#ryuk....the shinigami who didnt want to be one

[kiranatrix]

Obata Interviews on Death Note Character Designs

In 2014, Takeshi Obata was on a panel at ComicCon (New York) and was asked some questions about Death Note and his designs/creative process. The panel discussions were recorded (Part 1 [interview], Part 2 [draws Ryuk and L, answers a few more questions]). There was a professional interpreter relaying the questions and answers. Here’s his answers to some of the more interesting questions:

Question to Obata: What were your impressions when you first met Tsugumi Ohba?

A: I thought, this was a cool adult. Yeah he just seemed very mysterious and cool and I thought I could create a good story with this guy.

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Question to Obata’s editor: Did Ohba and Obata have instant chemistry together?

A: When we first started thinking about Death Note, I knew that Obata was working on Hikaru No Go but that he [Obata] was also into a goth aesthetic. I just had a feeling he’d be a really good artist for the Death Note story.

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Q. How did you come up with this character design and what was your inspiration [for L]?

A: [Obata had a really hard time answering this] I started with the original writing I got from Ohba so in that sense L was based on his writing [stumped]. I was really intrigued by the weirdness of his character and his eccentricities so it was really fun to try and come up with something to fit. It’s really hard for me to explain my art or illustrations but what I wanted to do was capture his weirdness but also his coolness. Like he’s really strange and eccentric but really cool.

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Q: And what about Ryuk’s design?

A: I guess there’s a bit of a mismatch there, because he has a scary face but acts so cute and kawaii. He is a shinigami with a human-like face and when I was designing him I thought it would be fun to depict someone who’s trying to wear high fashion from the Milan collection [Milan Fashion Week], so he’s having a little fun with his costume.

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Q. Is Ryuk based on a real shinigami?

A: [laughing] It’s really hard to answer that question. He’s trying not to be a shinigami but he totally is a shinigami.

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Q: [All You Need Is Kill] had a lot of mech and technology, was it fun to draw this?

A: I’ve always wanted to write sci-fi so it was really fun. I also got to work on drawing sharp lines which I don’t get to do a lot.

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While drawing Ryuk, he said:

Obata: “When I draw a shinigami I start with an image of a skull. I wonder if ‘death god’ in the United States isn’t just the image of a skull.”

Mod: “It’s like the hooded death reaper character, from Scream, is what we think of.”

Obata: “Yes also in Japan. But skulls are pretty scary to everyone.”

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Q. What do you pay attention to when you’re drawing Ryuk?

Obata: To make him not too scary but not too cute.

Q. What would make him too cute?

Obata: Too much facial expression

The translator explains that Ohba changed the story based on Obata’s design of Ryuk, so his design altered the personality of the character.

Obata said his hero was Sherlock Holmes, and his hobbies were sleeping and karate. If he had to describe his art style as a color it would it be either white or black.

[stayincorrect]

RANT TIME:

ok so Death note and the movie are very different and i didnt think they would be? from like lacking important characters to completely changing there motives like just comparing it there so different I do relize that they couldn’t put everything into the movie and i know that these are just my opinions

In the anime: lights mother is alive he also has a sister (they play relatively small parts though) when he finds the death note he is hesitant and doesn’t know if he should use it or not because that would be murder but decides to in order to save a girl from then on we see him become obsessed with it he goes as far as killing anyone who might think even for a second that hes ‘kira’ and he starts almost enjoying killing people with it but he is also thinking ahead and plans what to do for when L and the cops get involved he has a plan hes prepared he also isn’t afraid of ryuk and almost welcomes him hes not even fased that hes a shinigami (japanesses god of death) and isn’t worried about what happens after he dies and is very open to the thought of being a shinigami he even goes on to state how he would make a good shinigami he almost goes insane from power, ryuk is almost helpful to light and is about as helpful as he can be, no one knows Ls real name or face and he only ever does anything through a computer and even then his voice is manipulated and he doesn’t show his face he even sends a stand in for his important interview

How ever in the movie: lights mom was murdered (or something along those lines it was late when i was watching it) and he lives with his dad whos cheif of the police,light finds the book at school and is pressured into using it by ryuk to kill a bully picking on a girl during school (when in the anime we dont see him until after light uses the death note a few times) light then decides he wants to use it to kill the man who killed his mom so in 1 day hes killed 2 people (opposed to the 40 something he killed in the anime) but he feels bad and decides to only kill the worst of the worst such as terrorists, serial killers, ect people like that he starts small when the girl he saved named mia decides to talk to him about how crazy yesterday was she sees the death note and picks it up light doesn’t even try to hide it he infact goes as far as showing her that it can kill people by killing a person taking his wife and children hostage later they start dating and they both start killing they have no plan for the cops,fbi,or L infact they didn’t think they were gonna get caught ryuk is only ever seen a few times though L isn’t afraid to show his face but still doesnt give out his name if he needs things done he sends watari his handler (thats the best way to put it) ryuk and mia start doing most of the killing and light never once has a plan for the cops

Thats as much detail ill go into for now so that i wont spoil to much for anyone who hasnt seen it i just wanted to share some of the plot holes and differences ive found i do actually like both the movie and anime i just wanted to point out that they are drastically different (at least i thought so) i didnt talk about how they left out characters or events because it would be even longer and its already really long so if you made it this far thank you ily and hope you have a great day