Death Note's New One-Shot Proves We Need a Sequel Anime

14 years after the end of the original series, Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata returned to Death Note for one more story set after the events of the original manga. This nearly 90 page long one-shot sequel has been a huge hit with fans as not only did it take a surprise swing at the President of the United States, but it was the first story set in this universe in a long, long time. It helped to re-spark interest in the anime adaptation too as it was one of the biggest anime of the early 2000s.

Death Note is one of those series that's especially compelling the first time around, and will remain one of the longstanding classics of the medium. But it's also one of those series you kind of forget about as the years go by and tons of new series release. But this short sequel not only reinvigorated interest in the original, but served as a great argument for why we need a full sequel anime project.

The core premise of Death Note is simple, and the one-shot proves that you can take the original idea and completely separate it from the original set of characters. While there are a few ties to the original, the franchise is built as such that you can just hand the Death Note to various different characters and play out their choices as a result. For example, the one-shot follows a young boy who Ryuk chooses at random.

Thus a sequel anime could be an anthology in which it follows a different main character for either each episode, or after an arc ends. The original series does play around with this idea, but it's still all within Light Yagami's plans. Different characters with different value sets will choose to use the notebook in their own ways, and it'd be a lot of fun to see how that all plays out.

The original series does have a definitive end, and so does the sequel one-shot, but that one-shot's existence is proof enough that there are still a ton of potential ideas to explore with this central horror premise. It's a franchise built on reinvention already with it being so different from the original idea for the series, there's already a timeskip shaking things up further, and even the creators realized the creative potential!

But what do you think? Would you watch a Death Note sequel? Does it need one? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or talk to me directly about all things anime and other cool things @Valdezology on Twitter! You can currently read Death Note's new one-shot completely for free with Viz Media, and check out the rest of the original series in the Shonen Jump digital vault with a paid subscription!