We know the Death Note storyline and what this deadly notebook serve in purpose. But do you really think you might know the true story of it? This may shock you but it actually has a storyline unknown to many people,and that is the Death Note Pilot.
The Death Note Pilot only saw the daylight in form of a manga and serves as a pilot chapter of Death Note years before Light Yagami. Although not part of the continuity,I do strongly consider it part of it despite what is said on Wikipedia and I don't care. It came out in 2003 and the story did well enough for a franchise,which has led to the first chapter of the actual manga four months later. It differed well from the beloved manga series and included something that no one would have expected.
Taro Kagami,the Original Kira:
The story of the Pilot follows Taro Kagami,a young student of the age of only 13. Basically,he's a child compared to Light Yagami who is a 17 year old teenager and student. Taro finds the Death Note,only to confuse it for being a diary because he recognizes only the English word for ''note''. He didn't recognize the English word for ''death''. Because he assumed it as a blank diary,he takes it to replace a diary he previously lost. He treats it as a journal and writes in it,complaining about students who bullied him,in which it accidentally causes the death of these two classmates of his by heart attacks. After he heard of their deaths,he searched up the word ''death'' in the dictionary and learned the true meaning of Death Note. In disbelief,he continued to write in the notebook,incidentally writing the names of the new bullies. The next day at school,he finds out the bullies are dead. He then ran home to hide the notebook but he meets up with Ryuk. Pretty much like in the actual manga and the anime,he explained he dropped it in the Human World out of boredom,meaning that this plot was already planned from the beginning with Ryuk after all and that was the whole point.
He then tells him the functions of the Death Note and how it is no ordinary notebook,similar to what he tells to Light in the anime. Shortly after that,two detectives show up at Taro's house asking questions but Ryuk suggest that he memorize the name on their badges and kill them. The following night,Taro had nightmares of the bullies he accidentally killed. In response,Ryuk gives him the Death Eraser. I'm gonna talk about it after I covered the rest of the original Kira. Basically,everyone were resurrected and the two detectives asked questions to the boys at school about how they were once dead and came back to life somehow magically. However,they all died once again,causing the school to shut down. Days later,Taru found out that Ryuk dropped his other Death Note and found out that his classmate Miura was also been bullied and was responsible of the murders. Taro was almost killed by him before attempting to commit suicide but Taro stopped him. After the resurrection of everyone once again,they told them everything but Taro did'nt reveal the existence of the Death Note and kept it. The last scene presented the Death Note seven years later as a cultural phenomenon with its actual existence still in dispute. Ryuk is last seen with an older 20 year old Taro mocking a Death Note survey. At one point,Taro remarked that he could potentially use the Death Note to create a better world,which garners Ryuk's respect.
The Death Eraser,the forgotten plot device:
What's the Death Eraser,you may ask? It's a special artifact can erase the names in the Death Note and revive people that have been killed with the note.
Feeling remorse for killing with the Death Note,Taro Kagami was given the Death Eraser by Ryuk and is told that he can erase the names in the Death Note and the victims will come back to life. He does so and discovers the following day at school that it was indeed for real. After they were killed off again,Taro used the Death Eraser again to bring them back to life and explain everything alongside Miura. The existence of the Death Eraser is only true in the Pilot manga and does not exist in any other Death Note media. In the actual manga and the anime,it is revealed that if a cause of death or the details of death are struck out with two straight lines before the forty seconds has elapsed,then they would be cancelled and can be changed if desired but no matter what,once the name of a victim is written down in the Death Note,they will die.
A similar variation of the Death Eraser has been established in the 2017 Netflix movie. A rule is established that if the victim who has been written in the Death Note is scheduled to die at a specific time,the death will not occur only if the page it's written on is burned. The Death Eraser will not help if the deceased person has already been cremated.
The Death Eraser was originally going to be an idea in the anime,but the creators scrapped the idea because they wanted the dead characters to really mean being dead.
Miura,the Original Second Kira:
Miura is considered the original second Kira before Misa Amane. Miura finds the second Death Note on the street and kept it at his home. The next day,he discovered that two bullies at his class were dead. These bullies harassed him and Taro,and possibly many others. Two detectives begun questioning students in his class,including himself. The next day,he,Taro and the other students are surprised to find the bullies alive again. The same two detectives appear again and asks the students how hey came back to life. Before they could speak,Miura write their names in his Death Note to kill them,causing the school to shut down. Miura then threatened to kill Taro before committing suicide,but he was stopped by his friend. After Taro revived everyone,he and Miura explained themselves. Miura was forced to give up ownership of his Death Note by getting it confiscated,leaving his notebook burned by the police. Compared to Misa,Miura did not made the eye deal and therefore did not shortened his lifespan. Another thing that differed him from Misa is that he shares the same Shinigami as Taro,similar to Light and Mikami in the anime. Miura is a boy while Misa is a girl. Last but not least,Miura is a student while Misa is an idol.
What was the true inspiration of Death Note?
The truth is,Takeshi Obata said he really wanted to draw the story after he heard of a ''horror story featuring Shinigami''. According to him,when he first received the rough draft created by Ohba,he didn't really get it at first and that he wanted to work on the work due to the presence of Shinigami and that the work was dark. He also said he wondered about the progression of the plot as he read the thumbnails and if Jump readers would enjoy reading the comic. Obata said that while there is little action and that the main character doesn't really drive the plot,he enjoyed the atmosphere of the story. Obata stated that he drew the pilot chapter in a way that could appeal to him. Ohba brought the rough draft of the pilot chapter to the editorial department. Obata came into picture at a later point to create the artwork. Ohba and Obata did not meet each other in person while creating the pilot chapter. Ohba said that the editor told him that Ohba did not need to meet with Obata to discuss it.
In my own opinion,there could be another inspiration for Death Note. You see,there is a myth in Japan that when a person is closed to dying,a God of Death appears and follows that said person until they die. It is also believed that God of Deaths can curse somebody. So why is this connected to Death Note? In the anime,we have the main character Light Yagami,who seems to see a God of Death named Ryuk after getting the Death Note. Ryuk,being neutral to what happens in the anime,follows him around until he dies. This means that Light Yagami was destined to die from the very beginning. And what about the curse? Light was cursed by having the Death Note.
Not only is this what i'm thinking about,but this could also be a cry for help. Take Light for example. He has enough of hearing about criminals every single day. He thinks that life is not only boring but rotten to him. This theory can be proven in the Drama series of the franchise. You see,as a kid,Light liked playing cops with his family. But one day,his mom died at the hospital. However,his dad was busy at work in an arrestation of a criminal known as Kuro Otoharada instead. After arriving late at the hospital,Light was upset by him for now answering his calls and he ended up distancing himself from his father. He later despise criminals and no longer wanted to become a police growing up,developing what seems to be likely not only hate,but depression. The more it grew stronger to him,the more control lost of his anger from his past. He was stuck with a ruined childhood,which became his rough past. And unfortunately,this was also distancing him from his father as well. Unfortunately,his father blamed himself for having his son this way because he wished he could have been there when he needed it and to understand what he has been feeling. Luckily for Light,he has found the Death Note,in which he could've end his suffering. Killing criminals satisfied him to heal himself. Now here's the twist. L actually understood Light's cry for help. He figured that he used the Death Note to kill his suffering,and even thought Light was a hero for saving his father from Kuro Otoharada. Oh and another thing. Light did eventually tried to jump off the edge at one point,meaning he was indeed suicidal prior to the series. Now this storyline only exist in the Drama series.
