Right, and as vashti points out, I'm incorrect regarding Soichiro's source of paycheck/employment. While quick to point the discrepancy out, had I been correct, I don't believe it detracts from your point at all. In fact, I'd say that Ohba very much had that point in mind, especially given he found L (a character consistently straying in the gray) only a little evil.
Oh god, your second argument. Ahaha, we could spend days discussing this. Again, Japan takes precedent from history: Shogunate and WWII. Hmm, now that I think about it, even the working-man syndrome/phenomenon very well may have roots from the Samurai era.
Under Shogunate government, it was expected of a Samurai to commit hari kari under orders from the Shogun, and the Samurai's family wasn't necessarily exempt from from said orders: frequently, his wife and children were to be killed by the Samurai himself.
Oddly enough, the culture at the time was so inured to it all, they tended to find a tranquility in the idea of death. Perhaps living the life of a Samurai kinda sucked? XD
So that may or may not help explain why the idea of sacrificing a child, in a personified Japan's eyes, wouldn't be considered reprehensible.
Fast forward to the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Consider this: the Japanese as a nation were humiliated by their defeat at the hands of the US, so much so that they actually shunned their own wounded from said cities. They were prideful, they believed and still believe, and thus brought the apocalypse upon themselves. (I've read books, articles and watched so many documentaries regarding the subject I couldn't possibly cite them; however, my main source would be my mom. Incidentally, she moved to the States because she rejected a good deal Japanese ideology).
Huh, now I'm wondering if Light symbolizes pre-war Japan. Maybe not, but an interesting idea, nonetheless.
Anyway, I think it was then that the idea of humility and community over personal desires came into fruition.
Onto suicide and I think I'm dangerously close to tl;dr here. Leave it to you, bby, to get me going. ;)
As it happens, right before I commented here, I watched, "Father", and yes it was the apparent politically incorrect English dub, but there you have it. Soichiro not only alludes to it in the episode, but states outright he's been thinking about it more and more often since the incident with Sayu, his thoughts being along the lines of his helplessness.
Oh, and by, " the casual regard with which the characters treat the notion of suicide", I meant to refer to the underwhelmed reaction of other characters' to Soichiro's insinuations and outright declaration of his thoughts, if not actual intent.
I'd argue his decision to take ownership of the notebook, believing the thirteen day rule applicable, however justified and courageous, is an act of suicide in of itself.
Oh god, your second argument. Ahaha, we could spend days discussing this. Again, Japan takes precedent from history: Shogunate and WWII. Hmm, now that I think about it, even the working-man syndrome/phenomenon very well may have roots from the Samurai era.
Under Shogunate government, it was expected of a Samurai to commit hari kari under orders from the Shogun, and the Samurai's family wasn't necessarily exempt from from said orders: frequently, his wife and children were to be killed by the Samurai himself.
Oddly enough, the culture at the time was so inured to it all, they tended to find a tranquility in the idea of death. Perhaps living the life of a Samurai kinda sucked? XD
So that may or may not help explain why the idea of sacrificing a child, in a personified Japan's eyes, wouldn't be considered reprehensible.
Fast forward to the atomic devastation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Consider this: the Japanese as a nation were humiliated by their defeat at the hands of the US, so much so that they actually shunned their own wounded from said cities. They were prideful, they believed and still believe, and thus brought the apocalypse upon themselves. (I've read books, articles and watched so many documentaries regarding the subject I couldn't possibly cite them; however, my main source would be my mom. Incidentally, she moved to the States because she rejected a good deal Japanese ideology).
Huh, now I'm wondering if Light symbolizes pre-war Japan. Maybe not, but an interesting idea, nonetheless.
Anyway, I think it was then that the idea of humility and community over personal desires came into fruition.
Onto suicide and I think I'm dangerously close to tl;dr here. Leave it to you, bby, to get me going. ;)
As it happens, right before I commented here, I watched, "Father", and yes it was the apparent politically incorrect English dub, but there you have it. Soichiro not only alludes to it in the episode, but states outright he's been thinking about it more and more often since the incident with Sayu, his thoughts being along the lines of his helplessness.
Oh, and by, " the casual regard with which the characters treat the notion of suicide", I meant to refer to the underwhelmed reaction of other characters' to Soichiro's insinuations and outright declaration of his thoughts, if not actual intent.
I'd argue his decision to take ownership of the notebook, believing the thirteen day rule applicable, however justified and courageous, is an act of suicide in of itself.
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