Bad Touch Yakushi
Kage in the Making 👑
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Morality of ‘Death Note’
Death Note. The ultimate cat and mouse game of morality. Now Death Note is hardly the most conventional story, considering its plot it’s important to de-establish the existence of a archetypal hero or villain when stories such as these consider and challenge morality.
Now our definitions for heroes and villains are constantly changing. In their fictional universes, there are superheroes that are looked upon with admiration and considered to be important leaders of society, and there are superheroes that are looked upon with scepticism or even hatred. Heroes and villains often mirror each other in their powers and abilities, with the major difference that the hero is using his/her power to help others and the villain is using it for selfish purposes. I will look closer at a character that is a complex hybrid between these two literary stereotypes, namely the ultimate antihero- Light Yagami.
Light’s ideology and the message he tries to get across is ultimately one of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the most absolute and powerful approaches to normative ethics ever, the general view of it being that whatever ultimately produces the most good in the world is the morally ‘right’ action to take, no matter what the consequence. This is a very fair statement to make and one that has pure of any evil or obsession- but the question is- what IS right? And who decides what is right? This is where the elitist character of Light Yagami takes the helm and decides it’s his- not only role, but his absolute duty.
Now Light Yagami before the Notebook at all is an interesting character already, he is a genuinely intelligent prodigy with a strong sense of justice who would’ve certainly gone on to do great things. He is handsome, good with words and family and extremely hard-working, aiming to have the best entrance score in Japan. It’s fair to say he’s an all-round perfect specimen and that if anything this show is a testament that even the most innocent, hard-working soul can be tainted but I see it different to that. I think a part of this was here from the beginning. I mean think about it, Light is popular and well-liked by everyone and yet…at what point in the series do we ever see him with a friend? Like, with any actual genuine friends? He’s seemingly popular and well-liked by girls (stating he has many admirers) and yet before and after he picks up the notebook, he is almost always alone and secludes himself. The closest thing we see to a friend in the series is his enemy L himself, who develop a surreal kind of connection- and only then because they are both intellectuals who don’t fit into the world.
This seems to show that despite how perfect he seems to fit into society, he does not include himself with the rest of society, he’s an outcast and one that considers himself outside or maybe even above of everyone else. It is important to remember that before all of this ‘greater good’ talk and ‘Judgement God of the New World’ imagery- his original intention from the second he is in introduced is…boredom. He was bored. This indicates that even before the Death note was introduced to the series, the seeds were already there to corrupt the ‘perfect’ Light Yagami. Being so insanely on top of the food-chain makes the innocent Light secretly elitist to those beneath him, he can’t understand people who might be forced to a life of crime or less intelligent people, in fact- other than his family, he has no time for those less smart than him and even seems to be annoyed by them.
This isn’t patriotic judgement- this is mild annoyance. And the fact he can pass every obstacle in his life with such ease makes society boring to him. Much like his Shinigami Ryuk, they are both considered outcasts because they consider themselves so above their respective worlds. The prodigy Light was basically a ticking timebomb and the second he was given a greater purpose, he would rise to it. And he would see it as a challenge. Or even, a game.
And this is where the character’s foundations start. The question is, at what exact point does Light Yagami lose the right to be called the hero? The answer is- there is no set in stone moment that this occurs, it’s totally down to the individual interpretation and in my opinion that’s the most engaging and interesting thing about Death Note, it does what good art does and not only presents a story, but challenges the audience on a moral and emotional level.
What is good? Is it right to kill? Is evil really evil if it’s for a just cause? Who is the hero and who is the villain of this story? At what point do we consider Light to not be the hero? Having discussed this with many people it’s much controversial. There are people who think he was evil from the start, people who think the moment L died, people who think he was just til the end and people who just do not know.
In my opinion, Light IS to be considered at the very least, the protagonist. The manga sets it up so that regardless of your moral position on the killing matter, you become engaged in Light’s seemingly right cause and for a while, you see it as morally right or at the very least interesting because until the end of the second episode, there’s nobody to challenge Light or this ‘new world’ idea. We go almost 2 episodes being told that Light is the absolute protagonist which is more than enough time to warm to him and to gain his trust. A genius writing choice because it means the reader’s trust of him can be slowly or quickly taken away.
The exact moment I forfeited my trust in him as the ‘hero’ was Episode 7: Overcast: the second he decides to kill Naomi because not only is he killing a genius innocent detective, it's the first time he takes fun in working out how to kill her, the first time he sees it as a game. And it's that 'game' mentality that drives him over the edge off of 'renegade social justice' and into psychopath. He says this really taunting awful thing at the end of it, something along the lines of "oh but Naomi, where are you going?' really sarcastically and menacingly and that was the moment I cut all ties with him as a moral compass.
The reason why Kira is the villain rather than the hero for me is because he had a god delusion, if he didn't have such an ego and delusions of grandeur then he would've been smart and never had made his presence known at all. He could've spaced out his killings slightly more and killed them with more than just heart attacks to make it seem like they died of natural causes but instead the police force only noticed because Light used a trademark that basically said to the police force 'come and get me' because Kira didn’t just want to rid the world of scum, but he had to have it be known there was an individual, a god doing so. And so Kira actively brought in police who would try and kill him and thus he had to kill. From this point on, Light and Kira will be referred to as two different characters, as Kira is an identity created by Light, but soon little Light Yagami becomes the identity created by Kira.
---
Also the manga and the anime have a VERY different portrayal of the ending. In both Kira ends up dead but the presentation of it is so key and so strikingly different. The original ending shows Light revealed at the mass murderer Kira, before being shot and crawling to Ryuk, screaming in pain for help. Kira’s death is much less majestic in this version, there is absolutely not sympathy or remorse for the monster Light had become, demanding that everybody he twisted help him except none of them are there because he got them all killed because he saw them as dispensable.
This ending at first seems to imply that Kira is a pure villain, but this is wrong. Ironically, it is identity of Kira that consumes the innocent Light Yagami but in the end of the story it is Light that is the monster and Kira that goes on as the true idea. The violent and pitiful death Kira receives isn’t to paint him as the absolute villain but instead as a testament to the innocent people who he gave gruesome and pathetic deaths to, finally resulting in his own pathetic death. If anything it’s oddly unsatisfying that in the anime ending Ukita, Soichiro Yagami, Mello and L all got such pathetic deaths and at the end of the anime he doesn’t get one of his own.
In the anime, Mikami slits his arm and causes a divertion, Light takes this opportunity and staggers to the door. Somehow he manages to escape the taskforce and Near says to let him go, and that he 'won't get far'. Light on his final stretch is shown in a more positive light and dies peacefully on a staircase as you see the remainder of the innocent well-intended kid Yagami once was as L watches him die and Misa is presumed to commit suicide. It's a sad ending of course, but is it the ending Light deserved? Light dies in the style of the martyr he has become, dying in the middle of the staircase, hinting that a Notebook user cannot go to either heaven or hell, and even if they could- how would you be able to decide which one Light deserves?
The symbolism is poignant but the gospel angel music seems to indicate Light is realising where he went wrong and choosing an interpretation for the viewer. It's like it's meant to scream to the viewer that Kira actually is dying a heroes death when really the whole point of Death Note is that the 'Justice' theme is entirely debatable. The best thing about the series is that you got to decide who you morally thought the protagonist and the antagonists were. The manga on the other hand leaves the end sentiment a lot more open and open for debate.
The fact that there are real, innocent people in their masses still praising Kira even after his demise struck me as an odd unrelated ending at first. But then I realised, that girl at the end in the hood....is meant to symbolise us. We got to decide who our hero was and the manga left it on that final note to show that the viewers who followed Kira are just as right as the L/Taskforce/NearMello crowd.
At the end of the day it's down to us and this conflict will truly be resolved. There is no correct answer and perhaps Kira’s way truly was the right path but it’ll take a better man than Light Yagami to bring it and this thinking is only hypothetical. Near and L won because of the society we live in, traditional justice is archaeic and ‘correct’ but will never allow such a radical cause such as Kira. But that’s just in the story, what the reader decides is right and what they take away from this story is down to them, which is what makes Death Note a true masterpiece.
Death Note. The ultimate cat and mouse game of morality. Now Death Note is hardly the most conventional story, considering its plot it’s important to de-establish the existence of a archetypal hero or villain when stories such as these consider and challenge morality.
Now our definitions for heroes and villains are constantly changing. In their fictional universes, there are superheroes that are looked upon with admiration and considered to be important leaders of society, and there are superheroes that are looked upon with scepticism or even hatred. Heroes and villains often mirror each other in their powers and abilities, with the major difference that the hero is using his/her power to help others and the villain is using it for selfish purposes. I will look closer at a character that is a complex hybrid between these two literary stereotypes, namely the ultimate antihero- Light Yagami.
You must be registered for see images
Light’s ideology and the message he tries to get across is ultimately one of Utilitarianism. Utilitarianism is the most absolute and powerful approaches to normative ethics ever, the general view of it being that whatever ultimately produces the most good in the world is the morally ‘right’ action to take, no matter what the consequence. This is a very fair statement to make and one that has pure of any evil or obsession- but the question is- what IS right? And who decides what is right? This is where the elitist character of Light Yagami takes the helm and decides it’s his- not only role, but his absolute duty.
Now Light Yagami before the Notebook at all is an interesting character already, he is a genuinely intelligent prodigy with a strong sense of justice who would’ve certainly gone on to do great things. He is handsome, good with words and family and extremely hard-working, aiming to have the best entrance score in Japan. It’s fair to say he’s an all-round perfect specimen and that if anything this show is a testament that even the most innocent, hard-working soul can be tainted but I see it different to that. I think a part of this was here from the beginning. I mean think about it, Light is popular and well-liked by everyone and yet…at what point in the series do we ever see him with a friend? Like, with any actual genuine friends? He’s seemingly popular and well-liked by girls (stating he has many admirers) and yet before and after he picks up the notebook, he is almost always alone and secludes himself. The closest thing we see to a friend in the series is his enemy L himself, who develop a surreal kind of connection- and only then because they are both intellectuals who don’t fit into the world.
You must be registered for see images
This seems to show that despite how perfect he seems to fit into society, he does not include himself with the rest of society, he’s an outcast and one that considers himself outside or maybe even above of everyone else. It is important to remember that before all of this ‘greater good’ talk and ‘Judgement God of the New World’ imagery- his original intention from the second he is in introduced is…boredom. He was bored. This indicates that even before the Death note was introduced to the series, the seeds were already there to corrupt the ‘perfect’ Light Yagami. Being so insanely on top of the food-chain makes the innocent Light secretly elitist to those beneath him, he can’t understand people who might be forced to a life of crime or less intelligent people, in fact- other than his family, he has no time for those less smart than him and even seems to be annoyed by them.
This isn’t patriotic judgement- this is mild annoyance. And the fact he can pass every obstacle in his life with such ease makes society boring to him. Much like his Shinigami Ryuk, they are both considered outcasts because they consider themselves so above their respective worlds. The prodigy Light was basically a ticking timebomb and the second he was given a greater purpose, he would rise to it. And he would see it as a challenge. Or even, a game.
And this is where the character’s foundations start. The question is, at what exact point does Light Yagami lose the right to be called the hero? The answer is- there is no set in stone moment that this occurs, it’s totally down to the individual interpretation and in my opinion that’s the most engaging and interesting thing about Death Note, it does what good art does and not only presents a story, but challenges the audience on a moral and emotional level.
What is good? Is it right to kill? Is evil really evil if it’s for a just cause? Who is the hero and who is the villain of this story? At what point do we consider Light to not be the hero? Having discussed this with many people it’s much controversial. There are people who think he was evil from the start, people who think the moment L died, people who think he was just til the end and people who just do not know.
You must be registered for see images
In my opinion, Light IS to be considered at the very least, the protagonist. The manga sets it up so that regardless of your moral position on the killing matter, you become engaged in Light’s seemingly right cause and for a while, you see it as morally right or at the very least interesting because until the end of the second episode, there’s nobody to challenge Light or this ‘new world’ idea. We go almost 2 episodes being told that Light is the absolute protagonist which is more than enough time to warm to him and to gain his trust. A genius writing choice because it means the reader’s trust of him can be slowly or quickly taken away.
You must be registered for see images
The exact moment I forfeited my trust in him as the ‘hero’ was Episode 7: Overcast: the second he decides to kill Naomi because not only is he killing a genius innocent detective, it's the first time he takes fun in working out how to kill her, the first time he sees it as a game. And it's that 'game' mentality that drives him over the edge off of 'renegade social justice' and into psychopath. He says this really taunting awful thing at the end of it, something along the lines of "oh but Naomi, where are you going?' really sarcastically and menacingly and that was the moment I cut all ties with him as a moral compass.
The reason why Kira is the villain rather than the hero for me is because he had a god delusion, if he didn't have such an ego and delusions of grandeur then he would've been smart and never had made his presence known at all. He could've spaced out his killings slightly more and killed them with more than just heart attacks to make it seem like they died of natural causes but instead the police force only noticed because Light used a trademark that basically said to the police force 'come and get me' because Kira didn’t just want to rid the world of scum, but he had to have it be known there was an individual, a god doing so. And so Kira actively brought in police who would try and kill him and thus he had to kill. From this point on, Light and Kira will be referred to as two different characters, as Kira is an identity created by Light, but soon little Light Yagami becomes the identity created by Kira.
---
Also the manga and the anime have a VERY different portrayal of the ending. In both Kira ends up dead but the presentation of it is so key and so strikingly different. The original ending shows Light revealed at the mass murderer Kira, before being shot and crawling to Ryuk, screaming in pain for help. Kira’s death is much less majestic in this version, there is absolutely not sympathy or remorse for the monster Light had become, demanding that everybody he twisted help him except none of them are there because he got them all killed because he saw them as dispensable.
You must be registered for see images
This ending at first seems to imply that Kira is a pure villain, but this is wrong. Ironically, it is identity of Kira that consumes the innocent Light Yagami but in the end of the story it is Light that is the monster and Kira that goes on as the true idea. The violent and pitiful death Kira receives isn’t to paint him as the absolute villain but instead as a testament to the innocent people who he gave gruesome and pathetic deaths to, finally resulting in his own pathetic death. If anything it’s oddly unsatisfying that in the anime ending Ukita, Soichiro Yagami, Mello and L all got such pathetic deaths and at the end of the anime he doesn’t get one of his own.
You must be registered for see images
In the anime, Mikami slits his arm and causes a divertion, Light takes this opportunity and staggers to the door. Somehow he manages to escape the taskforce and Near says to let him go, and that he 'won't get far'. Light on his final stretch is shown in a more positive light and dies peacefully on a staircase as you see the remainder of the innocent well-intended kid Yagami once was as L watches him die and Misa is presumed to commit suicide. It's a sad ending of course, but is it the ending Light deserved? Light dies in the style of the martyr he has become, dying in the middle of the staircase, hinting that a Notebook user cannot go to either heaven or hell, and even if they could- how would you be able to decide which one Light deserves?
The symbolism is poignant but the gospel angel music seems to indicate Light is realising where he went wrong and choosing an interpretation for the viewer. It's like it's meant to scream to the viewer that Kira actually is dying a heroes death when really the whole point of Death Note is that the 'Justice' theme is entirely debatable. The best thing about the series is that you got to decide who you morally thought the protagonist and the antagonists were. The manga on the other hand leaves the end sentiment a lot more open and open for debate.
You must be registered for see images
The fact that there are real, innocent people in their masses still praising Kira even after his demise struck me as an odd unrelated ending at first. But then I realised, that girl at the end in the hood....is meant to symbolise us. We got to decide who our hero was and the manga left it on that final note to show that the viewers who followed Kira are just as right as the L/Taskforce/NearMello crowd.
At the end of the day it's down to us and this conflict will truly be resolved. There is no correct answer and perhaps Kira’s way truly was the right path but it’ll take a better man than Light Yagami to bring it and this thinking is only hypothetical. Near and L won because of the society we live in, traditional justice is archaeic and ‘correct’ but will never allow such a radical cause such as Kira. But that’s just in the story, what the reader decides is right and what they take away from this story is down to them, which is what makes Death Note a true masterpiece.
