There is no Justice when Netflix is allowed to make anime adaptations

"Of course, everything Light says must be taken with a truckload of salt" lol

"And I'll build a world of only kind-hearted people I accept." "Then you'll be the only bastard left..."

Has anyone noticed that at the start of the anime, Lights eyes were a golden brown and as the story progressed they turned more red? Eyes are the windows to the souls, so maybe it was to show how his soul was being corrupted.

Death note's moral complexity and subject matter is pretty surprising considering it started out as a manga in shonen jump

I would agree that neither L nor Light are representative of justice. With that said, I think that the character of Chief Yagami is about as close to justice as you can get within the setting. He is trying to get Kira not because of any personal vendetta or for moral reasons. Rather, he is trying to stop Kira because Kira is effectively a vigilante who is trying to take the law into his own hands. Similarly, he is not working with L because he believes that L is more morally righteous than Kira. He works with L because L has agreed to work with the police force, there is nothing more to it. Additionally, despite taking the deal for the eyes and having the death note in his possession he never kills anyone with it which I think is telling to his character. That's my opinion anyway. It's been a while since I've seen the show so if I have happened to get everything wrong, then my b

This concept also appears as a quote by Donflamingo in One Piece's Great War arc > Pirates are evil? The Marines are righteous? These terms have always changed throughout the course of history! Kids who have never seen peace and kids who have never seen war have different values! Those who stand at the top determine what's wrong and what's right! This very place is neutral ground! Justice will prevail, you say? But of course it will! Whoever wins this war becomes justice!

Holy shit, through watching your video I suddenly understood a confusing scene near the end. When Light has fled from the warehouse and the police were about to chase him, Near suggested them to not go, the police replied "I'm not gonna follow your orders" to which Near replied "ok, I'll leave it up to you". So basically Near was like "I've won so I'm done here." As the person who ultimately solved the case, Near didn't feel accomplished for maintaining justice but instead he was satisfied by the result that he had defeated Kira in the 1v1 matchup. If it was really about justice you obviously wouldn't let the villain just flee like that. In the end Near had won, and therefore he was right and Light was evil, and the police was a miniature of the world's reaction to Light following his defeat - to catch him, and thus maintain justice. The police had a great sense of justice, but Near did not, because the so called "justice" was only born through Near's actions. Near, like L, was like a "god" figure, he created the definition of justice for all the mortals by defeating Kira. So when the police could finally act based on what they believe is right, they no longer took orders from Near. EDIT: A like from OP! Thanks :D I really love discussing Death Note

I DIDNT KNOW I WANTED THIS VIDEO UNTIL I SAW IT

That quote at 7:26 might have actually been said by Ryuk. I dunno. Probably. Let me know if you know for sure, I couldn't find any solid proof on who actually said it and I didn't rewatch the show before making this. EDIT: It WAS Ryuk.

I do think that Death Note's characters are trying to achieve true justice, but in their own flawed ways. On one side, you have the police who try to uphold justice through fair trial. But fair trial comes with a cost - rights of the accused and collecting evidence can lead to the suspect's escape. Thus lack in justice. But in Kira's case, he offers a fake sense of certainty. Killing what he perceives as guilty with the ultimate punishment - Death. Without fair trial and knowing the circumstance behind the crime, he nevertheless provided more restrictions for a common man to commit a crime. Justice itself is not flawed. The justice system is. How much punishment should a bad act receive? I personally think that there should be a standard to that. But then again, one cannot take away the rights of the accused, which makes it difficult to achieve justice.

"Justice will trumph, you say? Of course it will! Because the winners will become justice!" ~ Donquixote Doflamingo Oda sure watches the right stuff... as always ;)

This reminds me of something we have been discussing in law school: a two prong test asking 1) what the individual believes and 2) whether society is willing to accept that belief as reasonable. That seems like a pretty good working definition of justice. The main flaw is that the individual's belief is literally labeled "subjective" while society acceptance is labeled "objective." How can a judge objectively determine what society wants? Democratic lawmaking is one way, but as we know, it isn't perfect. And common law isn't based on democratic lawmaking anyway, it's based on what other judges have done in the past. That's why, especially in certain areas, legal decisions seems totally wrong half the time-- because whatever the judge decides conflicts with the reader's beliefs about justice, and whatever logic the judge used to conclude that society agrees with him sounds sketchy as hell, because there is no clear way of determining what society believes. All notions of law and fairness are cloaked in the illusion that there is some knowable consensus about what is right and what is wrong. When you look at things that way, it makes sense that the legal system is adversarial like the main characters in Death Note: legal battles really ARE nothing more than two intelligent people fighting to win, regardless of what they really believe. The only goal is to come out on top.

"It's not justice that wins. The one who wins is justice." This was the quote rephrased (I felt like this quote is clearer to me than the one from the anime) This one is from the Death Note Japanese drama

In my opinion Light may have had something always wrong with him. Maybe The death note didn't corrupt him but it actually showed his true self, he just needed "something" some power to let it all out. If light was a politician he would be a corrupt politician, if he was a cop he would be a corrupt cop and so on.. That's just my take on it, who knows maybe i'm wrong. Maybe Light was just a normal person that was completely corrupted by the Death Note.

Proud of you, man.

Light did go completely insane after L was out of the way though . (i mean he was going nutso before that, but after that holy shit. )

Agreed on every damn point. Exactly my thoughts on justice in Death Note. There is no justice, only people hiding behind justice as a cover for their own actions. "What may have actually started out as a real ideology devolved into a fight of pride, with both sides wanting to win". Perfectly summarizes Death Note. You have my like.

Justice doesn't exist in Death Note, because it doesn't exist in the real world. Power is justice, because it defines justice. We love to see the good guys winning because that's what we would want it to be. It's wish fulfillment. That's what makes Death Note so great in my eyes. It's not only great work of fiction, it is a philosophical thought experiment.

What's interesting, is in the Death Note musical (yes it exists, in English, Japanese and Korean), there is a song called "Where is the Justice" (good song btw) where Light is talking about how frustrated he is with the legal system, and how the law is unjust. In the anime, you never once see Light complain about how the law isn't fair to the innocent. He is only motivated by his idea of justice, which is to rid the world of the "bad guys" and come out on top. Just an interesting difference between the adaptation and the show..

THERE IS NO JUSTICE, ONLY ME - DEATH -- Terry Practchett

So what you are saying is Griffith did nothing wrong?

Light only lost because near used some bs plot hole and saw a man on tv and instantly assumed he was Kira 2 and was right

-You're all traitors! -Unfortunetly for you, history will not see it that way.

What I really appreciate about this stance is that it confirms that Light isn't pure evil. Death Note isn't a traditional "do-gooder who can do no wrong vs evil-doer who must be stopped" kind of story. L, by his own admission, isn't a good person, and he's not above breaking laws to get the results he wants. He's fundamentally no different than Light. He was just chosen (even if he chose it himself) to represent the opposite end of the spectrum of Light's ideals. I don't use a grandiose term such as "justice" because all it takes to be seen as just is to come out on top. History is written by the victor, after all. Death Note is a series about two fundamentally different kinds of "Justice", but neither is above critique or is purely wrong. If you side with Kira, then do you want to live in a world where true freedom isn't allowed? In order for freedom to exist, the freedom to do evil must exist as well. But evil should be punished in different ways according to the crime, and Kira can only punish via murder. You're basically throwing out thousands of years of laws and their evolution as a supporter of Kira and reverting back to a draconian way of punishing people who do wrong. You're stripping people of the right to a fair trial and due process and going back to a system of guilty with no chance of proving innocence. People have the capacity to change, too. Why not give them that chance instead of killing them? Not to mention, there's the chance that people who were suspected or even convicted of a crime might very well be innocent. If they die and the evidence proves their innocence, then Kira killed someone who wasn't meant to die. Not to mention, you're hero-worshipping a serial killer, and that's something no one should ever do. If you side with L, then why don't you agree that if violent and malicious people are gone that the world will be a better place? Remember that Kira stopped wars and dropped violent crime rates by 70%. We already punish people for breaking the law, but is the law effective enough when violent criminals can be set free due to lack of evidence, or when the punishment is too light in proportion to the crime? If people died right away after showing no remorse for a violent crime (remember that Light didn't kill people who committed crimes if they did so unwillingly/unknowingly, showed remorse for the actions, and/or had extenuating circumstances), then wouldn't that be a deterrent to make the world a better place? If murder is so wrong, then why do soldiers kill each other and police officers walk around with guns? They have the power to kill at their hands, and they don't always kill the right people, yet we still have them around. The death penalty is often used for the most heinous crimes, so what makes Kira any different? That's the dilemma of Death Note. I resent the notion that Light is purely evil or purely a villain because of the results he got and how effective he was at getting them. I mean, sure, he wasn't a pleasant guy and he did some messed up things, but L was no different. In the end, Light may have been stopped, but he very well could have won, and if he did, then, as he said, he would have been "Justice."

Light: "Justice is determined by the winner." L: "The loser is evil? Looks like you're the evil one after all then!" Near: "The one who'll be the judge, is my stand!"

I never thought of it this way or realized it, but 9:14 image reminded me of how Touta Matsuda was like the naive and innocent kid willing to do anything for good. . . and he is the one who murders Light, not just Kira, out of spite and betrayal, not of justice. It's the opposite of what his character has always stood for, or so I thought up to that point. It's a stretch to compare it to Arya becoming bad with Hound becoming good, or Morty going "bad" in the Rick & Morty "Purge" episode.

In the epilogue (crime rate increased), Matsuda even admits whether or not if shooting Light was right. He questions the fact that maybe they were wrong, that maybe Kira killing off people and letting him do whatever he wanted may have been a better choice. ~

Yeeeees yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes ye yes yes yes yes, finally a video on Death Note I am so happy I remember asking for this before but you told me you don't have anything interesting to say about it, but now here we are thank you very much I haven't watched it but I know it is the best video ever. I love u

"At the end of the day, you're just a crazy serial killer, nothing more... and nothing less." I think Near's words hold a lot of weight after he defeats Light. He was never some God, just a normal dude who had his hands on the most powerful weapon of all time. Anybody could have become like Light. Matsuda also has a very powerful moment, tearfully condemning Light for betraying his father and calling him a fool, despite Soichiro Yagami being one of the most righteous characters in the entire series.

Light lost for being human, he truly couldn't be a God, so he lost in the end, a reminder to show that Light is no God

The way he said "Death, is; Equal." Just sends shivers down my spine... (Ominously)

The justice quote you said in the video reminds me of what Doflamingo said during the Marineford war: 'Whoever wins this war becomes justice!' Justice is decided by the winner

*doctor:* "you only have 10:25 to live." *Me:* klicks on this video

Dude, i was just thinking about this topic yesterday. This video couldn't have been timed better.

I would 100% agree with you. They never draw that line of "good" and "evil" in the series and it's one of the reasons why I like it so much. You can root for either or even both of the well written main characters (Near beeing kind of a copycat of L make him much less interesting) without the restriction of morality, while it having such a focus on morality and justice as a theme. I find this fascinating. You could say that there is some kind of justice in the end when Light get's killed. But at the same time you could say that it is all very cruel and pointless. Ryuk setting all of this into motion out of boredom and he beeing the one killing Light in the end and with that taking away any influence of the humans in kiras fate is basically taking away the aspect of justice because his death is prepredestined and by that meaningless.. I really liked that aspect. Especially because of the not even subtile forshadowing in the first episode when he forecasting that he will be the one killing him, no matter what happens until then. Making this absolutly clear from the very beginning made it even more enjoyable for me.

I always saw how the series tried to show that the nature of justice was abstract and that it all depends of human perception and situations....

It's worth noting the manga DOES have a commentary on justice in the ending. It was a great excerpt that I wish the anime had included; basically, Light argues that what he's doing is ensuring the most happiness overall and what is justified. Near refutes him...by not playing to his rules, giving perhaps the most honest speech of the series. An important quote from that: "If God himself came down to earth and told us definitively what was right, and what was wrong...I'd look at it myself and see if I agree." What is right and wrong will be argued and may change over history. Modern atrocities like slavery were considered benevolent improvements to what was before - judging everything by the same one standard doesn't grant us a fair understanding of anything. It's possible that one future generation will look back on Light as overwhelmingly right. ...That said? I believe Light is still totally wrong. Once the death note gets to him, he is corrupted beyond repair. He is a sociopath and a fraud, an egotist who doesn't consider the possibility he may be wrong. He may be a prodigy, but no prodigy is beyond the wisdom of all. Such a person could NEVER make a good world. As Near said, he's just another crazy serial killer.

I really like your videos. You're able to go into the philosophies behind different characters and shows without being pretentious. Keep up the good work.

"Justice doesn't exist in Death Note." I have the same opinion about real life, to be frank.

"Good will always come out on top" is actually a very stupid quote, since time is probably endless.

"Why are there no bathrooms at Gryffindor's tower? "That's the real question!

Just found your videos. Beautiful. Don't stop.

To be honest, I always had the idea that Death Note is a story about hubris and the rise and fall of a high status being. If you note all of the Angel and God symbolism in the series, Light's character at the very least has much to do with Christianity, which leads me to believe that the character is based, both in story and characterization, on the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Initially, I was tempted to say that he was based off the story of the fallen angel Lucifer as many Christians and people in the world, or at least America, interpret the story. But, considering Light's fall was at the hands of the Japanese Task Force and not a higher God (even though Ryuk is the one who ended Light's life but I digress), suggests that Light's story is far more about the origin of the Lucifer story and the man who it referred to rather than the character itself. Light starts off small, or small for the son of a Japanese Police Officer anyway, as just a high school student who's bored with his life. He comes across the Death Note and, initially, he sees the whole thing as a sick joke but the moment he uses it and sees that it works, he gains great ambitions, even saying as early as the first or second episode that he will be the god of this world (or at least, he says that in the English dub, Japanese and Manga I'm not certain). From the very beginning, he gains ambitions of being a god and an omnipotent ruler and dealer of justice and smite just by being presented with a means of doing so. Then he gains an adversary and, by the half-way point of the show, he wins, he kills his greatest enemy and, for a while, he enjoys his time as the ruler of Japan at the very least. Ruler being metaphorical in this case, as he never actually assumes a position of political power. But then he is introduced to Near and Melo and they defeat him, causing his fall from grace as it were and going from a supposed God-challenger to a man on his deathbed within the span of a single episode. Sure, he defeated L but he lost in the end. It shows that, no matter what, victories are always short term. Everything that rises must eventually fall. Just because you're the best now doesn't mean you always will be. Of course, I'm waxing intellectual right now but I'm willing to bet everything I've said is far more obvious than anything in your video so take it however you like.

To quote Terry Pratchet's Death, "THERE IS NO JUSTICE, ONLY ME."

Soooo the donflamingo quote.

I like how deep your insights are, they really shine some light on this masterpiece of a show (and Manga).

2 dislikes = Light and that guy who keeps saying "DELETE !"

I'm already in love with this video and i haven't watched it yet

L believes Justice is rational justice, meaning his actions are based off of, 'if I am correct, and you are wrong, then I am just, then I am justice.' Light believes in moral justice, ' if you do wrong for the wrong reason, you are unjust, then i will punish you therefore I am just, and then I am justice'.

I think you're completely right. It's quite telling that L was willing to use the death note itself in order to convict Light, which goes against his sense of 'justice'. In the end, both men just wanted to beat eachother, and their lack of justice is what made the battle so intriguing. Great video

I use the google translation, and I think that the human-made concept of justice, ironically, can not be absolute justice as long as we are human beings. Even if a hero defeats an evil character, from the viewpoint of the evil character, the hero will be recognized as an enemy to attack. The act of harming the other for their own purposes can not be justice for any purpose. Even a hero. There is no justice in human conflict, and justice is a concept that is fundamentally based on human sensibility, so there may be other justices from the sensitivities of anyone else. I think that it is the work of Death note that expressed it objectively.

Death Note has always been a beautiful story to me. Just how when you really think about it, L always knew Light was Kira and Light always knew that L knew that. It was just a beautifully catastrophic friendship with deadly consequences.

Well today will be better. New video from you.

I have wanted this video for a long time

these are always so good!

i believe that there is no good without evil. The same applies for the other way around. Justice is a point of view and nothing more

I like to think that Kira was truly born after Light killed his second victim. It confirmed with absolute certainty that the Death Note has the power to kill and he was responsible for it. I think his God complex was born out a desperate justification for what he had done. When he truly became a sociopath.

In the words doflamingo "will justice prevail? Of course it will the winner is the one who decides the meaning of justice"

Great Video Yet Again My Man, I'm Forever Impressed By Your Every Upload.

Incredible analysis! Enjoyed it very much.

Light is one of my favorite villain types. Modern amateur writers go for this "oh he has good intentions" type of sympathetic villains with tragic backstories but whose plans and execution all suck. Their backstory comes off as an excuse for their idiocy and incompetence. Light's true intentions are purely egotistical and selfish but his results speak for themselves. Defeating him means destroying much of the positive changes of the world. His intentions doesn't matter.

I've been reading a book all about human behavior and such in my leisure and at one point it said something along the lines of "everyone sees themselves as right and when criticized, will go on the defensive and think themselves only more right." I guess that ties in with this somehow

I love your video essays dude, each one of them could easily be the foundation for a very interesting dissertation.

The dub is best Im sorry L's voice is sexy af Also Death Note is just the best thing I've ever watched and I love it so much.

There really is no justice in Death Note

The entire time I was watching, i remembered the quote "There is neither good or bad, but thinking makes it so" - Hamlet. I think it fits well with this video.

That line by Light is an instance of "genre awareness" as TV Tropes labels it. He views his world as working by the laws of fiction, wherein the "moral" of a story is gleaned from the ultimate consequences of the central character's actions. A good example would be the 1992 movie The Player (not to spoil it with further detail if you haven't seen it). Of course, in most fiction, the only real sin is a character acting against his or her own nature.

Ah, I still remember that one shot... I still laugh about how L picked Mello and Near not because they were good... but because they looked nasty, lmfao.

I feel like this show has been getting a lot of flack recently for being "emo". But the way it tackles moral questions is actually still pretty solid.

Thank you for your hard work :D

I really enjoy your content dude!

This conversation was in the manga, not sure if they included it in the anime. But some time after they captured Light (it was a year if I remember correctly) Matsuda and some other task force member met. Matsuda questioned if it's good Kira was captured because during his reign there was barely any crime and within that year everything went back to "normal". The other guy tells him, that he doesn't know if it's good that they caught him, but he knows one thing - if they didn't kill Light he would kill them (since Kira killed people who opposed his order) so he's just happy to be alive. Basically the winning side themselves isn't sure what they did was really justice they are just happy they won.

I fee that L had to die bc it was a symboled of Light killing his good self and allowing Kera take full control.

You did another great work on this one.

Damn Alec I wish I had some friends to talk about stuff with like you, all your videos open me up to different idea and help me perceive anime through a different lense. Thanks man you're doing a fantastic job and I'll be joining your patreon keep it up man!

whether or not you believe Kira was justified in killing criminals, the central message of death note can be boiled down to the fact that that too much power in the hands of one person is always corrupting. When Light began taking extreme measures to secure his position of power, he lost the moral high ground (if he ever had it in the first place!) Although justice is a major theme in the series, I believe L understood that it's an entirely subjective concept and was simply trying to take down Kira because his power made him dangerous.

I'm just glad there's finally some analytical videos on DeathNote, there's not many of them out there sadly, and seeing as DeathNotes a favorite I was really happy with this video. Like always your videos win me over, and always make me think while entertaining me. Good stuff

So glad to see your channel growing Alex!

The description you gave was beyond a reasonable doubt an excellent one.

You are the Jordan Peterson of anime

People tend to debate me and make it seem like Kira was bad and L was good. I always said L was NOT a good guy. He broke several laws and committed all kinds of crimes through out the series. Not to mention, the guy wasn't a true detective because he didn't work for a specific agency and more power then the Japanese police force. L also worked with known criminals to solve cases. Put it simply L was not that much different then Kira. He wasn't trying to capture Kira because Kira was "evil." L just wanted a challenge and win the game of capturing him.

God i love your analyses 😂

Another amazing video as usual...Much respect

Could I please subtitle this for PT-BR? I really enjoy your work but I can't even show to my brother or friends because most of them would not understand the video... If I can't,it's Okay! Just keep up with your great work!

If there is truly nothing that exists after death in the death note universe, then what was the point of that rule saying death note users can't go to heaven or hell? Wouldn't they just end up in Mu anyway, or at least a state of limbo. If that's the case then there really isn't any consequence for using the death note apart from being corrupted.

I think your writing is fantastic and I can't wait to see which anime you decide to discuss next, keep it up!

Love your videos keep it up and great voice by the way

This is also what doflamingo logic of justice. Well for me, i haven't found what justice really means, to me its only a punishment to the one who deserves. Justify base on society or for your own good. Maybe thats why libra has a blindfold in her figures. I guess everything isn't entirely true, even God forsaken us before until his son saved us from him, with faith and love. I know its biblical, but could you find justice base on that?. Its faith and hope all alone. I dont know.

I wonder if the American adaptation will be able to capture this concept artfully.

Fantastic vid. I think this is one of my favorites.

been with you since 5k. your content is s ranked and your clearly passionate about the themes and philosiphy of these stories. keep killing it alex.

You should watch Legend of The Galactic Heroes.

Death note is one of the only anime where I whole heartedly believe that the dub is far better.

Nice video as always!

Excellent breakdown of one of the themes of the show :) thank you, was a nice watch.

At the end of Death Note Light says, "So what are you gonna do... kill me right here, is that really the right thing to do?" And then Matsuda ends up shooting him saying that he deserves to die. This proves that the people going after Kira were just hypocrites.

I would go as for as to say that justice doesn't exist in real life at all, unless you accept moral principles like "we should maximise the well being of conscious creatures" as axioms which can't be proved, at least from an atheistic point of view. And in the real world, I would say that "free will" doesn't exist in any meaningful way. Sure we make choices, but if we are to accept the empirical fact that our brains are made out of atoms obeying the laws of physics, in what way can our choices be labelled as "free" in any meaningful way? Whether the physical matter comprising our brain behaves deterministically or as a result of randomness ( the behaviour of small particles in particular circumstances can be modelled probabilistically), where does free will come from? And supposing we did have a soul, what would control decision making?How can a soul work outside the bounds of cause and effect and also of randomness? Would someone be unlucky to be given the soul of a murderer? When we accept that free will doesn't exist in any meaningful way, punishing criminals makes no sense from the point of view of righteous retribution, but instead from the point of view of wanting to protect society and rehabilitate criminals. If I did believe in free will though, I would probably agree with Light for the most part on morality.

Great video man. I'm looking into a lot of anime stuff as of recent - Death Note included - and four minutes into the video and you're blowing my mind.

Great video. Had these thoughts ever since I finished the series some time ago, glad that there are people who share this interpretation, or a similar one at the very least.