Death Note sequel has President Trump, but it’s the ending that is upsetting manga fans

Death Note manga artwork
New 2020 Death Note manga one-shot has U.S. President Donald Trump as a character, but it’s the ending that has some fans upset. Pic credit: Tsugumi Ohba, Takeshi Obata

The new Death Note one-shot manga released in 2020 has fans of both the anime and manga series going nuts since it’s the first true Death Note sequel that takes place after the story events surrounding Light Yagami.

This time, the Shinigami Ryuk gets bored and decides to play with a high school student named Minoru Tanaka.

The new Death Note story is written by the original creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. It’s 88 pages long including the center color page. The intention of the new work was to show what Shinigami bring about when they descend upon the earth.

The original Death Note manga series ran from 2003 through 2006. The story was adapted into a 2006 TV anime series in addition to recap OVA episodes. The manga has also inspired a Netflix live-action movie, novels, video games, and even a stage musical.

Death Note sequel features United States President Donald Trump in a major role

Note: The following contains major spoilers concerning the story of the Death Note sequel.

One of the major premises of the new Death Note sequel is that becoming a new Kira is very difficult thanks to modern technology. With municipal cameras everywhere and police knowing how to do proper cybersecurity, new Death Note character Minoru Tanaka quickly surmises that his best chance is to sell the Death Note to the highest bidder.

As you can imagine, the bidding war quickly escalates with governments becoming involved. The United States is the winner and Ryuk personally delivers the Death Note to U.S President Donald Trump at the White House.

But the Shinigami King is none too pleased by these turn of events so the death god changes the rules for the Death Note.

“So there’s been a new rule added,” Ryuk explained to Trump. “A human who buys or sells the Death Note in the human world will die. The seller will die when they receive the money, and the buyer will die when they receive the Death Note.”

Trump is obviously reluctant to accept the Death Note under such conditions, so Ryuk offers the President an out by saying that Trump can refuse to take the Death Note but the U.S. won’t get its money back. But Ryuk also goaded Trump by suggesting he could take a self-sacrificial action for the good of the country.

“Now, if you take the notebook, you’ll die, but it will remain here,” Ryuk said. “So someone high and mighty in this country will get it, right?Ā  You’ll die, but it’ll belong to your nation.”

When Trump refuses the Death Note, Ryuk responds sarcastically, “Got it. You value your life over your country.”

In response, Trump stated he’d falsely claim that he had gained the “power of Kira” but “refuse to use it” since “it’ll make me look like a saint”, which Ryuk described as being “very shrewd”.

Death Note Donald Trump Tweet Power Of Kira
A fake Donald Trump tweet has the U.S. president claiming to own the Death Note. Pic credit: Twitter

The political portion of the story took off to the point that the keywords “Death Note” and Ryuk began trending on Twitter under Politics.

Death Note ending upsets some manga fans

Unfortunately for Minoru, the last-minute rule change by the Shinigami King also applied to him.

Even though Minoru desired a happy life, and had already forgotten his role in the story due to letting the Death Note go voluntarily, he ended up facing the repercussions for his actions despite not killing a soul by writing in the Death Note.

This surprise twist has some fans lauding the 2020 Death Note sequel, but others feel that the original creators let fans down.

“This was a piss poor version of Death Note. The creators should be ashamed. They pretty much spat in the face of fans,” wrote one reader on the VIZ Media website. “There was no back and forth cat and mouse. Near just bent over and said Iā€™m no good. What a piece of c**p writing.”

VIZ Media licensed the series and released the manga, Japanese live-action films, anime, and other related works in North America. Similarly, VIZ Media is publishing the new Death Note one-shot manga sequel for free on their website.

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