Not nearly as epic as the previous episode, but this week’s Death Note was pretty good. As expected of Death Note, lots of plot development with various twists and turns to keep the viewers guessing, even those who had the ending spoiled for them.

Episode Rating: 8.5/10

Doing well to earn the title of L’s true successor, Near now suspects the fake second generation L, Light, as Kira. In true L styling, he even adds a quantitative number, a 7% chance, where they get these numbers is beyond me. Near wishes to pursue his instinct, and if they end up being wrong, they could simply apologize, an acceptable risk considering the alternative.

Depending on your views, the world of Death Note could be considered either a Utopia or Dystopia. With the fear of Kira’s judgment, crime, both organized and general, has been drastically decreased. Whether out of fear or gratitude, Kira’s will is beginning to rule the world.

As proof, the latest presidential address from the USA has recognized Kira’s will and vow not to support any initiatives for the capture of Kira. The president insists that they are not recognizing Kira’s will as justice, but rather that the results of his powers have stopped the wars and organized crimes that the justice system could not. Though in reality, the president most likely fears for his own life.

As the investigation team hears this, Matsuda asks the team if they think Kira is actually evil, because he does not. Though the rest of the team lectures him on his swaying views, Light says that he understands Matsuda’s feelings as exactly what Kira is trying to promote. However it is still their duty to capture him, if Kira is captured, he is evil, if he continues to rule, he is justice.

Meanwhile, Mello forces his way into the SPK headquarters to speak to Near. It turns out that Near has the one and only picture of Mello, and he wants it back. In return for the picture, Mello gives Near some information. He tells him that the death notes are governed by real shinigami, also that one of the rules in written in the death note is a fake.

After deducing that it must be the 13 day rule that is the fake, Near contacts Light, who is forced to come to the same conclusion. The same conversation reveals to Near that the investigation team has a shinigami with them who is lying about the rule. This means that one among them has forced the shinigami to lie, meaning that one of the members of Light’s investigation team is Kira.

Later that day, Aizawa and Ide decide to resume investigating Light as a Kira suspect, they plan to contact near without letting Light know. Unfortunately for them, Light happens to overhear this conversation, but for now pretends to have not heard a thing.

Taking action before it’s too late, Light calls the president of the USA and demands he make the location of the remaining SPK members public. The team from Sakura TV gets on site where hundreds of people are storming SPK headquarters, the plan is to smoke Near out and have Misa kill him with her shinigami eyes. In the midst of all the chaos Light calls Near and asks in a rather condescending tone what happened and what he plans to do next, this leaves no doubt in Near’s mind that Light is indeed Kira.

Thoughts

I’m continually surprised at how well the story behind Death Note is thought out, Tsugumi Ohba (the mangaka) must have loved crime dramas as a kid or something. Although I think there’s slightly too much shifting in the plot, all in all it’s an excellent story, IMO second only to Monster in crime drama anime.

One thing that I just realized from this episode is that L didn’t leave much information to his successors in terms of the Kira investigation. I say this because it’s only now that Near is beginning to suspect Light, the fake second generation L, as Kira. If L had left behind his research to his true successor, Near would not only have known that it is Yagami Light acting as the second L, but also that he was the prime Kira suspect in the former L’s eyes. I suppose L did this in order to eliminate any bias that it may have caused, forcing Near to come up with that conclusion on his own, reinforcing L’s case if he did.

Though, I have to agree with Near, Light was needlessly obvious in that last scene. It’s not like he’s in a position to be THAT cocky just yet, unlike when he was seconds away from killing Naomi Misora (Ray Penbar’s fiancé, for those with a memory as bad as mine). There’s still plenty of ways that Near can escape at this point, and when he does, Light is going to regret having given himself away. Idiot -_-

To make things worse, he has Aizawa and Ide working behind his back now. There’s not much he can do about it either, although it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch for Kira to find their true identities, killing them at this point would raise suspicion as to why he suddenly killed two police officers. And if they contact Near for help, then their deaths would be a sure sign that one of the remaining team members is Kira, and I somehow doubt Near is eying Matsuda.

Another thing that was reinforced this episode was the childish nature of both Mello and Near. Aside from Near playing with action figures and “vrooooo” sounds with the toy space shuttle, Near and Mello are still taking the Kira investigation as a game more than anything. I’m sure they know that their combined efforts would be more than enough to build a solid case against Kira, yet they continue to work independently. All for naught but childish pride and competitiveness.

And on a closing note, lol @ Misa, she’s become more of a side character than Matsuda. She had like, two lines this episode, and even in the previous appearances she’s been used for fanservice more than anything.

~ Shirukii ~