I'll do it! Using the death note, I'll change the world! ~ Light Yagami
Death Note (デスノート; Desu Nōto) is a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is a very intelligent high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook (nōto being Japanese slang for nōtobukku, 'notebook') which has the power to kill any human whose name is written upon its pages, subject to certain rules.
After an initial "pilot" story involving unrelated junior high students, Death Note was first serialized in 108 chapters by in the Japanese magazine Weekly Shōnen Jump from December 2003 to May 2006. That serial (along with an appendix of errata) was then published as a 13—volume series of graphic novels from May 2004 to October 2006. Finally, an anime series retelling the story aired on Nippon Television in Japan from October 2006 to June 2007; its translation aired on Adult Swim in the United States from 2007 to 2010.
Light: I used the shinigami notebook... and now a shinigami has come... What happens to me...? Is my soul taken?
Ryuk: Huh? What's that? Wild human imagination? I won't do anything to you.
Light: So there's really no price for using the Death Note?
Ryuk: [Nonplussed] Well, you could say... the stress and fear only experienced by the human using the notebook... and... when you die... I'll be writing your name in my notebook, but... don't think that a human who uses the Death Note gets to go to Heaven or Hell. That's it.
Light: Why did you choose me?
Ryuk: Huh? Kuku, don't be conceited. I only dropped the notebook. You think you were chosen? It just happened to fall there... and you just happened to find it...
Ryuk: Why? Because I was bored.
Light: He didn't deserve death... [Pause.] No... It's what I'm always thinking. This world is rotten. The rotten should die. I... I can do it with this notebook... [Pause.] The problem is... my mind... It's only been two people and I'm like this... Of course, these are lives... It can't be easy... Can I stand it? Should I quit? [Pause.] No, I can't quit. Even if it costs me my mind and my life... Someone has to do it! Things can't remain as they are! Is there anyone else I could trust with this notebook? Such an incredible person doesn't exist... [Pause.] Yeah... I can do it... NO... ONLY I can do it! I'll do it! I'll use the Death Note... and change the world!
Light: Then one day the people will realize... that "doing this will get me killed"... and I will build a world of only kind-hearted people I accept.
Ryuk: Then you'll be the only bastard left...
Light: I... will be... the god of this new world!
Ryuk: (thinking) I knew it! Humans are... so much fun!
[Only the first four are written in the notebook (the third as two separate entries, for a total of five). Two appear in English and Japanese as title cards at the midpoint of each episode. In order:]
The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
After writing the cause of death, details of death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
This note shall become the property of the human world, once it touches the ground of (arrives in) the human world.
The owner of the note can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, i.e. a god of death.
The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell
If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds after writing the cause of death as a heart attack, the time of death can be manipulated, and the time can go into effect within 40 seconds after writing the name.
The human who touches the DEATH NOTE can recognize the image and voice of its original owner, a god of death, even if the human is not the owner of the note
This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name.
If a human uses the note, a god of death usually appears in front of him/her within 39 days after he/she uses the note.
Gods of death, the original owners of the DEATH NOTE, do not do, in principle, anything which will help or prevent the deaths in the note.
A god of death has no obligation to completely explain how to use the note or rules which will apply to the human who owns it.
A god of death can extend his life by putting human names on the note, but humans cannot.
A person can shorten his or her own life by using the note.
The human who becomes the owner of the DEATH NOTE can, in exchange of half of his/her remaining life, get the eyeballs of the god of death which will enable him/her to see a human's name and remaining lifetime when looking through them.
A god of death cannot be killed even if stabbed in his heart with a knife or shot in the head with a gun. However, there are ways to kill a god of death, which are not generally known to the gods of death.
The conditions for death will not be realized unless it is physically possible for that human or it is reasonable...
The specific scope of the condition for death is not known to the gods of death, either. So, you must examine and find out.
One page taken from the DEATH NOTE, or even a fragment of the page, contains the full effects of the note.
The instrument to write with can be anything, ((e.g. cosmetics, blood, etc)) as long as it can write directly on the note and remains as legible letters.
Even the original owners of the DEATH NOTE, gods of death, do not know much about the note.
You may also write the cause and/or details of death prior to filling in the name of the individual. Be sure to insert the name in front of the written cause of death. You have about 19 days (according to the human calendar) in order to fill in a name.
Even if you do not actually possess the DEATH NOTE, the effect will be the same if you can recognize the person and his/her name to place in the blank.
The DEATH NOTE will not affect those under 780 days old.
The DEATH NOTE will be rendered useless if the victim's name is misspelled four times. [Violated in the first issue & episode.]
"Suicide" is a valid cause of death. Basically all humans are thought to possess the possibility to commit suicide. It is, therefore, not something "unbelievable to think of".
Whether the cause of the individual's death is either a suicide or accident, If the death leads to the death of more than the intended, the person will simply die of a heart attack. This is to ensure that other lives are not influenced.
Even after the individual's name, the time of death, and death condition on the DEATH NOTE were filled out, the time and condition of death can be altered as many time as you want, as long as it is changed within 6 minutes and 40 seconds from the time it was filled in. But, of course, this is only possible before the victim dies.
Whenever you want to change anything written on the DEATH NOTE within 6 minutes and 40 seconds after you wrote, you must first rule out the characters you want to erase with two straight lines.
The time and condition of death can be changed, but once the victim's name has been written, the individual's death can never be avoided.
If you lose the DEATH NOTE or have it stolen, you will lose its ownership unless you retrieve it within 490 days.
If you have traded the eye power of a god of death, you will lose the eye power as well as the memory of the DEATH NOTE, once you lose its ownership. At the same time, the remaining half of your life will not be restored.
You may lend the DEATH NOTE to another person while maintaining its ownership. Subletting it to yet another person is possible, too.
The borrower of the DEATH NOTE will not be followed by a god of death. The god of death always remains with the owner of the DEATH NOTE. Also the borrower can not trade the eyesight of the god of death.
When the owner of the DEATH NOTE dies while the Note is being lent, its ownership will be transferred to the person who is holding it at that time.
If the DEATH NOTE is stolen and the owner is killed by the thief, its ownership will automatically be transferred to the thief.
When the same name is written on more than two DEATH NOTES, the Note which was first filled in will take effect, regard less of the time of death.
If written the same name on more than two DEATH NOTES is completed within a 0.06—second difference, it is regarded as simultaneous; the DEATH NOTE will not take effect and the individual written will not die.
The god of death must at least own one DEATH NOTE. That DEATH NOTE must never be lent to or written by a human.
Exchanging and writing on the DEATH NOTE between the gods of death is no problem.
If the god of death decides to use the DEATH NOTE to kill the assassin of an individual he favours, the individual's life will be extended, but the god of death will die.
The dead god of death will disappear, but the DEATH NOTE will remain. The ownership of this DEATH NOTE is usually carried over to the next god of death that touches it, but it is common sense that it is returned to the Great god of death.
Only by touching each other's DEATH NOTE can human individuals who own the DEATH NOTE in the human world recognize the appearance or voice of each other's god of death.
An individual with the eye power of a god of death can fell the name and life span of the other humans by looking at that person's face. By possessing the DEATH NOTE, an individual gains the ability to kill and stops being a victim. From this point, a person with the DEATH NOTE cannot see the life span of other DEATH NOTE owners, including him/herself. But, it is not really necessary for the individual to view the life span of him/herself nor other DEATH NOTE owners.
The god of death must not tell humans the names or life spans of individuals he sees. This is to avoid confusion in the human world.
It is prerequisite for the DEATH NOTE used in the human world that a living god of death makes sure that the humans in the human world use it.
It is very difficult to consider that a god of death who has possessed a human could die, but if he should die, the DEATH NOTE that he brought into the human world will not lose its power.
If you just write "die of accident" for the cause of death the victim will die from a natural accident after 6 minutes and 40 seconds from the time of writing it.
Even though only one name is written in the DEATH NOTE if it influences and causes other humans that are not written in it to die the victim's cause of death will be a heart attack.
If you have traded the eye power of a god of death you will see a person's primary life span in the human world.
The name you see with the eye power of a god of death are the names needed to kill that person. You will be able to see the names even if than (that) person isn't registered in the family registration.
If a person loses possession of a DEATH NOTE, they will not recognize the gods of death by sight or voice any more, If however, the owner lets someone else touch his DEATH NOTE, from that time on, that person will recognize the god of death.
In accordance with the above, the human who touched the DEATH NOTE and began to recognize the gods of death's sight and voice, will continue to recognize it until that human actually owns the DEATH NOTE and subsequently looses possession of it.
If a DEATH NOTE owner accidentally misspells a name four times, that person will be free from being killed by the DEATH NOTE, However, if they intentionally misspell the name four times, the DEATH NOTE owner will die.
The person whose name was misspelled four times on purpose will not be free of death by a DEATH NOTE.
When regaining ownership of the DEATH NOTE, the memories associated with the DEATH NOTE will also return. In cases where you were involved with other DEATH NOTEs as well, memories of all the DEATH NOTEs involved will return.
Even without obtaining ownership, memories will return just by touching the DEATH NOTE.
If a DEATH NOTE is owned in the human world against the god of death's will, that god of death is permitted to stay in the human world in order to retrieve it.
In that case, if there are other DEATH NOTEs in the human world, the gods of death are not allowed to reveal to humans that DEATH NOTE's owner or its location.
In the event that there are more than 6 DEATH NOTEs in the human world, only the first 6 DEATH NOTEs that have been delivered to humans will have effect.
The seventh DEATH NOTES will not become active until one of the other 6 DEATH NOTEs is burned up, or a god of death takes one of them back to the world of gods of death.
The DEATH NOTE will not take effect if you write a specific victim's name using several different pages.
But the front and back of a page is considered as one page. For example, the DEATH NOTE will still take effect even if you write the victim's surname on the front page and given name on the back.
In the world of gods of death there are a few copies of what humans may call user guidebook for using the DEATH NOTE in the human world. However, the guidebook is not allowed to be delivered to humans.
It is perfectly okay for gods of death to read the guidebook for him/herself and teach humans about his contents, no matter what the content may be.
The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
The human who uses this note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell.
All humans will, without exception, eventually die.
After they die, the place they go is MU. (Nothingness)
[Just prior to receiving the notebook. Official dub:]
English teacher: "Listen for the voice of God then follow it, and know that in time you will find your salvation"... Yagami? Are you still with us? Can you please translate the following sentence into English?
Light: "Follow the teachings of God and receive His blessings and so it shall be that the seas will again become bountiful and the raging storms will subside".
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
English teacher: [English] "Listen for the voice of God and never guess you will"... [Japanese] Yagami-kun, is there anything wrong? Can you translate the previous sentences into Japanese, please?
Light: "Follow the voice of God and He shall calm the waves and protect us from storms".
[Spoken together, one speaking about Earth and the other about the Death God World.]
Light & Ryuk: This world is rotten. [rotting. — Jap.]
[Just after receiving the notebook.]
Light: There must be something wrong with me to even consider it.
Light: So what'll happen to me? You're here to take my soul, right?
Ryuk: Huh? Whadya mean? Is that some fantasy you humans came up with? I'm not gonna do anything to you.
Light: So, then, you're saying I can use the Death Note all I want and I won't be punished?
Ryuk: Let's just say this. You will feel the fear and pain known only to humans who use the notebook. And when it's your time to die, it will fall on me to write your name in my Death Note. Be warned: Any human who's used the Death Note can neither go to Heaven nor Hell for eternity. That's all. [Laughs.]
[Official dub:]
Ryuk: Apples in the human world are worth the trip. What's the best word to describe these? "Juicy"?
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
Ryuk: [Japanese] Wow, apples in the human world are damn good. They're... how do you say... [English] "Juicy"?
Ryuk: [Snort.] I didn't choose you. Don't you see this is all just an accident? You actually thought you were chosen because you're so smart or something? Don't be so vain. It just happen to fall around here and you just happen to pick it up and that's all there is to it.
Ryuk: You're asking me why? I did it 'cause I was bored.
Light: I want the world to know of my existence, that there's someone out there passing righteous judgment on the wicked.
Ryuk: Why even bother?
[Official dub:]
Light: Who am I to pass judgment on others? [Pause.] No, no, wait. Maybe I'm only... This is exactly what I've been thinking about lately. This world is rotten and those who are making it rot deserve to die. Someone has to do it, so why not me? Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul, it's worth it. Because the world can't go on like this. I wonder what if someone else had picked up this notebook? Is there anyone out there other than me who'd be willing to eliminate the vermin from the world? If I don't do it, then who will? That's just it: there's no one. But I can do it. In fact, I'm the only one who can. I'll do it. Using the Death Note, I'll change the world. [Montage of dying criminals.]
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
Light: Do I have the right to pass judgment on others? [Pause.] But wait, it's not like that. This is what I've always thought. The world is rotting. Those who are rotting deserve to die. Someone... someone has to do it, sacrificing their own life and soul, because the world just can't continue like this! If someone else had picked up this notebook, someone else could erase all the unnecessary people from this world, but is there someone who could do that? No, there isn't. But I can! In fact, I'm the only one who can do it! I'll do it. I'll use the Death Note to change the world! [Montage.]
[Official dub:]
Light: It'll be a new world, free of injustice and populated by people who I've judged to be honest, kind, and hard working.
Ryuk: But if you did that, it would make you the only bad person left.
Light: I have no idea what you're talking about.
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
Light: I'll have created a new world filled with those I've judged to be kind and hard working.
Ryuk: If you do that, you'll be the only fucked-up person left.
Light: Wh-what do you mean, Ryuk? I'm probably the most virtuous student in the country.
[Official dub:]
Light: And I... I will become the god of this new world!
Ryuk: (thinking) It's just as I thought. Humans are so interesting.
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
Light: And then... I'll become the god of my new world!
Ryuk: (thinking) I knew it. Humans are so much fun!
English teacher: "He found himself overwhelmed with happiness and satisfaction, knowing that at long last his dream had finally come true." Alright then. Yagami, please recite this line for us.
Light: Sure. "Having finally made his dream a reality, he was overwhelmed both by the magnitude of his achievement and by the joy and happiness that it brought him."
[Translation of the Japanese episode:]
English teacher: [English] "He was overflooded with satisfaction and zealous, then finally his dream came true." [Japanese] Yagami-kun, could you please translate the previous passage into Japanese?
Light: Yes. "Having finally made his dream a reality, he was overwhelmed by the sense of his own achievement and the joy it brought him."
