![death note rules english death note rules english](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/deathnote/images/d/dc/Rules_XXVI.jpg)
Unsurprisingly, Ryuk is one visual element that never changes through the various adaptations, right up to his distinct silhouette appearing in trailers for the Netflix movie. Expressive but strangely endearing, Ryuk's gangly limbs and huge bulging eyes never fail to give the reader a sense of disquiet when they turn a page to find him there.
#DEATH NOTE RULES ENGLISH SERIES#
The series main Shinigami, Ryuk, is a masterpiece of disturbing creature design. The gothic excesses of the manga's title pages and collection covers cut loose with the symbolism behind the story, while the Shinigami, and the few scenes set in their realm, allow Obata to show his flair for outright fantasy. These two are always interesting to watch, even as they spend many pages just talking, the dialogue interspersed with frenzied internal monologues as the two geniuses try to second guess each other.ĭeath Note is mostly set in the real world, Obata's artwork concentrating on narrative clarity with clean, sharp lines, but that doesn't mean he never gets to let his design skills go wild. Light and L both have great looks and body language that reflect their character, Light's handsome self control contrasting with L's sloppy, weird appearance and social awkwardness. Obata brings what often can be long scenes of dialogue or internal struggle to life with his expressive characters. Light and L are in some way typical manga protagonists – prodigal young men with high IQs and distinct hair styles – but they're also complicated characters with strong motivation and personal quirks that make them fascinating to read about. The story that unfolds is an ingenious struggle that, in spite of the wildness of the initial premise, plays entirely fair with the reader by sticking to those written rules. As Light and L engage in a battle of wits, Ohba has Light use these rules, and pervert them, to try and protect his identity and eliminate L. How the Note, the Shinigami and the human characters interact is governed by the set of rules written inside the Death Note's cover. The Death Note is a tool of Shinigami, Japanese gods of death. Instead Death Note is that rarity, a thriller with a fantastical premise that sets down, exploits and works around a set of strange but well-defined rules. Neither is he interested in the human relationships at work: generally the characters' feelings for each other don't develop, and Light's romantic entanglements only exist as a cover for his other motivations. While the moral and social implications of Light's murderous but effective war on crime are discussed, Ohba isn't really interested in having a debate about ethics. To say any more would be to risk spoiling the twists and developments in the story, and Death Note is a fundamentally plot-driven story. Writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata's manga opens with teenager Light, a brilliant student with a strong sense of justice, finding the Death Note and deciding, after some hesitation and experimentation, to use the note to wipe the criminal and corrupt from the face of the Earth.Īs awareness of Light's actions spread, public opinion is split as to the merits of the war on crime being waged by 'Kira' (a pun on Japanese pronunciation of the English word 'killer'), and a mysterious detective called 'L' decides to bring Kira down.
![death note rules english death note rules english](http://img1.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20131223180305/deathnote/images/e/e1/Rules_XXXIII.jpg)
If such a note existed, whose hands could it fall into, and what would they do with it? Inside the cover, a set of rules on 'How to Use It', the first of which sets up the premise of the entire series: 'The human whose name is written in this note shall die'. It's a brilliantly straightforward high concept to open a story.
![death note rules english death note rules english](https://sc04.alicdn.com/kf/H76c5401be095411faf6951c31ed38d51m/225741029/H76c5401be095411faf6951c31ed38d51m.jpg)
A student's simple notebook, with 'Death Note' scrawled on the front in English.