Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Death Note Spoilers

I hope every one has seen the Death Note anime, else be warned... this is a spoiler.

I don't know how accurate some of this is but it's my take on some things that interested me.



There was a total of 4 Death Notes in the human world.

  • Book #1
    Ryuk dropped Shidoh's book into the Human world for fun, curious Light picks it up :)

  • Book #2
    Ryuk's book, that he writes Light's name into.

  • Book #3
    Jealous' book which he kills for Misa with, Rem takes this book from Jealous' ashes and hands it to Misa.

  • Book #4
    Rem's book which Light inherits after Rem kills/dies for Misa.


What are their names?

  • Light
    'Raito', for which the Kanji also means "Light",

  • L
    'L Lawliet', like "laureate",

  • Near
    'Nate Rivers', like "natural flow of (L? or IQ?)"


Yagami Souichiro was gonna die anyway!
Yes, he had less than a day or two to live in reality but further halved his remaining day(s). Light unknowingly used his father appropriately! 0_o


When did Light fall from grace?
In the beginning of the series we are astonished by Light's oratory and translation of English to Japanese and vice versa. He reads a line that's basically the essence of being pure as a human. Light embodied that line, only up until he tested the book's power for the second time. I personally would've tried the book out, maybe on Waseem! It would never work! ;)



Anyway, Light further tested the book's awesome power. The turning point was when Ryuk flew down to meet Light, and the book had names filled-in on numerous leaves. He chose to become a mass-murderer, that was just evil. Quite a politically-correct statement, but to Light, he was justified in what he was doing... as he did aim, not to be a celebrity (he already was) but to become God!



But imagine if I could stop wars and control the world by killing the guilty?
Doesn't it make more sense than what we see and hear about all the real wars?
Seems like power always leads to corruption!


Was Light's life really over?
No! I don't think so, Ryuk just killed Light because he saw the self-destruction and end of an interesting game.


Ryuk
I love the way Ryuk hisses with laughter at Light and his shortcomings. I also like the basis of his character being a prankster, both in the shinigami realm and human world. He experimented with rumours he heard about and that being the whole plot, I was satisfied with his character even though he was always passive throughout. Great way of pushing his wits to the limit!


So how old is Misa at the end of the anime series?

The answer would lie within a few factors but only if we knew the remaining lifespans of Rem and Jealous.

  • Jealous kills for Misa and adds his lifespan to Misa's ended lifespan (should be 0)!

  • Misa makes the deal with Rem and halves her remaining lifespan gained from Jealous, (Jealous could've had a huge lifespan!)

  • Misa makes the deal with Ryuk and halves her remaining lifespan from #2,

  • Rem kills for Misa and adds her lifespan to Misa's. (Again, Rem could have had a huge lifespan!)


Surely she gained alot of lifespan there and with the halving, it would still leave her with quite a lengthy lifetime :)


What happened to Misa at the end?
Rumour has it that she probably suicided because of her obsession with Light.


Where do humans, who've used the Death Note, go after death?
I wish I knew! Let me know?



Can the Death Note kill a pregnant woman?
In theory the woman should not die, or rather, the child could be born before she dies.. thats one baffling idea that they hadn't explored in the anime!


The Music
OST's I,II & III
The character theme songs are brilliant, I like Mello's theme with the guitar bit, in the second OST. Misa's theme is a bit light-hearted and, well, nice. The general "Kyrie" and "Teleology" and "Solipsism" are also quite appropriate at times. The tracks are all so consistent with the themes throughout the series. Brilliant music for a brilliant anime.

OP & ED
Opening #1 : Nightmare - The World
Ending #1 : Nightmare - Aluminia

Opening #2 : Maximum the Hormone - What's Up People?!
Ending #2 : Maximum the Hormone - Zetsubou Billy

I really enjoyed both openings & endings, specially the second two!

There is still "Death Note Director's Cut: Complete Ending Edition" which hasn't been released, as Vizmedia had licensed Death Note prior to it's airing. I hear it's from Ryuk's perspective, would be interesting! I can't wait to see it!

11 comments:

Libra said...

Some interesting points. I personally don't think the Deathnote would work on a pregnant woman at all, and I think Misa is actually shown committing suicide in the manga, which I think she did.
More important was the way the fantasy construct of the Shinigami world was used to interrogate these profoundly difficult aspects of our moral concepts; I agree with you about Light's fall from grace. But it's boggling isn't it? I think at the end of the day the anime shows that what's really evil is compromising one's humanity, which Light does, even becoming insane. To aim for godhood is the ultimate act of hubris. Was he really "good" before he ever found the Deathnote if it was always in him to sin against his own humanity? Questions like this are proof that fantasy has been used in the right way; to interrogate the inner realities of things in ways we could never without the insight afforded by the "unreal".

Libra said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Libra said...

Oh by the way, I think in the last episode it's mentioned that after death, not only Deathnote users, but all humans will go to Nothingness. That's part of the existential theme of the series I think, in which the central question of creating morality out of chaos is rooted.

Waseem said...

Haha you would use the Death Note on me, hope you would give me something flashy :D

I would like to think the humans who use the Death Note, become Shinigami. Would that be too poetic and idealistic? I think it would complete the cycle nicely

Gordon Bishop said...

Get some Anime blogging going at http://bundublog.co.za , local is lekker!

majopau said...

death note is one of my ULTIMATE favorite anime!!!

http://norealtime.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

I had never thought of the pregnancy aspect of the death note. If they tried to go into that it would spark a whole abortion/pro-life debate since someone would have to decide when in a pregnancy does a human come to life, and of course when they get a name that can be used in a death note.

The whole killing using someone's name in a death note just irks me since it's just a tag someone branded you with. I suppose you can see it as a figurative representation of your "soul" for the purposes of making an anime easier.

Unknown said...

Just to comment on Libras' statement, I think that the Death Note would kill a pregnant woman, because once the name is written, it cannot be undone, why would pregnancy change this rule? It would just take the life of the woman, and ultimately the baby.

Also, I would agree Misa would probably commit suicide out of obsession of Light.

It's not boggling, and morality is just another something made up by people, because you think it doesn't make it true I always say, even if a majority thinks it be true too.

Who defines "sin"? lol


Questions like that are proof to nothing, and even though I'd like to say it's an insight to realities, most of us don't even know what that is and fantasy is just that, fantasy.

I believe fantasy to be a portal to something higher, but not something unreal or godly.


Also, I enjoyed the live action movie, go download it!! ehem, buy it, whatever

Mark said...

Therre were 4 Death Notes for a short period after L died and N and Mello Came in The shinigami came to find ryuk to get his book back that ryuk stole from him

Unknown said...

Well, Death Note is an anime series that will make viewers think really hard. One of the most memorable lines in the series is the "Keikaku Doori"(Just as planned). It's really amazing how Light was able to calculate all things that would happen up to that point. And I also happen to like all the OP and ED of the series, especially the Nightmare songs, since I'm a fan of the band.

Michelle Pendlelton

Duckii said...

After the owner of the Death Note dies, they go to Nothingness.