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Week 10 - Manga

For this week, I decided on reading “Death Note,” written by Osamu Tezuka, and illustrated by Takeshi Obata. A chilling murderous mystery based around Japanese folk lore and dark magic, specifically about the Shinigami Ryuk, a dark spirit/god that drops magic into the human world out of boredom. Following the ensuing chaos that results from a young man and woman trying to use the murderous artifact known as the “Death Note,” the story has been very highly respected for decades, being translated into numerous other languages, has acquired world-wide publication, and even been reimagined as several live action films, an anime television series, and even a musical. While trying to rid the world of it’s villains, our main character, “Light” ends up being corrupted by his newfound power and even declares himself a “God of this New World,” prior to being betrayed, (once again, out of boredom) by the same Shinigami, Ryuk. Showing very dark results of good intentions creates an interesting situation where as our protagonist is not really the hero of this story, despite the fact that most of the story is told from his point of view. I found this story to be very interesting, especially with its role reversal our protagonist as our main villain of sorts and our antagonist, L, a detective, as our hero of sorts, that is rarely seen anymore. The story is perhaps most relatable to the European story of Macbeth, another story heavily involving murder, magic, and the power it promises.


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