Christianity in Death Note

[dice3510]

Misa and Mello are both seen wearing necklaces with a cross attached to them. Mello even had a cross on a wall in his base with Jesus on it.

Also, in a deleted scene from the anime, there is a cross on L's graveyard.

So - Mello, Misa and L are Christians? Or what?

Is the author himself a Christian, having all these crosses in the series?


edit: on second thoughts, the answer to the last question is probably "no" given the whole deal with "nothingness" being the ultimate fate of people in the death note universe.

In any case, it's strange having so many Christian symbols in an anime when Buddhism is the dominant religion in Japan.

 

[Qyöt27]

Japanese (actually, generally East Asian) attitudes toward religion are pretty syncretic, and the conception of what religion is or does is very fluid, as opposed to the highly rigid divisions you see in Western practice. Buddhism and Shinto intermix all the time, people who are nominally atheists will still visit temples/shrines for various civic or personal reasons, and even both of the previous sometimes have Christian elements pop up at times due to A) Japan having had exposure from missionaries since the 1500s(?), and B) perhaps more predominantly with the American military presence since the end of WWII. There's plenty of Catholic schools in Japan, and you even see them show up as settings in anime series - sometimes just as a general 'here we are' sort of thing (which is most times), or in a few cases, with the setting and atmosphere constantly being referred to (Maria+Holic being one example).

Christian symbols show up as window-dressing (like in Evangelion), or because of their association with certain types of fashion statements (gothic lolita in particular). As to why it might show up in Death Note, there is a whole messiah complex going on that the entire series revolves around.

 

[stacymay]

I don't think so. The religious symbols are most likely there to be symbols and nothing more. The author of the stories does not seem to be a Christian, as the final rule of the Death Note is that "When people die, they all go to the same place... MU (nothingness)".

Therefore, unless he simply added that philosophy as another fantasy element (e.g. the Note itself, Ryuk and other shinigami) then he doesn't believe in Heaven.

It's not uncommon to see people wearing crosses in anime or in real life, even if they are not Christian - I do, however, believe it's likely that L is Christian as he was raised in what looks to be a church-based orphanage, and, as you mentioned, his resting place is adorned with a cross in ReLight.

Still, the author is likely not one. I can't say for sure, but it's a safe bet.

 

[Tenkuh]

What Qyot27 said, plus...

I'm pretty sure the characters L and Mello are suppose to be European. L is a quarter french, quarter japanese, quarter russian, and quarter english, plus he stayed for five years in England.

Wammy House is in England, so at the very least both Mello and L were raised in England. This could be the reason for the crosses with these characters.

I think the reason for Misa's cross is just cause she has the gothic lolita look, nothing more.

 

[Netbug009]

Anime tend to have religious references because it is seen as foreign and cool in Japan. Sadly, this has little if anything to do with actual faith or promoting Christian values.

 

[chaoticfirefly]

Like everybody else has said, the symbols are just there purely for symbolism and nothing more but from when I was really into Death Note quite a few years ago, it was commonly accepted that Mello was Catholic.

 

[bitter2sweet]

i think it was style purposes. um i dont really think it has to do with anything though. besides light thought he was god