There are rarely any anime or manga series, where the protagonist turns into a villain to succeed in his/her goal or to follow his/her path. The most popular among these kinds of stories is the Death Note. Death Note is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsugumi Ohba. Light Yagami, a brilliant high school student, discovers a mysterious notebook: the “Death Note,” which once belonged to the shinigami Ryuk and provides the user the extraordinary ability to kill anyone whose name is written on its pages.
Light’s following attempts to use the Death Note to carry out a worldwide assassination of individuals he deems immoral to create a crime-free society under the alias of a god-like vigilante named Kira, and later efforts of the Japanese police task force led by L to apprehend him, are the focus of the series.
However, the creator of the series Ohba never wanted Light to die as a negative character. He despised the idea of Light moving towards the villainous side during his last moments.
Tsugumi Ohba Never Wanted Light to Die as A Villain
In an interview posted by Gaiaonline, creator Ohba mentioned the fact that he never wanted a plot to depict Light’s failure which was brought about by his own mistake. He wanted to relieve Light of most of the blame. He said:
“I did not want a plot told of Light’s failure because of his own mistake. I had to think extremely hard for a plot that relieved Light of most of the blame for his failure. Hence, we had Mikami make the fatal error.”
Light’s actions were extremely negative and dangerous with no proper justification given about them. The story starts with Light being bored with his life and later leading him to create a world that would be free of all bad criminals after discovering the Death Note.
Was Light Yagami Declared a Villain in the End?
Light Yagami is a controversial protagonist because he is significantly more villain than hero. While Light may have begun with noble intentions, the circumstances of the inquiry led him to undertake increasingly drastic steps, until he lost sight of why he began utilizing the Death Note in the first place. His belief that his actions were motivated by noble intentions, even though he would go on a killing spree, made him a villain.
Light’s character dies tragically in the end running away. And, even though he lived a life filled with sins, as a viewer, one can’t help but feel sorry for him.
Source: Gaiaonline
