Top 10 things I learned from Death Note  

Top+10+things+I+learned+from+Death+Note%C2%A0%C2%A0

Sam Alapeck, Contributor

Don’t become power-hungry 

Light Yagami, the main character, was an affable straight-A student who was well-liked among his peers and aspired to be like his father who fought for justice. He was a decent human being until he found the death note. He promised himself he would make the world a better place, which is fine… Until he developed a god complex which led to his demise.  

Manipulative relationships 

Misa Amane let Light use her because she hoped for a future in which she and light would live peacefully and become king and queen of the “new world.” Light is very wrong for controlling Misa, but Misa is at the most fault for letting it happen in the first place. 

Power is dangerous in the wrong hands 

In the real world, we can see what happens when politicians, CEOs, and Judges corrupt the power they have been given. You would have thought that Light was an average, decently moral human being, right? Well, as soon as he gets his hands on the death note, he shows his true colors. 

There is no such thing as a utopia 

For centuries, we have always wanted a perfect society without violence, racism, or any of life’s random injustices. Light, being as smart as he is, would have to know to some extent that there will never be a perfect world. Yet, he attempts to make it happen anyway, and kills those who are against him and his ideals! This is what is known as a dictatorship. 

“In this world, there are very few people who actually trust each other.”  

These are Light’s words, and he isn’t too far off. You would tell your best friend all your secrets, wouldn’t you? What about your favorite teacher? Your mom? More than likely, you probably said, “Well, yeah, of course! Just not (insert deep dark secret here).” Why is that? It is because there is always the fear of gossip or backstabbing.  

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer 

L is against light because he suspects light of being the mysterious mass murderer known as “Kira”. To prove Himself innocent, light volunteers to work with L to solve the case. Over time, L starts to bond with Light, so much that he appoints him to become his successor. And how does Light repay him? By tricking Rem (a death god) into writing down L’s true name so that he dies.  

People are the root of all evil  

You know the saying “ money is the root of all evil”? Well, believe it or not, it’s not money that makes man evil. It’s what man does for money that makes them evil. That being said, tracing back to how I said that there is no such thing as a perfect society,  the reason also why that is, is because a perfect society wouldn’t have society in the equation at all. Mankind has been corrupt ever since the beginning, And Light knows this, and ironically becomes what he wanted to destroy: a murderer.  

 Sometimes the price of love is too much. 

Shinigami are gods of death. They just look down and decide whose turn it is to croak. Shinigami aren’t supposed to have feelings for humans,(feelings so strong that they would kill for said human ) Rem tells Misa that this is how you kill a Shinigami. Misa then turns around and tells Light this. He soon uses Rem’s love for Misa as a way to kill L. He tells Rem that L will kill Misa, and so Rem kills L. But Rem plays the ultimate price. Her life as a Shinigami. 

 Don’t mistreat the supernatural  

Throughout the series Light basically treats Ryuk (the Shinigami who dropped the death note on earth because he was bored ) really badly. He acts like Ryuk’s presence doesn’t phase him. He also calls Ryuk ugly and deprives him of his apples.  Ryuk has withdrawal symptoms from this. And yet he still helps light hide the notebook and still sticks by him. In the end, when Light dies, it is because Ryuk wasn’t going to wait for Light in prison to get his notebook back.  

 Goodwill always triumph over evil 

Now, normally we don’t root for the villain in a story, right? Well, the first time I watched Death Note  I kind of wanted light to win. ( kind of is an understatement) But L was determined to stop “Kira” of course, he lost his part of the battle.  The rest of the world started to bow down to “Kira” the only opposition was L’s other successor, Near. Near was clever enough to switch the pages in the death note with regular paper. He waited to see, once he was trapped if Light would pick up the book and write everyone’s names down. Trick after trick exchanged by Light and Near, Light realizes there is no way out. Matsuda,  a friend of his father’s shoots light in the shoulder to immobilize him. Light still decides to make a run for it, and just ends up dying on the stairs of a nearby warehouse.