Hostname: page-component-55f67697df-px5tt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-05-09T04:32:55.887Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Cultural Flows Beneath Death Note: Catching the Wave of Popular Japanese Culture in China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 May 2025

Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

To better understand the controversy surrounding Death Note in the Chinese context, this article explores the historical precursors to the Chinese Communist Party's ban on horror films, and examines the attitudes of Chinese students at an Australian university. The article also proposes a new viewpoint about how trade and popular presses in the West are attempting to understand China's changing role in the global cultural industries.

Type
Research Article
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2010

References

Anime News Network (2005) Death Note stirs controversy in China, accessed 14/8/08.Google Scholar
Anime News Network (2007) Virginian teen suspended over names in Death Note, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Anime News Network (2008a) South Carolina student removed over Death Note list.Google Scholar
Anime News Network (2008b) Alabama 6th grade boys arrested for Death Note book, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Anime News Network (2008c) Four Washington middle schoolers disciplined over Death Note, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
BBC News (2007) China censors ‘cut’ Pirates film, accessed 27/9/08.Google Scholar
Berry, Chris and Farquhar, Mary (2006) China On Screen: Cinema and Nation (New York: Columbia University Press).Google Scholar
Business Weekly (2003) Hero: box office saviour, accessed 26/7/09.Google Scholar
Box Office Mojo (2008), accessed 6/9/08.Google Scholar
BTChina (2008), accessed 26/9/08.Google Scholar
Chao, Loretta (2008) China is likely top internet user, The Wall Street Journal, 14 march.Google Scholar
Chien, Eugenia (2006) China, Taiwan crack down on Korean soap operas, Pacific News Service, accessed 28/9/08.Google Scholar
China Daily (2007) ‘Death Note’ days numbered, accessed 14/6/08.Google Scholar
China Daily (2008a) China bans horror audio, visual products, Harry Potter excluded, accessed 4/6/08.Google Scholar
China Daily (2008b) China to extend ban on foreign cartoons, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
China Information Agency News (2007) cited by Comi Press, Shueisha responds to China banning Death Note, accessed 15/7/08.Google Scholar
China Internet Network Information Centre (2002-2009) Statistical reports on the internet development in China, accessed 11/3/09.Google Scholar
Chu, Yingchi (2002) The consumption of cinema in contemporary China, in Donald, Stephanie, Keane, Michael and Hong, Yin (eds) Media In China: Consumption, Content and Crisis, Pp. 4354 (London: RoutledgeCurzon).Google Scholar
Chutian Metropolis Daily (2007) cited by Comi Press, Death Notes confiscated in Wuhan, China, accessed 15/7/08.Google Scholar
Cintas, Jorge and Sánchez, Pablo (2006) Fansubs: audiovisual translation in an amateur environment, The Journal Of Specialised Translation 6, Pp. 3752.Google Scholar
Press, Comi (2006) Death Note movie breaks Hong Kong box office records, accessed 15/7/08.Google Scholar
Press, Comi (2007) Death Note in China – success or disaster?, accessed 15/8/08.Google Scholar
Coonan, Clifford (2006) China bans foreign cartoons from TV prime-time schedule, The Independent, August 15 (London).Google Scholar
Coonan, Clifford (2007a) China censors change Warcraft game, Variety Asia Online, accessed 27/1/09.Google Scholar
Coonan, Clifford (2008a) Chinese DVD pirate faces prison, Variety Asia Online, accessed 10/2/09.Google Scholar
Coonan, Clifford (2008b) Han invites foreign investment in China, Variety Asia Online, accessed 11/2/09.Google Scholar
Dowell, William (2006) The Internet, censorship, and China, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs 7(2), Pp. 111119.Google Scholar
Elley, Derek (2007) Review of Death Note: The Last Name, Variety, accessed 10/2/09.Google Scholar
Fleming, Michael (2009) Warner brings Death to big screen, accessed 10/4/10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guardian (2006) China sinks Dead Man's Chest, accessed 27/7/08.Google Scholar
Hammond, Stefan (2004) China spooked by Hong Kong's films, accessed 27/9/08.Google Scholar
Hartford, Kathleen (2000) Cyberspace with Chinese Characteristics, Current History 99(638), Pp. 255262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hewitt, Duncan (2007) A state of fantasy; Chinese leaders once feared animation as a corrupt foreign influence. Now they see it as the next export industry, Newsweek International, July 30th (New York).Google Scholar
Hood, Marlowe (2005) Steal this software, IEEE Spectrum, June, Pp. 5253.Google Scholar
Hu, Jubin (2003) Projecting a Nation: Chinese National Cinema Before 1949 (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press).Google Scholar
Idler (2008), accessed 26/9/08.Google Scholar
Jenkins, Henry (2006) When piracy becomes promotion, Reason Magazine, accessed 27/5/09.Google Scholar
La Denière Heure (2007) Forest: le tueur aux mangas, accessed 15/6/08.Google Scholar
Landreth, Jonathan (2006) China bans TV toons that include live actors, Backstage, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Lau, Jenny (2006) Hero: China's Response to Hollywood Globalization, Jump Cut 49.Google Scholar
Lin, Steven (2007) Pfhhh, you call that a copyright violation?, China Daily, accessed 20/9/09.Google Scholar
Madman (2009) Death Note (anime), acessed 20/1/10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Massey, Joseph (2006) The Emperor is far away: China's enforcement of intellectual property rights protection, 1986-2006, Chicago Journal of International Law 7(1), Pp. 231237.Google Scholar
Mingxin, Bi (2008) China not to implement film rating for the moment, Xinhua, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Motion Picture Association International (2004) The Cost of Movie Piracy, accessed 18/8/09.Google Scholar
Motion Picture Association International (2008a) MPA partners China film organizations to launch 2nd nationwide anti-piracy contest, accessed 18/8/09.Google Scholar
Motion Picture Association International (2008b) MPA distributes file sharing education booklet and launches anti-piracy campaign, accessed 18/9/09.Google Scholar
Palmer, Augusta (2006) Mainland China: the new entertainment film in AT Ciecko, Contemporary Asian Cinema, Pp. 144155 (New York: Berg).Google Scholar
Pang, Laikwan (2002) The global-national position of Hong King cinema in China, in Donald, Stephanie, Keane, Michael and Hong, Yin (eds), Media In China: Consumption, Content and Crisis, Pp. 5566 (London: RoutledgeCurzon).Google Scholar
Pang, Laikwan (2004) Piracy/privacy: the despair of cinema and collectivity in China, Boundary 231(3), p. 101124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paquet, Darcy (2008) ‘Chaser speeds to top of Korean B.O.,’ Variety, accessed 10/7/08.Google Scholar
People's Daily Online (2007) China continues crackdown on Japanese Death Note horror stories, accessed 15/7/08.Google Scholar
Psiphon (2008), accessed 27/7/08.Google Scholar
Qiang, Xiao (2006) Image of Internet Police: Jingjing and Chacha online, China Digital Times, accessed 4/9/09.Google Scholar
Rawlinson, David & Lupton, Robert (2007) Cross-national attitudes and perceptions concerning software piracy: a comparative study of students from the United States and China, Journal of Education For Business, November/December 2007, Pp. 8793.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reuters (2007) Beijing bans scary stories to protect young, accessed 14/6/08.Google Scholar
Reuters (2008) Regulators now spooked by ghost stories, accessed 4/6/08.Google Scholar
Riedemann, Dominic (2006) What cost piracy?, Suite 101, accessed 15/6/08.Google Scholar
RMBGuide (2006) Average exchange rate of RMB yuan, accessed 26/9/09.Google Scholar
Screenville (2008) World Cinema Stats, accessed 11/2/09.Google Scholar
Slashdot (2008) China bans horror movies, accessed 4/6/08.Google Scholar
Smith, Ian (2008), International Film Guide 2008, Pp. 131134 (London: Wallflower Press, London).Google Scholar
Spencer, Richard (2008) China's censors to ban Steven Spielberg's ET, Telegraph, accessed 4/6/08.Google Scholar
Star, The (2007) Last but not least, accessed 27/7/08.Google Scholar
State Office of Intellectual Property Protection of the PRC (2006) China's action plan on IPR protection 2006, accessed 11/9/08.Google Scholar
Schwankert, Steven (2006) China applies toon taboos, Variety, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Sun, Yunlong (2008) China intensifies crackdown on horror audio and videos, China View, accessed 28/7/09.Google Scholar
Thompson, Anne (2008a), Subtitled films seek to break mold, Variety, accessed 16/9/08.Google Scholar
Thompson, Anne (2008b) Hollywood puts focus on China, Variety, accessed 16/9/08.Google Scholar
Time (1982) VCRs go on fast forward, accessed 20/9/09.Google Scholar
Tor: anonymity online (2008), accessed 27/7/08.Google Scholar
Tudou (2008), accessed 26/9/08.Google Scholar
UltraReach (2008) UltraSurf, accessed 25/7/08.Google Scholar
USC US-China institute (2008) Talking points, April 30-May 17, accessed 20/9/08.Google Scholar
Wade, Jared (2007) The debate on Chinese counterfeits hits the WTO, Risk Management, 54(6), p. 10.Google Scholar
Wang, Ting (2007) Hollywood's crusade in China prior to China's WTO accession, Jump Cut 49.Google Scholar
WebSitePulse (2008) Website test behind the Great Firewall of China, accessed 21/9/08.Google Scholar
Yahoo! Japan (2007) cited by Comi Press, China Death Note Problem Appears on National TV, accessed 15/7/08.Google Scholar
Zhang, Yingjin (2004) Chinese National Cinema (New York, Routledge).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Wenxin (2007) Death Note censors receive threats from students, accessed 27/7/08.Google Scholar