Great TV While High: Death Note

We’ve got another fantastic show for weedists who are anime lovers. Death Note is based on the Japanese manga series Desu Nōto, which is written by Tsugumi Ohba. The manga was adapted into an anime by Madhouse Inc. and directed by Tetsuro Araki.

The anime is full of fantastic art, characters that are disturbing and intriguing, and the story line is one of the best I’ve ever seen in any genre of television. Trust me, light up a bowl, start watching, and you will instantly become hooked.

The show centers around a genius Japanese high school student, Light Yagami, who finds the death note, which grants him the power to inflict death on whomever he chooses – with a few limitations. Written inside of the death note are 5 rules:

1. The human whose name is written in this note shall die.

2. This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.

3. If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.

4. If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.

5. After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

Light finds the book at his school where it was dropped by a shinigami – a God of Death and the original owner of the death note. Skeptical at first, Light does not believe the death note is real. But something causes him to try it out anyway. Light first tests the Death Note on a criminal and is shocked when, just as the death note described, the man died of a heart attack before his eyes on television.

After Light confirms that the death note is indeed genuine, he is joined by Ryuk, the shinigami who dropped the note. Shinigami are depicted in the show as ancient gods who no longer have much to do, and so consequently, they sometimes entertain themselves by dropping their death notes into other worlds.

Light first assumes that Ryuk chose him to find the death not because he is so intelligent, but he is quickly corrected. Ryuk explains that it was completely random that light found the note. Light asks Ryuk why he dropped the note to which he responds, “You’re asking me why? I did it ‘cause I was bored.”

Light makes it his mission in life to use the death note to cleanse the world of evil, by killing all the criminals in the world. He plans to create a new world and rule as “the God of the New World.” Light’s actions are quickly noticed and he takes on the persona of Kira, the God that will cleanse the world of evil. The series follows Light’s actions as Interpol and the world’s greatest detective “L,” attempt to discover the identity of Kira. That’s all I’m going to say about the plot, because I don’t want to give anything away.

This series has many twists and turns that will blow your mind. It is an essential show to watch for weedists who enjoy toking and watching mentally captivating anime. The intellectual battle between Light and Interpol will leave you wondering what will happen next, and some of the twists will blow your mind.