The Dreaded L Shirt
Author: 
April 7, 2008 
It looks like anime is still be shadowed by people who think of it as “Too Hot for TV” and “Definitely not for Children!” genres of the early 90′s. Several years ago, the warnings went away when Pokemon was at the height of popularity among young children, and Spirited Away won an Oscar for “Best Animated Feature”. Things aren’t the same anymore. Thanks to Absolute Boyfriend and Death Note, people have second opinions of this niche because of various themes that are considered “immoral”.
There’s one problem involving an anime that I’m a huge fan of that could have gotten out of hand if someone took it personally. It happened last month when I went into a Wal-Mart, wearing this T-Shirt of L from Death Note. I got a few weird stares from people who didn’t seem interested in what was on the shirt–and it wasn’t the type of people who wears a Bleach hoodie, along with a Naruto headband. It was the older people…the type who despises Harry Potter for it’s witchcraft diluted storyline. It could be the same for Death Note if the series somehow gets “national attention”.
Thinking back, it turns out that the word “Death”, printed in big, red letters, was making them upset. They didn’t bother to see the “Note” part…. Perhaps they have heard of Death Note? Last year, somewhere in the U.S., a girl was suspended for bringing a replica of the Death Note to school, and showing fellow students a website dedicated to the Death Note itself…meaning people could type their enemies name into the interactive journal. Fortunately, it does not work, and never will. The story was reported to Anime News Network, and possibly Reuters (or another news agency that’s not related to Associated Press), but I don’t know if it made it to CNN. If it did, I don’t think many people watch it as much as the major networks. If it was on the evening news on the major networks, all heck would break loose.
Before I went out wearing the shirt, I didn’t think about how it would attract this kind of attention, besides running into a random Otaku and talking about other stuff not relating to Death Note. I guess the shirt is going to stay in my closet, along with my Cowboy Bebop shirt with Spike’s gun clearly printed on the front. I would only wear it at anime conventions, as long as I don’t get beaten up by Code Geass fans…
Tagged: 
(Musings)
I say, if you like the shirt wear it where ever the hell you damn well please and to hell with what others think. There is nothing wrong or indecent about the shirt so there is no point in not wearing it. They should be more offending by the people wearing plumber-jeans and too small tops.
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I’ve got to agree with Joana. Its ridiculous for you to stop wearing it because you get a couple of stares. Every where I go I get stares at, and I often get followed in stores, just because I wear all black since I’m color blind (things always match that way). It doesn’t stop me from doing it. It shouldn’t matter what someone else thinks about how you dress, its their own mistake. I’ve had quite a bit of fun watching the middle aged people who give me looks stop when I hold a door or some such thing.
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Thanks for the comments, guys! The reason I stopped wearing the shirt is because it seems that where I live, people are willing to put up a protest for something that’s harmful from something that’s actually harmless. If I lived further away from where I live now, many people wouldn’t care what I wear…Well, I guess that the way things are going nowadays, lol. I’m going to give the shirt another try.
Oh! A Death Note Tee with L printed on top! I wish I can have that shirt! It’s very sad that you have to keep this shirt in the closet and only wear it during anime conventions.
Btw, I just watched L:Change The World, 2 days ago. It was great and Ken’ichi Matsuyama looks great too!
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Sanjo-chan,
People are like that where I live too. I’ve found that bending over backwards to appease them is more trouble than it’s worth though.
Either way, it’s your choice, my apologies if my comment sounded harsh. It’s just people’s judgmental behavior irks me something fierce. lol
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@Joana: It’s not a problem.
I actually have past experiences when I get weird stares for wearing something odd…and just recently at JAMPcon…dressing up as Rukia in front of tourist there to see the Choo Choo. I have another shirt that gets a lot of attention, and I even got into a conversation about where I got the shirt. These experiences were actually funny, lol…but wearing this certain T-Shirt and seeing the stares different than what I got before gave me a different experience because it seemed that only saw one word. I guess I’m just paranoid, lol. ^^;