Death Note and why its Evil. - And why if you like it, you are evil too.

Dude, it's just a "what if?" story inspired by Japanese urban legends and Shintoism, which is a different Religion than Christianity.

You seem to take great offense at something Japanese taking cues from... Japanese culture?

I agree it has a nihilistic tone, it was never one of my favorites, it's not high on my list of 2000s anime I'm real nostalgic for (but I'm glad for anything from the decade that is still well remembered by younger weebs), but a lot of manga has a nihilistic tone and sometimes that can be fun, but I prefer stuff like Gantz which has loads of nudity and gore, Death Note feels a bit tame when compared to something like that, it's "babby's first edgy manga", it's an edgy manga on training wheels.

But you can enjoy a piece of media without agreeing with it's worldview or morals, you're like a Woke person in getting so upset that something doesn't share your views and decrying fans as "bad people" for liking something, get over yourself, pearl clutching over media is irritating behavior whether it's coming from the right or the left.

Also, a work of art can explore themes without necessarily fully endorsing it, just because a work explores nihilism doesn't mean the creator's intent is to say "yes, this is the only correct way of looking at the world", I mean look at the world around you today and tell me nihilism isn't a tempting worldview, why shouldn't art deal with it?
 
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mindlessobserver said:
I got as far as I could. As I pointed out, what did it for me was when the lady detective was killed by Light. The show really could not redeem itself for me at that point, because it implied at a fundamental level even the "just" could be supernaturally killed. I really cannot stress enough how much the scene of that woman walking to gallows enraged me. It was a direct challenge to the western world view of justice and the divine. Done pretty gleefully it needs to be noted. There is a reason lights Shinigami is dressed as a jester. Death Notes creator was going all out to slay sacred cows in order to push his nihilistic world view.


I am wrong about Death Note being a magnum opus to Nihilistic philosophy? Please explain how the show is not nihilistic.
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mindlessobserver said:
Probably, but for some reason me disliking Death Note and viewing its fans as bad morally, really upset people. So I want to explore why. I really want to understand why so many people around here like this nihilistic trash.
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I'll give you this, you're very dedicated to the shitpost gimmick on this one.
 
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Dom Cruise said:
Dude, it's just a "what if?" story inspired by Japanese urban legends and Shintoism, which is a different Religion than Christianity.

You seem to take great offense at something Japanese taking cues from... Japanese culture?

I agree it has a nihilistic tone, it was never one of my favorites, it's not high on my list of 2000s anime I'm real nostalgic for (but I'm glad for anything from the decade that is still well remembered by younger weebs), but a lot of manga has a nihilistic tone and sometimes that can be fun, but I prefer stuff like Gantz which has loads of nudity and gore, Death Note feels a bit tame when compared to something like that, it's "babby's first edgy manga", it's an edgy manga on training wheels.

But you can enjoy a piece of media without agreeing with it's worldview or morals, you're like a Woke person in getting so upset that something doesn't share your views and decrying fans as "bad people" for liking something, get over yourself, pearl clutching over media is irritating behavior whether it's coming from the right or the left.

Also, a work of art can explore themes without necessarily fully endorsing it, just because a work explores nihilism doesn't mean the creator's intent is to say "yes, this is the only correct way of looking at the world", I mean look at the world around you today and tell me nihilism isn't a tempting worldview, why shouldn't art deal with it?
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Well, when you put it like that I may have to give it another look. In general I really don't like Nihilism as a default, and it was impossible for me to get past the initial hump where it was rubbed in my face. If we are getting really anime autistic, I much preferred Angel Beats when it came to Japanese religious meditations in Anime.

Ugh fine. I am being a moral fag. I'll admit it. Putin is still dying of cancer though.
 
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mindlessobserver said:
I got as far as I could. As I pointed out, what did it for me was when the lady detective was killed by Light. The show really could not redeem itself for me at that point, because it implied at a fundamental level even the "just" could be supernaturally killed. I really cannot stress enough how much the scene of that woman walking to gallows enraged me. It was a direct challenge to the western world view of justice and the divine. Done pretty gleefully it needs to be noted. There is a reason lights Shinigami is dressed as a jester. Death Notes creator was going all out to slay sacred cows in order to push his nihilistic world view.
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So you're saying you get upset when the villain in the tv show does bad things to good people, because that reflects on some nihilistic Christ-hating worldview the author holds. You didn't stop to think that that's pretty normal behavior for a villain? They do evil things to escalate tension, raise the stakes, and prove to the audience that they need to be stopped and deserve the gruesome death the author has in store for them.

To use another media analogy like in the funny pictures thread, this is like reading The Killing Joke and getting so mad at the part where Joker kidnaps and tortures the Gordons that you stop reading there and think that's what the book is about, completely missing the part where Batman swings in, chokes him out and saves them.
 
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Dom Cruise said:
Dude, it's just a "what if?" story inspired by Japanese urban legends and Shintoism, which is a different Religion than Christianity.
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>imagine not being able to bracket your experience and learn something from another culture’s perspective
it’s just an okay show imo. when I watched it i liked how it felt like two forces going against each other rather than good and evil. More like Light represented control and L represented free will. The morals of both weren’t something that mattered to me. Light only harmed criminals at first and then started on the police because they were trying to protect the bad guys from him.

I looked at it less as good vs evil and more like man vs man.

Edit:
second season sucks btw
 
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TenMilesWide said:
So you're saying you get upset when the villain in the tv show does bad things to good people, because that reflects on some nihilistic Christ-hating worldview the author holds. You didn't stop to think that that's pretty normal behavior for a villain? They do evil things to escalate tension, raise the stakes, and prove to the audience that they need to be stopped and deserve the gruesome death the author has in store for them.

To use another media analogy like in the funny pictures thread, this is like reading The Killing Joke and getting so mad at the part where Joker kidnaps and tortures the Gordons that you stop reading there and think that's what the book is about, completely missing the part where Batman swings in, chokes him out and saves them. I seem to remember people actually doing that relatively recently.
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Is Light actually the villain? I got the vibe he was the antihero. Fair enough. I will entertain the idea I am wrong here and actually buckle down and actually watch this thing from start to finish.
 
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mindlessobserver said:
Is Light actually the villain? I got the vibe he was the antihero. Fair enough. I will entertain the idea I am wrong here and actually buckle down and actually watch this thing from start to finish.
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I think people only called him an antihero at the time because they weren't quite getting the villain protagonist thing and thought there would be a swerve later on, but he's pretty explicitly the villain. The show plays out as a cat and mouse game where Light just barely keeps winning by hastily killing someone he probably shouldn't have (and, being full of hubris, thinking he got away with it) until the trail of bodies leads straight to him.
 
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Wasn't the entire point of Death Note's story that blindly and violently pursuing justice is wrong? Sure, Light's initial motives are understandable and easy to agree with. Still, throughout the anime we see him killing innocents and petty criminals for the "greater good", as well as manipulating everyone around him to achieve his goal. It shows the human cost of what he deems justice, and in the end, he becomes just as evil and demented as the criminals he sought out to kill.

It also shows that the law isn't inherently just or benevolent. While L aims to stop Light, the only reason he does so is because he finds it fun, and views the entire situation as a game. He doesn't actually care about the innocent people being murdered. This is juxtaposed by Matsuda and Soichiro, who are entirely motivated to stop Kira because they genuinely do care for those Kira targets.

It's a cautionary tale with no real heroes involved. It's supposed to motivate you to think more about what you deem justice, and what should be sacrificed to attain it.

I mean yeah, religiously it doesn't impart a very nice view of the world, but neither does a lot of Japanese art. Also, it's crime thriller manga for teens, it's not really meant to get that philosophical,
 
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Wait... you've seen only 5 episodes?
So you never even got to see L except on a monitor once.
The battle of wits between L and Light is the main reason anybody cares about this show and you've never even seen it, yet you're attempting to analyze it.

Good job, bruh.
 
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The whole point is that Light goes from a fairly nice young man into a monster. He goes from killing actual rapists and murders to basically anyone whom he views as a violent criminal to people investigating him for becoming judge, jury, and executioner.

The series went on for way too long. It really should of just been the cops being able to pin him down even after L died.
I wouldn’t say it’s nihilist, more cynical. The Trump short was pretty good, Deathnote really is best when it’s like a Twilight Zone episode.
 
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