Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian martial art using dance and music along with combat. The technique was developed by African slaves in Brazil during the 1500s to help them escape from their masters. Initially, there was no intent for L's fighting style to be Capoeira when manga artist Takeshi Obata originally drew the scene. However, Tsugumi Ôba, the writer for Death Note, liked this theory enough to declare it canon.