Back in late 2008, when I was on a Death Note swing, I felt like I was the only person among my friends who appreciated Light’s sense of justice. I felt like people were fixated on hating Light for all the horrible crimes he committed – and like many, I decided that Light had done enough and stopped watching after L died. (I did eventually go back and finish the series, but it was more watching to get it out of the way.) Even though he ultimately turned out to be a horrible person, I felt like his intent at the beginning was really noble, and that the world really would have been a better place if Light could have gone back to those ideals.

I made two Death Note AMVs after watching that series, a drama and a comedy. The Atoned is the drama AMV, and I think it is one of my finest creations. I took a cue from the original music video by Embrace and video for The Scientist by Coldplay and decided to play with backwards time to answer the question that lingered at the back of my mind: what if we could rewind the clock on Death Note?

The video tells a story in reverse; the parts of the story that are in reverse are in color, and the parts that are told forward are in black & white. However, at the end, the forward and backward parts meet, and the ultimate conclusion of the story is reached.

Click through for the video!