Death Note Special Chapter is a one-shot Death Note manga by written and illustrated by original creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. It was released for on Viz Media's website
on February 3rd, 2020. It was also available internationally on Shueisha's Manga Plus service. This one shot, renamed the A-Kira story along with a previous one shot dubbed the C-Kira story, the pilot chapter, as well as various short stories, were rebranded and presented in a new collection called Death Note Short Stories.
This work contains examples of:
- The New '10s: The plot takes place in late 2010s, more specifically in 2019, with all the technological advances, law enforcement technology, social networks, smartphones and hashtags that the past decade was known for. Heck, they even added Donald Trump.
- Arch-Enemy: Averted with Minoru and Near. Despite Near being L's successor and noting that A-Kira is far more intelligent than C-Kira, leading him to actually investigate the case this time, they don't have any sort of rivalry like their predecessors. Minoru isn't even aware that Near is investigating him, since his decision to auction the Death Note means Near feels no reason to reveal his involvement.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Near isn't very concerned about the consequences of the auction, since a publicly known Death Note user can be easily identified and punished if they abuse the item.
- Auction: Minoru decides to sell off the Death Note to the highest bidder by having Ryuk hold up a note stating so on live TV. This leads to a massive bidding war, particularly between the USA and China. The US wins with a bid of 1 quadrillion yen which equates to over 900 billion US dollars.
- Bittersweet Ending: Due to Ryuk invoking Exact Words on his final conversation with Minoru, the latter dies as a result of the Shinigami King's rule against selling the Death Note. However, his scheme causes Japan's economy to reach new heights and many of its citizens are now financially secure.
- Book Dumb: Minoru has weak school grades, but he puts a lot of thought into his plans about how to make use of the Death Note. He actually successfully sells it (and would had gotten away with it if not for the Shinigami King's new rule) and even outwits Near.
- Continuity Nod: The story starts immediately after the "C-Kira" story ends with Near also mentioning C-Kira.
- Contrasting Sequel Main Character:
- Like Taro, Minoru had his first encounter with the Death Note as a middle schooler and did not want to cause any deaths. Unlike Taro, he got the Death Note knowing exactly what it was meant for, and didn't do anything with it until he had a solid plan — and that wouldn't be until his high school years.
- Both Minoru and Light started using the Death Note in their teens, and both wanted to bring a prosperous future with their use of it. Whereas Light was an egotistic megalomaniac when it came down to his new world, Minoru's plan was smaller in scope and he remained fairly levelheaded through his plan. And while both died due to an unforeseen circumstance, Light's own lack of oversight led to a pathetic death, while Minoru's Laser-Guided Amnesia and a rule patch that only existed after he'd "won" led to a quick but sudden death.
- Diabolus ex Machina: The Shinigami King: neutral in every instance he appears/is mentioned, finally decides to put his foot down on misuse of the Notebook. Naturally, he has to make an example of the person who came up with the new loophole in the first place.
- Dirty Coward: After informing Trump that he will die for accepting the sale of the Death Note, Ryuk gives him two options: die, but keep the Death Note in US custody, or live, but return it to Ryuk. Trump not only decides to give it back, but decides to bluff everyone else into believing he still has it.Ryuk: Got it. So you value your life over your country. [...] Very shrewd, Mr. President.
- Distant Sequel: The story is set nine years after Light's death in 2010, though at first it picks up where the "C-Kira" story left off in 2013 before skipping to 2019, with there being a brief flashback to when Minoru got the Death Note in 2017.
- The Hero Dies: The story ends with Minoru getting executed by an ex post facto rule prohibiting the sale of the Death Note.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Because Minoru told Ryuk to never contact him again, he can't be informed of the new rule which will kill him the moment he withdraws money from selling the Death Note.
- In-Series Nickname: Since the newest Kira is auctioning off the Death Note, Near refers to them as A-Kira.
- It Only Works Once: When Ryuk suggests that Minoru use the Death Note like Light did, he shoots this down immediately by pointing out the ways technology and the tracking down of crimes has changed in the past ten years making using the Death Note in the same manner practically impossible.
- Know When to Fold 'Em: Upon learning that the money for the sale for the Death Note will be distributed among several hundred thousand people (not to mention that A-Kira will have lost all memory of the notebook by surrendering his ownership), Near decides that it would be too much effort to investigate further and concedes defeat.
- Legendary in the Sequel: Although his identity was never made public, the original Kira is remembered as a major figure in recent history. Minoru tells Ryuk that history classes present him as a vicious terrorist, but many people still revere him as a god.
- Lighter and Softer: Compared to the original serialization, Minoru's turn as Kira is way less suspenseful and bloody than Light's.
- Moving the Goalposts: The Shinigami King's decision to ban buying or selling about the Death Note can be seen as this, because the rule comes into effect a while after Minoru enacted his plan.
- Mundane Utility: Minoru exploits the Shinigami's trait of being invisible to anyone that hasn't touched a Death Note to have Ryuk disclose messages to the public without anyone knowing he was involved. He also makes use of Ryuk's intangibility by telling him to travel underground so no one can track him when he goes back to Minoru's home.
- Not Me This Time: The general public—and even middle schoolers—don't see Sakura TV in the best light given their history and active engagement with the original Kira, which is why they have to insist they're aren't personally involved with the auction or the apparent hijacking of their airtime by an unseen phantom.
- Obvious Rule Patch: The Shinigami King forbids buying or selling the Death Note effective immediately, such that those involved in the exchange will die, the buyer when they take ownership and the seller once they receive payment.
- In the end, Ryuk manually kills Minoru using his Death Note as he retrieves the money. This leaves it ambiguous if the Shinigami King can actually change the rules of the Note itself, or simply instructed Ryuk to kill any humans buying or selling the note as if there was a new rule.
- Our Presidents Are Different: Unlike the fictional Presidents that appeared in Death Note proper, this chapter employs the President Unmodified variety. Chinese President Xi Jinping, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and United States President Donald Trump all appear as themselves in accordance with the world stage of 2019. Depending on how you see them, all—but particularly Trump—could be seen as Scheming, Corrupt, and/or Strawman.
- Spanner in the Works: Minoru's plan goes off without a problem and he would have enjoyed his money were it not for the Shinigami King establishing a new rule forbidding the sale of Death Notes, combined with Minoru ordering Ryuk to stay away (and therefore not learning about the rule).
- Technology Marches On: Discussed. Minoru points out that Light's master schemes would've fallen apart faster in 2017-2019 with all the security cameras on every street, bus, and train, and the police getting better at tracking down cyber crimes. However, Minoru's ultimate opinion is that Light was smart enough that he could have adapted his methods anyway.
- Unspoken Plan Guarantee: The exact details of each step of Minoru's plan are not revealed until the step happens, so the reader learns about them at about the same time as the detectives who are looking for him, to reinforce the sense of his scheme being too tightly planned for him to ever be caught. The big exception is the final step, when he gives up the Death Note and tells Ryuk he never wants to see him again so Minoru can live happily ever after. This is the part of his plan that goes wrong, as Ryuk honors Minoru's wishes and doesn't tell him about the rule change.
- Villain Respect: Implied with Ryuk given that he writes down Minoru's name on the same page he had put Light's.
- Worthy Opponent: When Near realizes that Minoru did a good enough job to cover his tracks, he decides to stop pressing charges and instead looks forward to an opportunity to meet him.
- Written by the Winners: As Light had theorized, Kira would only have been considered a hero to the public if he had successfully taken over the world. Just seven years after his disappearance, the era of Kira's reign is now a part of officially-documented history, and he's considered one of history's greatest villains.
