A parents group in the Ural region of Russia has published an open letter to President Vladimir Putin asking that the popular "Death Note" manga series be regulated in all its forms (print, anime, live action).
"Death Note" was a Shonen Jump series that ran from 2003 to 2006 and centered on Light Yamagi, a student who stumbles upon a magical notebook which has the power to kill people simply by writing their names in it.
He decides to use the book’s power to kill evil, while also evading a master detective bent on stopping him.
On Feb 20, in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg, a 15-year-old girl committed suicide by jumping from her 13th story apartment. A suicide note was found in the room which read “I can’t live anymore.”
Nearby there were also four volumes of the "Death Note" manga. Police are investigating any possible connections between the comic and death.
However, a local parents' group began to campaign for the death of "Death Note" right away saying it has an adverse effect on the minds of children and that it “arouses interest in death” in them.
This is not the first time "Death Note" has been under scrutiny for influencing people in reality. In Belgium after committing the crime a group of three murderers and an accomplice left notes inspired by the manga when they disposed of the body in what was dubbed Manga Murder (Mangamood). There have also been numerous cases of "Death Note"-like notebooks made by students across America resulting in suspensions. A similar trend in China led to the series being banned in some parts of the country.
Source: NicoNico News
Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- Shonen Jump’s 20 Best Sellers of All-Time -- The Top 10 Manga for Those University Bound -- 85.2% of Japanese People Favor Death Penalty, Others Demand “Something Worse”
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18 Comments
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KariHaruka
I read this on ANN days ago. I thought it was rather stupid. How can they connect Death Note with the suicide of a girl? What if it was a bible. Would they of connected the bible to her suicide?
Here's a idea for those parents. Instead of trying to ban something. How about you take a active role in your child's life!
darknuts
I'm sure there were alot of other things laying around that girls home besides manga. People focus on what they want.
Soohwan Trass
A) it's a story. B) teach your kids how to absorb information C) look at the way you treated your kid before blaming everyone else
Yurie Yoshida
Seriously? :D Here in Japan no-one killes themselves after reading manga or watching anime :D Seriously people are so influenchial in other countries... wow a girl killed herself left a note saying that she cant live and there was Death Note manga in her room so it must be the mangas fault not parents not schools but a books...
Fadamor
It HAD to be the manga! It couldn't possibly be the country's slide back into Stalinism, or the widespread corruption extending from the federal government all the way down to the public school level. In any other country you would expect a government official to at least do what they were hired to do. In Russia that doesn't happen until you fatten their wallet a bit. Yeah. It HAD to be "Death Note" that caused her to give up on life!
pizzatime
That's funny! Are Russian parents sober enough to realize about this?
Kanade
I'm Russian, and I don't share those parents' opinion. There are crazy people all over the world, but it kinda saddens me to see that this article is just a cause to put Russia down. I'm not a patriot, nor I agree with lots of things that happen here, but it's still kinda sad.
As for @Yuri's comment: Actually I've always thought that since the Japanese had the biggest suicide rate in the world, they were the most influenced ones, no? It's a bit weird to see a comment like that, as if you don't know what's going on in your country.
As for Russia, suicides (particularly, teenage ones) don't happen here often. So when someone commits it, it's always huge news. Yes, bullying is present, like it is everywhere, but it's still a pretty rare thing here.
As for the parents, I think it's really stupid, and I doubt the president will pay attention to it, because it's impossible to prove the connection between the girl's death and the series. I myself love the series, and it's pretty popular here, but it's awesome in terms of suspense, plot and characters, neither me nor anyone I know would ever have any idea of trying to connect the series to the real life.
Vernie Jefferies
Maybe the parents have the impression that "Death Note" means Suicide Note in the series, but that's not the case. The story centers around a Notebook that grants somebody the ability to kill an individual just by writing the victim's name inside the book.
dialogtus
REALLY? At least 32-33 thousands of people in Japan commit suicide and die each year. How many attempt? Maybe over 100.000 thousands...SO how can it be said that there is no influence!? Did anyone check all cases one by one?
Maitake
Geee.... I have no idea how a comic called "Death Note" could in any way shape or form be connected with death..
bfg4987
Meanwhile, the same parents continue to neglect their children and not raise them to be intelligent individuals who don't kill people because of reading a book or watching a show.
gelendestrasse
I wonder what this bunch of people thought of the Rammstein concert in Moscow?
Death Note didn't seem to depict suicide. I wonder what the connection is.
Fadamor
From Kanade,
From gelendestrasse,
Having a little bit of experience with Russia (my wife is from Tver), I surmise that the "connection" is that foreign publications with death as a major subject were found "nearby" (nearby what?!) in the apartment of a teenage suicide. As Russian teenage suicides don't happen often (Russians normally wait and do the slow suicide by liver poisoning method), then the obvious cause must be something not normally found in a Russian household... "LOOK! There's foreign graphic novels with the word "Death" on them!!! Thank GOD we don't have to look for any causes that might be attributed to our Russian community!"
Afonso Ribeiro
Absurd... Just absurd. Pathetic even. Is this how people react every time they don't like some sort of media? I feel sorry for the girl. But it ends there.
Arthur Dumbolov
Xenophobia is getting more power among adults in Russia. Aftermath of the 90's.
Jozabad Uruha
Just because the title of the manga is "DEATH Note" doesn't mean it is about death suicide or multilation..... Don't judge the book by it's cover.
mrmalice
i suggest banning paper and pencils as well since they might inspire the idea of writing something on them and empower people to write suicide notes. Maybe parents should be banned as well for not paying attention to their kid to the point it commits suicide. Maybe kids should be banned for being able to do this or maybe the whole world needs to be banned and restart at the point where some mudsnapper crawled out of the water since all of this is obviously not working out very well