Holder of the Heel
Fiat justitia, pereat mundus
- Joined
- Dec 3, 2011
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- Alabama
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_note
In the above link is the article pertaining to a particular interesting Manga and Anime series called Death Note that spanned 12 volumes and 37 episodes respectively. The link is supposed to simply introduce you to the story that inspires the topic of this thread, and doesn't entirely need to be read to be enjoyed, however, it would be preferable if you could familiarize with it (it is a good read/watch, whichever way you prefer absorbing the story), for it would interest you in the topic, get you thinking heavily about it (if you reacted the way I did many a year ago when I stumbled upon it myself), and although not what this part of Smashboards is about, will give you a good time. ^_^ Now onto the point at hand.
The story primarily centers around a young male named Light almost out of high school who is essentially bored with life in general, school is too easy (he is the top of his class), friends are too easy (he is quite popular), and he finds everyone in Japan as overwhelmingly base in actions. This train of thought gets its first pale of coal when he looks out the window and finds an ebony notebook falling from the sky mysteriously. It catches his interest, which he could finally take off his dusty mental shelf, so when class is over he goes outside and goes directly to where he saw it, and fortunately no one else has scooped it up. On the cover it says in strange English handwriting "Death Note", and inside it delineates a long list of rules. Some of them being:
1. The human whose name is written in this note will 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 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
There are many more, but I simply extracted the basics that are revealed in the Wikipedia page. Essentially, Light finds it to be a very elaborate prank and doesn't intend to take it away from its spot on the ground. Notwithstanding that belief, he found himself walking home with it in his backpack because he feels the Death Note "has some sort of power that makes you have to try it once". When he arrives home, he heads upstairs and thinks about it a bit more, but then he realizes: if I am to test this thing, what name would I put down? This is when he sees on the television a man holding hostage many children at a school, the newscasters knowing the name and face of the criminal, broadcasting it live. This is where the idea blossoms where the old bloom of boredom rested in his heart.
He wrote down the name, believing that it would be okay to play with the idea as long as it what someone that had no relation to him and he could find out immediately if it worked. So he wrote the name of the individual down and watched without holding his breath the time, the seconds counting down. 40 seconds pass by, and there isn't an immediate reaction on the television, so he feels embarrassed at having tried it, but then suddenly the newscaster exclaims in shock. Light looks upon the screen once more as he sees all of the hostages being released, the criminal having died. Without having been shot.
To get to the topic quicker, I'll try to rap it up more briefly: he ends up testing it on another man who tries to **** and molest a woman in public by having him run over, at one point feeling sick with what he has done, but then he thinks to himself: This is what I've been thinking all along-- This world is a rotten mess. It really needs to be cleaned up. At this point forth, he begins to become the God of a world he intends to mold out of killing all criminals with his Shinigami notebook, casting fear upon the populace that if they commit something unlawful, they will die. People react, and Light becomes crueler with his killings, willing to stop anyone who tries to prevent his New World, and to even warm up the people as he raises the killing bar, setting the human living standards higher.
Now, we may discuss the philosophical implications of the characters specifically, but it would be good to note that this thread allows all spoiling content upon the story for reference. However, it isn't the precise target, I am merely curious to see what others think about the moral questions the actions this series contains. The writer goes out of his way to mention in an interview that he was not interested in making it a story around morals, and focused on the Death Note and characters, but the questions raised remain all the same, and in fact are now better to touch since they are purely ours for the taking. Not to mention, it might be hard to market a manga and anime story of such a level, especialyl one that is aimed at the younger male audience.
What would you do if you found a Death Note? Does Light have any idea what he is doing, or he is mentally sick from the curse that is boredom or his large ego? Or was he right to an extent but did some other things wrong... Light could be compared in an ethical standpoint a utilitarian, for he sacrifices lives in order to create an ideal world with no wars and almost no organized crime, and an all around more productive society. Is it worth it? What is the worth of his utopia? What IS a utopia? Is such theoretical consequential thinking fallacious because it may not turn out the intended way, making all the lives in vain, and that he may have to continue trying in the face of bad results in order for him to try and make those lives not in vain? Is Kira ONLY a bad effect on society, or would it become an accepted part of their existence as families grow up with these new ways of living and morals?
Your thoughts!
In the above link is the article pertaining to a particular interesting Manga and Anime series called Death Note that spanned 12 volumes and 37 episodes respectively. The link is supposed to simply introduce you to the story that inspires the topic of this thread, and doesn't entirely need to be read to be enjoyed, however, it would be preferable if you could familiarize with it (it is a good read/watch, whichever way you prefer absorbing the story), for it would interest you in the topic, get you thinking heavily about it (if you reacted the way I did many a year ago when I stumbled upon it myself), and although not what this part of Smashboards is about, will give you a good time. ^_^ Now onto the point at hand.
The story primarily centers around a young male named Light almost out of high school who is essentially bored with life in general, school is too easy (he is the top of his class), friends are too easy (he is quite popular), and he finds everyone in Japan as overwhelmingly base in actions. This train of thought gets its first pale of coal when he looks out the window and finds an ebony notebook falling from the sky mysteriously. It catches his interest, which he could finally take off his dusty mental shelf, so when class is over he goes outside and goes directly to where he saw it, and fortunately no one else has scooped it up. On the cover it says in strange English handwriting "Death Note", and inside it delineates a long list of rules. Some of them being:
1. The human whose name is written in this note will 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 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
There are many more, but I simply extracted the basics that are revealed in the Wikipedia page. Essentially, Light finds it to be a very elaborate prank and doesn't intend to take it away from its spot on the ground. Notwithstanding that belief, he found himself walking home with it in his backpack because he feels the Death Note "has some sort of power that makes you have to try it once". When he arrives home, he heads upstairs and thinks about it a bit more, but then he realizes: if I am to test this thing, what name would I put down? This is when he sees on the television a man holding hostage many children at a school, the newscasters knowing the name and face of the criminal, broadcasting it live. This is where the idea blossoms where the old bloom of boredom rested in his heart.
He wrote down the name, believing that it would be okay to play with the idea as long as it what someone that had no relation to him and he could find out immediately if it worked. So he wrote the name of the individual down and watched without holding his breath the time, the seconds counting down. 40 seconds pass by, and there isn't an immediate reaction on the television, so he feels embarrassed at having tried it, but then suddenly the newscaster exclaims in shock. Light looks upon the screen once more as he sees all of the hostages being released, the criminal having died. Without having been shot.
To get to the topic quicker, I'll try to rap it up more briefly: he ends up testing it on another man who tries to **** and molest a woman in public by having him run over, at one point feeling sick with what he has done, but then he thinks to himself: This is what I've been thinking all along-- This world is a rotten mess. It really needs to be cleaned up. At this point forth, he begins to become the God of a world he intends to mold out of killing all criminals with his Shinigami notebook, casting fear upon the populace that if they commit something unlawful, they will die. People react, and Light becomes crueler with his killings, willing to stop anyone who tries to prevent his New World, and to even warm up the people as he raises the killing bar, setting the human living standards higher.
Now, we may discuss the philosophical implications of the characters specifically, but it would be good to note that this thread allows all spoiling content upon the story for reference. However, it isn't the precise target, I am merely curious to see what others think about the moral questions the actions this series contains. The writer goes out of his way to mention in an interview that he was not interested in making it a story around morals, and focused on the Death Note and characters, but the questions raised remain all the same, and in fact are now better to touch since they are purely ours for the taking. Not to mention, it might be hard to market a manga and anime story of such a level, especialyl one that is aimed at the younger male audience.
What would you do if you found a Death Note? Does Light have any idea what he is doing, or he is mentally sick from the curse that is boredom or his large ego? Or was he right to an extent but did some other things wrong... Light could be compared in an ethical standpoint a utilitarian, for he sacrifices lives in order to create an ideal world with no wars and almost no organized crime, and an all around more productive society. Is it worth it? What is the worth of his utopia? What IS a utopia? Is such theoretical consequential thinking fallacious because it may not turn out the intended way, making all the lives in vain, and that he may have to continue trying in the face of bad results in order for him to try and make those lives not in vain? Is Kira ONLY a bad effect on society, or would it become an accepted part of their existence as families grow up with these new ways of living and morals?
Your thoughts!
