Death Note Quotes in Japanese: Light, L, and Ryuk

The main Death Note quotes in the original

The most famous line belongs to Yagami Light — it comes at the peak of his self-confidence. Next come the plan meme, Ryuk's words about humans, and the first rule of the notebook itself.

計画通り: two words that became a meme

計画 means "plan," and 通り after a noun means "in accordance with, according to": together — "according to plan," "just as planned." The phrase became famous far beyond the fandom precisely because of the contrast between the ordinary, everyday words and the character's expression at the moment he says them.

Yagami Light's lines and why 月 is read "Light"

The protagonist's name is written 夜神月: 夜 "night" + 神 "god" + 月 "moon," and as a whole it is read やがみらいと (Yagami Raito) — the character for "moon" is pronounced here with the English word light, hence "Light." The dictionary has no such reading for 月: it is usually つき or げつ. Unusual readings of names in Japan are called キラキラネーム — "sparkling names."

Kira: from the English killer

The nickname "Kira" was invented not by the authors but by people within the story itself: that is what they call the killer who punishes criminals through the notebook, before they know his real name — from the English killer, written in katakana. Over time this nickname becomes almost a separate name in the plot — a second "I" of Yagami Light.

裁き: the character 裁 and Kira's "justice"

裁 — значение: to judge, to decide, to cut cloth — онъёми: サイ — кунъёми: た.つ、さば.く — 12 штрих(ов). 裁 — "to judge, to cut cloth": inside the character there is the element 衣 "clothing" — the original meaning was "to cut fabric," and only later did the figurative meaning "to hand down a decision" appear.

裁く (to judge), 裁判 (court) and 裁き (judgment, trial) — the words the characters of Death Note argue over. Light calls himself the one who judges criminals instead of the law, and L replies that a person indifferent to death has no right to judge others. Both views belong to the characters, not to the author of these lines.

Why 裁 has "clothing" inside

The lower part of the character 裁 is 衣, "clothing," and the upper part originally indicated cutting. The first meaning of the kanji is "to cut fabric to measure," and only later, by the similarity of the image "measure and cut," did it acquire the meaning "to hand down a decision, to judge."

Write 裁 along the guides — "to judge," the character around which the main argument of Death Note revolves.

How the rules of the notebook sound: the passive 〜れる

The first rule reads: このノートに名前を書かれた人間は死ぬ — "The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die." 書かれた is the passive form of 書く (to write): not "the one who wrote," but "the one whose name was written," that is, the victim, not the author of the entry. The same voice is used in almost all formulations of the rules — they describe what will happen to a person, not what the owner of the notebook does.

Why the rules are written in English and Japanese

In the manga, between chapters there are separate pages explaining the rules of the notebook under the heading "How to Use It" — the heading is given in English, and next to some formulations an English translation of the Japanese text is also provided. This is a feature of those appendix pages themselves, not the only way the rules are presented within the main story.

FAQ

Which Death Note quotes are the most famous?

The most often quoted are Yagami Light's words 「そして僕は新世界の神となる」 ("And I will become the god of a new world") and the meme 「計画通り」 ("Just as planned"). Also well known are the first rule of the notebook itself and Ryuk's line that humans really are interesting.

What does "keikaku dōri" — 計画通り — mean?

計画 is "plan," and 通り after a noun means "in accordance with, according to": together "according to plan," "just as planned." Yagami Light's phrase became a meme far beyond the fandom because of the contrast between the everyday words and the character's expression at that moment.

Why is Light's name written with the character for "moon"?

The hero's full name is 夜神月 (Yagami Raito): 夜 "night" + 神 "god" + 月 "moon," read in an unusual way, with the English word light. The usual reading of the character 月 is "tsuki," and such unusual readings of names in Japan are called キラキラネーム, "sparkling names."

What did Light say about the new world?

そして僕は新世界の神となる — "And I will become the god of a new world." The literary となる instead of the colloquial になる makes the phrase more solemn — it is the culmination of his change from an ordinary schoolboy to a person who believes he has the right to decide the fates of others.

How does the first rule of the Death Note sound in Japanese?

このノートに名前を書かれた人間は死ぬ — "The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die." 書かれた is in the passive form: the rule describes what will happen to the victim, not what the one who writes the name in the notebook does.

What does "Kira" mean in Japanese?

"Kira" (キラ) is not a Japanese word but a nickname given to Light by people within the story who do not yet know his real name: from the English killer, written in katakana. Over time this nickname becomes almost a separate name in the plot.

Sources

• Kotobank: article "デスノート"
• Kotobank: article "きらきらネーム"
• Nippon.com: screenwriter on the meaning of Death Note
• Kotobank: DEATH NOTE