watch that?" Mogi had asked.

Matsuda replied simply, "Yes."

No response to that forthcoming for a good fifteen minutes. Matsuda picked it up halfway to the pub. "Just ignore," Mogi's legend read. It seemed to sum up more. Matsuda didn't answer immediately, stomping bowed and way too serious through night dreary streets that turned suddenly into an onslaught of neon, as he entered the main strip close to his home.  

Bright lights that initially repulsed, then seduced and lifted his spirits tremendously.  He was hailing friends and laughing by the time he crossed the bar to get his drink. Only then he replied to Mogi, "Already have. So should you. Two for one cocktails on special and karaoke being set up. Coming?"

Mogi must have been secretly morose and musing, because his answer came so quick. Less than a minute. Perhaps a mere forty seconds. "Yeah ok. Get them in."

And just like that, Kira was gone; ghost and decades and all.

Posted as Part of

Death Note Month of Matsuda
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Death Note Matsuda by Stella Meyer, with Advice on Creating Matsuda Artwork

3/4/2016

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Death Note Matsuda by Stella Meyer - Death Note News
Stella Meyer, a student and traditional artist from the United States, works mostly in pencil, though she employed pen too for part of her recent Death Note drawing featuring Touta Matsuda.   As a fan, there's plenty more where that came from in her gallery as JetDragon1656 on DeviantART.  You may also commission this talented artist in the creation of bespoke artwork.
Meyer additionally took the time to answer a few questions, providing tips on drawing Death Note's Matsuda.

Do you/have you created Matsuda art now or in the past?
Yes - currently.

How would you go about creating a Matsuda drawing/sculpture?
I personally started with drawing his face structure and then went about everything else from that.

What attributes, clothing and/or scenarios, do you feel are essential to include in Touta Matsuda artwork?
I think that the expression is essential to making Matsuda look and feel like the actual character.

Detail from Death Note Matsuda by Stella Meyer

Posted as Part of

Death Note Month of Matsuda
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Analysing Light Ten Years After Death Note, Plus the Importance of Matsuda

1/4/2016

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Light Yagami Death Note
To mark the tenth anniversary of Death Note, there's a fabulous analysis of the manga's protagonist over on Anime News Network.

Under the heading Ten Years of Death Note: Is Light the Bad Guy?, columnist Jacob Hope Chapman takes a reasonably in-depth, albeit whistle-stop look not only at the character of Light Yagami himself, but how fans received him and how the author may have intended him to be.

There's a discussion on why people might accept mass murder and even justify the need - touching upon the darker impulses within us all; and whether insanity runs more rampant than merely with Kira.

Chapman brilliantly, and humorously, makes the case for Light Yagami being no 'anti-hero' nor erstwhile saviour, but a villain par excellence. Perhaps manga's most iconic villain at that.
Moreover, Chapman contextualises Kira within the wider auspices of justice.  Making me happy, he also alights upon issues of human rights, which Light Yagami certainly never goes near.

Though he never elaborates upon the point, the columnist does demonstrate quite clearly how easily society will accept the wicked and insane, if the justification is presented gradually and enticingly enough.  In this regard using Kira apologists amongst the Death Note fandom as an example, rather than, say, Donald Trump's supporters.  Seen from a long view, their pro-Kira arguments are denigrated as 'commonly insane'.  Can't argue there!

Everyman Matsuda - The Reader's Representative Within the Death Note Plot?

Chapman also talks about other characters in relation to Light Yagami (who is, after all, the focus of his analysis).

In particular he notes how Matsuda is too regularly dismissed as merely the idiot of the Death Note world.  When, upon closer inspection, it turns out that the young police officer holds a vital role within the narrative and its dramatis personæ.

Matsuda serves as an everyman, the character whose views act as a litmus test for the wider perspective of fashionable society.  As he wavers in support of Kira, then so do the greater Japanese masses.

If not an actual bellwether, then Matsuda certainly performs as a weathercock, testing the winds of public acclaim or disdain concerning Kira at any given juncture.
Matsuda Death Note anime
His ultimate dismissal of Light Yagami as God - or Kira as a force of justice and good - pretty much serves as the Japanese populace turning its collective back upon such grandiose pretensions of divinity.   Or as Chapman puts it:
Matsuda's emotional breakdown is one of the best parts of the show's finale because it just feels so right. Over time, without anyone noticing, Matsuda came to represent the everykid: all those normal Japanese millennials just trying to live their lives, maybe secretly posting defenses of Kira online, maybe just keeping their conflicted feelings to themselves, but open enough to the incredible change Kira had caused to feel like maybe condemning him wasn't fair. Of course there's something attractive about the idea of people who hurt others getting universally punished to create a more peaceful humanity. But it's just an idea, and when Matsuda is confronted with the reality of Kira—an egomaniacal brat who even killed his own dad to further his self-righteous empire—he feels more betrayed than anyone else.
~ Ten Years of Death Note: Is Light the Bad Guy?, Jacob Hope Chapman, Anime News Network (March 18th 2016)
And though Chapman doesn't go so far as to say it, doesn't that make Matsuda our representative in the Death Note universe too?  The Everyman serves as spokesperson for the readership, as we get seduced by the rhetoric of Light Yagami and symbolizes our own slap in the face by reality, as Kira's descent into insanity becomes way too obvious to support.

Then we too, like Matsuda, get to retrace our own allegiances back through each worsening compromise to that first loosening of all common sense and good morals.

Instead, Chapman sees in Matsuda a proxy for Tsugumi Ohba's own secret views on the matter, which itself makes fascinating reading and compelling food for thought.   It's definitely worth the time to check it out.

Posted during

Death Note News Matsuda Month
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