The Death Note Phenomenon

Death Note is popular; there's no denying that. This popularity is enjoyed worldwide. The problem is that sometimes when a work of fiction gets popular, their concepts and creations carry over into the real world, which is not always a good thing.

For those unfamiliar with the plot of Death Note, it is a series built around a supernatural notebook whose names written in it will die. A series of twists and suspense lead Death Note to worldwide popularity. It became so popular that students and other people would actually create their own Death Note and write the names of those they disliked.

In 2007, a high school student in Virginia was suspended for having a Death Note with the names of fellow students in it. In 2008, a middle school student in South Carolina was caught with a Death Note and disciplined accordingly. Also in 2008, two sixth grade boys in Alabama were actually arrested for having Death Notes, also with the names of fellow students in them. Once again in 2008, four middle school students in Washington were caught with a Death Note and disciplined.

This phenomenon is not unique to the United States. In 2005 A full out banning took place in many parts of China due to students altering existing notebooks to look like Death Notes.

The worst offender is the alleged copycat crime that took place in Belgium. A mutilated corpse was found in Brussels with a note nearby that read "watashi was kira dess" which translates to "I am Kira", the code name used by the main character to carry out his murders.

The reason I bring this up is that another incident involving the fictitious notebook has recently occured. An 8th grader in Sydney was found with a Death Note, but this one was more intricate than just having names in it. It actually had plans for planting bombs in the school. It also was not devoid of names, but the deaths actually had descrpitions rather than just names.

While I think the whole phenomenon is mostly harmless, there is the possibility that disturbed youths can be identified much easier if they have a Death Note. If it's a way for troubled teens to vent, I don't see any reason why they can't have one. They also might have one because they plan to cosplay as a character from the series or just might think having one is cool with no intention of writing any names down. The problem is seperating the disturbed from the fans that just thought it would be cool to have one. While I don't think anyone should be arrested for owning one, I also don't think it should be ignored.