Anime originated in Japan, a term derived from the English word animation. It began in the early 20th century when Japan adapted a technique, first introduced in France, Germany, the United States, and Russia. In 1917, the first officially published work was Namakura Gatana. It was produced by Oten Shimokawa, Seitaro Kitayama, and Junichi Kouchi, also known as “Fathers of Anime”.
Since its popularity increases day by day, now there are thousands and thousands of anime like ONE-PUNCH MAN, NARUTO, HUNTER-X-HUNTER, and many more. One of the most famous anime is Death Note, an exceptional anime that poses profound questions about justice and murder. It was aired in Japan from October 2006 to June 2007, written by Tsugumi Ohba, developed by Madhouseand directed by Tetsuro Araki, composed of 37 episodes, in which a bright but bored boy, Light Yagami, attempts to get rid of evil using a strange and deadly notebook capable of killing anyone as long as the user knows both the face and name of the target. The series is around Light‘s attempt to kill those who are unworthy of life and to change the world into a society without crime, using an alias namedKira, the Japanese translation of the English word killer. After 5 days of use, Light was visited by Ryuk, a Shinigami who was inspired by the Japanese God of Death, the original owner of the book. As many criminals and culprits began to die, the Japanese Police started believing that all the deaths were not supernatural, and a mastermind was behind it. So, to end the reign of terror, a task force consisting of members of the Japanese Police and an international detective who cracked numerous criminal cases and whose past was a mystery L, was appointed.
L organized a TV broadcast in which he fooled him into exposing that he was in a Kanto region of Japan by manipulating him to kill a bait. L started believing that Kira was getting information from the Japanese police itself, led by Soichiro Yagami, Light’s father. L nominated an FBI team to keep a close eye on the family of those connected with the investigation, but light killed them all. Hence, L nominated Light as a prime suspect, and to keep a close eye on him, L appointed Light into the case. Light met with a famous model Misa, who had a second Death Note gained from another Shinigami Rem. She made a deal of Shinigami Eye by which she could kill anyone only by knowing the face at the cost of her half lifespan. Impressed by Light, she proposed Light to be her boyfriend. Although he didn’t like her but to use her power against L, Light agreed. Eventually, L began to suspect Misa as her fingerprints were found on the recording tapes sent by her to L to warn him. So, he confined her to get her confession. Rem had a special feeling for Misa and started threatening Light to save her, or he would kill him. So, Light made a deal with Rem that he would save her only if he killed L, to which he agreed. Eventually, Light saved Misa and Rem had to kill L, but he turned himself into dust as there is a rule of Death Note, if Shinigami kills a person before the time of death, the Shinigami will also die.
Two Young men named Near and Mello, the successor of L, start investigating Kira’s case. Mello had kidnaped Light’s sister, and Light’s father died in her rescue mission. Light appointed a supporter, Teru Mikami, and a well-known newscaster, Kiyomi Takada as Kira’s public Spokesperson. When Mello found a connection Between Light and Takada, he kidnapped her. So, Mikami wrote his name in the Death Note given by Light, but Light wrote his name first in the notebook. Near arranged a meeting with Light and his task force, but Mikami’s Death Note failed to work as Near replaced it with a decoy. As he wrote everyone’s names except Light and hence proved that Light is Kira. Light was grievously wounded. At last resort, Light begged Ryuk to write their names but instead, he wrote his name on his Death Note as promised at the beginning of the story.
Being ranked 9 out of 10 by IMDB and 100% Rotten Tomatoes, Death Note is one of the most liked anime in history. Shueisha’s manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump, first serialized it from December 2003 to May 2006. The series was adapted into three live-action films released in Japan in June 2006, November 2006, and February 2008, and a television show in 2005.
In early 2005 many schools in Shenyang banned Death Note to protect the physical and mental health of students as they had been altering notebooks and then writing the names of their enemies, teachers, and acquaintances in the books.
By Dhruv Gupta, Ghaziabad
