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Death Note," a popular Japanese series of manga, anime and live action films, is also the series primary plot device--the "Death Note" (name given to notebooks owned by Shinigami "Death Gods" that can be used to take the lives of mortals simply by writing down their names upon the notebook pages). Although these supernatural notebooks don't exist, here is a way to make your notebook or journal look like one.
Instructions
1. Buy a non-ring style, generic 8 1/2 by 11 inch notebook containing at least 80 pages of lined paper and a large outside cover.
2. Visit the Death Note website to see the Death Note font often associated with the characters Light Yagami (Kira) and the Shinigami Ryuk. Keep in mind that although many fans associate the look of a Death Note with this type of font. Other font styles exist and can be used (for example, Misa Amane's Death Note had a different font and title, but in the same silver on black).
3. Measure your notebook's outside cover and order two sheets of black printed semi-heavy paper to those dimensions from a print center, but 1/4-inch larger at either end. You could print at home, but given the high cost of printer ink following this step is quicker and more cost effective. While there, also buy a packet of black printer paper.
4. Affix tape along the edges of one sheet of paper and then wrap the paper lengthwise around your notebook. You have completed this step correctly if the paper sticks to the outside of the original cover and to the inside of the cover at either end and the tape can not be seen through the paper. If you make a mistake, pull off the paper and use the second sheet.
5. Create a font stencil by drawing or printing out the words Death Note in the font style of your choice and then cutting out the negative spaces from the paper--the inside part of each letter leaving only the outline).
6. Place your stencil flat on the outside front cover of your Death Note and apply your paint with light even strokes. Allow the paint to dry at least 24 hours before removing the stencil.
7. Follow the Death Note Rules link to review the rules as compiled from manga, anime and films by Death Note fans. These rules (both real and false) appear as white font on black pages inside of each Death Note. Write or print these rules on your black pages and tape them to the inside of the notebook to complete your Death Note.
