Death Note and Your Moral View

Tweet

So, a lot of buzz and controversy has been surrounding the up-and-coming anime "Death Note". In order to better discuss the issues I will bring up, I will provide a little background in case not everyone has seen the series(it has just recently been released in English). The series follows a high school student, Yagami Light, as he is preparing for university entrance exams when he finds a 'Death Note'. The 'Death Note' is a tool used be the Shinigami or 'Death gods' in order to end one's life. Light finds a 'Death Note' that the Shinigami, Ryuk, has dropped in the human realm for his own amusement. Ryuk then teaches Light how the 'Death Note' is used and gives him the opportunity to hand it off to someone else and lose all memory of the encounter. Light decides he is going to keep the 'Death Note' and use it to make "His perfect world" by killing off the criminals in the world. This desire to cleanse the world later turns into a cat and mouse game between geniuses as a police specialist is brought in to hunt down "Kira"(a.k.a. Yagami Light) So there is the background of the story, now for the questions. I have 2, so please discuss each respectfully. The first is dealing with the anime itself. Look at the moral aspects of the series, a boy finds a means to kill off anyone who does not fit into his ideal world or society. Most people would be torn, but what do you REALLY feel and believe? Given the chance, would you kill off the criminals in order to create a utopia? And would you then kill off anyone who came close to your secret in order to protect your identity and ideals? Or would you view it as morally wrong and take the chance to give it up? Now my second question: Recently there has been a series of suspensions from school as students have been carrying around the replica 'Death Note's and have written classmates' names in it, signifying a wish that they would die. What is your view on this bad trend that has been spreading through the school system and how do you think it affects the way regular people view us Otaku? What are your views on these subjects and how do these issues make you feel?