Death Note’s success can be attributed to its treatment of dark themes such as graphical violence, mass murders, and suicide. Tsugumi Ohba didn’t hold back in his depiction of a dystopian world plagued by criminals, which required ‘cleansing’ according to the main character named Light Yagami. Due to its adult themes, some countries like Russia and China have banned the anime.
China, in particular, had multiple issues with Death Note. The issues began in 2005 when middle school children started altering their books to resemble that of the fictional dark notebook. Additionally, they did things that the Chinese officials believed affected their physical and mental health, leading to a Death Note ban in one region, after which it spread to other parts.
China Banned Death Note After Students Started Writing Names In Their Self-Created Notebooks
China has a strict policy when it comes to the depiction of supernatural characters and suicide. Death Note features both dark themes: Ryuk is a shinigami (Soul Reaper) who comes to Earth after mistakenly dropping his notebook, which Light discovers. The latter uses it to perpetrate various detailed crimes, causing victims to die by hanging, self-immolation, or accident.
Besides the obvious reasons for the ban, Anime News Network reported in 2005 that students in Shenyang were altering schoolbooks into death notes and writing the names of the teachers and classmates they disliked. “They have fun by writing down the names of teachers they don’t like,” stated a child. The incident caused a stir in Shenyang and all across China.
Death Note was subsequently banned in the city of Shenyang. Eventually, the ban included other Chinese cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Lanzhou in Gansu Province. The manga was stated to be poisoning the minds of children, but there were also other reasons such as superstitions and illegal, pirated publishing of the work.
In 2015, Death Note was blacklisted in China along with 37 other popular titles that included Attack on Titan, Highschool of the Dead, and Parasyte. 29 Chinese websites were prompted to remove banned content, including Tencent and Sohu.com, as per a report by ANN.
What Is Death Note About?
Death Note focuses on the mission of Light Yagami to rid the world of all evil. When the school topper chances upon the notebook, he uses it to eliminate several criminals by writing their names after remembering their faces. The mass deaths due to heart attacks cause suspicion in the mind of L, a private investigator, and he plots an elaborate experiment to prove that these were murders.
Over the course of the series, L and Light Yagami have a constant back-and-forth. The detective is suspicious that Yagami is the killer named ‘Kira’ but couldn’t find ample evidence to prove the latter guilty. Meanwhile, Light goes a step further in clearing his name by using his friends and his father’s police connections.
The anime is strictly for teens and adults given that it is a detective chase with multiple dark elements. The remarkable storytelling, pacing, and twists make it a standout even after a decade since its ending. After the end of Light Yagami’s story in 2006, mangaka Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata’s most recent work is a one-shot named a-Kira Story that debuted in 2020.
Also Read: Could Naruto’s Shikamaru Nara be Smarter than Light Yagami?
