Death Note: Making The American Edgelord (ANIME ABANDON)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 28 มิ.ย. 2024
- It's time to look at Light Yagami and Death Note and see them for what they are. Because even after fifteen years, there's always a teenager who's watching Death Note for the first time.
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0:00 - Intro
5:28 - Part 1: Knowing Good And Evil
13:19 - Part 2: And A Child Shall Lead Them
33:47 - Part 3: Sympathy For The Devil
44:34 - Part 4: Better To Reign In Hell
57:17 - Part 5: Strange Gods Before Me
1:13:07 - Part 6: The Ways Of Childhood Behind Us
#anime #review #deathnote - บันเทิง
The American Psycho as sigma role model is deeply fascinating. Not even Patrick Bateman is having a good time being Patrick Bateman. He's stressing out over business cards. Man's sweating and suppressing his gasping about font choices. On business cards.
I always thought one of the points of that movie was to take the piss out of that whole corporate office culture by having one guy take the metaphorical pissing contests of wearing the best (and nearly identical looking) suits, having the best (identical looking) business cards, and getting reservations to the best restaurants to the extreme of murder. Also was the fact that Bateman was a huge misogynist and homophobe, yet spent more time preening and primping himself in front of the mirror and using more hair and face products than any women, lost on them?
Whole point of movie and book is to make fun of those type of people who believe to be like patrick.
Writer of the story is gay person and satirist. It also dives into mindset of said person to see what ticks them what makes them who they are and ultimately did patrick actually because psychotic or was it all just in his head as he is a stressed overworked perfectionist man who just want to let loose.
Highly recommend to read or watch movie. (Not sequel that one sucks)
Those were great business cards tho 👌
@@evandaymon8303 Ugh, I forgot the Mila Kunis sequel.
It's because it's all a matter of estethics. The whole idea of toxic masculinity is how fragile it is and the lack of self awareness. That's why many men fall in love with Bateman, Thomas Shelby and other unstable guys in fiction. It's all about how cool they act around other people, not how broken they really are. It's all a facade.
Light's giggling, anticipatory, delight while killing innocent people who were merely in his way was all the clue I needed to know how much of a twisted monster he actually was.
Yes, Light Yagami is a twisted monster.
I don't think it's fair to only call him a monster. He's a kid. A naive and stupid kid with a dark side to him. A side that wants to win and exert his dominance. This dark side is pretty much the embodiment of what Kira actually is. Light didn't start off bad and both the anime and manga show this
favorite version of Light's death is from the japanese stage musical. Light kills L, Ryuk goes "well, we ain't topping that dude. I think we're done." and then casually writes Light's name into the death note while Light screams and wails and begs him to stop before finally just collapsing. And then it's over
I guess he had enuf of him & thought that he become basically unbeatable after that, stripping away the entertaining cat & mouse game.
Yeah, and Light's begging and scrambling really shows how pathetic he truly is beneath his facade.
You know what I always found interesting? Death Note never tried to pass the buck. Light's tragic, but there is never a moment where the story tries to suggest that things might have turned out differently if only someone *else* had done something. It doesn't suggest that Light could have been correct if his father had been more involved in his life, or if his mother had stepped up, or of Misaka had been more mature and a better partner. The reader wishes Light would be saved, sure, but the story never makes the fact that he wasn't helped anyone else's fault.
That absolutely fascinated me. I was so used to seeing anti-heroes as tragic characters who someone needed to reach out and heal. I was so used to seeing stories where girls had to save and fix wounded men so that those men could be the hero and that be their entire story, and the idea that a story would recognize Light's choices were his own responsibility and *no one's* else's just baffled me.
On reflection, its sad too. "You are not responsible for other people's decisions" shouldn't have been such a strange message for a teenage girl to hear.
Broken people attract broken
The only way we would be ine is probably with L at his side. Like hi ather ignores hi worse tendencies, no way he would end a a really good person, without L, that is hown fairly wise.
So yeah the shipping is inbaked. Like L needs an equal bu recognizes that,i mean he is not the best person, but he knows himself, light doesnt.
Also that mentlity is a problem. The "i can fix him"
You had me until you swerved hard into nonsense at the end. Seems like you confused Death Note for a shoujo manga when it's not.
@@verymelonman12 What gave you the idea that she confused it for a shoujo manga ?
That's why people like these darker characters and stories. Also why some people get mad people enjoy side media.
I have trouble understanding how anyone can watch the episode where Light taunts and kills Naomi Misora and not realize that Light is a villain protagonist.
I know people excuse this or are willfully blind to it. I've had more conversations than I can count about it. But unlike the FBI agents, by this point Light had enough experience with the death note to know he can literally command Naomi to overcome her grief and die peacefully in her sleep.
Instead, he makes her death as scary and lonely as he possibly can, and laughs in her face about it. He's evil!
Ok, I really can't understand how anyone can think of light as anything else than what you described even when I was 12 and watched the series I could never say he was right.
You'd have to be Japanese to say he's Right.
@@N3bu14Gr4y That's a nice joke.
As for you, OP, I was an edgy teen and felt he was living my dream and was in the right.
Sure, I grew up since, like Bennett.
@@UTU Question, how is it edgy? How is whay Light doing being edgy? In a world where people say they think superheroes should kill villians, how is Light any different. Isn't that just a different view?
@@Martialartfruituser It's edgy to demand killer superheroes too. There's a reason Black Adam works as a reformed villain, but not as the super kewl anti-hero The Rock wanted him to be. The general public finally reached this point with superheroes, but comics already had this garbage thoroughly deconstructed by the Turn of the Millennium. Knightfall, Kingdom Come, What's So Funny About Truth, Justice, and the American Way, just to name a few. In short, it's the easy path that just leaves more and more dead bodies in the hero's wake. What happens when they encounter a problem that CAN be resolved peacefully? What about one that's too complicated to solve by killing? They have no answer for that because the only language they know is force.
Youthful arrogance is at the core of both Light Yagami and "superheroes" who kill their foes. They've decided that they're the arbiters of life and death, that all other forms of judgment are nothing before their infallible selves. They aren't forced to do these things. The villain hasn't left them with no other choice. They just kill people to feed their own egos. And eventually, everyone who inconveniences them will be seen as another villain for them to kill.
Yeah I was thinking the same thing with me being literally the same age first watching it, I never got how people could think he was the good guy.
Maybe it's just that I was already well into my 30s when Death Note hit big here in the States and I got to see it, but I never bought into Light as a character I was supposed to envy. I'd already met enough self important, Ayn Rand reading toolboxes to know an empty, pretentious blowhard when I see them.
I was pretty similar. I was in my very early 20's, just out of adolescence myself, but, while I was sympathetic towards Light, it was obvious from the get-go how symplistic his view of the world was (hell, the series itself flat-out calls out his views as being "childish" multiple times). I saw a lot of the back and forth about his actions as being kind of a metaphor for whether capitol punishment and the death penalty were right or wrong.
Admittedly, though, my experience going in was already a lot different than most other 20-somethings my age or teens experience was.
I'd had a very verbally and emotionally abusive dad who died when I was 15, and who was also a cop (who also did the "left his wife for a much younger woman" thing, but hey, two birthdays and Christmases, am I right?), so, I grew up seeing a good portion of the corruption, tribalism, and yes, inherent racism, imbedded in the US police force and the justice system at large. All that, plus the fact, at my mom's (who had custody of me after the divorce, just visitations with dad) I was very socially isolated from my peers due to it being in a small, very Christian town with me growing up as a (what I would later discover) neurodivergent queer (ADHD and bisexual) who was not religious and with VASTLY different interests, left me with a lot of time to think about things, one of which was morality itself.
I'd long been asking myself about the just-ness and un-just-ness of certain laws and viewpoints and the justice system itself years before this series came out. Still loved it though.
I was in middle school and I didn't buy what he was selling. Couldn't convince me that a guy claiming to be the god of the new world was anything but a bad guy.
You had experienced charismatic conmen before, teenagers didn't. What Light sells SOUNDS good to the inexperienced ears. If you give a child a button that will kill all "bad people" they will press it, they won't stop to think what is a bad person really.
@@fictionarch mate, he’s not not supposed to be a good guy. He’s SUPPOSED to be a villain in the show and is framed as one pretty early on
@@YodaOnABender did you miss the part of the video talking about the viewers who didn't pick up on that?
You had a much better read of Light's death than me. I always felt he died in this pathetic way: crying and running away from everyone, his final moments in the light so all his sins were laid bare. Maybe I'm misremembering, it had been a long time for me.
He dies a bit differently in the manga. Less like a confined angel and more of a worm.
I had the same feeling, he died pathetically as he should have.
There’s probably some truth to that. I always thought they just wanted to stretch his death out to make the scene longer, but I’m on board with Bennett’s interpretation as well.
Why would his read be “better?” Yours just gives the show the benefit of the doubt that Light isn’t meant to be looked up to, while Bennett’s is just more cynical and bad faith.
Either are a valid enough way to take the show, I certainly lean more to the former and see the show’s whole grandiose aesthetic, and Light’s romanticized final moments, as more a reflection of how Light sees _himself_ than anything else.
But Bennett’s reading definitely isn’t “better” than yours.
@@APinchofBazel
I think the OP means that Sage views the final scene of the anime in a much more positive way than they do. And I concur with the OP - I watched the anime for the first time last year, free from all the hype it had in the mid '00s, and I felt Light's dying sequence was extremely pathetic, even revolting. It was fitting, a big fall from grace for the messiah Light/Kira had become.
I always felt the Light/Lelouch comparisons were superficial. Lelouch shows maturity by understanding the consequences of his rebellion to realize he's not a god _"I'm not your savior!"_ at the SAZ massacre.
Light has more in common with Suzaku. Both have massive egos that bolster a hero/god complex that enables them to endanger their friends constantly. Even when Suzaku says he's changed after nuking Tokyo, he still clings to this delusion. _"No Lelouch! Only I can save the the day!"_
And this is why I prefer Code Geass to Death Note and why I always preferred Lelouch to Light
His light Comparisons and comparisons in general leave a lot to be desired...but this is a Weeb video.
I made the comparison between the two on a Crunchyroll forum years ago and got every angry death threat you can think of from pissed off Death Note fans.
@@rachelh2816 has anyone done a retrospective on Code Geass since ANN did there podcast?
@@mra4521 honestly I don't know
the dub is generally pretty fantastic for its time and even now but Brad Swaile really deserves his flowers for gloriously hamming up every line and making them super memorable. The japanese version is also good but whenever I think of Light Yagami, his voice immediately jumps into my head. This is also another great AA episode, it's so fascinating how certain anime staples from the 2000s as a teenager have aged in how the world has changed now. Well worth the wait!
The Japanese version is great but not recommended as someone's first subbed anime. Watched the subbed version first and had a hard time following it (anime club at school, we voted on what to watch and whether to go subbed or dubbed). Kinda the same dilemma as GITS, excellent in both languages but you should first watch it in your actual native language because it can be very information dense in places.
I guess I'm glad that I identified more with L when I was younger. Less the 'lol so random' stuff like his quirky way of sitting or obsession with sweets, and more that he was this really weird character who didn't fit into the crowd. In a room full of suits, he's the guy sitting around in casual wear and bare feet. He's a strange, gifted misfit who picks up on things that other people often miss. He was nowhere as socially awkward as I was, but I felt more in tune with him than Light without a doubt.
I liked edgelord stuff back then, in fact I still do. Watching Light be a complete nutjob is fun in the context of a fictional world, but I would shudder at the thought of looking up to someone like him as a role model. He's like the perfect model for becoming a deranged cult leader IRL. No conscience, manipulative, clever, narcissistic, god complex, he's got it all and more.
I guess that is the dichotomy, doesn't hurt that L is pretty queer coded as well. Hell you could almost map out where a person falls ideologically in life by whether they identify with light or L
Never saw the anime but I was an avid reader of the manga, and the change to the ending is fascinating to me. Seeing Light become a whimpering little man pleading for his life to Ryuk is probably a great way to show what these Bateman/Durden types are: confident and good looking until they are hit a challenge that shatters their self illusion and bravado. And the anime’s version gives his death a slow, painless and accompanied by peaceful piano music. It almost comes off as someone writing their self-insert character’s final moment.
At least with Durden, he only became docile when his host FINALLY got around to understanding their roles after the ‘our hand’ moment.
Fight Club epitomizes how self help can regress into a cult with a big enough following.
I hated the anime ending because of that. Light didn't deserve to die with any kind of peaceful dignity. He deserved to be outed as a self-important piece of crap, bleeding out from bullet wounds on a dirty warehouse floor, just like the common criminals he looked down on might. The manga ending was just what Death Note needed to be well rounded out.
I agree entirely, the original manga had a significantly better ending for Light.
Maybe; but I saw it as a moment of mourning not who light *was* but who he *could have been* had he never encountered the Death Note.
@@kazekamiha that’s a valid viewpoint.
Me and a lot of my friends at the time Death Note was airing had a really hard time relating to Light. Regardless of our own thoughts of morality at the time, we all thought he was too whiny to be taken seriously.
So kudos to Brad Swaile. You may have help keep me off the path to becoming everything I hate.
I have never sympathized with light yagami.
He is an amoral selfish bastard who was just waiting to be corrupted by power.
I actually related to Yagami, but that is precisely why I didn't like him. I have love for him, but he must not be let lose on society. I like cohesive and un-contradictory moral systems, with that in mind Light must kill himself at the end, because he is the one in power and is abusing it. I don't understand how people miss the last scene of him narrating his plan and conspiracy, at that point is obvious he feels pleasure in what he did, in the innocents he killed, he is just a serial killer playing god with access to the best weapon ever.
@@Puerco-Potter people think that light yagami is some kind of noble judge of all, passing Justice and correcting injustices.
In reality, light yagami is more like the various Mass shooters lashing out at the world, instead of dealing with their own problems.
In the beginning, I was on board with Light. That is until he started killing innocent people.
L is the hero if thee is anyone. And L is pretty amoral himself, but he doent try to be god.
I was 20 in 2007 when this got released. I still remember this series like it was yesterday. Even back then, I understood that Light Yagami's character was absolutely nothing to aspire to be.
I'd say the show had greater significance because it was released in a post 9/11 world. Odd as it is to say, the world lost quite a lot of innocence after that and entered this dour and almost nihilistic mood that couldn't be shook off even as the global economy crashed hard. The show entered my life when I was still studying professional writing and some of that nihilism the show had certainly entered my own school works at the time.
Edit: With that said, the theme song by Maximum the Hormone is still fucking fire.
I was going to say, his timeline is a little late in assessment of audience. I picked up the manga in 2004, and most of my otaku friends also picked it up. This was back when manga was read in book stores because we couldn't afford to buy them and high speed internet was still somewhat out of reach for the poor kids like my group. The post 9/11 nihilism was real, as well as a lack of any guidance by adults on what to do. "Go to college, you've got the grades" yeah but how do I afford it. "Scholarships of course!" You mean the ones I have to quit my job and volunteer 40 hours a week to even apply for? "Military will set you straight." I don't want to kill people for money.
We were just drifting into adulthood without any control, told we were special but had no mechanisms or levers to change anything. And 9/11 showed us the world was happening on such a bigger stage than we could really ever hope influence. And then this promising, bored, ignored high schooler comes along and is given a lever that can fulfill purpose, change the world, and assert his will in an appreciable way. It was a tempting read. Of course we knew he was pathetic and wrong, but we did sympathize with his initial plight.
I was bullied in high school. My own "friends", along with both brothers, kept the bullying going for well over a year. I had only ONE person who understood what I was feeling, who tried to help. They offered me a page of a replica Death Note when they returned from an anime con they attended... and me, being an angry, hurt kid who got next to zero help with my situation... ESPECIALLY FROM MY OWN PARENTS... actively filled it out. I've long since lost that sheet, can't actively recall whether I accidentally ran it through the laundry in my pants pocket or not... but watching this makes me see how blinded by pain and misery I was back then, to actively wish death on others for something so juvenile and easily corrected. To that friend, I doubt you'll ever read this comment. You know who you are, and I owe you a life debt of gratitude I'll never be able to properly, or even fully, pay back. To you, Bennett... thank you for this. As a quiet, basement-dwelling gamer/hobbyist who streams assemblies of model kits and the like, it humbles and centers me to remember that I'm not 100% right about everything, and no one can be. People don't deserve hurt or pain. We ALL can be far better. I look forward to your twin anniversaries with excitement and quiet reflection. Thank you. I am proud to callyou "Friend", with all the respect that entails, despite us never having met in person. Shine on, you Crazy Diamond.
I think your comment is very interesting. You filled the deathnote page coming from a place of pain and sadness, but Light did it because of narcissism. But I disagree that the bullying they did to you was juvenile and easily corrected, it must have been terrible and traumatic. I'm glad you're doing better.
Go ER!
Me: "This is a pretty good analysis of DeathNote."
(Sage compares Light to Neil Breen)
Me: "THIS IS THE GREATEST ANALYSIS OF A PIECE OF MEDIA EVER MADE."
An interesting thing you only briefly touched upon here, is that I remember the fanbase at the time *really* hated Misa Amane.
To this day I am unsure if this was because her portrayal as this clingy source of chaos in Light's plans, the fact that she was the fanservice character for the male readers, or if there simply was a virulent stream of Light Fangirls that had a big ol' "that should've been MEEEEEEE!" moment.
I definitely feel your Harley comparison is apt, down to the infantilization both characters receive, though at least Misa and Light's "relation" isn't romanticized by the fans like Harley and Joker's is. Personally I do remember always having felt pretty damn sorry for her, and feeling almost alone in that.
I actually never watched the show, but I did own all the manga, and Light's death at the end is kind of a wake-up slap if you were an impressionable 15-year old edgelord. I know (mostly from some other TH-camrs like Mother's Basement) that Obata and Ohba get quite some deserved criticism for glorifying the dangerous kind of nihilism, but Light's death was a solid counter to that, even if (or maybe because) it came only at the very end.
Now, any idea why Death Note didn't seem to stick as much in Japan? I suppose your opening really was just a framing device, but it surprised me none the less.
I was in deep in the fandom at the time and most people didn't like Misa because they saw her as immature, whiny, and yeah, male fan service. When she first showed up, a lot of readers actually really liked her, until she stopped being dangerous, short-sighted, and independent, and just sort of became a bubbly side character to make Light's work easier. She could've been a really solid addition to the story if they had allowed her to maintain her possessiveness and stubbornly reckless streak, but those interesting flaws get thrown out almost immediately.
@@psychotophatcat Huh, now that you mention it I do remember she did seem dangerous and threatening at the very beginning, and I must agree she definitely lost that (especially by the time Near and Mello are introduced). I'm not sure where my experience falls on the timeline, I might've been late in getting the manga compared to the anime, as they were localised (non-English) rather slowly, but at the point I started discussing Death Note with others people seemed to have always disliked her at least.
@@psychotophatcat There could be an interesting point made in that Misa's infantilization and diminishing independence could be a deliberate choice to show that she's gradually drawn into Light's web, bit by bit having her personality extinguished until she is nothing more and nothing less than what Light needs her to be... but then you remember how Obata usually writes female characters and you kiiiinda doubt that it's truly That Deep.
Doesn't help that the author of death note is a misogynist and homophobic
I always liked Misa, I'd love a girl who would do ANYTHING I'd ask, if anything I'm envious
I watched Death Note in it's entirety with a friend and the topic of "Was Light justified?" came up. Simply put, we all agreed pretty quickly - what Nier says at the end is succinct and correct. Light is just a murderer and that's all he should be known for. This video also does a very good job in pointing out every facet of that point and does a good job of explaining all of the angles I hadn't even considered as to why that was.
Great job on this video. I'll be very interested to see what comes up next.
I am SO! GLAD! you mentioned the economic crisis of the late 2000's, because my number one memory of having watched deathnote was being in me and my friend's just absolutely shitty apartment on an unexpected day off from our shitty dead end jobs, watching a new episode of deathnote we had torrented. We were sitting on the floor in front of his laptop (we did not have a couch) and I was TRYING to enjoy the anime but I was also filled with anxiety because like I said, we both had an unexpected day off of work. We were both supposed to be working that day, but our site was closed for maintenance or something and all I could think about what how we were both missing out on making 71 dollars that day, and how that was going to make paying rent that month a lot tighter than usual.
He and I have both moved on to much better places since then. Better jobs, better homes, he's about to start a family. But still, watching Death Note, or many other shows or cartoons from that era, Bleach, Naruto, etc. kind of transports my mind back into that terrifying scarcity mindset where I'm constantly anxious about not making enough money, or that I'm wasting my life, or squandering my potential somehow. It feels the same as waking up in your 30's worried that you're gonna miss the school bus. Weird, the memories we carry with us.
This anime was part of my life!!!
When I was in high school, our anime friends were in two categories - the ones who loved Kingdom Hearts and Ouran High School Host Club, and the ones who would word for word recite all of the speeches from Death Note. I somehow was in both categories but Death Note was such a big impact.
Japan cycles through merch fast. We tend to hold on to our series, they just cycle through the moment something ends. Death Note got cycled through in merch while you were there, I guess. Although when I visited a couple years ago, the Death Note Musical was in town, so I saw that. They were selling merch there specific to the musical, but still very cool!
That's what I was thinking, outside of a few very big IPs, Japan seems to quickly forgets about a title after a few years, no matter how big it was.
The other defining "feature" of the Sigma Male is that he exists "outside" of the social hierarchy of alpha/beta/omega, he won't be constrained by such limitations like social status. Nor does he allow himself to be categorized in such a system, he's his OWN MAN. But ALSO *ALSO* he's TOTALLY EQUAL TO THE ALPHA MALE IN EVERY REGARD, DESPITE HIS REJECTION OF HIERACHY. Don't forget! He's totally equal to the alpha!
Bro I've noticed it's only the "Alpha males" who care about all these labels. I guess that makes the rest of us sigma? 😂
Sigma sound like a douche in another name.
They are so not interested in being in a hierarchy that they invented a new one with themselves on top.
@@Puerco-Potter The funny thing is, these same dorks were the ones that created and coined that hierarchy in the first place. Much of the manosphere grift scene was originally trying to convince maladjusted, insecure young men that they could be "Alphas" just by following their guides.
However, shock of shock, telling dudes with bad social skills that they could totally land all the chicks by being self-centered, braggart assholes doesn't, in fact, win you the ladies...or a respect in general.
With so many becoming disillusioned, the manosphere grifters had to readjust their pitch to stay relevant and thus the "Sigma Male" was born.
Light is not a sigma. He's a chud
There's definitely something to be said that Light's targets tend to be common criminals, and not the higher ups in power that cause society to be the way it is that cause people to turn to crime. It makes sense that one of his weaknesses is his lack of imagination, as he doesn't really seem set out to actually improve the wellbeing of people as a whole, rather only doing it in a limited and immature way befitting of one that lacks the knowledge of how the world works.
Which to me is what made the protagonist of the sequel manga a very interesting contrast.
The fact that Light usually targets regular and petty criminals (even if they're still in prison btw) and NOT greedy and corrupt businesspeople and politicians kind of gives you an obvious picture that Light is through and through a a petulant and cowardly serial killer. Let's take spree killers (school shooters included) for example, one would think that these killers would only people who have personally wronged them like school bullies, greedy business executive, abusive family members, corrupt cops and politicians and ect. However, they never do that, instead they ALWAYS attack defenseless blameless innocent bystanders, Usually for the sole reason since their perpetrators are usually untouchable, killing the innocent are the only way they think that can vent their frustrations. Light has no excuse for this, if he knows the simply the name of any rotten to the core corrupt leader (whether it military dictator or simply a a crooked elected official), he can simply dispose of them by just giving them a fucking wright up.
One can argue is that Yagami himself is actually product of those oppressive and bigoted systems, hence why he doesn't really trying to fight it and believes that there's nothing wrong with them and all the world's problems are from external threats. If Yagami was generally targeting such people in power like I mention and ditch that "I will be God of this world" stick, you can definitely make Light out to be a tragic hero. I wonder if the creators of the manga made Light into a commentary on Japanese people's views on crime and punishment.
Another thing is that Light doesn't target "criminals"- he targets people the police say are guilty. He does no investigative work himself, he simply believes "well, if they're in jail, they're obviously guilty". False accusations, false confessions given under durress, mishandled or planted evidence, incompetence and corruption from the police or even judges- Light doesn't even consider any of that because it doesn't fit neatly into his childish black and white bubble of "bad people are bad because someone somewhere said they are". And considering that Japan has something like a 90% conviction rate, I'm _really_ doubting that every single person labled a "criminal" deserves that title.
@@Silburific Light doesn't entirely target JUST them, he does kills actual legitimate criminals who are either operating within society (Yakuza), on the run, and/or reoffenders. Admittedly, I don't know either the "actual criminals" or the falsely accused/VERY PETTY ones make up the majority of his hit list, BUT when you observe Light's behavior and/or simply just listen his monologues, I have no doubt that they make up a sizeable portion. Regardless, it doesn't really make him less of a villain as he already is. When you put it like that, YEP Light Yagami is definitely a commentary on the Japanese's judgmental views on crime and punishment.
Light Yagami himself comes from a rich, privileged background, so of course he wouldn't want to fight the system he benefits from.
Honestly, the closest thing that's been produced in Western TV is the show Hannibal down to a weirdly unique horror aesthetic. (And two men weirdly tied together in a homoerortic game of cat and mouse, but I don't have the time required to analyze that)
Given the producer Bryan Fuller is gay, the homoeroticism is intentional ;)
That thought occurred to me as well. I think there are four main points that keep Hannibal from being idolized the way Light is.
First, the show not being marketed to teens as _Death Note_ was. Most viewers of _Hannibal_ are adults in age if not mindset, and thus a little less susceptible to idolizing him.
Second, it didn't hit that zeitgeist sweet spot that Bennet mentions. This may be the biggest.
Third, a lot of people are put off by cannibalism.
Finally, the one that occurred to me first: Hannibal never deludes himself (and thus the audience) into thinking he's good or just the way Light does. Hannibal knows that by the standards of society he's evil, but simply doesn't care.
Breaking Bad really reminded me of Death Note. Obviously BB is a lot better written though. The Departed is also very similar to both.
honestly the one i always think of(maybe mostly because of the entire situation of much of the audience having trouble understanding that the protagonist doesn't equal the hero) would be breaking bad.
There was another anime Viz Media used to licensed called Project ARMS. The dub of that series had Mikami's late VA as Ryo, Wedy as Katsumi, Ryuk as Hayato, Light as Takeshi, N as Ryo's Mom Misa, and Naomi as Alice.
That's pretty cool.
Really wish the Ocean dub group was still around.
@@airsir9559 Ocean still around, problem is that most companies not named Toei or Bushiroad don't ever bother dealing business with them and stick with the usual LA and Texas VAs for everything these days.
Ocean recently got to dub World Trigger and Dragon Quest: Adventures of Dai. While their Blue Water cousins dubs the Cardfight Vanguard franchise.
I'm really glad I didn't watch Death Note until my 20s. I immediately knew that Light was a PoS. Gives me a little hope for myself. Also who TF wants to be like Patrick Bateman?
edgelords, emos and lowlifes?
A$$holes.
We were all cringelords once.
I watched death note when I was around 12 years old and even I picked up on Light not being someone to aspire to be. Found myself being more of a fan L when I watched the show.
The first time I watched it, I wondered how Light could turn out so twisted with such a seemingly good family. On rewatch years later I immediately noticed how no one in Light's family cares about Light as a person, only what he can do for them with his talents. His mom just wants to brag about him, his dad is a workaholic who has strict and high expectations, and his sister just wants him to help her out with homework, asking in a way that makes her come off as spoiled and bratty. So not only is Light isolated in school, but also at home. He's showered in praise for his looks and abilities, but there is never any emotional support and he is never taught to value other people or encouraged to have empathy.
As a result he's already a budding sociopath before he ever finds the Death Note.
I still don't get how ppl can look up to Light. I might have been onboard for killing some of the heinus criminals, but the clear pleasure he started showing in it before long, quickly jumoped out as a red flag, and then he killed innocent ppl who got in his way at which point he was no longer someone to root for. Even as a teen I understood that.
Also I somehow never thought about the drivers. (I always do irl, so I think maybe it's cause they were just bg characters in an anime who you never see, but you're right. That is horrifying. Poor things.)
To this day this is one thing I wonder whether it was intentional or not. I felt like the show never seemed to examine Soichiro or his upbringing of light, it really just fealt like they didn't see much fault in him or how Light was nurtured... and then I think it may just be because if you ask a Japanese person if an emotional distant father is bad they'll just look at you funny because OF COURSE a father is emotionally distant and simply there to put pressure on the son, what other purpose can a salaryman father serve in the Japanese nuclear family etc. Like I would HOPE the author of the manga could have the introspection neccessary to at least entertain the idea of "what responsibility could the upbringing have", but I'm not really sure they'd see it that way. That from their perspective Light "had it all" and if you'd bring up these points, they wouldn't understand you at all.
Light is definitely a product of his environment, and I don't think it's a coincidence that he's the son of a cop.
Go check out some of the training courses that cops go through - It's fucking insane. There's this dude named Dave Grossman who literally calls what he teaches "Killology", and I know that sounds like a Hideo Kojima character but I promise you that he is *painfully* real.
Grossman is a US example, and I doubt that Japanese police propaganda is exactly the same, but it's my understanding that the criminal justice system in Japan is even harsher than the one in the US. If I remember correctly, the Japanese justice system was a big part of why the author made Death Note in the first place.
Light is very much the product of his environment, but I think it's important to note that he's ultimately still the one at fault for his actions. Lots of people grow up in dysfunctional or emotionally abusive homes - Hell, I'm one of them - And the vast majority of those people never become murderers.
I'm sorry that your dad didn't love you Light, but mine didn't either and *I* never killed anyone.
@@firetarrasque4667 Very true. :)
Anyway I hope you're doing alright now, and have ppl in your life who are emotionally supportive. (hug)
@@firetarrasque4667 Speaking of the US and Japan's different views on justice; when you look back on the story it's not too hard to see Yagami as both a commentary and subtle condemnation of Japan's ideas on crime and punishment. BTW I someone believe that finding comparisons with the two country's justice systems a little bit stretching it, Grossman's "killogy" was a product of the American right's obsession with militarism, American exceptionalism and white-base jingoism, if I'm also correct Grossman was a supporter of the Vietnam War which I believe is when his book "On Killing" was written. Japan though had it's own flirts with militarism and fascism didn't created a decades span epidemic of militarize policing and extremely violent police misconduct.
I love how there are two completely opposite and conflicting interpretations of Light's relationship with others that have high like counts in this comment section.
We go from "Light grows up normal he's just fucked up because he is" to "Lights family doesn't really care about him". I don't dislike either I'm just fascinated that the comment section is highly supportive of both
The world being "rotten" at the beginning was a concept inserted by the anime. In the manga, prior to getting the Death Note, Light's problem was simple boredom (hence the name of the chapter). He was the best at everything, and nothing could challenge him. There was no indication that the world was crime-ridden. He was one of those guys who just wanted something exciting.
Kind of, but not entirely. He does talk about the world being rotten, it’s just not as much of a focus as in the anime.
The things that always took me out of Death Note was how the plot forced intelligent characters to make the dumbest decisions. Like how the FBI agent investigating Light felt the need to prove his identity to him during the bus hostage situation. Why would he care whether Light believed him? Then his wife does the same thing. That kind of stuff drove me crazy every time it happened.
maybe he wasnt thinking as calmly as intelligent because of the danger situation,
maybe he tried to convince Light to not "do something stupid (dangerous)" by proving that he is FBI etc., for Light to trust him to handle the situation
Not to be "that guy", but I never saw Light as the character to root for. Even as a kid back in the mid 2000's. I understood Death Note as less about Light's goal coming into fruition and more about the decent into darkness and the inevitable fall from perceived grace. It's why I hate the comparison of Light and Lelouch from Code Geass. People still root for a sociopathic mass murder just because he says he wants to change the world for the better. Lelouch is caked in blood for every death done by him or someone he geass'd. Yet he gets the messiah treatment in the end. A batshit insane acceptance of twisted morality.
Death Note is up there with OG Hellsing and cowboy bebop as my favorite soundtracks in anime of all time. Such amazing music.
Light is basically a Byronic Hero - one who sets out with noble intentions but ultimately ends up becoming the very monster he feared in the first place.
Light quite blatantly doesn’t believe in the ideals he espouses though.
@@iheartblock3792 Regardless of what his true beliefs were, he still ends up becoming the very thing he loathed at the start. A trait that pretty much defines the Byronic trope.
@@geoffreyrichards6079 ironic tragic fates are not what defines a Byronic hero. If anything, it more closely aligns with L; a dark, brooding character with a shady, morally grey past who is simultaneously cynical and passionate.
@@iheartblock3792 Given that Lucifer from Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, Frankenstein’s monster, and Eric the Phantom are also lobbed in with the trope, I think there’s enough to qualify Light as part of that particular type.
If L had caught Light, so many characters don’t get a character arc finish. Soichiro, Misa, Matsuda…
Also, L’s death is such a classic, memorable moment. Light winning was a major dramatic moment. Him losing, I think, would’ve had this be a smaller and less remembered story.
In the end you have the cake and eat it too. We got to see both of them win and lose.
The manga´s continuation after L´s death is more complete than the anime so some of the issues people have with the anime is on Madhouse. They cut down flawed material instead of bringing out strengths. The kidnapping of Yagami´s sister is so bad in the anime. Most of one admittedly messy volume was rushed through in one episode.
@@residentgrigo4701 Exactly. Many people really don't see how badly the anime butchered the second part of the manga; it fully failed to adapt it in a way that would've made the anime strong all the way through. But of course, I'm a bitter Mello fan who had to watch his storyline and character arc be chopped into tiny pieces and run through a garbage disposal, so what do I know lol
If you asked me personally to rewrite the end of Death Note I'd probably still let Light win against L, but then undercut it by having Light fall victim to some totally random moment of violence. Let him hit the high of his victory and then throw him into a car accident to hammer home that even if Light wins, he's still just an immature kid with a God complex.
@@firetarrasque4667 I mean that's basically the manga ending and why I think it's perfect.
Linking Neil Breen to Light Yagami is one of the more unexpected and hilariously wonderful things I've seen in a review.
Was waiting a long time for this one and you certainly did not disappoint good sir
What annoys me is that Bennett links the public image of a certain orange politician to the series, and completely ignores the actions of other politicians who are worse.
Light reminds me of a certain comic book character who was in that same mindset (and relevant during the 90's era of comics): Black Manchester.
A young English Brit (it's every edgey comic book writer from England in the US at the time), who while more punk like than "suit n tie class", has the power to judge those "never do well's" with torture, intimidation, fear and threats with death.
At first to Superman, he though they were just impressionable youths making their mark to be heroes to help the innocent. Some charm and some smarmy attitudes here and there til the facades fades to Supes horror.
And the emotional loss from the public when villains killed their loved ones, they turned to Manchester Black and his posse.
Along with making justifications like:
"You (Superman) put bandaid on wounds, WE cut out cancers with ease!)
Or:
"Of course we killed them, just like the government kills them, we're no different, YOU'RE LIVING IN A DREAM WORLD!"
That kind of spiel of justifying killing those without due process and fair trial.
Can you tell that Machester and the comic: "What's so funny about truth, justice, and the American way" (that last part can be kinda dubious, but ymmv) was a rebuttal against a comic called The Authority, especially when Mark Millar was writing it at the time.
Yup, that story of the classic archetypal superhero (Superman) showing the violent psychos (Manchester Black and his gang) as villains and internally weak was the perfect Take That to 90's edgy Antiheroes. Which made their more sympathetic interpretation in the 4th Season of Supergirl more confusing.
Back when I was 16 I was floored by how many people online didn't comprehend that what Light was doing was not good. The fact that there even was a debate to be had was very scary and quite proto-fascist.
Light shares a lot of characteristics with Rodion Raskolnikov, the main character of "Crime and Punishment": both are young, intelligent and come up with the crazy idea that they are a special kind of human who has the right to kill others for a better future. The difference is Rodion has a good core who regrets his terrible deeds while Light follows through it to the bitter end...
Jeez, how much Bettet has grown as a reviewer, a critic of art, conecpts, maker and audience of anime in those years!
On another 15 years!
It's telling that, out of the Ocean dub staff we see interviewed in this video, only French Tickner, who is very clearly both the oldest and wisest among them, sees Light for the juvenile he is. Ah, well, everyone grows over time.
My goodness. I came for a review of Deathnote, stayed for the master class of objective morality and the Idea of Justice and righteousness. Bravo! Beautifully done and absolutely worth the wait. Thank you so much!
Bennett, I just want to say: I've been watching your content for over a decade and I'm so impressed at how much your work has developed in that time. I'll always enjoy your older videos, but the nuance of the more recent stuff is fantastic. You manage to weave history, filmmaking, industry politics, and more into an informative and entertaining narrative with each show you review. The effort really shows. So kudos, dude. It's been quite a ride and I look forward to seeing where you take the channel in the future.
just wanted to second this. i started watching years ago because it was fun to see someone poking at all the goofy over-the-top OVAs i watched as a teenager in the early 90s. (plus some warmly nostalgic feelings when you'd talk about the good stuff.) even back then i'd already more or less stopped watching anime (though i do still try to catch up with certain creators), but i still keep up with the channel because it's such a shock and delight that the same person who was ragging on mad bull 34 all those years ago is producing such in-depth, thoughtful content now. your eva vid made me deeply interested in a subject where the discourse already felt exhausting in the late 90s, and i was barely familiar with death note at all but still found this fascinating. onward and upward dude.
The Light Yagami stands are Eren Jeager stands now lmao
Eren is objectively worse in actions but he still has a tinge of human decency and is disgusted by his own actions.
@micromints1735 yeah, he's the "self-awared mass murderer," fitting for this generation
I can see why people misunderstood death note. Most American TV shows that "challenges" the audience pull an immature no-u to undermine whatever the creator hates instead of showing how what they're pointing at is flawed.
Death note has so much more subtlety that it looks like a masterpiece compared to it all.
Still a good series, but like you say, it's like bringing a kid to an r rated movie and wondering why the kid loves the violence instead of the moral question you picked up on.
I think Sage hit upon the my biggest issue with Deathnote: the author didn't seriously challenge Light's ideology of Justice in a practical sense. Pretty much every justice system imposes either the death penalty or life in prison neither is sufficient to completely eliminate all crime or completely control the shape of society Light would hit that same brick wall hell with the slapdash basic way he went about doing things he and Missa could very easily been used and manipulated by criminals to kill innocent people and that should have come up multiple time to really illustrate and undercut Light's toxic and frankly childish mindset.
I know it was definitely a thing, but I am still baffled by the idea that anyone would watch Death Note and not understand that Light is the villain. Even if the person is the sort who thinks his killing of criminals is justified, he takes far too many perfectly innocent lives for purely selfish reasons. And the saddest part is that while there was a heavy emphasis on a certain side of the political fence in the video, it's not just that side - this kind of glorification of being able to cleanse the world of those they think are destroying it can be seen from all sides. All the calls for violence in today's world just kinda makes a person sad, ya know.
I haven't really thought about Death Note in years, until that Simpsons Treehouse of Horror segment.
And looking back, yeah... i can kinda understand where Light was coming from initially.
I was a kid when 9/11 happened, and learning about the darker side of humanity kinda messed me up a bit.
Even now, there are still people i think the world would be better off without (for example, people who emulate the likes of Patrick Bateman).
But unlike Light, I think (worry) about my own morality. It's honestly kinda frustrating when you dont know how to express these feelings.
(A comment section on TH-cam probably isn't the best place...)
Admittedly, I don't think i have it in me to actually kill a person.
_Admittedly, I don't think i have it in me to actually kill a person._
That to me is the most interesting thing about the Death Note as an object/plot device. Like the Ring of Gyges, it offers power without (apparent) consequence. Few people (on a global scale) have it in them to commit cold-blooded murder with a knife or gun, but with something that allows you to kill anyone, anywhere, in almost any way, and with perfect anonymity if used "correctly"?
@@thomasderosso5625 I'd be afraid of going too far. Also, I like my soul, thank-you very much!
@@juliagoodwin9510 Mmhmm, and the nature of such things is that any distance is too far. I believe you'd absolutely be in the right to avoid it, or better yet, destroy it. I simply find the temptation it presents to be interesting from a thought-exercise angle.
@@thomasderosso5625 Thanks, I needed that.
I’ve always wondered if Light truly would have really killed his sister Sayu had his original plan failed. I don’t think he would have been able to delude himself about his villany any longer at that point.
Light seemed pretty ready to kill his own Dad to cover his tracks and tried to manipulate him while he was dying to kill Mello. At that point, Light is just so far gone into his “God of the New World” role, he could do literally anything and justify it as for the greater good
Early on in the manga, Light says to Ryuk, "My sister would have a heart attack if she saw you."
Wonder if that has a double meaning. That Light would have to kill his sister if she discovered the Death Note?
better make that a triple meaning since that's probably how he would do it, like the guy holding the bus load of people at gunpoint in the live action remake. See's Ryuk, and has a heart attack seemingly out of fear.
on another note, I hope someone eventually saves this video essay to the WayBack Machine Archive. It's just too good for TH-cam.@@alexvaughan1013
@@alexvaughan1013 I’m sure it was intended foreshadowing by Tsugumi Ohba that down the line the sister would get killed by the death note tho I think he decided he couldn’t figure out a way to give Light justification to do it tho Light feels no guilt what’s so ever getting his father offed so he was probably depraved enough at that point to wipe out his sister and mother of it came to it!
@@jmann6130Light's problem is that killing people is way too easy for him. Thus, his first reaction to any problem is always, "whip out the notebook". Light would definitely kill a family member if it would benefit him.
As someone who watched the anime when it premiered on adult swim (long before it was retrofitted to be toonami) I watched the show with utter fascination. I was in my early 20s with plenty of childish tendencies. Not gonna lie, I may still have a few than I'd like to admit. I remember it being back to back with Code Geass. Even at the time I don't know what it was but I never sympathized with Light the same way some fans would. Maybe it was a morel upbringing or just the idea that being responsible for killing somebody far more easily than a gun frightened me. I think it was the whole becoming god spiel that really turned me away. I felt the show was more interesting when it was between L and Kira. Every now and then I look back and think how many kids would see that and write names in their own imitation death notes, shortest answer is too many.
My relationship with this show was different from most of my female Otaku peers. I was only 12/13 when my older brothers downloaded the fansubed first episode. And immediately forbade me from watching it. Saying it was to dark and nasty for me and would just upset me(they did this a lot). So I didn't watch it until I was 19 and by then mature enough to immediately recognize that Light is a sociopathic villain. And the clever plot twists were not so clever to me by then. So I never went through a deathnote/light fangirl phase. But most other female Otaku my age Did! A lot! But most of them have changed their feelings about the show and character after growing up. Going from" Light is sooo cool and he was right! to " wow what an abusive murderous brat"
Interesting to watch people grow out of their wanting a bad boy phase. Boys want to be Light
Girls want to be with Light
Men and women want to have nothing to do with him and for him to just be behind bars.
I watched the show when it first aired in English because all my friends were watching it (can't remember if it was middle school or HS) & just hated it since Light gave off "school shooter" vibes. Didn't finish it until years later because I thought that I was missing some sort of context but, nah, he really was just a nasty piece of work.
_Boys want to be Light_
_Girls want to be with Light_
_Men and women want to have nothing to do with him and for him to just be behind bars._
That's an excellent summation of the mindsets involved. Chef's kiss!
I don’t think people are mature enough to realize that he was also a positive thing for the world and saved more lives than he took, created world peace, and stopped 70% of crime.
Just because he was evil and a megalomaniac, doesn’t discredit that by stopping him, you are killing millions of innocent people, but you don’t care, because you don’t like Light… he’s obviously evil, but so are all religious Gods, at the end of the day you are too conceited by your own interpretation of his character to consider the actual consequences of his actions.
@@god8348 Pro Tip: don't call others conceited when your username is God.
I'd break down the rest of your comment, but honestly you aren't worth my time. No matter how old you are, you need to grow up.
I too wondered if what Light was doing was right because I also thought the main character was always right. I see more than often not that no matter good intentions can lead to horrible acts.
Especially since Light was too up his own ass and stuck in his ways to realize that he didn't need to go to such extremes.
*Me first time watching episode 7*
I think Light is the bad guy.
At the end of the day, even though Light is evil, he still was a net positive on the world and his actions saved more lives than he took.
I think people throw away the truth because they are deeply jealous of somebody like Light and feel the need to drag him down and discredit him, which is quite selfish and pathetic imo. He is a bad person who did mostly good things for bad reasons. At the end of the day, he was a statistically good thing for the world.
@@god8348 are you serious??? ^^; He went out like a chud, and didn't even pay lip service to his own ideals half the time. Why would I be jealous of him???
As someone who honestly has never been a fan of Death Note, this video both helped me better understand the show's appeal and articulate just how and why I dislike it-and more pertinently, what's so troubling about bad, media-illiterate interpretations of the show and its themes. Excellent stuff.
To me Death Note had the same issue as A Clockwork Orange, way to many fans mistook the protagonist for a hero or someone worth idolising.
It's because it is good at blurring the line between man and monster, always came off to me as a psychological horror story about how far someone can slip if they don't have boundaries and have the intelligence to talk himself in or out of a large number of situations. Something that's always in the back of your mind though is that this was all by statistical chance, and things were allowed to naturally unfold.
John Wick as a symbol of a "sigma male"? Did they miss that he stopped being an assassin to live a quiet life with his wife and he only got back into it because a bunch of "sigma males" killed the last remnant of his wife after he begged them not to? *sigh* I can't even say that's lack of media literacy. It's literally just ignoring a key plot point of a story.
When you see those "literally me 😱" characters or someone in a position of power, you get to do one thing they couldn't do: create opportunities to prove yourself to be a better, more decent human being than they are, and isn't that what makes life worth living?
in regards to what you were saying about the characters being stunted in some way... I think it's especially interesting to look at Light and Misa during the time of their memory loss, when they both temporarily give up their death notes. in a sense, this is showing what they could've been like, if they'd never known that the notes existed in the first place. it's disturbing, because suddenly neither of them knows why they've been detained, and you can see the kind of people they become in that instance. not only are they starting from a place of innocence and being given an opportunity to progress forward, into an adulthood that isn't colored by their knowledge of this draconian tool... but the Light who remembers is willing to basically torture the Light who is innocent, and doesn't understand why this is happening to him. the Light who remembers is willing to give his family _back_ the version of himself that they think they have. the one they can actually believe in, and who actually would be worth defending as rigorously as they do. and then he's willing to rip it all away again. it makes him feel overtly monstrous as he goes through this Jekyll and Hyde transformation upon coming into contact with the note once more.
additionally, on the subject of Misa... I think it's interesting that Misa has a public persona, same as Light. they both have a side of themselves that the general public can form a parasocial relationship with, and both can accrue fanatics. but where Misa's career relies on her putting her own image all over the place, and making her identity as publicly consumable as possible, Kira relies on total anonymity. and these approaches to public influence each have their ups and downs. like, if someone becomes obsessed with actual person Misa Amane, it's because there are less barriers between her real identity and the fans. but on the same token, she can hire security guards, and stay in buildings that have cameras and alarms at the doors and windows. she can keep herself safe, even if it's conspicuous, because it's understandable. compare that to how Light finds himself without much leverage at all, when his own diehard fanatic shows up... Misa Amane. in a situation like that, Light can't do anything too conspicuous to insulate himself from being affected by her actions. if anything, he's at least somewhat beholden to her whims. she wants to be his girlfriend, and be special to him, and go on dates, and he can't explain to anyone else why he might be trying to keep her away. he's just lucky that she _wants_ to be as cooperative as she is.
and I think another thing that contributed to her being stunted and childlike, was her loneliness. not only has she become a celebrity at a very young age... she's also lost one of the most fundamental support systems that most people have guaranteed for them in life. your parents are supposed to protect you. they're supposed to know you better than anyone, at least in the sense that they've seen your development as they raised you, and they're familiar with what you're like. they're supposed to provide you with grounded opinions about your well being, and try to guide you with the maturity that they have, which a child naturally won't possess yet. to take that away from a person, and then replace it with the vapid, shallow, business transactional connections that come with celebrity status... it creates a person who is deeply lonely, has very little adult perspective that they'll put any stock in, and most importantly, it makes Misa someone who is desperate for affection, validation, and praise, from whoever she's decided she admires.
and this runs right alongside Light's relationship to his own father, Soichiro Yagami. it's been said before that Light's ideology feels like it makes some kind of sense, coming from the son of the police chief. I mean... Soichiro Yagami is an authority figure at the top of the food chain, and his job is to be an enforcer of the rules by which society operates. we even have the fun little detail that, even prior to the emergence of Kira, Mr. Yagami would often work late, or be preoccupied, even off the clock. I wouldn't call him neglectful... but maybe a tad distant. ironically, the Kira case probably brought him and Light closer than they were before, once Light was brought into the investigative side of things.
now, the truth of Soichiro Yagami's perspective, is that giving people freedom also means giving people the ability to screw up. sometimes, really really badly. and so, in a free world, the people who enforce laws are probably going to have to work really hard, cleaning up the messes that free people can sometimes make of their lives. it's a problem when that mess encroaches upon the lives of others, and other people's freedom to live unencumbered. and it's the job of law enforcement (idealistically speaking) to correct the injustice when this happens. even if there are problems with this ideology in practice (such as the difficulty of regulating those who enforce the laws when _they_ screw up or become corrupt) that idealistic notion of the function of the police is what Soichiro Yagami is trying to achieve... and it's even what puts him at odds with the rest of the police eventually, as he continues to pursue what he believes is right.
but you can see where Light would filter all this through the lens of a child and come to the conclusions that define Kira's perspective. if his dad can have the authority to enforce the standards of right and wrong in society, then what's stopping Light himself from doing the same? a whole lot less, once he acquires the death note. and really, the biggest fluke in all of this was that Light had only one _VERY_ extreme tool with which to express any of his values anonymously to the general public. typically, the criminal justice system becomes encumbered and inefficient, because it is trying to determine innocence or guilt. having the death note means taking a hammer to all of that. what even is due process? nothing, if Light is declaring himself judge, jury, and executioner from the safety of his bedroom. he even uses whatever information _the police_ release to the public, in order to conduct his killings. he isn't using his big smart brain to like... investigate. he's just taking the process of criminal justice out of the police's hands.
think of it this way: when Light kills someone, is he killing them A. before they're tried and convicted, or B. after the court has found them guilty and handed down a punishment that is proportional to the crime they committed? because he sure as hell isn't questioning the decisions that the courts are coming to, nor is he doing any actual detective work. no... he saves that for the guy who is alarmed by the amount of killing Light is doing, and wants to stop him. _that_ is a crime worth breaking out the brain power for, because that guy is hitting him in the ego. can't have that.
in this way, Light isn't really doing anything more than just annoyingly parroting what the police were already intending to do, but worse... with less precision, less specificity... only one tool for every situation. it's not smart... it's actually really stupid.
I don't have anything astute to add, but man. Once I saw the title I knew I really needed to give this proper attention and time, and I'm so glad I did. I think this might be my favorite AA yet, and I look forward to sharing it with lots of friends (of that era and otherwise) and the conversations we'll have from it. Thanks for sticking with it and making it so good.
Absolutely outstanding video Sage. In a world where I constantly feel like media literacy is dead, your channel is always a breath of fresh air. Love your content, love your work, long live Bennettopia
I love Patrick Bateman, but he sucks. That's why I love him. He is the definition of skin-deep. He is dull, self-absorbed, disconnected, materialistic, and pitiable. He is the very DEFINITION of what not to be.
Even to this day I felt like Light had a point, in a twisted sort of "Someone needs to clean up this mess" way, but his solution was definitely the wrong one and in the end he dove headfirst into the deep end of an empty pool. Once he had the power, he was just nuckin' futs and kept diving deeper and deeper into over-complicated plans and delusions of godhood whenever he ran into roadblocks before finally showing his true self in running away from the fate he'd brought upon himself, let alone how all his plans fail to account for what would happen after he dies because if there's one thing I know about humans is that if you deny them something for too long then they suddenly realize there's no longer anyone stopping them, the entire world is about to become The Purge.
The one thing that the series never addresses is how many INNOCENT people he may have unintentionally killed either because of bad information of incompetent policework because I guarantee you with his body count there had to be at least a few dozen!
I always had this idea of instead of Light someone else his age got the note; someone more humble and wiser but still killing the criminals. It might be an interesting idea; is it the *power* that is evil or how it was used?
There was a sequel manga that explored this idea partially but it’s a one-shot.
For a full series that pursues that idea, with a power that’s not identical to the Death Note but just as powerful, watch Code Geass.
This is seriously one of your best videos, Sage. Props on doing a very thorough job covering the media landscape and fandom at the time, as well as all the problems with more superficial reads of the series.
I feel that at the point where Light murders L's proxy is where it became crystal clear that he was evil, and he wasn't really making the world a better place. Because, without even thinking about it, he killed someone who even by his own warped morals, had done nothing wrong and committed no crimes
I view stories like this and joker as more of a cautionary tale than a way to live by. Like a joker is clearly about how the system fails people and then what happens to those people. It's supposed to tell people that we need to fund these programs and make sure that these children and people are not left behind. I'm still somewhat young and I understand the anger of being brought into an unfair world without the advantages that your parents had and having the system fail you at every turn leaving you feeling trapped. It's hard not to think of turning to violence, especially when every outlet, such as voting or peaceful protests seem to get no results. That's not justification for violence, but rather a simple reality of human nature if those in power don't do better. Many nations have fallen for these exact reasons
Allow me to make his clear. When I read it as a teen, I related to Light at the start. I followed him down his Manson-like rabbit hole. I saw his intention and his actions as a necessary evil so long as his principles and ideals held true.
And then that arc happened. And I watched a man unknowingly analyze himself. I watched a good kid hunting after a force of death and calling it out for the evil it was.
So when Light returned and I spent five seconds admiring his bullshit before saying how bullcrap it was that he could call that. And then I settled into the seat again, ready for the quest to begin and I realized that I had been tricked. Completely. This light wasn’t the hero I had followed, trying to take on a tragic cost for the benefit of the world. I had become the henchman of a supervillain. And once that happened, I realized how even L had been pulled in by Light’s charisma. Not joining the cult, but drawn to him and curious.
So when Near and Mellow came into the story, I felt like I was the one being accused. That Near knew what had happened. I felt like I was getting dissected. And as Light lost the last of his mind and died a dishonorable death, I found myself cold. I had seen the sort of man you become when you compromise your code and morality. And that life isn’t for us to play with.
And then I reminded myself of that by watching the Trigun Anime. Because all roads lead me back to Vash the Stampede. He is the role model more people need to have.
I'm not even into anime by any meaningful margin, but I have seen some, this one included. Really enjoyed this deconstruction and analysis.
I wonder if part of the reason the anime became so popular is that it covered a genre anime does not touch… that America does: Drama and Suspense.
Crime dramas were huge around the same time Death Note was big: CSI, NCIS, Law and Order, etc
Story idea:
During the story of death note,
A serial killer goes on a killing spree and frames innocent people for the murders so that Kira kills them, covering his tracks in the process.
Thank you so much for the excellent essay... in video format and taking full advantage of the media. It's I feel your best or one of your best so far, showing your growth and maturity as a critic and voice in the community. Thank you.
Honestly, the fact that there are Andrew Tate types using Light as part of their con on here might be the most disturbing thing I've seen today.
I often have Deathnote on in the background while writing campaigns and settings for games I run, although even as a teenager I never fully identified with Light as much as I pitied him. I always more identified with eanting to be like L, the figure Light ostensibly wanted to be before finding the Deathnote, whether he knew it or not. That is partially what I took from his appearance at the end, just like the person he runs past represents the innocence Light lost upon using the Deathnote, L appearing upon his Death represents the similarities they shared mentally and the lost potential of his future due to taking the easy way to achieve his goals. L is intelligent, respected, and holds to his ethics even when it would be easier to take another option. This is why L represents and is figuratively present at Light's final defeat, L's methods were right and Light's were wrong, and in the end L won despite being dead. Although L is far from perfect, as his immutable conviction is grating at times as it lends a near omniscient smugness to the way he acts, even when all evidence points against his reasoning.
Granted that's just my interpretation and likely is more based on personal bias, following past Light's distinctly evil turn in the story, it was hard to side with him.
Death Note was THE anime series of my high school years. And I would have probably never seen the series if it wasn't for short but passionate blog post at my country's very niche (at the time) anime forum. It caught my interest and the rest is history. I adored L and was rooting for him, but then and even now, I couldn't relate to Light. He was interesting but more in 'I wonder what will happen to him?' kind of way. It was because how easy he went about killing everyone he deemed worthy of death. And how he never for once doubted himself and his morals. If anything I felt sorry for the people whose lives he ruined. Especially Misa.
I honestly don't know how anyone could relate to Light. Even as angsty teen nothing he did was right to me, never justified. Thank you for the amazing video, Bennett!
It has been years since I last saw your videos as I've just gone a different way in life, but coming back I have to say it's really great to see you look a lot healthier than you do. Really happy for you, man!
Great video Bennett. I feel like the best thing about this series is showing the duality of the immaturity or maturity when it comes to understanding life itself. Regardless of what age you are.
I have fond memories of reading the entire Death Note manga at my local library. I’ve always loved Light’s death scene in the manga, him dying so pathetically serves as the perfect needle to pop all his (and the audience’s) delusions of grandeur about who and what Light is. So it’s always bugged me that the anime messed with that scene, along with his characterization. Glad to hear I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
That didn't feel like an hour. This was a great essay. Looking forward to the future of this channel.
@1:02:53 Alan Moore said something similar about Rorschach fans, I can't imagine having have to deal with those psychos
I respect the restraint to not reference the "I'll take a chip... AND EAT IT!" scene.
Another gripping and thought provoking piece…if not a heavy one at the end. Bravo Sage! Bravo. Thrillingly looking forward to your anniversary piece and extending an early congratulations!
I never understood why people thought light was a good guy. I guess the protagonist lense messed with it.
Also the good guys weren’t really that good either.
Lol, I was 18 when I saw this show back in 2006. Absolutely no one that saw the show with me thought Light was a good guy. The internet just puts the worst takes to the front sometimes.
@@aggrodkreg4321 I had consistently the opposite at my college and local game store. And from fan girls at conventions. This may not have been the most prominent take but “light was right” was still a popular one.
* *randomly sees this video in my feed after years not seeing Bennett* *
Welp, no time like the present to watch a TH-camr you liked a whiles back, especially when he's covering an old anime you liked.
* *clicks* *
as a person who loves death note but never liked light even from episode one I only kept watching because I could see that they were going eventually catch him I didn't think it was going to take so long but it was a great ride and honestly it boggles my mind that anyone could see all the horrendous things that light does and be ok with it to me he was the perfect example of the ends justify the means mentality and if you know anything about that mentality it is one that has led to some of the worst tragedies in history and definitely not something you want to emulate
Bennett just took the Sigma joke as genuine...Bruh. Maybe there's like 2-3 tops, but most of it is a joke. It's literally a joke of another joke. Next he's going to get mad at "Meninist" or the "Super Straight". These are jokes. Meant to mock those ideas. Likewise, most people are saying Light is extremely intelligent but still wrong and an idiot overall. The STORY calls him highly intelligent, that doesn't mean it's not also saying he's really really wrong. Two things can be true at once. I get it, people who say Eren did nothing wrong make me angry too, but the majority recognize genocide isn't good.
One of your best essays
Light is an example of a disturbingly true thing... those with the arrogance to think they know what's best for all, are the most dangerous to us all.
man we have completely different views on how Light dies.
Given, it was a while ago i saw it, but as i remember it, he dies not in a sympathetic way, but as a coward, defeated long ago only now realizing it. Didnt get the sympathy angle at all, the closest thing we get is the small feeling of "What if" when we see the apparition of L, serving as a slight reminder of who defeated Light, and what Light could have become if he didnt go "Look at me, im Jason VoorJesus!"
Also, i´ve always viewed this show as a analogy for the rise and fall of fashism.
The argument of "Light was right" feels eerily similar to the more recent "Thanos was right" argument, imo. Might be interesting to see in 10 or 15 years to see if that argument still holds water for teens and young adults who grew up with Infinity War/Endgame as a huge part of their life.
Bennett you truly are a Sage. What a wonderfully put together and thought-provoking analysis of such a momentous manga.
I watched you religiously back in the TGWTG-era, and now i've had a kind of Bennett-renaissanse. I have binge-watched hours of your content to catch up, and i'm glad you are still doing content! Thank you for giving this humble nerd content to enjoy!
On another NOTE, my sister of all people introduced me to Death Note back in the day in 2008, and i gobbled it up in all it's fansubbed glory. After a weekend of non-stop Death Note, i was totally a fan of the story and it left me thinking all the twists and turns and all the logical puzzles the story gave for us and the characters to chew upon. A rare 10/10 anime.
I'm kinda bummed that both Light and L ultimately just turned out to be trademark psychopaths. I never actually rooted for either of them because they seem more like ridiculously advanced A.I's than actual people. To me, at least. Which is weird, cuz for some weird reason, I actually like Near more than anyone else, despite the fact that he's even 'worse' than they are. I guess it's cuz he's so young and so outlandishly intelligent/mature for his age that his alien-ness makes him very interesting to watch. Not saying he's a good character by any stretch of the imagination, just that the juxtaposition of being a hyper-competent/serious tween that literally still plays with children's toys was oddly engaging.
If it's any consolation, people are already reevalutating the series just by reading the manga. A couple panels showing that Light wanted to kill "unproductive" members of society even if they didn't committ any crimes have been making the rounds on Twitter, Tumblr & Reddit. This, combined with the fact that he's the son of a fairly well-off cop has made people realise that Light is just a pompous, spoiled brat acting out on his fantasies and god complex with no consequences.
Besides, if he *really* wanted to be "justice", he'd go after billionaires & demagogues instead of petty criminals.
If he went after those people he wouldn't be any more "just" it didn't matter top or bottom to snuff a life by the flick of a pen. Is something nobody should be able to do.
Aaaaa it's out ! Thank you so much for your hardwork, Bennett!
Light never grew up, and never will, but we do, and that's something I will always be thankful for. Childhood is wanting to be Light Yagami, Adulthood is wishing to be anything *but* Light Yagami~
Also, I love me some villains and/or morally dubious characters, heck I RP as some on tumblr and discord, but it's always endlessly frustrating when people take those same villains as reacting the way they do to conflict as something admirable. Like, don't get me wrong, they were valid/understandable for reacting that way, but that doesn't mean it was right.
Then the extreme on the other end is that exploring said villain is 'excusing their actions'. They would say because the character believed it was the right thing to do, that *you* think it's the right thing to do in that situation. Like that waffle/pancake tweet.
really, I think the discussion of villains is kinda borked unless people learn how to separate fiction and reality...
PS; Neil Breen and Light Yagami are similar? Why would you say something so based???
Loved it! This one was a hard-hitting nostalgia trip, as I was one of the high schoolers who did see Death Note as their first "real, adult anime". I remember how big it got, even in the rural area I was in; kids from all cliques were able to bond over the fact they liked it, and every demographic was jamming to Maximum the Hormone.
It's a bit off from the thesis of this video, but I do find it interesting you never drew parallels between Death Note and Carl Maria von Webber's opera, Der Freischutz. Two men, ultimately given the objects of their own destruction by a supernatural force, who then use it to their advantages.
What a really interesting and eye opening view of death note, also not expecting neil breen being mentioned, but never gonna refuse a neil appearance, and more if it's actually to serve a really good point. Your last videos have been so good, touching and impactful to me, really appreciate the effort
I could never get into Death Note. Not only was Light Yagami irredeemable, but his god complex was bizarrely immediate after killing a handful of criminals. It would have been more interesting if he'd gradually gotten more extreme over the course of the series before going full megalomaniac. Although apparently some people still wouldn't get the point, since Walter White fans didn't.
The Manga had better pacing before the 'I Am God' thing.
And some writers still didn't learn how to pace a budding god-complex after that (see Academia, My Hero).
Wonderful video, man. It was entertaining, engaging insightful, and really made me think about Death Note in way I hadn't considered before. Plus, I never imagined I'd see Death Note and Neil Breen mentioned in the same video. Well done!
Fantastic work on the video!
Imagine going to Japan and finding a DENNYS and some super obscure anime...but NO Death Note merch. lol
DENNYS