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Starting off on this note of ennui purposefully, the mangaka, Tsugumi Ohba, chose this feeling to affect both Light's and Ryuk's behavior. Appropriately titled "Boredom," the first chapter of the manga makes this point quite plain to readers: the characters are fervently searching for some kind of excitement, which sets up the Death Note notebook dilemma. "There was no hesitation in choosing this title 'Boredom' for the first chapter," Ohba said, feeling it was the greatest tone to start the novel off on since it made the character ambitions clear from the outset.
Ryuk dropped the diary to see if he could cause some disturbance down on Earth, as he was caught in a monotony in the Shinigami realm and most definitely accomplished this purpose. Ryuk's objectives perplexed Light, but the Shinigami was always rather open with his intents and informed him that the Shinigami realm is not as fascinating as one would hope. Ryuk had no other way to spend his many hours as most of the creatures sline their days away on tiresome pursuits like gambling and sleeping.
With a whirl of mystery, Death Note captures viewers' attention spans quickly and has one of the most fast-moving and original plots in Anime. Ryuk, a Shinigami living in another domain, drops a Death Note notebook into the human sphere. Ordinary high school kid Light Yagami gets his hands on the book and immediately causes anarchy as he commits himself to eradicate every criminal in the planet with the book's lethal powers.
Among Death Note's most compelling and influential characters is Ryuk. None of the narrative would have happened in the manner it did if he had not first let Light take hold of the diary. Some people, meanwhile, do not understand Ryuk's actual motivations for leaving the book behind.
Ryuk was not the only one bored-ridden character. Light himself felt the same way, forging a fascinating bond between these two distinct personalities. Light was so intelligent that school often seemed to bore him; he happened to be glancing out the classroom window the day the Death Note fell from the Shinigami world because he was not interested in what was going on in class. Light occurred to discover the notebook by chance; he happened to find it first, but it does seem like a great coincidence that he and Ryuk, two quite apathetic people, met one other.
Some viewers may have begun the Death Note series believing Ryuk was the villain or had some terrible agenda to corrupt humanity as he is a fearsome Shinigami with a book that can murder humans. Ryuk made it rather plain, though, that he was simply bored and would not try to change Light's behavior. He merely advised the lad on Death Note guidelines; he let him act as he liked. Unless Ryuk handed Light some of his longevity, which Light would not do, he refused to help Light and refused to divulge L's complete first and last name.
"Humans are so interesting," Ryuk says often in Death Note. This quotation suggests that viewing Light collapse his own existence and destroy the life of others made the Shinigami indeed delighted and morbidly fascinated. Ryuk had the chance to stop Light's activities, but he decided against it since he wanted to see the horrible scenario unfold organically for his own entertainment. Ryuk might thus also be a villain of the show due in part of this. He did not try to stop human misery even though he adopted an objective stance and let Light make his own decisions.
Light could have been absolutely relentless with Ryuk's help and skills, able to find anyone's full name with the "Shinigami eyes" ability he could have given him. Ryuk turned down Light's offer, though, and would not assist the killer unless he gained something from the exchange. Ryuk did not help Light in his intentions at all; Light insisted he would not give up any of his lifespan to the Shinigami, hence Ryuk merely stood by observing and laughing. Watching the decline of Light's life until Kira's last trip at the end of the series, the Shinigami most definitely got the dramatic spectacle he was hoping for.
Ryuk is not like other Shinigami in the story, such as Misa's Shinigami named Rem or Gelus, who developed feelings for Misa after observing her from the Shinigami Realm. Their love of Misa and a strong will to keep her safe drove Gelus and Rem. To keep Misa safe and happy, both of them gave their lives for her. Ryuk is somewhat different in this sense since he never would have thought about dying for Light or anyone else.
Despite the atmosphere of "savior" the protagonist of Death Note tried to create about himself, Ryuk is a figure driven just by his own selfish needs, which paradoxically makes him somewhat similar to Light.