Yessssss! Kira-Light returns in all his murderous glory. While I actually enjoyed the Yotsuba arc quite a bit and can’t seem to understand why people thought it was going to suck, it’s episodes like these that remind me why I began watching Death Note in the first place.

Episode Rating 10/10

Continuing from last episode, both L’s investigation squad and the local police have come together to corner Higuchi, the kira of late. Yagami, Aizawa and Matsuda apprehend Higuchi and are instructed to give him a headset, L demands to know how he carried out the killings, threatening torture as the punishment for silence. Being the coward that he is, Higuchi reluctantly tells the truth, revealing the death note as kira’s secret to murder.

Yagami-san checks inside the car and indeed there is a notebook, suddenly he begins to freak out, cowering from a monster. Having touched the death note, Yagami now sees Rem, Matsuda grabs the note from him and freaks out in turn.

L asks to see the death note and upon seeing Rem is left in a state of shock, having just confirmed the existence of shinigami. Immediately his brain sets to work and he deciphers that considering the past events that there are actually two death notes in human possession, and that this is far from over. However, in his state of shock, Light grabs the death note, causing all his memories as kira to come rushing back to him instantaneously.

However, this is by no means a surprise, as everything has gone exactly according to his plan. Immediately his kira instincts takes over and he resumes his good guy act, while in reality he has prepared for this scenario and proceeds to kill Higuchi with a piece of the death note hidden in his watch.

The remainder of the episode is spent explaining Light’s plan and how everything went absolutely perfectly. Not only did he manage to free himself and Misa from jail, but by writing fake rules into the death notes, Light completely clears himself and Misa as kira suspects.

With his memories restored and his name cleared, Light only has one obstacle left in his way, L, the only one who still thinks that he may be kira. Light sends Misa to regain her memories by touching Ryuk’s notebook, after doing so she finds a letter from Light instructing her to use the death note to kill L. Unfortunately Misa does not remember his name and so she makes the eye deal with Ryuk, effectively cutting her original life span by 3/4.

Thoughts

R.I.P. non-kira Light. I was actually beginning to like the guy too, his powers of reasoning were still substantial, but this episode tipped the balance of intelligence heavily in favor of kira-Light. I realize that they are the same person in essence, but kira-Light is far superior in his ability to plan and reason. Whether it’s because he’s playing a game where the result of failing to be flawless is death or because the ambition of becoming a god is that strong a driving force, Light’s attention to detail and perfection in his planning are far greater in serial killer mode.

On the topic of the whole god complex, I’m once again questioning Light’s motives. This episode threw my previous assertion that Light may be inherently good into serious questioning and doubt. Similar to his progression during the first two episodes, the speed at which Light regains his composure as kira is frightening. I expected there to be a slight delay from the time he got a hold of the death note to the time where he accepted his position as kira once again. My theory was that Light would have to deal with the moral dilemma he originally faced, all over again. However this was not the case, within seconds of regaining his memory, he was back to his former self and made the transition from cop to killer in one fell swoop. So I ask again, is Light motivated by a true sense of justice? Or is he just a victim of power corruption? I say the latter.

Despite shattering my view of Light as a hero of justice, I must admit that there was no other alternative to the unfolding of the events. Back when Rem revealed herself to Misa by touching her with a piece of the death note, I had wondered why her memories did not return, since they did not I assumed that coming into contact with the death note did not restore your memories. However, the clever writers found a way around what would have been a fatal plot hole: if you are not the current owner of the death note the memories will only stay intact WHILE you are touching it. Not only did this force Light to kill Higuchi at that instant, but it also meant that his immediate return to killer mode was inevitable.

Another brilliant more by Light was the addition of the two false rules:
i) If the owners of death notes do not kill for more than 13 days, they will die.
ii) If the death note is rendered unusable, all that have come into contact with it will die.
These two clauses clear Light and Misa as suspects and assure the survival of the all important death note. Although, seriously, having these two very convenient rules written on the back page, apart from the others, is cause for suspicion, I wonder if L will pick up on that.

The following episodes are sure to be packed with mass amounts of mindgames from L and Light, with Light having the upper hand. But I’m intrigued by Rem’s shock at the sight of Misa’s life span. Having your life cut to 1/4 its original length wouldn’t leave you with much time to live, Misa’s only saving grace is the fact that she has Jealous’ life span as well. However, Ryuk did mention that shinigami of late have become extremely lazy, could it be that Jealous barely attended to his shinigami duties and therefore didn’t have as extended a lifespan as one would think?

Ahhh! So many questions! So many opportunities for crackpot theories! I can’t wait for the next episode as the plot continues to unfold and these questions have light shed on them. But I hear that the opinion of the manga sort of split at this point, with some people liking the direction it went, while others were thoroughly pissed off. However, having been unfortunately spoiled with the final outcome, whatever means they use to come to it can’t be all that bad.

~ Shirukii ~