>>214446024
>grim reapers are a uniquely Japanese diety
Ignore the 'fallen angels' fag that shits up every one of these threads and just calle them grim reapers. The live action films did this when they got subtled into English. Just say 'grim reapers' and the western brain accepts the rest without question. Don't believe me? The grim reaper is supposed to be one being? Nonone actually believed in him, he was just a medieval personification of death you say? Then why did Supernatural do it almost identically, having grim reapers be an entire classification of being of its own category with Death itself being a being beyond even them who kind of just loosely directs them, with a near identical power structure, and everyone watching that just accepted it? Why did Dead Like Me get away with portraying grim reapers as like, as shit ton of people? Why do countless settings get away with portraying death this way with 0 shinigami reference. It's because you niggas are overthinking things. Just say 'grim reapers' and you're done. It barely matters. The mechanics of the shinigami are not essential to the plot.
The magic in Death Note is like 2% of the story. It's entire appeal is that the setting is, with the exception of Wammy House, almost entirely set in reality and requires realistic solutions and out thinking each other to win. It's a story about schemes and smart people outsmarting each other. The magic notebook is just the thing that gets the plot moving. You could do Death Note with Light using psychic powers or just hage it be advanced hypnotism (someone did exactly this at the time) and cut-out the Death Note entirely, and still have it be Death Note. You can't have it retain the notebook but lose the smart people outsmarting each other thing though, cause that's how you get shit like the Netflix adaptation.