On February 4, Death Note special one-shot was released. Tsugumi Ohba (author) and Takeshi Obata (illustrator) team up again for the storied manga series. Ryuk returns to Earth to find a human to feed his apple addiction. He searches for a “real capable one like Light Yagami.” That human is Minoru Tanaka. Two years prior he was the top middle school student. However, he didn’t put any effort into his grades. While sitting on a swing, Ryuk’s notebook hit’s him on the head. Tanaka admits that he’s good at “riddles and quizzes and stuff” but he’s a terrible student. When he learns that the death note belonged to Kira he freaks. Kira has become an important figure in Japan, being taught in Ethics and World History classes.
While he’s often depicted as an evil mass murder, some consider him a god. Tanaka doesn’t believe that he or anyone could get away with what Kira did. With the addition of security cameras everywhere and sophisticated cyber-crimes investigation units, he would fail. Tanaka also doesn’t have the stomach for killing people. However, he doesn’t want Ryuk to take the book and give it to someone else. He asks Ryuk two questions. First, can anyone else see him? Ryuk responds that the detectives that touched the death note should still be able to see him. Second, how far away can you actually get from the owner? Ryuk states that there’s “no set distance.” Tanaka requests a more specific distance. They decide that 14 kilometers are a good distance.
Tanaka’s Plan
Tanaka decides that in two years Ryuk should come back and he’ll use the death note. Ryuk isn’t happy to have to deal “apple withdrawal” for two years but agrees to wait. In the present, Tanaka has come up with a plan for the death note. Sell it. Ryuk is on board. Tanaka has Ryuk write a message in pen and paper. It informs the audience that the “power to kill people as used by Kira,” is up for sale. Using the hashtag #powerofkira on twitter along with the dollar amount bid.
It takes only one day for people to bid up to 3 million. Elsewhere, L is informed about Kira. L dubbs the auctioneer, “A-Kira.” He believes that following the Shinigami will lead to A-Kira. In conversation with the detectives from the old Kira case, L determines that the only way to catch A-Kira is when the death note is given to the buyer.
The bud reaches 200 billion dollars, eliminating any chance that it’s an individual. The president of the United States and China end up in a bidding war. Trump first offers 500 billion dollars, China responds with 1 trillion, Trump counters with 2 trillion. This number equals 1 Quadrillion yen or the amount of Japan’s national debt. A-Kira plans on ending the auction but has a problem. How would he get the money? He must use a bank account but doesn’t want to expose himself. L concludes that A-Kira has a plan to receive the money and never intended to kill anyone.
Elsewhere, Armonia Justin arrives to inform Ryuk that the Shinigami King wants a meeting. Tanaka plans to transfer the money is revealed. He orders the winning bid to deposit “equal amounts of money to every person under 60 with a Yotsuba saving account.” Understandably, every with Yotsuba accounts is overjoyed. Tanaka also has an account, giving himself 1 billion yen as well. L concludes that it’s “impossible to identify A-Kira.” He will lose his memory of being Kira in three days. For the first time, L has been defeated. Tanaka gives Ryuk the death note back and he then gives that book to President Trump.
The Rules of the Death Note change
However, the Shinigami King wasn’t pleased with Ryuk allowing someone to sell the death note. So he added a new rule. A human “who buys or sells the death note in the human world will die. The seller will die . . . and the buyer when they receive the death note.” Of course, President Trump isn’t will to die. Ryuk offers him a compromise if he doesn’t take the notebook Trump can live.
Despite not getting any of the money back, the plan works in Trump’s favor. He will pretend that he has the power of Kira but simply won’t use it, making him look like a “saint.” Sadly, Tanaka isn’t so lucky. He dies while collecting some of the money from the bank. This one-shot was spectacular. It turns the expectations I had on its head. While Tanaka is smart like Light, he’s not a hard-working student. He’s also no homicidal maniac. He refuses to kill with the death note instead he focusing on profiting from it. However, he’s not greedy. He uses this opportunity to benefit others. That said, he does it mostly to protect himself from getting caught. In Death Note special one-shot you think one thing and you’re given the other. I assumed L would figure it out, he does. Trump would die he didn’t. I expected Tanaka to survive, he died. This one-shot is well worth the read, even if we don’t get another series.
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