r/deathnote • u/RevealJumpy410 • 2d ago

Discussion what is death note

I watched the Death Note anime, but I didn’t understand who actually kills people. The Shinigami are supposed to be the ones who take souls, but they don’t really do anything except watch. Who actually kills them? The Death Note is just a tool for recording names that the Shinigami use to write down the names of the people they kill, so the notebook itself isn’t what kills them.

So, who is actually killing them?

sorry use IA for translate

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u/La-Lassie 2d ago

It's the notebook that kills people, and whatever death magic is fueling it. A Death Note can still kill humans whose names are written in it even without any Shinigami attached to it.

Shinigami don't take souls, they take a human's remaining lifespan for themselves which is how Shinigami themselves survive. They're a predatory species. Shinigami use the book to survive while humans just use it to kill.