Teachers and staff at an I Promise school in Akron, Ohio were left panicking after an instructor found a homemade ‘Death Note’ on the floor of a classroom.
Death Note is one of the most popular anime series in the world — but one student’s fan-made version of the show’s titular notebook sparked outrage from parents and staff at a school.
The I Promise school in Akron, Ohio is supported by the LeBron James Family Foundation to aid at-risk youth. On September 11, a teacher at the school was shocked to find a sheaf of notebook paper with the words ‘Death Note’ written on it in black marker alongside a skull.
‘Death Note’ is a popular manga and anime series.
The homemade ‘Death Note’ reportedly contained a list of 52 names, 30 that belonged to students and 22 that were teachers.
The instructor who found the paper immediately alerted the school’s administration — but due to the nature of the ‘Death Note’ being from a show, nothing happened, leading to concern and criticism from staff members.
Pat Shipe, president of Akron’s Education Association, hit out at the apparent lack of action surrounding the incident.
“I got a call from a handful of teachers that were aware and were rightfully concerned, crying, saying, ‘My husband’s saying, don’t go to work tomorrow.’ This student is still in the classroom Friday,” Shipe said, as per News 5 Cleveland.
However, I Promise principal Stephanie Davis says that there was no reason to investigate the student, after researching and discovering the ‘Death Note’ was simply a fan-made prop from the anime of the same name.
“Our careful investigation revealed that a scholar had recreated a journal from a popular anime series as a playful gesture among friends,” she said in an email sent to parents.
“While we determined there was no actual threat to our school community, we want you to know that we take all security concerns seriously and investigate each one thoroughly.”
Death Note is a manga and anime series that first aired in 2006, following high school student Light Yagami after he discovers a ‘Death Note,’ a mysterious notebook with supernatural powers.
Death Notes belong to Gods of death, known in the series as ‘Shinigami.’ By writing down a person’s name and visualizing their face, a person can orchestrate someone’s demise by writing down a cause of death within 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Commenters across the net were quick to pick up on the origins of the student’s ‘Death Note,’ with one writing on YouTube: “These weebs are a menace.”
“It’s an book series and tv series…. you’re going to punish a child that made fan art,” another explained.
“It’s an anime,” yet another wrote. “Some people take things way too seriously.”
Oddly enough, this isn’t the first time that Death Note has caused chaos in schools. In 2022, a 6th grade student from Alabama was expelled after making their own version of the ‘Death Note,’ while China outright banned the anime series after students in Shenyang started writing down names in notebooks they’d altered into ‘Death Notes.’