Ramblings of a Crowe

Death Note

What happens when a bored death god drops his notebook? What happens when a bored genius finds it? And what happens when two geniuses go head to head in a battle of wits over life and death?

Lots of people die.

Death Note is a movie based off of the popular Japanese comic about a bored young man named Light Yagami who finds a strange notebook titled, "Death Note". He quickly discovers that the notebook has the power to kill anyone whose name is written in its pages. He decided that it is now his job to cleanse the world of all evil.

But where, exactly, are the lines between good and evil?

Light sees the chance to make a utopia of peace for the world--by killing the criminals. With the Death Note, all he has to do is watch then news to begin his dream.

When criminals start dying mysteriously, the police force, lead by Light's father, bring in a genius detective who's name is simply known as "L". L rapidly pin-points the murderer's location in Japan and Light finds himself with a nickname, "Killer".

And so the cat and mouse game between to geniuses begins. Light realizes that L is cunning and quite possibly more intelligent than himself. Time is of the essence and the two of them battle to expose the identity of the other.

On the side-lines, Ryuk the shinigami who purposely dropped the Death Note, watches with great amusement. "Humans are so interesting," he says.

The rules of the Death Note:

1.) The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

2.) This note will not take effect unless the writer has the subject's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

3.) If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the subject's name, it will happen.

4.) If the cause of death is not specified, the subject will simply die of a heart attack.

5.) After writing the cause of death, the details of the death should be written in the next 400 seconds (6 minutes and 40 seconds).

6.) Whether the cause of the individual's death is either a suicide or accident, if the death leads to death of more than the intended, the person will simply die of a heart attack, this is to ensure that other lives are not influenced.

7.) If the time of death is written within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated, and the time can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name.

8.) Even after the individual's name, the time of death, and death condition on the Death Note were filled out, the time and condition of death can be altered as many times as you want, as long as it is changed within 6 minutes and 40 seconds from the time it was filled in. But, of course, this is only possible before the victim dies.

9.) The time and conditions of death can be changed, but once the victim's name has been written, the individual's death can never be avoided.

10.)The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell.

(there are many more rules, but I'm too lazy to write them all down)

Death Note: The Movie premiered on June 17th in Japan. It is the first of two installments. The second will open in October, finishing up the game between Light and L.

In October, an anime based on the manga will begin.

I started reading the comic, but stopped due to the long monologues. This story in a comic format (as good as it is), is hard to read. I'm happy to see it become a movie, and I'd be even happier to see it as a live action drama--which I believe is the medium that suits it best. I'm looking forward to seeing the movie, and I'd recommend anyone who likes police thriller dramas to watch it as well.

Posted by Zoso at July 15, 2006 09:17 AM