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

Death Note's Kira with apple

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sounds a bit Kira to you?

Taylor Swift's Blank Space

What is Taylor Swift's Blank Space About?

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

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

So the singer had a bit of fun with that.

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

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

Anti-Hero Taylor Swift as Blank Space Villain

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

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

Misa-Misa

Taylor-Taylor

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

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

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

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

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

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

I've never realized @taylorswift13 is a fan of #DeathNote More apples for you @dude_mysterious pic.twitter.com/iRB3KV1rGF

— Melissa Dickinson (@BlazingRoselia) August 11, 2015

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

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

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

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

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

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

And not one of them mentioning Death Note.

Twilight or Death Note: Taylor Swift's Apple

Taylor Swift's Blank Space apple sequence

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

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

Twilight by Stephanie Meyer

Death Note Ryuk action figure

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

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

Taylor Swift Admits Being a Death Note Fan?

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

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

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

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

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

Here it is again for your viewing pleasure: