Tsugumi Ohba’s Death Note is one of the best anime and manga series of all time because of the questions that it raises for fans and for its characters. The question is: what is right and what is wrong? While the story portrayed different shades of good and evil, the one thing that remained constant in the series was death.
From petty criminals to the one who almost became God (Kira or Light Yagami), every character had to be the victim of death, and no matter if you were righteous or evil, death was going to come one day. This aspect of the story became the central theme of the series, as Ohba set it as one of the most important rules that was never meant to be broken.
In an interview, the Death Note creator revealed that he wanted to portray to the fans that death means nothingness and that it is the literal end. There is no coming back, no matter what you did in life, and the anime and manga portray it perfectly.
The Central Theme of Death Note, According to Tsugumi Ohba
Slashfilm shared a 2008 interview with Death Note’s creator, Ohba, where he was asked about whether the Death Note series has a central theme that he wishes to express. The creator revealed that while there was not anything specific, he did want to point out the fact of life that everyone eventually dies and never comes back to life.
Ohba stated:
Not really. If I had to choose something, I’d say, “Humans will all eventually die and never come back to life, so let’s give it our all while we’re alive. Given that, I don’t think it’s very important to debate whether Light’s actions are right or wrong. Personally, I only look at it as, “Light is very evil,” “L is slightly evil, and “Only Soichiro is good.”
According to the creator, the concept of everyone dying nullifies the debate over whose actions were right and whose were wrong. He also revealed that the most important lesson from the series is that justice is something that we all think about and decide for ourselves in the end, as said by Near, the person who figured out Light’s truth.
The One Death Note Rule That Was Never Meant To Be Broken
During the interview, Tsugumi Ohba also stated that while there was no particular theme of the series, there was one rule that he wanted to be respected the most in the original Death Note story. The rule was that when you die, you become nothingness. He was glad that he was able to keep this part.
Ohba revealed:
“One thing that I didn’t allow to be changed was the notion that ‘when you die, you become nothingness.’ Luckily, I was able to keep this part, and the series turned out almost exactly as I had originally planned.
He further stated:
For me, one of the premises of the series was that once a person died, they could never come back to life. I really wanted to set a rule that bringing characters back to life is cheating. That’s why death equals ‘nothingness.'”
The Death Note creator also pointed out that the premise of the series was that once a person died, they could never come back, as it would be considered cheating and would destroy the whole narrative of death in Death Note.
This is why he was so hellbent on keeping the rule, which indirectly became one of the most important elements of the story.
You can watch Death Note on Hulu and Netflix.
