Faculty of Humanities

Alice Ylinen

I Am Justice!
Moral Relativity and Antiheroes in Death Note

Film Studies
D-level Thesis

Date/Term: 2010-11-19
Supervisor: Patrik Sjöberg
Examiner: John Sundholm
Serial Number: X-XX XX XX

Karlstads universitet 651 88 Karlstad

Tfn 054-700 10 00 Fax 054-700 14 60
1 Information@kau.se www.kau.se
Abstract
What is moral? Since natural and empirical science emerged and shattered our old
metaphysical way of understanding the world, our moral values are no longer decided for us
by an absolute God, but something that we have to decide for ourselves. By which premises
do we decide what makes an act good or bad? That is something that I have investigated in
this research, along with a closer look at a character that often finds himself in the borderland
between the two, the Antihero. To answer these questions I have chosen to analyze the
anime-series (Tetsurō Araki, 2006) and its main character Light Yagami. My
research is conducted with a Semiotic method and based on social psychological theories. In
the analysis I have chosen to focus on the social discourse that characterizes , an
analysis of the main character and a semiotic study of the symbolism in some stills from the
series. I have come to the conclusion that many aspects play a part when it comes to how we
interpret good and evil. Some have a way of looking at it, and decide the rightness
or wrongness of an act based upon its consequences. From this perspective the act that brings
the largest amount of happiness to the largest amount of people, is always morally justifiable.
Others have a way of thinking, and means that some actions can be
morally justified no matter what consequences that follow, because the act itself remains
wrong. The complexity of morality rises, as one begins to understand that some killers can
still be heroes, and out of the evildoers, very few consider themselves as evil but simply
trying to do the right thing. Can there be evil without an evil person responsible for it?

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction 4
1.1 Background 4
1.2 Aim of Study 5
1.3 Delimitations 5
1.4 Outline 5

2. Field of Research: Antiheroes in Film Theory 6

3 Theoretical Framework 8
3.1 Social Psychology 8

4. Method 9
4.1 The Semiotic Analysis 10
4.2 Discourses and Power Structures 10
4.3 Comments on Method 11

5. Death Note 11
5.1 Social Outlook 12
5.2 Character Analysis 15
5.3 Symbolism 18

6. Summary 24

7. Conclusion 25

8. References 27

3
1. Introduction
My essay revolves around the contemporary anime series (Tetsurō Araki, 2006).
has a dark storyline which raises many complex questions of moral character.
The main character Light Yagami is introduced as an extremely intelligent, attractive, athletic
and all-around successful High School-student. He comes from a loving upper middle class
family with a father who is a high ranked police officer and a strong role model for Light,
who also wishes to join the police force one day when he gets older. But watching the society
around him becoming more violent and criminal by the day he has become bitter, and his
faith in humanity is weak. One day he decides to take action and make society a better place
himself – by killing off all criminals. Light is driven by a strong sense of justice and claiming
to support the innocent, but his favour of using unconventional methods to ensure that
righteousness is done makes him a contradictory and complex character.

1.1 Background
Our definition of heroes and villains are constantly changing. In their fictional universes,
there are superheroes that are looked upon with admiration and considered to be important
leaders of society, and there are superheroes that are looked upon with scepticism or even
hatred. Heroes and villains often mirror each other in their powers and abilities, with the
major difference that the hero is using his/her power to help others and the villain is using it
for selfish purposes. I will look closer at a character that is a complex hybrid between these
two stereotypes, namely the Antihero. The origin of the antihero goes back to the era of
. Mark T. Conrad ( , 2006) means that the classic film noir
period falls between 1941 and 1958. This was a period which also lasted from America’s
involvement in the World War II through to the post-war era, and it is easy to see how the
constant presence of crime and violence, as well as the pessimistic and dark feeling of the
film is a reflection of this era. The film noir is characterized by its claustrophobic settings in
deep shadows and rain swept streets, where it always seems to be night. 1 It was also in these
movies that the traditional antihero character was first introduced. The antihero is not the
typical “good guy”, but not your average villain either. He often possesses a strong sense of
justice and wants to fight crime, but, unlike the hero, his decisions and actions (however good
intended) are often questionable from a moral point of view.

1
Conrad, 1-2 (2006)

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1.2 Aim of Study
One of the greater questions that I am going to investigate in my essay is whether wrong
actions remain wrong, even if they avert a greater evil. Light Yagami kills thousands of
villains, with the aim to make society a better place. But can killing ever be justified?

· How is the contemporary society and social outlook described?

· What is Light rebelling against? What motivates him? What is he trying to achieve?
· How is Light portrayed as an individual? Does he resemble a hero, an anti-hero or a
villain? And how are the respectively “good” and “evil” features manifested through
the characters personality, feelings, intentions and actions?
· What defines “good” and “evil”, and what actions are “allowed” to take on, in order
to reclaim Justice?

1.3 Delimitations
From the beginning, I had plans on conducting a comparative analysis between the main
character of and the main character in the novel
(Dostoevsky, 1866). I found them to be very alike in many ways, and wanted to know if they
could have something in common despite one being written in 1866 and one produced in
2006. Though I still think the idea is interesting I found it hard to motivate the choice of
material, and decided to change direction of the analysis and concentrate on and
Light Yagami alone. There was also the question whether I was going to base my essay upon
the anime or the latter live-action movies (Shusuke Kaneko,
2006) and (Hideo Nakata, 2008) and although it gave me considerably
more material to research I decided on the anime, since I thought that it was more complex
and followed the storyline of the original manga better.

1.4 Outline
My essay begins with a short introduction of the subject, followed by an explanation of the
background, aim of the study and delimitations. In section two I will present the film
theoretical field of research under the headline “Antiheroes in Film Theory” and bring up
some literature that discusses the hero, the villain and the antihero and what constitute and
separate these stereotypes. In section three I will introduce the theoretical framework of

5
Social Psychology. Under section four I will explain my method of choice; the Semiotic
analysis, and the Discourse analysis, followed by some comments on the method. Section
five will consist of my actual analysis; where I begin by presenting the material underlying
my research; the anime-series , followed by an analysis of the social outlook in
, a character analysis of the protagonist and some thoughts on the symbolism in
the series. In section 6 I will sum up my analysis and section 7 will consist of a conclusion of
my work.

2. Field of Research: Antiheroes in Film Theory

On literature concerning heroes, antiheroes and villains from a film theoretical point of view I
have chosen the book !" # "
(2009), edited by Ben Dyer. The book contains about 20 philosophic texts, concerning
supervillains and antiheroes from various comic books and movies. Among the texts I have
found interesting are “V for Villain$ by Robert Arp, and “Who Trusts the Watchmen?” by
Rafaela Hillerbrand and Anders Sandburg. “V for Villain” is about % % (comic
book series by Alan Moore, 1982-1989, and adapted to film by James McTeigue, 2006),
which has a similar story to . The question at issue here is whether V’s killing is
justified or not. Much like Light he also considers himself to be doing society a favour, by
cleansing it from evil and unworthy people. Arp gets into the subject of , coined
by J. S. Mill (1806-1873), which basically means that an action is morally justified as far as
its consequences benefits the most people affected by the decision. In practice this implies
that treating people as means is legitimate, and even if, say, a hundred people were to get
killed in the process of protecting the majority from some greater evil, this would be morally
correct, 2 an attitude that Light also favours. Therefore – what is Moral? The text “Who
Trusts the Watchmen?” discusses (comic book series by Alan Moore, 1986-1987,
and film adaption by Zack Snyder, 2009) on the basis of the same exact question. One of the
main characters in , called Rorschach, has a view quite opposite to V’s – he
believes that wrong actions remain wrong, evil if they serve a greater purpose. 3 Hillerbrand
and Sandburg refer this way of moral thinking to deontological ethics, which suggests that
the righteousness of an action is not decided by the consequences of the action, but by the
action itself – thus, there are some actions which will remain “wrong”, no matter what

2
Arp, 44-45 (1999)
3
Hillerbrand and Sandburg, 105 (1999)

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consequences that follows them. And one of these actions is – according to Rorschach’s’ way
of thinking – murder, which can never be forgiven. 4

&' (2005), edited by Tim

Morris and Matt Morris is another book from the same series as
, and it also contains a number of philosophic texts, but this time on the subject of
heroes. In the text (With Great Powers Comes Great Responsibility: On the Moral Duties of
the Super-Powerful and Super-Heroic” Christopher Robichaud again brings up the problems
of . He points out one of the problems with the philosophy to be its handling of
justice. In the comic ' ) * + (Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan,
1996), the Joker is supposedly convicted to death for a crime that he (for once) did not
commit. Batman knows that Joker is innocent, but from a utilitarian way of looking, the
greatest good for society is surely produced by let this villain die anyway. But by letting the
Joker die for a crime that he did not commit, Batman would be acting unjust. And since no
one should be obligated to act unjust, the utilitarianism fails. 5 Light’s thoughts are close to
this way of reasoning, but he ends up thinking that although his actions in themselves are
wrong, he will take it upon himself to pay the prize for that with his own soul and mind, for
the greater good of society.

Another book which brings up the subject of antiheroes is

(2006), edited by Mark T. Conrad. Conrad here discusses the themes of classic film noir from
a philosophical outlook. He defines the typical themes of film noir to be:
· Inversion of traditional values and corresponding moral ambivalence (since the
protagonist of a film is traditionally good, but in film noir he often makes
questionable moral decisions)
· Reason versus passion in human decision-making and acting
· Feelings of alienation, paranoia, cynicism and pessimism
· Meaning of life
· Presence of crime and violence
· Disorientation of the spectator 6

4
Hillerbrand and Sandburg, 105-106 (1999)
5
Robichaud, 183 (2005)
6
Conrad, 1-2 (2006)

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The protagonist that acts and makes questionable moral decisions is the typical image of an
antihero, and the antihero is often associated to film noir. However, in my opinion
also shares many of the other typical themes of film noir, such as the focus on crime,
feeling of paranoia and pessimism, and the rejection of traditional ideas about morality. 7

3. Theoretical Framework
The centre of gravity will lie on the construction of Good and Evil, from a social
psychological outlook. In (1999) Alfred R. Lindesmith, Anshelm L.
Strauss and Norman K. Denzin explains social psychology as an interdisciplinary scholar
between sociology and psychology that focuses on the relations between people, both on an
individual level and as groups. The approach on the field is often directed towards trying to
explain how the thoughts, feelings and development of a personal and social identity on an
individual level are influenced and shaped by the surrounding society. 8 I find it to be a
discipline well fitting for my analysis, since I do not only wish to examine the main character
alone, but also how he interact with other people, and how the people around him interpret
him (versus how he view himself).

3.1 Social Psychology

Among the literature that discusses morality and the definition of “good” and “evil”
, (2004) edited by Arthur G. Miller and - . /
+ (2009) by Mark Cooney are the two key pieces within the area of
social psychology. Cooney handles the subjects of “moral relativity”, how people’s view on
homicide is severely separated based on what society they live in and what values that they
have been raised with. In his conclusion, he defines the “perfect murder”, based on pure
sociological values. That is to say, from which social class the killer should preferably come
from, his or her civil status, reputation/participation in the community and of course by which
means you take the life of the other person and in turn what status the victim is considered to
have. 9 Statistically all of these facts play their part when society as a group calculates the
“level” of good/evil and weighs them against the prevailing circumstances of the crime.
, also focuses on terms like “evildoers” versus “heroes” –
who and what defines these expressions, and what values are they filled with. Miller

7
Conrad, 7 (2006)
8
Lindesmith, Strauss and Denzin, 3 (1999)
9
Cooney, 196-197 (2009)

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investigates how and why people could do evil things against other people and if certain
circumstances, society and culture might play a part to why they commit these actions, or if
there are simply something particular about these individuals, which he emphasizes that the
media often claims. 10 Roy F. Baumeister and Kathleen D. Vohs bring up the relativities and
roots of evil in the chapter “Four Roots of Evil”. They soon explain that the study of evil is
seemingly paradox. On one hand there are people performing violent and hurtful acts, but on
the other hand hardly anyone recognizes himself or herself as evil. Ironically, many of those
who have conducted cruel acts have regarded themselves as trying their best to do something
noble. How can there be so many evil acts without evil perpetrators? 11 They come to the
conclusion that the question of why people perform evil deeds is almost unanswerable, since
so few consider themselves as evil. However, an understanding of evil and violence should
begin with an appreciation of the different perspectives of victim and perpetrator, since the
two parties often have remarkably different perceptions of what emerged. 12 Apart from the
general discussion of evil, they also try to develop four different roots of evil and here I find
the third root of evil to be of most relevance to my study, since it matches Lights profile very
well. The third root of evil is motivated by idealism – “doing good by doing bad”. It consists
of people who are motivated by high-minded, “positive” ideals and they regard violence as a
necessary means, though often still distasteful and regrettable. Baumeister and Vohs also note
that this root of evil also has the largest body count, including the Stalinist purges in the
Soviet Union and the Cultural Revolution in Maoist China as good examples. Both are
estimated to have killed 20 million people, but were tragically enough guided but by creating
a socialist utopia in which everyone would be equal and care for each other. 13

4. Method
I have chosen to study the anime-series (Tetsurō Araki, 2006), by using a
Semiotic method, combined with theories from Social Psychology. I find the Semiotics to be
a rewarding method, which functions to interpret the symbolism in both my analysis of Light
as a character, and the social outlook (discourse) of the series. This analysis focuses a lot on
moral relativity, mainly since the main character of the series is an antihero that often makes
very questionable moral decisions, therefore, I will also spend an amount of time trying to
explain what constitutes good and evil, from a Social Psychological point of view.
10
Miller , xi (2004)
11
Baumeister and Vohs, 85 (2004)
12
Baumeister and Vohs, 99-100 (2004)
13
Baumeister and Vohs, 93 (2004)

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4.1 The Semiotic Analysis
My study conducted is based on semiotic analysis. Semiotic theorists claim that is
ascribed to objects as an affect of signification. 14 Broadly speaking there are two different
schools of tradition in semiotics, stemming from the Swiss linguist Ferdinande de Saussure
(1857-1913) and the American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce (1839-1914), 15 by which
I will work from the Piercean tradition. The is the form which the sign takes
and the is the sense made of the sign. Pierce has developed a typology of the
different signs and presents an explanation of the three most basic types of signs:
1. is a mode where the representamen does not resemble the interpretant.
The link between them is arbitrary or conventional (for example: national flags,
numbers or the rose as a symbol for love).
2. is a mode where the representamen resembles or “imitates” the interpretant
(for example: a portrait, a scale-model or metaphors).
3. is a mode in which the relation between the representamen and the
interpretant is not arbitrary, but directly connected in some way (physically or
causally), a connection that can be viewed or inferred (for example: smoke, footprints,
medical symptoms, or a ringing doorbell).

4.2 Discourses and Power Structures

A concept closely connected with the semiotic theory and often used in relation with it, is
. Simon Lindgren ( 0) 1 &2 + , 2005)
explains the term discourse as the prevailing behavioural pattern within a certain group of
people: a system of established and prevailing rules and practices that brings sense and
importance to our expressions. The theory of discourses might help us to understand why
some things feel easier to think, say and grasp than others. 16 Stuart Hall (#
# , 1997) underlines the fact that there is no
all-encompassing system of meaning, but several systems that varies from one discourse to
another. A discourse defines its own rules and what is accepted within that particular
discourse, and thereby it also limits other behaviours and expressions. Things might have a

14
O’Sullivan , 93 (1994)
15
Chandler, 5 (2002)
16
Lindgren, 124 (2005)

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real and material existence in the world, but the of the object is given within the
discourse. 17

4.3 Comments on Method

Even though I have chosen the method that I found most appropriate for my research, there
are always some problems that you need to be aware of. My analysis is of qualitative
character, which makes it valid only for my material of choice, the . To increase
the representation of my research I could have performed a quantitative analysis where I
looked at several movies and compared them, or even yet, as I thought from the beginning a
comparison between a novel and anime series, which are both different kind of works from
different times and directed towards different audiences. Still, I believe that my study can
contribute to testing the value of concepts borrowed from Social Psychology in the analysis
of moral relativity and the Antihero character in film, which in turn can be useful in film
studies when evaluating moral aspects of good and evil, and not least when investigating the
difference between heroes, villains and antiheroes. I also believe that a qualitative study
could provide a more comprehensive analysis regarding itself, since a qualitative
research brings upon not only the question of " things are, but also " .

5. Death Note
The work that I have chosen for my analysis is , directed by Tetsurō Araki (based
on the manga, written by Tsugumi Ohba). is a contemporary anime series that
takes place in a modern, but crime-struck society. The main character of the series is Light
Yagami, a diligent and popular High School-student. In the beginning of the series he picks
up a notebook from the ground, in which it says that any human whose name is written in that
book shall die. Light dismisses it as a ploy at first but decides to try it out anyway out of
curiosity. When he discovers that the Death Note is real he decides that he is going to use it to
kill criminals in order to create a utopian world without crime. To kill someone he needs to
know what that person looks like and his or her real name, in order to write it in the Death
Note. With the Death Note comes Ryuk, the (death god) who is the rightful owner
of the notebook and now has to follow Light around until he dies or gets rid of the Death
Note, but only Light can see or hear him. During the series a second person with a Death
Note and shinigami of her own also turns up, this is Misa and Rem. Misa is a young girl who

17
Hall, 44 (1997)

11
admires Kira and immediately falls in love with Light when she tracks him down. Light
thinks she is stupid, but decides to use her as a companion. No one knows who is killing all
the criminals, so in media Light goes under the name of . . Light’s biggest enemy
throughout the series is called L, a mysterious and unknown detective who is leading the
investigation against Kira, along with the chief of police who also happens to be Light’s
father Soichiro Yagami. The series follows Light and L as they start to work together on the
case, L trying to reveal Light as Kira and Light trying to reveal L’s real name, so that he can
kill him before this happens.

5.1 Social Outlook

takes place in the Kantō region in Japan, 18 in an alternate contemporary society
between the years of 2008 and 2013. 19 One of the first scenes in the series introduces Light
on his way home from school, as he passes a big television screen on the side of a building
broadcasting news. While most people rush by and not seem to pay any attention to the
newscast, Light stops for a while and watches the news, troubled, as it shows only murder
and violent crimes. This scene is repeated a couple of times, which inevitably tells us that the
crime-rate of the society is high. And while most people don’t seem to have the time or
energy to care, Light is very concerned about the problem, thus we get the impression that he
has a strong sense of justice. However, before he receives the Death Note he seems rather
jaded and bitter about it. But when the Death Note is in his possession he feels that he finally
has the power to change things, and therefore, after a brief moment of moral hesitation, he
decides that he is going to use the Death Note to create a Utopia. He does this by killing all
the criminals and ridding the world of crime and fear:

First I wrote the names of the worst criminals I could think of, like I was
cleaning up the world, one name at a time. So that eventually, no one will ever
do anything evil again. [...] Then, and only then, the world will start moving in
the right direction. It’ll be a new world, free of injustice, and populated by
people who I have judged to be honest, kind and hardworking. 20

18
This is revealed in episode 2: 3
19
This is revealed in episode 37: " 3
20
Death Note 1, # 4 17:17

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When hearing these thoughts, it is easy to draw parallels back to Baumeister and Vohs, and
their model to roots of evil. As I wrote in chapter 3.1 “Social Psychology”, their third root of
evil-profile is driven by idealism and regards violence as a necessary means to accomplish
something good. And like many leaders of war have thought before him, his narcissistic side
leads him to believe that is the right person to pass judgement onto others, which brings
connotations to Mao and Stalin, who also believed that they were doing “the right thing” for
their beloved country and for the creation of a new world. 21 Still, Light keeps his
misanthropic outlook throughout the series, with no close relationships and a general
contempt and hatred towards humanity. When he first realizes the powers of the Death Note,
he asks himself whether there is even any idea in trying to change society at all. In this scene,
you watch the people around him on the street from his point of view: there is one kid calling
his mother ugly names for being late picking him up, a couple of girls giggling while
discussing a goukon, 22 and a gang of young men on motorcycles harassing a young woman.
It is quite clear that he looks upon them as a part of a morally decayed society, as he thinks to
himself: “Once you actually start looking around, it makes you wonder if you’d be doing
society a favour by getting rid of all these people.” 23

In the 56 - -44 7 ) 8 (1995) Lidia

Blanco writes in her chapter “Heroes and Antiheroes in Todays Literature: What Kind of
Attitudes do They Promote?” that our contemporary thinkers consider society of today as an
apocalypse, in which the population are being comfortably seated to witness their own death.
It becomes more and more difficult to tell the difference between a terror film and the
newscast which shows real terror. 24 Although she analyzes a different type of media
(children’s books) I find it easy to draw parallels back to from her reasoning. She
writes that a “great battle” has taken up the field of children’s books, and that this battle is a
criticism of our dehumanized consumer-society that is decaying the heart and mind of
humanity. These books raise their trust in mankind, re-establishing justice and founding a
New Society. 25 Could it be that the depraved and criminal society of is a critique
against our own shallow consumer society where we are getting more and more numb to the
violence that goes on around us? Do we need a saviour? Do we need a . ? No one wants to

21
Baumeister and Vohs, 93 (2004)
22
A “Goukon” is a type of group blind date, popular in Japan.
23
Death Note 1, # 4 9:13
24
Blanco, 149 (1995)
25
Blanco, 150 (1995)

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be the bad guy who has to do the dirty work, but how would we react if someone started to
kill our criminals to that rate that crime started decreasing considerably, making our society a
safer and more peaceful place? Mark Cooney (- . /+ ,
2009) notes that morality is something that varies. What may be outlawed across a nation
today could have been tolerable a few decades earlier. Culture and many other aspects also
play a large part when it comes to our understanding of moral. But the most basic and widely
known moral principle has to be “Thou shalt not kill.” 26 However, even this basic principle
does not always apply, for example in times of war and in self-defence. And though it is
uncommon, Cooney means that the killing of certain enemies can even raise the killer’s
reputation among law-binding. For example, people who kill notorious criminals in
neighbourhoods ridden by crime may reap admiration and applause for their service to the
community. Killers can still be heroes. 27 When it comes to and the discourse that
Light operates in, the society becomes divided in two camps: those who dismiss Kira’s
actions as wrong and consider him an immoral murderer, and those who believe that his
actions are justified and praise him. Light, on the other hand, is under the impression that all
of the “innocent” people support him (since he considers himself to be their saviour), and all
of those who are against him eventually becomes his enemies whether they are “innocent” or
“guilty”:

: People are already putting up websites.

: “The Legend of Kira the Savior” Cool, This is about you?
: Yeah. I don’t really like how “Kira” derives from “Killer”, but that’s
how people all over the world know me as already. All you have to do is search
for “Kira”, and you’ll find tons of sites like this. Media reports still refer only to
the series of the “mysterious deaths” among violent criminals, but people all
over the world already feel it, that someone is passing judgement on them.
: Oh?
: This is what human beings are like, Ryuk. For example, say in school we
have a discussion in class, there’s no way the subject would be, “Is it all right to
kill someone evil?”, but say that was the subject. Everyone would say “That’s
wrong”. And of course, that would be the proper response. People need to
maintain that kind of façade in public. But this is what they really think.

26
Cooney, preface (2009)
27
Cooney, 6 (2009)

14
 Cowards. Nobody will acknowledge my existence openly… but out on the
anonymous Internet, Kira rules. He’s all over the place. People know. They
won’t come out and say it, but they know someone’s killing off the bad guys.
Then those with clean consciences are cheering Kira on in their hearts, while
the guilty are living in fear, waiting for judgement to strike them. This is great.
It’s going exactly as I planned… 28

One thing is for sure, and that is when the people are starting to realize that there is someone
who is killing off criminals, the crime rates is going drastically down, and in that sense Light
achieves his goal. Apart from how you look at the killings, the question also remains, whether
it is right or not to “scare” people into obeying the law; which is decided by one man (Kira),
who plays the role of the judiciary, legislature and executive power all in one, which
technically turns the society into a classical dictatorship. Light doesn’t seem to be favouring
this particular form of government, but since he doesn’t consider anyone else capable of
making things right he feel forced to take charge himself. On one hand, he believe that he is
fighting for the sake of his people, but on the other hand he also believes that he stand above
the law that he is trying to enforce, since has the right to break it. When Light reveals to
Ryuk that he is going to create a new world free of injustice that will only be populated with
good people, Ryuk comments that that would make Light the only bad person left, to which
Light replies “Huh? I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m a hardworking honor
student, who is considered to be one of Japan’s best and brightest. And I… I will become the
God of this new world!” 29 And by this time, Light already considers himself superior to the
human race, thoughts that can easily be connected to the 94 idea by Friedrich
Nietzsche, and that is something that I am going to look closer into in the following chapter.

5.2 Character Analysis

In the beginning of the series, Light is in his late adolescence and final year of High School.
He is extremely intelligent, athletic, attractive and popular. He lives with his parents and a
younger sister, his father is a police officer (and also the one who is in charge of the
investigation against “Kira”). “Kira” is given the name in the beginning of the series, when
people are starting to realize that someone is targeting and passing judgement onto criminals.

28
Death Note 2, 13:05
29
Death Note 1, # 4 17:17

15
He is not particularly fond of the name (since it derives from the English word “killer”), 30
but he enjoys the growing attention Kira recieves and this seems to feed his ego and
conceited nature, creating a twisted desire to become godlike. Light usually plans three steps
ahead and is very good at predicting every possible outcome, as well as how to avoid getting
caught. He is coldly manipulative and shows no problem in using other people as means to
reach his goals. For example, he uses Misa’s affection for him and manipulates her to give up
half her lifespan in order to get & 31 which he then uses to his own advantage. 32
Furthermore he uses Rem’s love for Misa, and has Rem to sacrifice her own life in order for
him to get rid of L. 33 However, even while being manipulative and conceited, Light is not an
actual evil person. After having killed his second victim, a biker harassing a woman, he
realizes that the Death Note is real and is overwhelmed by guilt. He realizes that what he has
done is wrong and that his actions, in some manner, are going to backfire against him (if not
by law, then by guilt):

I killed them both… I… I killed two men! Those were human lives! It won’t be
overlooked. Besides, who am I to pass judgement on others? No, wait. Maybe I’m
wrong; this is exactly what I’ve been thinking about lately. This world is rotting, and
those who are making it rot deserve to die! Someone has to do it, so why not me?
Even if it means sacrificing my own mind and soul it’s worth it, because the world
can’t go on like this! 34

Interestingly enough, Light actually consider himself to be “sacrificing himself” for a higher
purpose (the well-being of the people), and in a way he does. No, he never physically
sacrifices his own life, but he sacrifice his own mind and soul, willingly, and clearly
with a utilitarian motif. Shunsuke Kaneko, the director of the live-action film
(2006), is asked in an interview with New York Magazine whether or not he
thinks Light is that kind of character that would have gone down the corrupt path even
without the Death Note, but he answers “Without the Death Note, if he didn't see the Death
Note, he would've been a really successful, high-spirited, high moral standard lawyer.” 35

30
This is explained in episode 2: 3
31
Meaning she can see people’s real names above their heads and thereby only need to someone to be able
to kill them.
32
In episode 24: # 3
33
In episode 25: 3
34
Death Note 1, # 4 17:17
35
Kaneko in an interview by Ehren Gresehover in New York Magazine (2007)

16
And if this is really the case, Light sacrifice his life (and afterlife) in order to create an
ideal world. For one of the first things that Ryuk tells him about the Death Note, is that the
one who uses it can go neither to heaven nor to hell after death, but rather to 2:, or
“Nothingness.” It is even suggested that Light ends up becoming a new Death God in the
Shinigami Realm himself after having being killed. Philosophising about good and evil, Kira
could pass both for a hero or a villain, all depending on who is the judge. Like Cooney wrote,
killing someone does not automatically make that character a villain. A killer could still be a
hero. 36 Looking at the people around Kira, the opinions about him diverge: some see him as
their saviour and some see him as the bad guy. An important thing to remember is that Light,
in resemblance to real, non-fictional evildoers, 37 does not regard himself as evil. He knows
that his actions are wrong, but since they serve a greater purpose, he considers them justified.
One of the most famous lines from is when L is speaking to Light through a
television broadcast:

:[ 4 ] Kira, I think I’ve got a pretty good idea of

why you’re doing this. But what you are doing… is evil.
: Me… evil…? I AM JUSTICE! I’m the hero who’s liberating the people
from fear. I’m the saviour who is going to be the god of this new world. Those
who disobey God… they are the evil ones! 38

The way that he says it, makes the sentence rather ambiguous: does he mean that he is
justice, or is he even claiming that he himself justice? Making a character analysis of Light
Yagami, I would like to claim that he fits the role of the Antihero. According to Mark T
Conrad ( & 2006), the antiheroic character arose from the 1950’s
genre and is in its classical term a cynical man on the drift, preferably a cop, who
has lost the meaning and value of his life and who therefore makes questionable moral
decisions. 39 Like Light, the typical antihero have a weak faith in humanity and tend to handle
things in his own way, ignoring the law, considering that the end justify the means. This
makes him alienated, and he is often doomed already from the beginning, as a consequence
of his depravity and corruption. But also the very tone of in many ways
resembles that of a classical . It has a feeling of disorientation, pessimism and

36
Cooney, 4 (2009)
37
As noted by Baumeister and Vohs, hardly anyone recognizes himself or herself as truly & 85 (2004).
38
Death Note 2, 16:14
39
Conrad, 17 (2006)

17
rejection of traditional ideas, of what’s right and wrong. 40 Aesthetically, is often
shadowly black and white, and although it is not completely black and white has
very few colours and a dark and gloomy look. Existentialism is a main theme of the genre,
and together with the feeling of alienation and pessimism this is, according to Conrad,
influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche’s ideas about the death of God, and of how the
understanding of our existence is shattered when natural empirical science has replaced our
old metaphysical explanations of the world. He claims that we no longer have any sense of
who we are as human beings, which in turn brings out a corresponding moral ambivalence. 41
That is to say, for decades we have been imprinted with moral values from our religion, but
when natural science emerged and we began to understand that there may not be any God,
this also shattered our ideas about ourselves. If God do not decide right from wrong, but we
do, then what is moral? In one episode, Light can even be seen briefly reading a work of
Nietzsche, which may be interpreted as a reference to these themes. More likely, I also think
that it is a reference to Nietzsche’s ideas about the 94 a human who decides her
own faith. Such a person would not acknowledge any other values or laws other than those
that she has created for herself, and thus, she is able to reach beyond her own destiny. 42
Likewise, Light believes that he stands above the law, that he is superior to the rest of human
kind, and therefore, he also has the right (or as he sees it; practically the obligation) to rule
over them, since he knows better.

5.3 Symbolism
There is a lot of symbolism in . I have chosen to look a bit closer at some stills
from the series. A theme that is repeated throughout the series is when Light is close to
catching one of his victims and starts to feel superior, or the opposite, when he feels like he is
being framed and someone might reveal his identity. What happens then is that the image
turns black and white, while the characters are shown in blue (victim of/antagonist to Light)
and red (Light). In Picture 1 is Light with red hair walking across a street followed by Naomi
Misora with blue hair with Ryuk flying over them. In this scene Light thinks that he has just
found out Misoras real name (thus meaning that he is able to kill her), and that he is soon to
get rid of her. Picture 2 shows Light sitting next to his antagonist, the detective L who is
leading the investigation against Kira. L has just revealed his true identity to Light and

40
Conrad, 7 (2006)
41
Conrad (in reference to Nietzsche), 18 (2006)
42
Sjögren, 298-299 (1988)

18
thereby put him in a situation where he cannot kill L without getting suspected (which L
knows) and therefore he starts getting more and more anxious about getting caught. L is
Lights prime antagonist throughout the series. Picture 3 shows the first time Light “turns red”
in the series: it is a still shot from 00:01 seconds in the first opening with a close-up at Lights
face, as he opens his eyes which have a blood red colour. My interpretation of this colour
symbolism, is that Light turns red when he becomes . . The series then literally begin with
Kira “being awakened” (symbolically, interpreted as an ;).

19
I have chosen to look closer at some stills from the first opening (the series has two different
openings), since I think that the introduction has a very strong symbolic undertone. The first
and most obvious picture that I have chosen from the opening is this still shot, in which we
can see Light reaching out for Ryuk who is descending from the sky. Their hands meet when
Ryuk is passing on a red apple to Light, who seems to be chained to earth by handcuffs. The
sun shines brightly on Light who is dressed in a white shirt and has big angel-like wings. I
would claim that his picture is clearly a reference to Michelangelo’s +
(Picture 2), which illustrates the Biblical story from the Book of Genesis when God breathed
life into Adam, the first man. This would appear to be a semiotic which I interpret as
Ryuk the (God of Death) is bringing Light to life, or rather awakening him for his
calling. The apple in the picture with Ryuk and Light could very well be a reference to the
sinful apple of wisdom from the Bible, which Ryuk gives to Light in the series in the form of
the Death Note. While we in Michelangelo’s painting can witness God create life, we can
instead see the opposite in the still from : namely a death god (Ryuk) creating
death, by giving Light the apple. The fact that Light is bathing in sunshine and has wings also
gives the impression that he is more than human, he is some sort of angel (clearly not
godlike, since he is bound to earth by chains) chosen to pass on divine judgement by the
death god.

20
 !

The second picture that I have chosen to study is a still that shows a woman in the series
called Naomi Misora holding the body of her dead fiancée Raye Penber. I would like to claim
that this image is a reference to another one of Michelangelo’s works, namely the statue <
that is also a biblical work of art, depicting the body of Jesus on the lap of his mother Mary

21
after the crucifixion. In the series Raye Penber is an FBI-agent, brought to Japan with a team
of co-workers to help the local police to track down Kira. Raye Penber is honest and
hardworking, in all aspects a person that Light would kill, but since Penber’s assignment
happens to be to investigate Light he feels that he has to dispose of him. So he does, along
with his whole team of FBI-agents. After a while he kills Penber’s fiancée Misora, who has
taken up the chase of Penber’s killer and is then close to discovering Lights identity. Raye
Penber is the first “innocent” victim in the series that Light kills only for his own sake, to
protect himself. And while Misora is trying to finish the work that her fiancée started, she
falls victim to him as well. I believe that this image is chosen because it shows an important
turning point in the story: when Light starts killing innocent people who are standing in his
way. He then turns into something else than the fighter for justice and innocent that he claims
to be, he becomes a selfish killer who kills innocent people to protect himself. Penber and
Misora becomes examples of that, since you get to know them after a while, and that they are
both FBI-agents, who are working to protect society from violence and murder, but also a
loving couple planning to marry. In this case, I would think Jesus (Raye Penber) stands for
Justice, and Mary (as Misora) is mourning the justice of his death.

"

22
 #

23
The last picture that I have chosen to look at is the final scene of the opening. At first, Light
looks as if he is having large angel-like wings, and is rising towards the sky (but this time
without chains), with a steam of light shining from behind. But after a closer look you are
able to see Light actually standing in front of an angel (who’s face you cannot see, because
Light is shielding it). What is of interest in this picture is that the angel is holding a pen in his
left hand and a black book in his right hand, quite possibly the death note. The pose and the
setting in general resembles that of mighty archangels in classical paintings, however, the
wings are dark and Light rises against a night sky in full moon with a fiery aura, which shows
sort of a reversed archangel of darkness and death (especially if you consider the angel
holding the death note). I see the whole opening of as a metaphor of his character
development in the series, beginning with Kira “being awakened” and ending with him rising
above humanity as an avenging angel and almost becoming godlike.

6. Summary
In the introduction of !" # " Ben
Dyer asks himself what really differs the supervillain from the superhero. He points out, that
when the villain takes the centre stage, he often show a humanized and sympathetic side. In
fact, the only thing that barely distinct the villain from his superheroic counterpart is “a
criminal lapse in judgement” – but this difference is subtle. 43 Many villains have perfectly

43
Dyer, x (2009)

24
good explanations for why they are acting the way they do. Few of them truly desire evil, but
simply act according to a utilitarian theory. Charles Xavier and Eric Lensherr, the leaders of
the “good” and the “evil” mutant forces in =12 (comic book by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
1963–, and adapted to film by Bryan Singer in =12 , 2000), were once the greatest of
friends and really wanted the same thing – to protect the mutant kind. What differs is their
to reach this goal, since Charles wants to collaborate with the humans and create a
peace between the races, while Eric has lost all trust for humans and see the extinction of
humanity as the only way for the mutants to be able to live free from persecution. 44 The
traditional hero seems to work from a theory (like Rorschach), 45 believing that
what is ethical remains in the characteristics of the act , and not in the result following
from it. Thus, there are some actions that he simply cannot do (like killing “innocent”
people); one might say that doing so would oppose the very core of his character. The villain,
on the other hand, usually believe that the end result is of the greatest importance, and
therefore he might feel that it is justifiable to do something “bad” in order to accomplish
something “good.” The villain have good intentions – but he somehow lacks empathy,
for the difference between the two seems to be that the villain is able to deliver a judgement
that the hero would intuitively reject. 46 If this is the difference between a superhero and a
supervillain, then where does it place the antihero? An antihero might be somewhere in
between. He might use immoral means like a villain, but he has to fight against his own
feelings while doing so. He fits the image of a “fallen hero:” he wants justice, but has
somehow lost his trust in humanity, and therefore he plays by his own rules. He kills, but he
does it knowing, and more importantly, that the act in itself is wrong. Another treat
that connects the antihero with the hero, is that he is most commonly willing to sacrifice his
own life in order to protect others – the villain usually sacrifices lives (whether it is in
order to protect someone else or trying to achieve something), but rarely his own.

7. Conclusion
Who is Light Yagami, a savior or a merciless dictator? We know that he truly desires a
peaceful and equal society, but we also know that he himself wants to rule over this new
world as a god. We know that he kills violent criminals to protect the innocent, but we also
know that he kills the innocent in order to protect himself. In , both L and Light

44
Singer, =12 5 (2003)
45
Hillebrand and Sandburg, 105 (2009)
46
Robichaud, 183 (2005)

25
claims several times throughout the series that are the one who is justice and they both
act accordingly. Although they both desire the very same thing, a society free from
criminality, they end up becoming each other’s worst enemies. This is the result of two
profoundly different views on right and wrong. Light has a theory of moral
whereas L’s moral is based on ethics. The fundamental difference between the
two is that utilitarianism presupposes that doing good by doing bad may sometimes be
morally justified. What matters are the consequences of the act, and as long as it promotes the
largest amount of happiness to the largest amount of people it is correct. This is how Light
reasons, as he thinks that the elimination of the world’s criminals would turn society into a
more safe and peaceful place. The deontological theory, however, decides what is right or
what is wrong according to the act itself. Even if killing a thousand criminals " make the
world safer and better L would never tolerate it, since he believes that to kill is in itself
wrong. When it comes to moral relativity, Mark Cooney has taught us that our concept on
right and wrong is foremost a question of cultural differences. Different discourses follow
different opinions and laws. Saying that you are guilty, innocent, good, or bad has everything
to do with who is judging you. But if you want to get away with it, you should carefully
consider more closely who you are killing. You are more likely to get away with murder if
you kill a person of low status, one who is poor, unemployed, and has a criminal record and
no family. By contrast, you yourself should preferably be socially integrated and participating
in the community, be married with children, have a high-status job, and a good reputation. 47
Having to do with moral or not – this is statistically what the reality looks like. Perhaps these
traits also contribute to how we look at Light, because from being a parent and married
(though, he’s engaged to Misa) he matches every aspect of the “perfect killer,” or a killer we
are less likely to judge as guilty. Considering his choice of victims – murderers, rapists, thugs
– he is from a socially psychologically point of view statistically more likely to get praised,
which indeed he gets. Like Cooney, Baumeister and Vohs I have come to the conclusion that
it is impossible to determine whether Light Yagami is good or bad – Because there is no
absolute truth when it comes to moral, we all create our very own.

47
Cooney, 197 (2009)

26
8. References
% &
Berger, Arthur Asa; . ) 4 > 4> ? (Lund: Studentlitteratur,
1999).

Chandler, Daniel; 7 (London: Routledge, 2002).

Conrad, Mark T (editor); (Kentucky: The University Press of

Kentucky, 2006).

Cooney, Mark; - . /+ (Charlottesville and London:

University of Virginia Press, 2009).

Dostoevsky, Fyodor; (revisited edition after original published in

1866), (London: Vintage, 2007).

Dyer, Ben (editor); !" # " (Peru,

Illinois: Open Court Publishing Company: 2009).

Hall, Stuart (editor); # #

(London: Sage Publications Ltd, 1997).

Lindesmith, Alfred R, Strauss, Anselm L and Denzin, Norman K; (8th

Edition), (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications Inc: 1999).

Lindgren, Simon; 0) 1 &2 + (Malmö: Liber, 2005).

Miller, Arthur J (editor); , (New York: The Guilford

Press, 2004).

Moore, Alan; % % (UK: Quality Comics, 1982-1989).

Moore, Alan; (UK: DC Comics, 1986-1987).

27
O’Sullivan ;. (2nd Edition),
(Routledge: London, 1994).

Sjögren, P. Jonas (editor) , @ A & (Uppsala: Esselte Focus

Uppslagsböcker AB, 1988).

' &
Araki, Tetsurō; (Japan: Madhouse Ltd, 2006).

Kaneko, Shusuke; (USA/Japan: Death Note Film Partners,

2006).

McTeigue, James; % % (UK: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2006).

Nakata, Hideo; (Japan: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2008).

Singer, Bryan; =12 (USA: Twentieth Century Fox/Marvel Enterprises, 2000).

Snyder, Zack; (USA: Warner Bros. Pictures, 2009).

Gresehover, Ehren; B * ) . ) A &2 & ,

<http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2007/07/death_note_director.html> (USA:
New York Magazine, 2007).

1. Still shot from Death Note 6, C 19:46

2. Still shot from Death Note 9, 14:46
3. Still shot from the first opening 00:01
4. Still shot from the first opening 00:07
5. + , section in the Sistine Chapel ceiling painted by
Michelangelo
6. Still shot from the first opening 00:47

28
 7. <, statue in St. Peter’s Basilica, painted by Michelangelo
8. Still shot from the first opening 01:13

29