it’s still crazy to me how BoA as the queen of kpop, who even performed with britney, who started out in 2000 and hit it big in japan, supported pride from the start, did surprise concerts, became THE household name for dancing, always came along with quality hits, who built SM as a director and mentor to become a giant even though she’s barely 5′2, who made 24 albums, has left the company and closed a huge chapter. and she’s not even turned 40 yet because BoA debuted at only 13 (!) years of age. and now that pillar is gone. as someone in the girls generation fandom said, the seismic plates are shifting. and if BoA continues music, and we know she improves with every release and the more creative control she has, what is coming for us? truly unprecedented times.
which k-pop artists I think Death Note characters would listen to
I've mentioned before that I want to make posts that combine Death Note and k-pop, so here we are! The characters I'll include in this post are as follows: Light, L, Misa, Matsuda, Mello, Near, and Matt. I don't actually really care about Matt, but I know he's popular, and maybe if I write a little about him I too will be able to see what's so special about him and build a clear image of him in my head. Also, this post won't take into account the time period in which Death Note is set, as much of my knowledge of k-pop is more recent groups and artists.
Light Yagami: I don't think he'd listen to a lot of k-pop, or even a lot of music in general. Prior to picking up the Death Note, he was a very dedicated student, and it's recommended not to listen to music whilst studying, which I imagine was his main priority. However, he did have a social life and was considered quite popular, so I think he'd definitely keep up to date with what was trending, and would almost certainly at least have basic knowledge of BLACKPINK and BTS's discographies. I could also see him listening to something quite laid back and gentle as he worked. Maybe a bit of NewJeans - they're not bad background music. The image of Light writing names in his Death Note as Super Shy plays in the background is also a hilarious one.
L Lawliet: Another character who I don't think would be big on music, simply because his work wouldn't allow for it and he wouldn't have the time for it nor would he particularly care enough to go out of his way to listen to it. Like Light, I think he would keep up with what was popular, but in his case it would be to increase his knowledge about the world and the people around him, which could end up being useful to him. If someone actively forced him to sit down and find an artist he enjoyed, I think he'd appreciate the smooth vibe of SF9's music. L strikes me as someone who would look for actual vocal talent, as well as preferring a more mature and classically elegant sound to his music, which SF9 offer.
Misa Amane: Misa's taste in k-pop comes to me very easily. She'd absolutely love TWICE's bright and cute sound, and they would most likely be her favourite group by far. I think she'd get along with Sana really well if the two met (which wouldn't be impossible, considering that Misa was an idol in Japan) and she would definitely bias her. She's the only character so far who I think would actually stan a group or be active in any k-pop communities, but Misa would definitely be a proud ONCE. As for other groups she'd like, I think she'd enjoy some BLACKPINK, mostly the pink side of their music, and also Jisoo's solos. She'd really like most of the discographies of groups such as ILLIT, SNSD, and OH MY GIRL. In general, she'd mostly only listen to girl groups and female soloists.
Touta Matsuda: Matsuda absolutely strikes me as someone who would listen to k-pop, but for some reason I'm having a hard time pinning down his specific taste. I have a feeling he might also like TWICE, though. I feel like he's the kind of person who would listen to whatever was popular, not for the sake of following trends, but simply because it was what he was exposed to the most and he enjoyed it, leading him to listen to it more often. I think he would also be more inclined to enjoy girl groups, but in Matsuda's case this would be because he enjoys looking at pretty women, not so much because that's the music that he actually prefers, although I could definitely imagine that also being the case. I think as well as TWICE, he'd love BLACKPINK and SNSD.
Mihael Keehl: I have the utmost confidence that Mello would love BoA's music. He'd be introduced to it through songs like Hurricane Venus, MOTO, Control, and Forgive Me, and would think that he was so tough for listening to an artist with music like that. Then he'd explore her discography further and realise how incredibly diverse her music is, eventually coming to love her gentler songs even more than her aggressive ones, not that he'd ever admit it. BoA's voice has a quality to it that he'd just understand; she expresses emotions so powerfully. His favourite song of hers would probably be 'Day', but there would definitely be several other contenders. I think that other than BoA, Mello wouldn't really listen to k-pop; he might overhear and enjoy the occasional song, but wouldn't go on to seek it out again.
Nate River: At first I couldn't particularly picture Near listening to k-pop, but then I thought a little harder. He spends a lot of his time organising toys into various configurations, whilst simultaneously thinking very deeply. I imagine that calm and steady music would actually help his concentration and focus with such a task - whilst music can be distracting, Near has proven that he is perfectly able to multi task, so in this case it may actually have the opposite effect. I think he wouldn't choose a particular group that he loves, but would instead select songs from various artists that had the right vibe. This would include songs such as Citrus by VIVIZ (probably quite a few of their songs, actually), Midnight Fiction by ILLIT, and Like A Flower by Irene of Red Velvet.
Mail Jeevas: As I previously mentioned, Matt is not someone I have a deep understanding of, mostly because he barely actually exists in canon material. Therefore, this analysis will be based purely off of vibes. Matt strikes me as someone who would like loud and chaotic music - large parts of Stray Kids and NCT 127's discographies might suit his tastes. I also think he'd prefer rap-based k-pop. He'd enjoy BTS, both the group songs and the rap line's solos. Overall, I imagine he'd prefer noisy male artists, in direct contrast to Misa. He'd probably listen to music as he worked, which would get on Mello's nerves whilst they were working together.
And that's it for this post! These analyses are majorly based on my own headcanons, although they occasionally reference canon material, so if you disagree with any of these then that's totally fine by me. I don't know if combining k-pop and Death Note will lead to a very minimal number of people being interested in a post like this, but I enjoyed writing it, so it's worth it either way for me!
