Did you know there was another protagonist before Light?
Summary:
There’s Death Note Chapter 0 that features another protagonist.
He’s completely different from Light.
It’s interesting to think what Death Note could’ve been if Taro had remained the protagonist.
Every otaku knows about Death Note, but not everyone is aware of the fact that the manga could’ve been much different if the author, Tsugumi Ohba, went with another protagonist that was in the pilot manga chapter.
There Was Another Student
Death Note Chapter 0 has a similar to the main series beginning: Ryuk loses his death note in the human world, a school student finds it and kills a number of people. However, this is where the similarities end.
Taro Kagami is the first protagonist of Death Note. He is younger than Light (only 13 years old) and has a different set of morals. He never wanted to kill anyone, and used the note as his personal diary instead.
Taro was writing about his day, mentioning the names of his classmates that had been bullying him. To his surprise, both of them died on the same day. And the same thing happened to other bullies later.
But unlike Light, Taro didn’t really want to kill anyone. He deeply regretted his actions and wanted nothing to do with the note.
It Has a Couple of Curious Details
One great difference between the pilot chapter and the main series is that Taro had an eraser. If he wanted to resurrect a person that had been killed by the note, all he had to do was erase their name, and they would be back to life.
It’s good that this detail wasn’t in the main story. It would’ve added a couple of interesting plot twists, that’s for sure, but making death definitive feels like the right thing for Death Note.
An interesting fact is, Taro’s character design appeared in the main story, too. Mikami, who was Kira’s biggest fan and supporter, was inspired by the grown-up version of Taro.
Chapter 0 is an interesting experience for those who finished reading Death Note and are interested in the first drafts for the story. It’s curious to learn how things could’ve been if Light never happened.
Still, we have to be honest, we prefer Light much more than Taro. Having a villain protagonist with a twisted set of morals suits Death Note better than more kind-hearted Taro, who struggles with killing people.
We can’t possibly know where Taro’s story would’ve taken us and what character development was in store for him, but we’re glad that Light became the main lead of the story and made Death Note what it is today.
Would you like to read Death Note with Taro as the lead?
Did you know there was another protagonist before Light?
Summary:
There’s Death Note Chapter 0 that features another protagonist.
He’s completely different from Light.
It’s interesting to think what Death Note could’ve been if Taro had remained the protagonist.
Every otaku knows about Death Note, but not everyone is aware of the fact that the manga could’ve been much different if the author, Tsugumi Ohba, went with another protagonist that was in the pilot manga chapter.
There Was Another Student
Death Note Chapter 0 has a similar to the main series beginning: Ryuk loses his death note in the human world, a school student finds it and kills a number of people. However, this is where the similarities end.
Taro Kagami is the first protagonist of Death Note. He is younger than Light (only 13 years old) and has a different set of morals. He never wanted to kill anyone, and used the note as his personal diary instead.
Taro was writing about his day, mentioning the names of his classmates that had been bullying him. To his surprise, both of them died on the same day. And the same thing happened to other bullies later.
But unlike Light, Taro didn’t really want to kill anyone. He deeply regretted his actions and wanted nothing to do with the note.
It Has a Couple of Curious Details
One great difference between the pilot chapter and the main series is that Taro had an eraser. If he wanted to resurrect a person that had been killed by the note, all he had to do was erase their name, and they would be back to life.
It’s good that this detail wasn’t in the main story. It would’ve added a couple of interesting plot twists, that’s for sure, but making death definitive feels like the right thing for Death Note.
An interesting fact is, Taro’s character design appeared in the main story, too. Mikami, who was Kira’s biggest fan and supporter, was inspired by the grown-up version of Taro.
Chapter 0 is an interesting experience for those who finished reading Death Note and are interested in the first drafts for the story. It’s curious to learn how things could’ve been if Light never happened.
Still, we have to be honest, we prefer Light much more than Taro. Having a villain protagonist with a twisted set of morals suits Death Note better than more kind-hearted Taro, who struggles with killing people.
We can’t possibly know where Taro’s story would’ve taken us and what character development was in store for him, but we’re glad that Light became the main lead of the story and made Death Note what it is today.
Would you like to read Death Note with Taro as the lead?
