Death Note

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Death Note
Original title デ ス ノ ー ト
transcription Desu Noto
Death Note Logo.svg
genre Drama , mystery , thriller , fantasy
Manga
country JapanJapan Japan
author Tsugumi Ōba
Illustrator Takeshi Obata
publishing company Shueisha
magazine Shōnen Jump
First publication December 2003 - May 2006
expenditure 12
Anime television series
Country of production JapanJapan Japan
original language Japanese
Year (s) 2006-2007
Studio Madhouse
length 23 minutes
Episodes 37 in 1 season
Director Tetsuro Araki
music Hideki Taniuchi , Yoshihisa Hirano
First broadcast October 3, 2006 - June 26, 2007 on Nippon TV
German-language
first broadcast		 April 11 - August 15, 2009 on Animax
synchronization
Movies
► Death Note (2006)
► Death Note - The Last Name (2006)
► Death Note: L - Change the World (2008)
► Death Note: Light up the NEW World (2016)
► Death Note (2017)
A death note

Death Note ( Japanese デ ス ノ ー ト , Desu Nōto ) is a manga series that was drawn from 2003 to 2006 by the Japanese artist Takeshi Obata based on a story by Tsugumi Ōba . It is about the student Light Yagami , who can kill other people with a found booklet - the Death Note. He uses this ability to implement his ideal of justice, triggering not only a change in society, but also police investigations against him. The investigation turns into an intellectual duel between Light and the investigators, particularly the detectives L and Near .

The Mystery - Thriller was adapted into various media, including an anime television series that were disseminated not only in Japan but also internationally and were successful. Critics praised the unusual examination of morals, the exciting and well thought-out game between the protagonists and the successful implementation. The success, especially among young people, and isolated attempts at imitation with their own death notes, led to debates on prohibitions and disciplinary measures against students.

action

Until chapter 58

The highly intelligent high school student Light Yagami is disappointed with the world around him. Therefore, like his father, who is a police officer, he wants to spread justice and study law in order to be able to punish criminals. At the school, Light finds a black exercise book, the "Death Note", which originally belonged to Shinigami Ryuk. It contains detailed instructions on the rules according to which a person can be killed with it: A person dies if you write their name in the notebook and imagine their face. He sees in it the possibility of achieving his goal of creating a perfect world by killing all criminals and using this method of deterring crimes to dissuade citizens. Ryuk, who can only be seen through people who have touched the Death Note, accompanies him as he got bored in the world of Shinigami.

However, Light has to research the rules of the booklet more closely. The subsequent frequent deaths among prisoners bring the police and with them L, a mysterious master detective, on his trail. Thus begins a game of cat and mouse between Light, who has been given the nickname Kira ( キ -) - based on the English word killer - on the Internet and in the media , and L as well as the Japanese and international police. While L tries to uncover Kira's identity and method of killing, Light has to find out L's face and real name in order to be able to put it on his Death Note.

L notices that Kira is using police intelligence and has FBI agents spying on the families of the Japanese police in the Kanto region. When they are killed by Kira, Light falls into L's sights due to the suspicious behavior of the agent responsible for the Yagami family. L decides to show himself to Light under the name Ryuzaki with an obviously false identity . With L's express permission, he succeeds in being included in the police investigation into Kira's case. When Misa Amane, a pop star who has fallen in love with him since Kira's murder of her parents' murderers, also falls into the hands of a Death Note, she tries to attract Kira's attention with her own murders and media messages. In doing so, however, she is far less skilled than Light would like, which is why he decides to bring her under his control.

Because Misa made a deal with her Shinigami, she has the eyes of a god of death and can see the names and the remainder of the lives of all people. Light wants to make use of her gift and demands from her that she should find out L's real name in order to then eliminate him. But L notices the appearance of the second Kira, as he calls Misa, and Light has no choice but to take away the memory of Misa and himself by giving up the death notes in order to avoid L's final discovery. Shortly afterwards, Misa and Light are captured by L.

Thanks to his previous investigations, L is able to put the identities Kira and Second Kira in connection with Light and Misa, but in the end it is not possible for him to prove them. On the one hand, there are more murders during their captivity, on the other hand, the behavior of the two suspects changes significantly, which again calls their guilt into question. L suspects that both have lost their identity as Kira because Kira may not be the executive but a supernatural power that needs a human host. The new murders are no longer based on the madness of justice, but on the greed for profit, since one of the death notes was leaked to a company that is now using it for its own benefit. So Light, still suspected by L, can follow the new Kira until he regains his Death Note and thus his memories.

After the new Kira is arrested, L Light is the first to recognize Kira, but it's too late for him. Because Light gets Misa's god of death, Rem, to enter L in the Death Note, because Rem wants to avoid Misa's arrest out of love. The police are still faced with the mystery of Kira's identity, while Light takes over the lead of the investigation. Now L's quarreling successors, Near and Mello, continue the investigation separately, and soon Light's suspicion falls again on Light.

From chapter 59

A few days after L's death, Light takes over the investigation and from then on pretends to be L to cover up his death. In the years that followed, more criminals died than ever before, as more and more people were in favor of Kira, as different states bowed to Kira's verdict.

Mello, who leaves the home in which Near and Mello had lived after the dispute over who was to succeed Ls, has now joined a mafia group. With this he has the director general of the Japanese police department kidnapped. Since they want the Death Note as a demand for the release of the hostage, Light enters the name of the general manager in his Death Note so that he hangs himself and the Death Note does not get into their hands.

After his death, the investigation team learns of the kidnapping of Light's sister. They therefore ask Near for help, who has now founded an organization to capture Kira, the Special Provision for Kira, or SPK for short. This reveals to them that he has been informed of L's death and thus knows of the existence of a false or a second L, but gives them his help. Soichiro Yagami, Light's father, who has meanwhile left for the handover location, presents Mello's group with the Death Note. Tricks make it almost impossible for the entire team and Near to pinpoint Soichiro's exact position, which ultimately leads to the loss of the death note.

As Kira, Light tells the investigative team that at some point he will kill all of the group's known criminals. He can also indicate the exact location of their hiding place. The investigative team decides to get the book back into their possession at this point. When they storm the building, they manage to secure the Death Note, but Mello escapes. Soichiro is seriously injured by a member of the mafia group and dies in the hospital.

Mello then manages to take a member of the SPK hostage. During the forced conversation with Near, he reveals that a rule from the Death Note is fictitious and that Shinigamis really exist. Near shares this information with Light and the investigative team, which confirms the suspicion against Light. Light decides to kill Near and orders the President of the United States to suspend all SPK activities, whereupon a large group of Kira sympathizers forms, which, led by Demegawa, a news presenter, storms the SPK base. However, they manage to escape using a trick. By various pieces of evidence, Near is now firmly convinced that Light is Kira. Since parts of the investigative team believe again that Light is Kira, the latter develops a plan: He convinces Misa to surrender her claim to ownership of the Death Note and to send it to a Kira admirer, Teru Mikami. Since he thinks like Light and also sees Kira as a god, he carries out the murders in his name.

Light then suggests that Kiyomi Takada, whom he knows from his university days and who now serves as Kira's speaking tube, be involved in the investigation. He manages to persuade her to meet. At this meeting, Teru, who urgently wants to contact Kira, calls Kiyomi by chance. Light reaches the cell phone and convinces the team of investigators, which overheard through bugs, that he has to remove the bugs on Kira's instructions. After doing that, he reveals his true identity to her. Since Kiyomi is a Kira admirer and Light is the only man she has ever respected, she wants to help him. Light persuades her to carry out the murders of Kira by torn out pieces of paper, while Teru is supposed to make an exact copy of the Death Note and only write in it. Gevanni, a member of the SPK, shadows Teru and witnesses supposed evidence that Teru possesses the real Death Note. However, the murder that Teru carries out in front of Gevanni is not carried out by him, but by Kiyomi, who was able to watch everything closely with the help of a cell phone.

Aizawa, a member of the investigative team, has since found out through a test that Light and Kiyomi are secretly writing letters to each other and tells the SPK this. When Misa is kidnapped by the SPK shortly before the New Year, her bodyguard does not offer any resistance. Meanwhile, Mello decides to kidnap Kiyomi. Light, who previously said Mello's real name during a conversation with Kiyomi, orders her over the phone to kill Mello. Then Light kills her with the help of a hidden piece of paper he kept hidden in his watch.

Light and Near agree on a meeting of all members of the investigative team and the SPK. Light plans to have Teru take part in it with the real Death Note to kill everyone. Near reveals to Light that Gevanni swapped pages from the book so they wouldn't die. However, he believes that Near does not assume that the book has been forged and shouts out his victory shortly before the time when the investigators and the SPK team are supposed to die. When none of them dies, however, Near Light announces that he not only exchanged pages from the fake, but also the original that Teru had hidden on the bank. Since Teru thought that Light's hands were tied, he went to the hiding place of the real death note and entered Kiyomi's name there as well. Gevanni noticed that the first time Teru worried that someone was following him. He then succeeded in taking the real book and replacing it with another fake. Teru is then arrested and the book in his possession confiscated. It contains all the names of the people present, except for Lights. The missing name is the final proof of his guilt.

Light then admits everything and explains why he wanted a better world. He tries to kill Near with the help of the hidden note in his watch, but Matsuda just manages to shoot him and thus prevent him from writing any further. Desperate, Light tries to get away again and finally begs Ryuk to help him. It becomes clear to him that Light has now finally lost and will be locked up. Since Ryuk would find it boring to stay at his side in prison until Light dies, he decides to kill Light. He enters the name Light Yagami in his own Death Note, who then dies.

A year later normality has returned, humanity is behaving again as it was before Kira's appearance. Near now appears under the name "L" and works with the police, which is now headed by Shuichi Aizawa. Under the leadership of a woman - who, according to an interview with the authors, is not Misa despite all the similarities - a religious movement has emerged that worships Kira as her god and hopes for his return.

Alternative ending to the anime

At the end of the director's cut of the anime after the death of Light Yagami, you can see in the realm of the Shinigamis, which exists parallel to the human world, how a mysterious Shinigami with certain similarities to Light is looking for Ryuk to learn more about the human world. Ryuk tells the story of Light to the unknown Shinigami, whereupon the unknown Shinigami finally makes his own way to the human world.

characters

Figure constellation diagram

main characters

  • Light Yagami ( 夜 神 月 , Yagami Raito ; birthday: February 28, 1989) is the protagonist, initially 17 years old. He has a high level of intelligence, usually acts carefully and does not rush into anything. He has the talent to see through other people. Completely convinced of the correctness of his idea of ​​a perfect world, he initially only kills serious criminals. However, his madness grows increasingly and the intellectual competition with L soon also demands innocent victims. The Japanese police (including his father, the head of operations), the FBI and other organizations that are after him are targeted. But even the people who follow him as Kira only serve as characters in his game. He dies at the end of both the anime and the manga.
  • L ( エ ル , Eru , real name: L Lawliet ) in the manga and anime also known for short as Erald Coil and Deneuve, who are said to be the three best detectives in the world. He took these aliases in order to be better protected from those who wanted to track him down. He is a great genius and therefore a very well known private detective whose identity and appearance are unknown until he has to show himself to the police and Light in Kira's case. Convinced that Kira is a megalomaniac serial killer, he wants to convict him at all costs. He's quick to suspect Light. But he knows nothing about the existence of the gods of death, even if he suspects them from a careless utterance by Misa.
  • Misa Amane ( 弥 海砂 , Amane Misa ) is a model and pop star who also falls into the hands of a Death Note. Because of a past incident, she is very grateful to Kira and decides to support him. However, she is nowhere near as intelligent as Light or L and thus gets Kira into trouble. Since she finds out who is hiding behind Kira, she becomes Light's friend and carries out his orders. She got the Shinigami eyes in exchange for half of her remaining life and can see people's names and lives for the rest of their lives. At the end of the anime, you see her standing on top of a skyscraper in maiden clothes, but it is left open whether she jumps into the depths or not. At the end of the manga, exactly one year later, a woman can be seen leading a group of hooded Kira supporters to a kind of secret meeting in the mountains to pray for the dead Light. In Death Note How To Read 13 , the authors stated in an interview that, contrary to many suspicions, this person is not Misa, but just some follower. In the manga, February 14, 2011 was set as her date of death, almost 13 months after Light's death.
  • Near ( ニ ア , Nia , real English name: Nate River ) argues with Mello about L's title later in the story. He works for an American special unit, the SPK, which wants to arrest Kira and after the death of L plays a major role in the transfer of Lights as Kira.
  • Mello ( メ ロ , Mero , correct English name: Mihael Keehl ) does not want to leave Near L's title. He starts a game with Light when he gets one of the death notes. In contrast to L and Near, Mello is very emotional. His impulsive nature makes him dangerous and unpredictable, even collaborating with criminals. He is killed by Kiyomi Takada.
  • Teru Mikami ( 魅 上 照 , Mikami Teru ) is made the fourth Kira by Light after the pressure of the investigators becomes too great. He is very similar to Light in his ideals and ways of thinking, which often makes risky contacts superfluous. In Light, he not only sees justice, but God himself, which is what his unconditional loyalty brings about. Mikami also made the trade for the eyes of the god of death.
  • Kiyomi Takada ( 高田 キ ヨ ミ , Takada Kiyomi ) is Kira's "mouthpiece". It is later used by Light to communicate with Teru Mikami. She also carries out Kira's murders for a while and kills Mello shortly before her own death.

Shinigami

Cosplayers as Ryuk
  • Ryuk ( リ ュ ー ク , Ryūku ) is a god of death who, out of "boredom", dropped a death note into the human world, where it is finally found by Light. As such, Ryuk is only following Light as a neutral observer, but repeatedly doing him smaller favors to create more tension. He also loves apples. He himself says that apples are to him what cigarettes and alcohol are to people.
  • Rem ( レ ム , Remu ) is Misa's death goddess and has feelings for her. She has a very clever nature and is always calm. However, she often shows her sympathy towards Misa. She often expresses the distrust that she harbors towards Light Yagami. Rem would do anything for Misa; she is even ready to sacrifice her life.
  • Shidoh ( シ ド ウ , Shidō ) is just like Ryuk a god of death who searches in vain for his own death note that Ryuk stole. Shidoh later works with Mello and his people because Mello has his notebook.
  • Jealous ( 嫉妬 深 い , Jealous ) is the Shinigami who saved Misa Amane's life and died in the process. The Death Note, which remained after his death, took Rem and gave it to Misa.

The team of investigators

  • Soichiro Yagami ( 夜 神 総 一郎 , Yagami Sōichirō ; birthday: July 12, 1955) is Light's father and leads the investigation against Kira.
  • Shuichi Aizawa ( 相 沢 周 市 , Aizawa Shūichi ) is a member of the investigation team who has a wife and a young daughter. Since he does not want to leave her penniless, he is afraid of being killed by Kira. He has also made the trade with the Shinigami eyes.
  • Tōta Matsuda ( 松田 桃 太 , Matsuda Tōta ) is a loyal member of the investigative team, but because of his mishap he often hinders the others more than helping them. L especially often doubts his abilities.
  • Kanzo Mogi ( 模 木 完 造 , Mogi Kanzō ) is a member of the investigative team, who is referred to by L as a top man, because he is reliable and can do difficult tasks quickly and cleanly.

Yagami family

  • Sachiko Yagami ( 夜 神 幸 子 , Yagami Sachiko ) is the mother of Light and Sayu and the wife of Soichiro Yagami. She is very proud of her son Light as he is a very talented student.
  • Sayu Yagami ( 夜 神 粧 裕 , Yagami Sayu ) is the younger sister of Light and the daughter of Soichiro and Sachiko Yagami. Like her mother, she is very proud of her big brother. She has been attending Eishu Middle School for two years.

Minor characters

  • L's helpers support the detective, who operates internationally under different identities, in the Kira case. Watari (Quillsh Wammy) is a wealthy inventor who acts as a liaison between L and the police. Wedy (Merrie Kenwood) is a burglar and security expert, Aiber (Tierry Morrello) is a con artist and quick-change artist.
  • Raye Penber ( レ イ ・ ペ ン バ ー , Rei Penbā ) is an FBI agent hired by L to shadow Soichiro Yagami's family. He played a major role in the murder of the FBI agents.
  • Naomi Misora ( 南 空 ナ オ ミ , Misora ​​Naomi ) is a former FBI agent and the fiancée of Raye Penber. After she revealed her suspicion that Kira could not kill by heart failure only, Light managed to get her name and then kill her.
  • Mail Jeevas / Matt is a good friend of Mello's who knows him from the Wammys House. He reached third place in the competition for L's successor. Matt has brown hair, always wears aviator goggles with orange lenses, loves video games and is a chain smoker. He is killed in a shooting with Kira's followers.

Publications

The series is the first work by the author Tsugumi Ōba , a pseudonym that was implemented by the previously successful illustrator Takeshi Obata . Death Note was published in Japan from December 2003 to May 2006 in individual chapters in the manga magazine Shōnen Jump . The Shūeisha publishing house also published these 108 individual chapters in twelve edited volumes.

The Tokyopop publishing house published Death Note from September 2006 to March 2009 in German in 12 volumes. In addition, the Death Note Black Edition has been available since April 2009. The six anthologies contain, among other things, colored and larger pages. The manga is also published in South Korea, the USA, Canada, Taiwan, Spain, Latin America, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, Poland, Portugal, Sweden and Denmark, among others.

In the art book Obata Takeshi illustrations - blanc et noir , published in Japan in 2006 , illustrations for Death Note, along with some of the illustrator's other series, make up a large proportion. In 2015 the artbook was published by Tokyopop in Germany. A 13th volume on Death Note includes information on the characters, an interview and Yonkoma strips. It was also published in German by Tokyopop in 2008. In 2009 and 2010, the publisher also released a second edition of the series as a Black Edition, with a different layout and color pages in six larger volumes, each containing two of the normal volumes.

Adaptations

Actual films

On June 17, 2006, the real-life film Death Note was released in Japanese cinemas. The film with Tatsuya Fujiwara in the role of Light Yagami was number one on the Japanese cinema charts for two weeks and is therefore considered a commercial success. A second real-life film was released on November 3rd of the same year. The two real-life films grossed over 60 million US dollars in Japan alone . The first film was shown on two evenings in May 2008 in over 300 cinemas in the United States. Panini acquired the rights for the German publication. In 2007 it was performed at the Fantasy Film Festival and was later released on BluRay and DVD.

On November 3, 2006, the second real film, Death Note - The Last Name came out, which later also appeared in German on Panini. On February 9, 2008, L - Change the World followed in Japan , which deals with the character of L , played by Ken'ichi Matsuyama . As a direct successor to Death Note - The Last Name , Death Note: Light Up the New World came out on October 29, 2016 . The film is about cyber terrorism and six death notes that are distributed in the human world. The story revolves around three new opponents, but again with Erika Toda in the role of Misa Amane and Nakamura Shidō II as the Japanese voice of Ryuk .

A drama about the manga was first broadcast by Nippon TV in Japan on July 5, 2015 . It comprises a total of 11 episodes and was directed by Ryō Nishimura and Ryūichi Inomata . The script is by Yoshihiro Izumi and the music by Takayuki Hattori . The series was published internationally via the Crunchyroll platform .

Warner Bros. secured the rights to a film for Death Note back in 2008 , which was finally released on Netflix in 2017 under the title Death Note . Warner hired the duo Charles and Vlas Parlapanides as screenwriters. The director took Adam Wingard .

Anime

From October 3, 2006 to June 26, 2007, the Japanese television station NTV ran an adaptation of the story as an anime television series. The series was produced by Madhouse and consists of 37 episodes. The anime was directed by Tetsuro Araki and lead author was Toshiki Inoue . The artistic direction was Mio Isshiki and Masaru Kitao was responsible for the character design.

Panini published the series in German from September 2008. From April 11, 2009 the series was broadcast in German by Animax . The English dubbed version was broadcast by various channels in North America, Asia, Australia and South Africa, and the anime was also broadcast on television in France , Spain , Latin America , Portugal , Thailand , Hungary , Poland , Indonesia , Italy and the Philippines . It has also been translated into Chinese and Russian.

Two television films about Death Note have been released. On August 31, 2007, a 130-minute-long special called Death Note Relight 1: Visions of a God ran in Japan , which summarizes the fight between Light Yagami and L again with changed dialogues and a different ending. Officially, this special is a narration of the story from the point of view of Shinigami Ryuk, but for the most part both the old perspectives are used and moments are shown in which Ryuk was not at the scene. The special was also published in English and Spanish. On August 22, 2008, the second film, Death Note Relight 2: L's Successors , followed, which tells a sequel a few years after the series. The special with a running time of 93 minutes was also translated into English. The German release of the two films is planned for March 15 and May 17, 2019 on Kazé Anime.

synchronization

The names of all characters and their voice actors are given in western order (first name, family name). The German dubbed version was created at G&G Tonstudios under the direction of Richard Westerhaus and based on a dialogue book by Christian Schneider.

character Japanese voice actors ( seiyū ) German voice actors
Light Yagami Mamoru Miyano Kim Hasper
L. Kappei Yamaguchi Julien Haggége
Ryuk Shidō Nakamura Bernd Kuschmann
Rem Kimiko Saitō Michaela Kametz
Misa Amane Aya Hirano Magdalena Turba
Near Noriko Hidaka Hannes Maurer
Mello Nozomu Sasaki Nico Sablik
Hideki Ide Hideo Ishikawa René Dawn-Claude

Soundtracks

Several soundtracks were released for the series, both for the real-life films and for the anime episodes. Sound of Death Note is the soundtrack for the first real film version Death Note , composed and performed by Kenji Kawai . It was released by VAP on June 17, 2006 . Sound of Death Note the Last Name is the soundtrack for the second Death Note film, Death Note: The Last name . It was released on November 2, 2006. Death Note Tribute is a tribute album dedicated to the live action film Death Note. Released by BMG Japan on June 21, 2006, it contains 15 tracks by various artists such as Shikao Suga , M-Flo , Buck-Tick and Aya Matsuura . The soundtrack also contained a Cosplay Death Note Notebook. Another tribute album is The Songs for Death Note The Movie ~ The Last Name Tribute , for the second film. Released by Sony Music Entertainment Japan on December 20, 2006, it contains 14 tracks by various artists such as Orange Range , Abingdon Boys School , High and Mighty Color , Doping Panda and Galneryus .

The music for the anime was composed by Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi . The composers used classical sounds: choral singing, dramatic string melodies and orchestral pieces. The CDs were also released by VAP. The first was Death Note Original Soundtrack , which was released in Japan on December 21, 2006. It contains music from the series with the opening and closing themes sung by Japanese band Nightmare in full TV format. Death Note Original Soundtrack II was first released in Japan on March 21, 2007. The soundtrack features a new opening and closing theme of Maximum the Hormone in TV size format. The third CD, Death Note Original Soundtrack III, was released on June 27, 2007. Tracks 1-21 were composed and performed by Taniuchi, while tracks 22-28 were composed and performed by Hirano. The album includes a song by Aya Hirano , also the seiyū of Misa Amane is in the anime series. In addition, the closing theme Coda ~ Death Note is included, which is played at the end of the last episode during the credits.

Video games

There are three Death note - video games , all exclusive to the Nintendo DS have been published, and so far only in Japanese:

  • Death Note: Kira Game ( Desu Nōto Kira Gēmu デ ス ノ ー ト キ ラ ゲ ー ム ) is the first game in the series and was released on February 15, 2007. The player takes on the role of a character and as this can take on the role of L or Kira . Then it is up to the different parties with the help of the investigation team to identify and kill the respective opponent. This style of play is very similar to the board game Mafia . In addition to a single player mode, the game also has a game mode for multiple human players.
  • Death Note: L's Successor ( Desu Nōto Eru o Tsugu Mono デ ス ノ ー ト L を 継 ぐ 者 ) The second game was released on July 12, 2007 and is a continuation of the first game, the plot here with the second part of the manga series and characters like Mello and Near busy.
  • L the Prologue to Death Note -Rasen no Wana- ( L the proLogue to DEATH NOTE - 螺旋 の 罠 - L the proLogue to DEATH NOTE -Rasen no Torappu- ) is the third and so far newest game in the series. It was released in Japan on February 7, 2008. In this game the player takes on the role of an FBI agent who has to escape from a hotel with the help of L. The game is timed before the investigation into the Kira case.

Various characters from Death Note also appear in the games Jump Super Stars and Jump Ultimate Stars , a beat 'em up in which many characters from Shōnen Jump titles appear. Light , Ryuk, and L are available as characters in Jump Super Stars . In Jump Ultimate Stars , Misa , Near and Mello have also been added.

Light novel

On August 1, 2006, was light novel Another note: Death Note Los Angeles BB Renzoku Satsujin Jiken ( DEATH NOTEアナザーノートロサンゼルスBB連続殺人事件 , Death Note: Añaza Noto Rosangerusu BB renzoku satsujin jiken ), written by Ishin Nishio in Shūeisha released. The first light novel was published on May 23, 2008 by Tokyopop in Germany. It takes place before the investigation into the Kira case and describes the previous investigations by L and FBI agent Naomi Misora from the standpoint of the character Mello .

A second light novel with the title Death Note: L change the World in Germany followed in November 2008 . It can be seen as a continuation of the first two Death Note film adaptations, in which the last 23 days of L's life are described.

In December 2014, on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the manga series, Tokyopop published a new edition of both light novels, each with new covers and in a smaller format.

musical

The musical is based on the manga and anime templates and premiered on April 6, 2015 at the Nissay Theater in Tokyo . The music is by Frank Wildhorn , with the lyrics by Jack Murphy and the book by Ivan Menchell .

Songs

Act I.
  • Where is the Justice? - Light, ensemble
  • They're Only Human - Ryuk, Rem
  • Death Note - Light
  • Kira! - Ryuk, ensemble
  • Ready to Love - Misa
  • My Hero - Sayu, Misa
  • The Game Begins - L
  • Don't Cross That Line - Light, Soichiro
  • Secrets and Lies - Light, L.
  • Death Note (Reprise) - Light
  • Where is the Justice? (Reprise) - Light, L, Misa, Ensemble
Act II
  • A Cruel Dream - Misa, Rem
  • Stalemate - Light, L, Misa
  • I'll Only Love You More - Misa
  • The Unshakable Truth - Ensemble
  • A Cruel Dream (Reprise) - Rem, Ryuk
  • Honor bound - Soichiro
  • Playing His Game - Light, L, Ensemble
  • The Value of Life - Misa
  • When Love Comes - Rem
  • Last Moments - Light, L, Ryuk
  • Requiem - Soichiro, Sayu, Misa, Ensemble

occupation

role US Concept Album (2015) Tokyo, Japan (2015) Seoul, South Korea (2015)
Light Yagami Jeremy Jordan Kenji Urai and Hayato Kakizawa Hong Kwang-ho
L. Jarrod Spector Teppei Koike Kim Junsu
Ryuk Eric Anderson Kotaro Yoshida Kang Hong-suk
Rem Carrie Manolakos Megumi Hamada Park Hye-na
Misa Amane Adrienne Warren Fuka Yuzuki Jung Sun-ah
Soichiro Yagami Michael Lanning Takeshi Kaga
Sayu Yagami Ami Maeshima

Merchandising

Merchandising appeared in various forms for the series, including action figures and models as well as clothing. This was also marketed internationally, among other things as part of a cross-media strategy of the Australian publisher Madman Entertainment, which brought out the merchandising parallel to the manga and the films.

reception

Success and reviews

The first ten volumes of the manga had sold over 15 million copies in Japan by May 2006. After completing the series in the same year that the anime series came out, the volumes continued to sell well. A total of 26.5 million copies had been sold by 2017 and the series was number 74 of the best-selling manga of all time. The series achieved cult status both in Japan and internationally, especially among young people, which was reinforced by various bans or attempted bans.

In 2007 Death Note was nominated for the Osamu Tezuka Culture Prize and the Seiun Prize . The manga won the British Eagle Award for the most popular manga in 2007, the Sondermann Audience Award at the Frankfurt Book Fair in the Manga / Manhua International category and the Animania Award. In 2008 the series was nominated for the Prize of the Festival International de la Bande Dessinée d'Angoulême . In the same year the series was nominated for the Evergreen Young Adult Book Award by a Washington organization of librarians.

The story is told through “hyper-realistic images, the speed of which is hardly hindered by the short dialogues,” says Barry Stone in 1001 Comics, which you should read before life is over. The idea of ​​the "death book" hit a nerve, as the success of the series shows. The series is "one of the strangest" of the Shōnen Jump magazine , according to Jason Thompson , and a "relentless mind game" of the protagonists' continuing assumptions and plans. The supernatural idea is played through to its logical end results, with most of the action taking place only in the heads of the characters. Even if the story loses plausibility towards the end, the manga remains one of the best-written with its many twists and turns. Death Note shows one of the rare cases of a "true Faustian antihero" in a shōnen manga and masters the balance between sufficient friendliness to build sympathy for the characters and a cool photorealism that goes with the dark theme.

The German magazine Animania writes on the occasion of the German first publication that the manga offers a “highly exciting, mystery-element, dramatic thriller”. Its special charm lies in the sudden power of the high school student - a role that many readers would have wanted to slip into - and the resulting moral constraints. The panels are “pleasantly minimalist structured”, while the characters “stand out positively with their expressive mine game”. The manga scene calls the story "extremely exciting", especially interesting is Light's characterization through the conversations with Ryuk and the resulting moral questions. In terms of drawing, however, the manga is not stunning and it also offers little action, which is not a problem with a "captivating thriller".

The anime, writes the Animania , implements the template with few changes and “great attention to detail”, “concentrates on the feelings and refined thought processes of the protagonists”. Like the template, the plot focuses on the intelligence duels and therefore requires concentration from the viewer. “Numerous surprising twists and turns and highly interesting characters” kept the audience in suspense, who was also repeatedly forced to make a new moral assessment of the events. The animation quality is above average and classic and digital animation play together harmoniously. Light's entries in the Death Note are staged action-packed and effective; the few disturbing still images made up for by many vivid scenes. The gloomy ambience, the staging with light and shadow as well as color changes were also successful, appeared "uncomfortable and at times eerie". The character design is also close to the original and brings out the different characters to their best advantage, the background music and the sound design are also outstanding. The German synchronization is well implemented. According to the manga scene, the anime is a “top title” of its season : a must with excellent animation, great music and first-class speakers.

aftermath

Within the book series Treehouse of Horror, the Halloween edition of the Simpsons Comics , a reference to Death Note was published in the 14th edition. The drawings come from the Canadian artist Nina Matsumoto, who had previously attracted attention on the online platform DeviantART because of her parody .

At the end of September 2007, the Belgian police found several body pieces in a city park in the municipality of Saint-Gilles / Sint-Gillis near Brussels , next to which was a note with the words “ Watashi wa Kira dess ” (“I am Kira”) (misspelled ) Sentence that plays an important role in the anime. Investigators later also found a trace of rice grains, which led to a, presumably Japanese, character drawn in the grass. Because of the reference to Death Note , the case became known in the media as "Mangamoord" ("Manga murder"). The murder was solved in September 2010. Four young men were arrested for three of them admitting that they killed their resident victim in an argument. The men were fans of the manga series. In 2013 the three men were sentenced to 20 and 23 years in prison.

Since 2007 there have been various incidents in the United States and Australia in which students were caught with their own Death Note notebooks or websites in which they wrote the names of classmates, teachers or other people, sometimes with descriptions of a type of death. The students were temporarily or permanently suspended, some were also taken into custody for a short time, and there was always a media debate about the incident. In parts of China and Taiwan, the manga was banned in schools or parents were warned about the series after students "repurposed" their notebooks as death notes and wrote the names of other students and teachers on them.

Web links

Commons : Death Note  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Death Note # 1, page 65 (German version)
  2. ^ Death Note How To Read 13, page 199
  3. ↑ a b Animania 08-09 / 2006, p. 48.
  4. ↑ Animania 01-02 / 2007, p. 78ff.
  5. ↑ a b Animania 3/2015, pp. 76-79.
  6. ↑ a b c d Animania 10/2008, pp. 8-11.
  7. ↑ Anime News Network about the first Death Note film in American cinemas
  8. ↑ New Live-Action Death Note Film Stars Sōsuke Ikematsu, Masahiro Higashide, Masaki Suda . Retrieved February 25, 2016.
  9. ↑ "D.Gray-man" and "Death Note" in Germany. AnimeY February 23, 2008; archived from the original on January 30, 2012 ; accessed on August 30, 2014 .
  10. ↑ "Death Note" on Animax. AnimeY, February 18, 2009; archived from the original on March 6, 2012 ; accessed on August 30, 2014 .
  11. ↑ Sound of Death Note ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  12. ↑ Sound of Death Note the Last Name ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  13. ↑ Death Note Tribute ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  14. ↑ The Songs for Death Note the movie ~ the Last name Tribute ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  15. ↑ Death Note オ リ ジ ナ ル ・ サ ウ ン ド ト ラ ッ ク ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  16. ↑ Death Note オ リ ジ ナ ル ・ サ ウ ン ド ト ラ ッ ク II ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 6, 2009.
  17. ↑ Death Note オ リ ジ ナ ル ・ サ ウ ン ド ト ラ ッ ク III ( Japanese ) Amazon.com . Retrieved June 13, 2009.
  18. ↑ Jump Super Stars Official Website . Nintendo . Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  19. ↑ Jump Ultimate Stars Official Website . Nintendo . Retrieved February 6, 2008.
  20. ^ Death note - another note and L change the world in the catalog of the German National Library
  21. ↑ Korean Cast iamkoream.com
  22. ↑ Japanese Cast ( Memento of the original from March 16, 2016 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. the-newshub.com  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.the-newshub.com
  23. ↑ Jason Bainbridge, Craig Norris: Hybrid Manga: Implications for the Global Knowledge Economy . In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives . Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , pp. 239 .
  24. ↑ Shounen Jump Manga Circulation Numbers. ComiPress, June 1, 2006, accessed on August 30, 2014 .
  25. ↑ 歴 代 発 行部 数 ラ ン キ ン グ | 漫画 全 巻 ド ッ ト コ ム. Retrieved February 24, 2019 (Japanese).
  26. ↑ a b Helen McCarthy: A Brief History of Manga . ilex, Lewes 2014, ISBN 978-1-78157-098-2 , pp. 76 .
  27. ↑ a b Angela Drummond-Mathews: What Boys Will Be: A Study of Shonen Manga. In: Toni Johnson-Woods (Ed.): Manga - An Anthology of Global and Cultural Perspectives . Continuum Publishing, New York 2010, ISBN 978-0-8264-2938-4 , p. 68.
  28. ↑ Anime News Network on the 2007 Eagle Award
  29. ↑ 337. Newsletter of Anime no Tomodachi , 42-07
  30. ↑ Manga Nominated for Awards at Angouleme Festival. In: Anime News Network. January 22, 2008, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  31. ^ Librarian's Nominate Death Note for Book Award. In: Anime News Network. October 9, 2007, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  32. ^ Paul Gravett (eds.) And Andreas C. Knigge (transl.): 1001 comics that you should read before life is over , p. 784. Zurich 2012, Edition Olms.
  33. ↑ Jason Thompson: Manga. The Complete Guide . New York 2007, Del Rey. P. 72.
  34. ↑ Manga scene No. 27, p. 32.
  35. ↑ Manga scene No. 35, p. 44.
  36. ↑ A look inside Treehouse of Horror # 14. (No longer available online.) September 24, 2008, archived from the original on December 7, 2008 ; accessed on October 14, 2008 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / space-coyote.livejournal.com
  37. ↑ Simpsons Halloween Comic to Feature Death Note Parody. Anime News Network , July 17, 2008, accessed August 30, 2014 .
  38. ↑ Pieter Lesaffer: manga mysterie ontrafeld. Just pakt four daders op. In: De Standaard . September 21, 2010, accessed September 21, 2010 (Dutch).
  39. ↑ 4 Arrested for 2007 Belgian 'Manga Murder' Case. In: Anime News Network. September 20, 2010, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  40. ↑ Belgian Police Close to 2007 'Manga Murder' Victim ID. In: Anime News Network. October 26, 2010, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  41. ↑ Günther Brants: Celstraffen van 20 en 23 jaar in zaak van manga-moord. In: Het Laatste Nieuws. June 14, 2013, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  42. ↑ Virginian Teen Suspended over Names in 'Death Note'. In: Anime News Network. November 22, 2007, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  43. ↑ South Carolina Student Removed over "Death Note" List. In: Anime News Network. March 2, 2008, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  44. ↑ 2 Alabama 6th-Grade Boys Arrested for Death Note Book. In: Anime News Network. April 4, 2008, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  45. ^ 4 Washington Middle Schoolers Disciplined over "Death Note". In: Anime News Network. May 24, 2008, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  46. ↑ Michigan Middle School Boy Suspended Over 'Death Note'. In: Anime News Network. March 26, 2010, accessed February 24, 2019 .
  47. ↑ Police Investigate Pennsylvania Boy Over 'Death Note'. In: Anime News Network. February 7, 2015, accessed February 24, 2019 .