"Just As Planned"

About

“Just As Planned” (Japanese: 計画通り, Keikaku Dohri) is a series of image macros and a popular catchphrase taken from a highly dramatic monologue scene in the popular manga/anime series Death Note.

It is mostly used in imageboards and forum conversations for trolling purposes, as to imply that someone had been “played” by another individual’s premeditated ploy or trick, oftentimes regardless of its validity.

Origin

The scene is taken from the 53rd chapter of the manga series. The main character Light Yagami (Kira) comes back in contact with a death note and his old memories return. Shortly after regaining his memories, he says to himself, “Just as planned.” Creepy.

The original Japanese ver. / English ver.

This scene appears in Episode 24 of the anime series.

Spread

Light’s creepy laughter soon became the subject for parodies by audience in the Japanese textboard site 2channel and other websites. Shift-JIS arts and many parody illustrations have been created, and posted to the web since 2004.

Apparel outside of Japan

Shortly after the episode aired in Japan in March 2007, it was translated and subtitled for the enjoyment of English-speaking audiences. While the English subtitled version did not air until April 2008, a still frame of Light saying “Just as Planned” was first posted on 4chan’s /a/ board circa 2007.

The typically usesage of this screen shot on imageboard sites is to troll or manipulate others in conversations, as to imply that a commenter had been “played” by another individual’s ploy or trick. Conversely, when the target participant manages to evade or the plan doesn’t pan out accordingly, its failure may be acknowledged with “NOT AS PLANNED.”

Usage in Fan Subtitles

Some fansubs are meant to be humorous as opposed to providing a proper translation. Because of this, cross-referencing memes occurs often, especially with the phrase “Just as planned.”

Examples

Along with the catchphrase, screenshots of Light’s smirk quickly became popular and recognizable. In 4chan’s /a/ (anime) board, people began to edit or draw in Light’s smirk onto the faces of other anime characters. Another popular editing technique is to add a headset onto a person and superimpose the catchphrase “Just as planned” over the image.

Derivative: According to Keikaku

The phrase Just according to Keikaku came from another subtitled version of Death Note Episode 24. The translator’s superflous note explaining that “Keikaku” meant “plan” in English added more hilarity to the already popular image and catchphrase.

Search Interest