Screenshot of the current homepage for our Death Note Gift shop
Are you loving the Death Note Christmas gift shop gif that's over there on the sidebar being all festive? Wonderful, isn't it?
Orangepunch created it for us and it's been gently snowing away in that corner, calling people in to remember that seasonal Death Note decorations do exist and all that.
Whilst also reminding me that I never did get around to finishing half of the stores that it's inviting people in to visit. Plus some of them went up with way too big images attached to every pretty product, rendering them too long to load for the average sense of patience to withstand. If it doesn't crash the prospective buyers internet first.
What can I say, I was young and foolish, followed by forgetful and lazy. Swiftly introducing, 'Oh no! All of that should have been fixed months ago!' *cue pulling an all-nighter* into the bargain. One unfathomably long night later, we have a much improved Death Note Gift Emporium (though granted, that might have been more useful a few weeks ago BEFORE you bought all your Xmas presents), plus some new departments entirely.
You will still find flaws in there (size of pics in DVDs and books pages, we're all looking at you), but I also found something quite intriguing to bring to the table. Plus some gossip.
Orangepunch created it for us and it's been gently snowing away in that corner, calling people in to remember that seasonal Death Note decorations do exist and all that.
Whilst also reminding me that I never did get around to finishing half of the stores that it's inviting people in to visit. Plus some of them went up with way too big images attached to every pretty product, rendering them too long to load for the average sense of patience to withstand. If it doesn't crash the prospective buyers internet first.
What can I say, I was young and foolish, followed by forgetful and lazy. Swiftly introducing, 'Oh no! All of that should have been fixed months ago!' *cue pulling an all-nighter* into the bargain. One unfathomably long night later, we have a much improved Death Note Gift Emporium (though granted, that might have been more useful a few weeks ago BEFORE you bought all your Xmas presents), plus some new departments entirely.
You will still find flaws in there (size of pics in DVDs and books pages, we're all looking at you), but I also found something quite intriguing to bring to the table. Plus some gossip.
What's New in Death Note Gifts?
First let me run you through what's changed and sparkly new in our Death Note shopping area, plus a 'to do' list of what's coming up, so you can check if the issue you've found is already known. If not, then naturally we'd be very grateful to get the heads up.
The front page (screenshot above) got a redesign. The thumbnails were all much reduced in size, in order to boost the speed at which the page loads. Hopefully it is much more navigable now.
In addition, every Death Note merchandise page has been reconfigured with funky tabs - making finding things at a glance much easier and again dropping that load time a lot! Check them out in any department clicked below.
The front page (screenshot above) got a redesign. The thumbnails were all much reduced in size, in order to boost the speed at which the page loads. Hopefully it is much more navigable now.
In addition, every Death Note merchandise page has been reconfigured with funky tabs - making finding things at a glance much easier and again dropping that load time a lot! Check them out in any department clicked below.
Death Note Decorations & Party Stuff
 | Our Christmas Death Note store has been checked over and generally spruced up. Looking nice for the influx of customers following Orangepunch's nice, new banner. But nothing much has been added nor taken away from what was in there last year. That's not through want of looking. There simply was nothing to put in and all the links were good. Job done! |
Death Note OSTs & Other Musical Things
 | Completely revamped! Every bit of music for Death Note that could be found - digitally or on CD - is in there; all of the images are nicely resized; and extra tabs have been added to take in new categories. It looks lovely! All that's needed are extra outlets to link in to give you all a bit of choice in your purveyors of fine Death Note musical gifts. Meander in here for soundtracks from Death Note live-action movies or anime, in addition to sheet music, other artists paying homage to Death Note, musical parodies and the like. |
GOSSIP STOP! In filling up those cyber shelves, I found several new Death Note tribute tracks by other artists, including two available for pre-order on release dates later this month or January. They are both in our gift store now, but I will be hunting down the musicians and featuring them as separate Death Note News reports. Death Note's 10th anniversary, TV drama or upcoming movies, appear to have inspired a veritable flood of them! Happy days.
Death Note Cosplay & Costume Accessories
 | We've updated the selection of complete Death Note costumes to buy here - Misa's wardrobe really expanded. In addition to the above, you can see what's on offer in cosplay Death Note wigs, replica notebooks, props etc. The images here have been cut down. Each clothes rail should load immediately on all but the most ancient of potato-run connections. To do: 1, Updates in other sections; 2 More places to buy Death Note cosplay items. |
Death Note Manga & Other Books
 | The literary Death Note gift shop hasn't yet been touched. It's on the agenda for today. This is where you'll find all your manga, Death Note novels, guides, reference books, Death Note movie tie-ins and fun, coffee table type volumes. To Do: 1, Reduce image size to make loading quicker; 2, Check for updates since last Spring, when it was filled with the latest Death Note literature; 3, Increase the variety of outlets for choice. |
Death Note Anime, Movies and Other DVDs
 | Our video Death Note gift area also hasn't been looked at yet. It will hopefully happen tomorrow. Here you can peruse anime, box sets, Death Note live-action films and whatever else exists to watch. To Do: 1, Reduce the size of images; 2, Update whatever may have been missed from Spring 2015 until now; 3, Add in more outlets for options on where to buy. |
Brand New Character Collections for Death Note Gift Ideas
These next two kick start a whole new category in Death Note memorabilia - collections based on merchandise for Death Note characters. I'm sure that most people choosing which characters to begin would have gone for Light and L. But I know my readership.
Death Note Mello Merchandise
 | All the gift ideas for Death Note Mello fans - collectibles, t-shirts, figurines, magnets, pins/buttons/badges (depending where you live), cosplay Mello outfits, custom jackets, and things to stick on your wall (from posters through to fine art in a nice frame). Even a fabulous piece of Mello bathroom decor. I kid you not. As in you will find all of this when our Death Note character Mello gift-shop is actually completed. It's mostly done. Still some rogue Mello phone cases to round up and slap within. I'm giving myself a deadline of December 13th. For obvious reasons. |
Death Note Matt Gifts & Memorabilia
 | All of the above - insofar as it exists - but as Matt Jeevas gifts, instead of Mello. The main issue being that there are far fewer items of Matt memorabilia. I can only assume the average manufacturer and/or retailer of exquisite Death Note souvenirs doesn't know a grand money-making scheme, when it grins at them from behind silver-orange goggles. To a given value of finished - we've corralled the pretty Matt goodies from a single store into our own - the Death Note Matt gift store is done. We just have to pad it out a bit with extra keepsakes sourced from other locations. |
Anyone want to prod us towards which character to compile a collection for next? If there's no broad hints in any other direction, we'll default to Light Yagami and work through the series from there. Though I'm half tempted to be perverse and go Sachiko Yagami instead! Reckon there would be anything out there to buy in honour of Light's mother?
But this brings us nicely to the salient question with which I led.
But this brings us nicely to the salient question with which I led.
Is Death Note's Matt a Motorcycle Enthusiast? Or Just a Punk?
In manga and anime, we only ever see Matt driving a car, but is that his transport of choice?
I know where my money is. In fact, I've written twelve novels of Mello/Matt fan-fiction spelling it out - and one of them initially ran with the working title Cyberpunk. Another had titles lifted from several Cyberpunk dictionaries and cultural references. Matt in my universe ended up with a motorbike once, but we've barely seen it since.
Maybe that's because I've missed a trick. In conjunction with most of the Death Note Matt fandom, I missed what was in plain sight, because I never thought to look certain things up.
Matt's gift shop was looking a bit sparse. Mello's was jam packed. I felt bad. So I thought it would be a nice idea to hunt for that habitual Matt costume for Death Note cosplayers to buy, love and cherish. After all, its probably the most ubiquitously seen, ordinary collection of clothes on any Death Note character. You could grab half the items in any given mainstream clothes shop.
Or could you? It's harder than it looks, this cosplay malarkey. I started with the gloves. How do you search for those? They're quite distinctive. Racing gloves? Long, black gloves for men? Finally, I found them. They are officially known - in non-Death Note circles - as motorcyclist's gauntlet gloves, or motorbike racing gauntlet gloves.
Next I went for the goggles. Bog standard cyberpunk, I thought, with an option on steampunk, if that outfitting genre fell short. Close, but no cigar. Yet I was finding something similar, if not precise, in a whole new class of goggle sporting necessities. Necessary, that is, if you happen to be a motorbike racer. Like those wearing the gloves too.
Shoved some stripy, long-sleeved tops in and off into the jeans department. Mmmm, several billion here, what to search in order to narrow this down? Ribbed jeans? Denim with circles around them?
Turns out that there are some jeans created specifically with patchwork patterns surrounding each leg - just like Matt's wears in fact. They're made especially for bikers. Apparently it improves their saddle grip upon the seat. Saves them slipping about, as ordinary jeans might.
Maybe that's because I've missed a trick. In conjunction with most of the Death Note Matt fandom, I missed what was in plain sight, because I never thought to look certain things up.
Matt's gift shop was looking a bit sparse. Mello's was jam packed. I felt bad. So I thought it would be a nice idea to hunt for that habitual Matt costume for Death Note cosplayers to buy, love and cherish. After all, its probably the most ubiquitously seen, ordinary collection of clothes on any Death Note character. You could grab half the items in any given mainstream clothes shop.
Or could you? It's harder than it looks, this cosplay malarkey. I started with the gloves. How do you search for those? They're quite distinctive. Racing gloves? Long, black gloves for men? Finally, I found them. They are officially known - in non-Death Note circles - as motorcyclist's gauntlet gloves, or motorbike racing gauntlet gloves.
Next I went for the goggles. Bog standard cyberpunk, I thought, with an option on steampunk, if that outfitting genre fell short. Close, but no cigar. Yet I was finding something similar, if not precise, in a whole new class of goggle sporting necessities. Necessary, that is, if you happen to be a motorbike racer. Like those wearing the gloves too.
Shoved some stripy, long-sleeved tops in and off into the jeans department. Mmmm, several billion here, what to search in order to narrow this down? Ribbed jeans? Denim with circles around them?
Turns out that there are some jeans created specifically with patchwork patterns surrounding each leg - just like Matt's wears in fact. They're made especially for bikers. Apparently it improves their saddle grip upon the seat. Saves them slipping about, as ordinary jeans might.
Mello checking the manual to ensure that he is legally able to ride Matt's motorbike... possibly
So goggles, gloves and jeans all point due Matt the motorbike rider, with a strong nudge towards racing them too. You going for that in your head canon? Fan fiction writers, is that why he's beside a bike the first time we see him, and why Mello acquires one only after Matt's on the scene? Death Note fan artists, what motorcycle does Mail Jeevas ride? If this releases the throttle on anybody's muse, let me link the results, or show them off here.
Or are you just going 'cyberpunk geek' like me, and dismissing this out of hand? I'd be fascinated with your thoughts!
Or are you just going 'cyberpunk geek' like me, and dismissing this out of hand? I'd be fascinated with your thoughts!
