First released in Japan in 2003, Death Note was a worldwide sensation gathering fans from all over the world because of its unique characters, unpredictable plot twists, and dark themes.
However, although the series has gained much praise and popularity from many, the series was unfortunately banned in several countries due to its themes. Here are some of the many reasons why the series was banned in some countries.
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The Story
The story follows the life of a young intelligent high schooler, Light Yagami, who one day discovers a book called “Death Note”, the book belonged to Ryuk, a Shinigami otherwise known as a death god. Light finds out that once a person’s name is written in the book, they will die.With this new-found power, Light believes it his duty to rid the world of all the evildoers and criminals and begins writing all their names in the book. The show spans for 37 nail-biting episodes of Light’s mission to rid the world of evil while battling equally intelligent people (such as L) concealing his identity from others, so he can become a God.
But as his power drives him paranoid and insane, he abuses his newfound power to kill others in order to hide his identity. He goes by the alias Kira and executes all his plans in secret or either get others to do his bidding. The unpredictable nature of the storylinehas the viewers and readersat the end edge of their seats as there is always a twist to the story somewhere.
Reasons For The Ban
One of the primary reasons Death Note was banned in some countries was because of its violent and graphic content. The scenes of suicide, violence,bloodshed, and murder can bequite disturbing to some viewers and this had led to its ban in countries such as Russia and China where the anime was banned due to concerns about its violent content. Some countries also banned Death Note due to its religious and cultural content, the series features a death god named Ryuk who is seen as a supernatural being with the power to kill people.
This led to its ban in China as the country has strict rules against depicting supernatural beings. China also banned Death Note because students started creating their own Death Notes and began writing the names of the students and teachers they hated. This sparked controversy across the country which resulted in the school banning the use of customized notebooks. Parents believed that the influence thatDeath Notewas having a strong negative effect on theminds of their children.
The series also highlights themes such as suicide and self-harm and this has raised red flags in many countries as they believed it could have an effect on young people struggling with mental health issues. Along with Death Note, Russia also banned several popular anime such asTokyo GhoulandInuyashikias they believed it had a negative effect on young people. The series has also beencriticized for its portalof morality and ethics as the protagonist becomes a cold-blooded killer and spirals out of control. Some countries also banned the series due to concerns about its potential to promote “anti-social behavior” and “moral corruption”.
It is important to note that each country has it own legislation and laws when it comes to media content that is distributed and each government has their own reasons for the bans, this is mostly a combination of the above-mentioned reasons which deemed it inappropriate for certain audiences. However, despite the bans, Death Note is still a popular series worldwide andhas been praisedfor its unique storyline, underlining themes of life and death and Light’s journey to power and his downfall.
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