Manly tears or MANLIEST tears?

NOT AS PLANNED!

Why must you toy with us Madhouse? On one hand I’m really disappointed that they didn’t animate swimming lessons and opted to give Light a rather pitiable death. But I have to admit, it worked. I lost the impression that Light was a figure of justice a long time ago, but even so, this episode made me feel sorry for him…

Episode Rating: 9/10

Mikami’s watch marks 40 seconds since he wrote the first name, yet everyone around them stands alive and well. Mikami and Light, who just announced his victory to Near, are left speechless as Giovanni and Lester handcuff Mikami and hand the ‘death note’ over to Near.

Near seems to be the only one who is not surprised that they’re still alive, but calmly reminds everyone that they were never in danger of dying. Just as he explained, Near examines the death note to find the names of the four members of the SPK and the names of L’s investigation team, minus Yagami Light, kira.

Light tries to talk his way out of the situation, saying that it’s odd that everyone is still alive after having their names written down in the death note and that it’s all a set up by Near to frame him.

But it’s on use, Near has him trapped, and reveals the truth behind the unfolding of events. The ‘death note’ that Mikami was using moments ago was a fake, planted by Near himself. To prove it, Near pulls out the real death note, unmistakably the real one as he greets Ryuk, it’s original shinigami owner.

But Light is still confused, after having gone to great lengths to assure that Mikami only used the real one for this day. However, that wasn’t the case, as Near shows Light the cause of his undoing, a single line in the real death note: Takada’s suicide. The day that Takada was kidnapped, Mikami went against his instructions and used the real death note. Having been told that Light would be in a position where he wouldn’t be able to judge anyone, Mikami took it upon himself to kill Takada before Mello could use her.

But Mikami’s good intentions backfired, he broke his regular routine and went to the bank where the death note was being held in a safety deposit box. With Giovanni on his tail and Mikami’s immediate change in behavior after Takada’s kidnapping led Near to the conclusion that Mikami’s note might be a fake, even more so since his use of it was so blatant in public.

Of course, such a conclusion would have been impossible without Mello’s intervention. Had things gone on without Mello’s interference, Near wouldn’t have seen through Light’s fake and would have surely lost. Near admits that individually, neither Mello nor himself are a match for L, but their combined actions managed to build a concrete case against kira, the kira that L couldn’t beat.

At this point, Light is trapped, with nothing left to do, he confesses. He admits he’s Kira, but asks them what they will do next. The world has come to see Kira as justice, for them to arrest Kira would throw the world he’s built into anarchy. Before him, the world was a breeding ground for crime and war, in the years of Kira’s rise, all that has disappeared. Light asks Near if returning the world to the way it was before is justice or whether Near is only doing this to avenge L, to prove his superiority in this little game of theirs.

Near can say nothing against Light’s argument, justice is an objective concept, what might appear just to some may not to others. But he is certain of one thing, that Light, Kira, is nothing more than a murderer, no different than any serial killer in the past, and the death note is no tool of justice, it is nothing but a weapon, the worst that mankind has ever seen.

In a last ditch effort, Light plans to use the piece of the death note in his watch to kill Near, then somehow convince everybody else that it was a set up. How he managed to get his pen out so fast, I have no idea. But Matsuda is faster, he draws his gun and shoots Light’s hand. Light pleads with Matsuda to kill Near in the name of justice, but Light has gone beyond the bounds of evil, even Matsuda knows this. He shoots Light a couple more times and moves in for the headshot, but is stopped by Aizawa and the rest of them before he makes that mistake.

All this time, Mikami has been under Near’s influence, but to be able to control someone using the death note means that their death is inevitable. So Mikami somehow explodes into a mess of blood, I really have no clue what the hell he did, but whatever it was, it was pretty gory.

With everyone distracted by Mikami exploding into a fury of blood and guts, Light escapes from the warehouse and makes a run for it. With no pieces of the death note left, Near assures everyone that he’s harmless at this point and there’s no need to be hasty in apprehending him.

Light’s life flashes before his eyes along the sunlit path, the bleak days of his high school life before he was cursed with the death note seem like a far off time compared to what he’s become. To further illustrate that point, an afterimage of his young and naively aspirational self passes by him.

And so the series comes full circle, what began with Ryuk giving Light the death note and the power to create a new world, ends with Ryuk taking away that very power along with his life. This should come as no surprise though, Ryuk warned Light sometime in the first few episodes that Light’s name would find itself into his death note.

Light collapses in a nearby warehouse, feeling the surge of pain in his chest that signals the inevitable fate that he passed down onto so many others before. And so, bathed in the sunset’s crimson glow, Light’s life comes to an end.

Thoughts

After typing out that summary, I’m feeling more content with the ending. Sure it was different from the manga’s ending, but the only reason I was anticipating that so much was because of a 4chan meme, and to label a series a failure just because it didn’t deliver on that doesn’t seem fair. Sure it would have been nice to see Light struggle like a pathetic worm as karma comes back to slap him in the face, but this episode made me feel sorry for him and I was glad to see him die such a peacefully serene death.

I’m also pleased with the way they explained Near’s victory. It was a little shallow compared to the complex build ups of the past, the crux of the plan revolving around Mikami’s fatal mistake, but Near admitted himself that it was his loss up to that point. Contrast to the WTF H4X Near that magically picked out Mikami, this time he was humble in his acceptance that he was indeed inferior to Light and L, but through circumstance was able to surpass them both. Plus, he’s only a kid, by the time he reaches Light’s age, he’ll probably be more powerful than L and Light were.

The character that surprised me the most in all of this was Matsuda, he was the one who had the most faith in Light. Aizawa and his buddy, L, Near, the SPK, they all believed with certainty that Light was Kira, but Matsuda chose to put his faith in the idealistic boy that Light once was. So it was shocking to see that he was the one to pull a gun and stop Light’s last ditch attempt. While the others were in a complete state of shock, Matsuda didn’t hesitate for a second, even though it was obvious how painful it was for him to do so.

As for Light…oh how the mighty have fallen. Even prior to being exposed, his actions were far too cocky. Not being able to hold in his laughter as he stood before Near? Wth. This from the Light that meticulously planned out every single move when he battled L to make sure no gaps were left?

His breakdown after Matsuda shot him up and he was left powerless was pitiful. To see the self proclaimed god of the new world squirm around begging for help was pathetic. As a comparison, in the manga he was much more defiant, he fought down to his last breath.

Seeing Light so uncharacteristically weak was awkward after being exposed to nothing but a murderous beast throughout the rest of the anime. But both the anime and manga ending were good in their own respects. The manga ending made no mistake in identifying Light as the bad guy and his death was seen as his the prevailing of justice. While that sense was still apparent in the anime, Light wasn’t made out to be such a monster in the end, and while we know he’s evil, it was still sort of painful to see him crash and burn.

This screencap caused a bit of an uproar on 4chan, as many anons started hailing L’s return from the dead. I think it’s pretty obvious that it’s just his spirit or ghost that symbolizes his eventual triumph over Light through his successors. Either that or Light really is gay and the last thing he could think of before his death was his one true love XD

Speaking of one true loves, DO IT MISA. JUMP!

Death Note has been quite a ride, it’s come a long way from its humble beginnings. What started with the plight of a impressionable young teen who finds a way to deliver what he believed was true justice ended up telling the story of the rise and fall of an entire new world and its god.

As for deep analysis into religious and philosophical references, I’ll leave that to someone else. They’re surely there and have a multitude of points and counterpoints to debate over, but I’m neither bored enough nor religious enough to delve any deeper. Death Note wasn’t as blatant with references as, say, Evangelion, but it would still be fun to see the amount of flaming that would come from statements like: “Light is the metaphorical incarnation of Jesus”. I have faith that arguments like these will pop up, and I will stand from the sidelines and laugh as religious and philosophical sects tear each other apart.

The consistency of Death Note wasn’t perfect by any means, the quality drastically fell after the end of the first arc and L’s death, but I’m definitely not regretting sticking with it until the end. What initially drew me in was the great logic displayed by both Light and L, and the mental fencing match they went through. My attention was sort of lost through the Yotsuba arc when non-kira Light was introduced, but then sprang back with JUST AS PLANNED. Finally, the Near and Mello arc, which had its ups and downs but in the end proved to be a decent way to conclude the series.

There’s still an empty feeling that comes from having animated swimming lessons snatched away, but the ending wasn’t so horrible an adaptation that it ruined the entire series. (Plus, there’s probably enough parts to make a swimming lessons .gif anyways)

It’s been fun blogging Death Note and I’ll surely miss it in my weekly line up. Coming up with crackpot theories for the coming episodes and dodging spoilers the whole way through was fun times, and even though I had almost everything spoiled for me by the end, it still managed to be an interesting series nonetheless. Thanks to everyone who has been reading up until now, hopefully you’ll stick around even with the lack of Death Note posts.

As for everyone who posted spoilers without warnings on blogs, forums, 4chan, etc. Go die in a fire. To those who have been naive enough to read up to this point and haven’t watched the series, please read the following lines and share in my pain:

PENBAR DIES
MISORA DIES
L DIES
WATARI DIES
DAD DIES
REM DIES
MELLO DIES
TAKADA DIES
MIKAMI DIES
KIRA DIES
THE END IS NEAR!

~ Shirukii ~

Rather than delaying releases, Viz’s cease and desists caused subs for Death Note to be released faster this week. Can’t say I’m surprised, shitstorms tend to cause that effect, never underestimate the power of spite as motivation I suppose.

Episode Rating: 9/10

As soon as word of Takada’s death hits the media, TV stations everywhere start to push their announcers into becoming the next spokesperson for Kira. But Light has far more pressing issues to address…

The day of the meeting between the SPK and Light’s investigation team draws closer, Near contacts Light one last time before the meeting to confirm that the events of late haven’t altered their schedule and that they’re still on for the 28th at 1 p.m. Light is literally shaking with excitement as he believes everything is going according to plan.

The day of the meeting arrives and as promised, Near releases Misa. Having met and cooperated with Near before, Light decides to let Aizawa carry the death note to the meeting.

When they arrive at the warehouse, Aizawa goes in first and confirms that is indeed Near and his team who are present. And so all the key players are gathered, everyone currently on a team to investigate Kira gathered under one roof. At first Near is wearing a mask to cover his face, he assures that it’s only a caution in case Kira has already used the note and is controlling someone in the room. After half an hour passes with no incident, Near takes off the mask and the meeting begins.

Near quickly reveals that X-Kira, the one who is carrying out the judgments will arrive on site soon. He will peek into the room and identify everyone with the shinigami eyes, at which point he will use the death note to kill everyone. Everyone panics at the news, but Near assures them there is nothing to worry about, he has already altered the death note based on Mikami’s habits to ensure that the page he is using today is a fake and asks everyone to remain calm as Mikami goes on his “sakujo” spree. After all is said and done, the person’s name who Mikami has no written in the death note will be proven guilty as Kira.

And with Near’s explanation, Light declares victory to himself. He explains (to the audience) that he knew Near would modify the death note, in fact he baited him to do so. Mikami’s habits and the blatant use of the death note in public were all deliberate, as if inviting Near to tamper with the note. The death note that Mikami is writing in outside is the real thing which had previously been in Takada’s control.

After some time, Light nonchalantly asks the person outside if he is finished writing everyone’s name in the death note, Mikami says that he has. Near notes that it’s odd that Mikami would answer him so honestly, but Light shrugs it off, as it doesn’t really matter at this point. Near and Light invite Mikami inside, seeing as he has done his job and if all goes as he thinks, he’s in no danger of being arrested anyways.

Mikami opens the door and marvels at the sight of his god, who praises him for a job well done. Light asks Mikami how many seconds have passed since he wrote the names in the death note. As the second count reaches 39, Light declares his victory to Near, and the episode ends on a cliffhanger.

Thoughts

At this point, I can’t really speculate about anything without going into major spoilers. Having already been spoiled myself, it’s not the end result that I’m curious about, it’s the means by which we’ll arrive at it. So with that in mind…

WARNING

. . .

Honestly speaking, that was a rather simplistic plan from Light. Baiting Near to tamper with the death note was a conclusion that I probably could have came to myself -IF- we had been given a bit more information. If I knew about Mikami writing exactly a page per day, no more no less, it would have been plain to see.

Though I do give Light credit for thinking so far in advance, whether he knew exactly how things were going to play out, his move to create the fake death note was made a really long time ago. To be able to read Near so well and predict exactly how he would interpret Mikami’s habits and his resulting movements is impressive. However, I know it doesn’t end there.

It is no question that the sole purpose of this meeting is to put an end to either Kira or Near. With series as complicated as Death Note, I often use the metaphor of a chess game. At this point, the outcome has already been decided, the pieces are in place and the final moves are ready to be played, victory is in sight for both players. It’s just a question of who predicted the most moves in advance, and unfortunately, I already know the answer =( this game’s winner is Near.

Thinking about it, there are very few ways this conclusion can be reached. If we assume that the death note that Mikami used in this episode is the real one, the only way that Near won’t be dead within the opening seconds of the next episode is if he has already killed himself.

Wait, what!? Hear me out.

Under the assumption that Near didn’t succeed in modifying the death note, then he’s surely a dead man. Unless, his name has already been written in a death note. Somehow managing to get someone to write his name in the death note and schedule his death for a time much later than the meeting is the only way that Near can escape the otherwise certain death that awaits him in the current situation.

However, I don’t really think that’s how Near does it. Near strikes me as a very selfish person and I’m not sure if he’d be willing to sacrifice his own life to capture Kira, especially when he has the title of L’s successor to be had as a reward.

Other than that outcome, the only obvious one that comes to mind is that Near knew that the death note Mikami had was a fake and he went to great lengths to find the real one and modify it as well, or even replace it with his own fake.

But hey, Death Note has always been full of surprises, so much so that even after having EVERYTHING spoiled for me, I found it interesting. So I’d be disappointed if my guesses at the very end were right, as long as it’s logically sound, I’m content to be proven wrong.

Misa lives! But no one cares. Useless wench.

I can’t wait until next week when everything comes together and Light’s dreams come crashing down. Prepare for epic swimming lessons everyone! The end is Near.

PS: Door Mikami is watching you masturbate.

~ Shirukii ~

Holy crap. Matt’s death AND Melodies in the same episode, awesome. My only complaint is that we didn’t actually get to see Mello die, only his corpse postmortem. Oh, and Takada dies too, but no one cares about her.

Episode Rating: 9.5/10

The episode begins with a montage of the days passing by, and then throws us into an extremely vague phone conversation between Takada and Mikami where Takada gives some info to Mikami and Mikami confirms something of importance. Supposedly this is all build up for another one of Light’s “JUST AS PLANNED” schemes, hopefully it’s explained as well as the last.

Shortly after, Near contacts Light to set up the final showdown, he wants to meet face to face. The members of the SPK and Light’s investigation team will all be present at the meeting which is to be held at an abandoned warehouse. This is obviously bait for Light, Near is putting him in a situation where he has the opportunity to eliminate everyone who knows of the death note in one fell swoop.

The meeting is set up for the 28th, the day when Giovanni is cleared of possible influence from the death note and at a time when Mikami’s judgment schedule is at its lowest. The transmission ends and both Near and Light marvel at how they’ve perfectly predicted the other’s movements and how their victory is within sight.

Shortly after the final meeting between Light and Takada, which clears all conditions for Near’s demise, she is kidnapped by Mello and his accomplice. Mello seems to have gotten sick of waiting for Near and wants to end this by his own hands. But things don’t go as he planned, oblivious to the fact that Takada has Kira’s power and knows his name, he reveals his face to her. Locked in the back of a tractor trailer, Takada uses a sheet of the death note hidden in her bra to kill Mello.

Elsewhere, Mello’s accomplice, Matt, is tracked down and cornered in a car chase. As he gets out expecting to be taken into custody for questioning, he is immediately shot under the premise of going against Kira’s will.

After killing Mello, Takada gets a hold of her cell phone and contacts Light, much to everyones surprise. Light quickly deciphers that she has managed to kill Mello, and gives Takada her final instructions, to contact Mikami and judge as many as possible. The team then rushes to the scene, but on the way there Light uses the piece of the death note hidden in his watch to make Takada commit suicide by burning herself and her belongings.

Thoughts

Despite being an excellent episode, it had quite a few plot holes and inconsistencies, mostly surrounding Takada’s kidnapping. The most glaring being Mello’s oversight when confiscating her belongings, he gets rid of her clothes, but isn’t thorough enough that Takada is able to sneak a rather large piece of the death note with her. Even if you can overlook that, how did she manage to hold on to her cell phone of all things!?

And perhaps the most puzzling of all, how did she manage to set herself on fire? By the way the scene was animated, it looks like she poured some sort of accelerant all over the place and then lit it. Are we supposed to believe Mello conveniently left a can of gas and a lighter/matchbook back there, tempting Takada to commit arson?

EDIT* From lainofthewired: “She got her phone by smashing through the window in the trailer, as per the blood around her limbs, possibly using the blanket to soften the blow. And an accelerant/fuel/source of ignition? Do you NOT remember the motorcycle in the trailer? It was RITE DERE! :p”

My observation skills have been rather weak lately D=

Moving on. My confusion over what Near and Light are planning is as strong as ever. I can understand what Near is trying to do by baiting Light and hoping to catch him red handed, but how he’s going to get out of it alive and well is beyond me. As for Light, I still can’t guess what he’s planning, but whatever it is, it seems to be ready to be executed, judging by Mikami and Takada’s conversation. Light also didn’t hesitate to kill of Takada, so his use for her must be over and done with.

I don’t think anything can match the perfection of “JUST AS PLANNED”, but I’m still eager to see what Light’s up to.

Matt’s surprise introduction and quickly following death was quite a shock. Being so late into the series I didn’t think we were going to see him at all. An awesome death sequence though, he took eight bullets and still managed to stand for a few seconds, it’s too bad he only had like…5 lines or dialog.

I guess I should talk a bit about VIZ sending Cease and Desists to Animanda and Kuro Hana as well, seeing as it caused a gigantic shitstorm to erupt through 4chan and the aniblogosphere. Kuro Hana’s response can be read here, it seems like they plan to stop subbing (though I’ve heard rumors they will continue under another name). I’ve been trying to get on Animanda’s site for a while now, it looks like it imploded due to the influx of traffic, I’ll update with their response later.

UPDATE: Animanda has also dropped subbing Death Note. Oh noes!

Personally, I think it’s stupid to issue cease and desists with TWO episodes remaining in the series, VIZ got this license a while back, for maximum damage they should have done this a long time ago. I don’t worry about the subs getting out, someone out there will do it, the demand is far too high for it to be ignored. If everything fails, I’ll bet my life that some kind Anonymous will release an *.ass.

LOL REMeDIES, well played VIZ. Well played.

~ Shirukii ~

It’s been a while since an episode of Death Note has confused me as much as this one does. Light is one to talk, his actions of late seem to be just as random as those of the two girls he’s stringing along. Near is also no exception, his conclusions of late have been based on little more than probable assumptions.

Episode Rating: 8.5/10

As Light’s daily meetings with Takada continue, Aizawa’s suspicions of Light become stronger. Light’s insistence on sweeping the room for unidentified bugs and cameras is reason enough to suspect Light, but just to make sure, Aizawa marks the notepads in the room to see if Light and Takada are communicating through writing.

The meeting itself seems normal enough, Takada tells Light that she met with Misa and talked about him. Light is then forced to tell Takada the truth about Misa being the previous second Kira, but not by his choice, unlike her. He tells Takada to agree to help them catch Kira, and ends the meeting.

When Aizawa goes back to check the hotel room, he finds that two of the marked notepads have been replaced. Knowing that room service had not yet cleaned the room, Aizawa is now sure that Light and Takada are communicating by writing, suggesting that Light is in fact Kira. He goes to tell Near this, but Near is uninterested, saying that at this point it’s not a matter of identifying Kira, they already know who he is, their goal now is to expose Light and completely defeat him.

New Year’s rolls around and as part of her cover, Misa is scheduled to perform on NHN. But on the way there she and Mogi are taken by the SPK on Near’s orders. Since they went along willingly, albeit a little reluctantly, Light can’t contest Near.

Meanwhile, Giovanni continues to investigate Mikami, who is pretty much confirmed as X-Kira. Near has Giovanni make contact with the death note to see if a shinigami is trailing Mikami. Near then gets him to take some photos of the pages in the death note, and with that, Near’s plan is set. He’ll wait 24 days to avoid the possibility that Giovanni is being controlled by the death note and then arrange the final confrontation with Kira.

Light’s not sitting by idly though, though no specifics are mentioned, he is using Takada and Mikami to set a plan of his own in motion.

Thoughts

With Death Note coming to a close (3 episodes remain) the plans that Light and Near are working on right now will probably be the final clash. It’s too bad I already know who wins…but I suppose getting there is half the fun.

As for what exactly their planning, this time around I’m completely in the dark. Usually I can come up with a theory or two based on some light foreshadowing, but I really have no clue what these two are thinking any more.

Near looks pretty smug about how things are going, so I can only assume he thinks that everything is going according to his so called scenario, whatever it may be. I’m still disappointed at how many liberties he took with his assumptions, let alone his hax to find Mikami last episode, his confidence that Light is Kira STILL has no real evidence beyond his behaviour.

I’m just as lost when it comes to Light, his actions of late have been really sloppy. To use the notepads provided by the hotel in his meetings is kind of stupid in my opinion. Even though he did replace them as a measure against things like carbon paper tracing, a move like Aizawa’s should have been within Light’s foresight. And I don’t even know where to begin with his usage of Mikami and Takada, besides leading Near down a dead end with the fake death note, what is he planning on doing with them? And I still don’t see the reasoning behind the fake death note in the first place, it’s not as if Light knows that Mikami is being suspected, so I see no reason why he even think of doing something like that.

Meh, whatever. At this point I’m going to suspend my beliefs and trust that there’s some sort of grander scheme going on underneath the surface that surpasses my abilities of reasoning and logic. I’ve heard people say that a lot of explanation and internal dialog was cut out during the manga -> anime conversion, and maybe that’s why things aren’t making as much sense as they should.

Then again, maybe it’s because I decided to write this post at 4 a.m. and I’m just not thinking straight.

Next time on Death Note: Matt!? And since we’re nearing the end, maybe it’s time for some melodies?

~ Shirukii ~

Though quite revealing in terms of plot, this episode was a little disappointing. Maybe it was because the animation quality dropped off after the first 5 minutes or because it was too predictable, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as previous episodes. However, it did do a good job in setting up events to come, so it wasn’t a total failure.

Episode Rating: 8/10

At this stage of the game, Near is almost 100% sure that Light is kira, he doesn’t even give a probability estimate anymore, he’s working under the assumption that he’s right. With that in mind, he makes his way to Japan for the final leg of the race.

When he gets there he notifies Light and the rest of the investigation team that he is in Japan, and even tells them that there are only 4 members of the SPK remaining, the rest having been killed by Mello. Rather than conveying this information to the investigation team, Near is not so subtly directing it at Light as an informal challenge. Will Light be identified and caught as kira, or will he manage to kill the rest of the SPK and walk away innocently?

Continuing with his false investigation on Takada Kiyomi, Light meets up with her and talks to her about the SPK. But his true message is that Takada will be given kira’s power of judgement and become the goddess of the new world. Mikami is told to send Takada 5 pages of the death note and stop judgment until Takada receives them, when she gets the pages he is to continue his judgments on a fake death note while Takada does the real killing. Mikami is unsure of what’s going on, but isn’t in a position to question his god, so he obeys silently.

Near is progressing nicely as well. He breaks the case down to three major players: Light (L-Kira) whom he is certain is the original kira behind everything, X-Kira (Mikami) who has the death note and is carrying out kira’s judgments, and Takada, the bridge of communication between the two. Using careful investigation, research, and concrete evidence shounen hax, Near identifies Mikami as X-kira and sends an agent to tail him.

Meanwhile, Light keeps the fake investigation going. He sends Misa to infiltrate NHN, the station that Takada works at, under the guise of being a promoter with Mochi as her agent. Near is also using Light’s team, specifically Aizawa, who he uses to confirm that only bugs are used when Light meets Takada. Based on that, Near’s suspicions that Light is kira and is using Takada to communicate with Mikami are more or less confirmed.

Another problem is brewing under the surface of all these events, the rivalry between Misa and Takada. They end up going out together for dinner and talking about kira and Light. Misa tells Takada that she’s going to announce her engagement to Light soon, basically telling her to give up. She also takes a stab at her for working with kira, although Misa is a kira supporter, she is sure that Light will catch him soon and when that happens Takada won’t go unpunished. The insult backfires though, as Takada realizes that Misa doesn’t know that Light is kira, and takes it as a sign that he trusts her more than Misa. She belittles Misa for her bad etiquette and leaves, Misa responds by getting smashed. GG!

The episode ends with Mikami who is riding a train home when he sees a guy sexually harassing a girl. He uses the shinigami eyes to get his name, takes a picture of him with his cellphone and writes his name in the death note before getting off the train. All this as the SPK member assigned to trail him watches and gives Near a play by play.

Thoughts

This episode made me lose tremendous amounts of respect for Near, who has proven himself a hypocrite. When explaining how to deal with the situation, he says that he could just kill Mikami and Light and take the death note, but won’t do so because that sort of guesswork is not indicative of how he works. Yet, the very conclusions that he is basing his investigations on are just that, guesswork.

He has no concrete evidence that Light is the real kira, he hasn’t once met him and reached his conclusion based on his attitude during their brief conversations and recent events. But fair enough, looking at the way things have unfolded and Light’s behavior, it’s plausible that he could come to that conclusion and believe its probably correct. But then when he tries to identify X-Kira, he surrounds himself with programs of kira supporters and miraculously picks out Mikami!? The ONLY thing that I would consider as an indication that Mikami is X-Kira is his speech about how those with the ability to work yet are slacking off (NEETs) should also be judged. This was one of Mikami’s messages as the acting kira and the only thing I can think of that distinguishes him from the other kira supporters as suspects for X-Kira.

But Near isn’t the only one using shounen hax, Light is guilty himself. His move to give the power of judgment to Takada and make Mikami use a fake death note is just as random. I can understand transferring the power to Takada, as she’s much easier to get in touch with. But to have Mikami use a fake death note suggests that Light thinks Near might be on to him, and while that is a correct conclusion, there’s no reason to think that might be the case!

I guess how it works is that Takada is on stand by, Mikami continues his judgments with the fake death note, takes the picture of the criminals and sends it along with the name to Takada, who carries out the judgment. This way, Light’s ideals are still maintained by the like-minded Mikami, but they are carried out by the easier to contact and manipulate Takada. A brilliant set up, but the guesswork behind it destroys its believability.

The preview for the next episode suggests that Near’s agent gets a hold of Mikami’s death note, the fake. This works out perfectly for Light, Takada will continue the judgments even after Near supposedly gets hold of the death note. This will throw everything into question because the two existing death notes are presumably accounted for.

Lastly, although I hate to bring it up, is the animation QUALITY. The trend seems to be that all the scenes with Misa in them are drawn by a five year old. I’m not picky when it comes to animation, but when random scenes with Misa making those ridiculous faces are thrown into a relatively serious situation, it ruins the atmosphere. But I guess I should be thankful they things didn’t degrade to that point during the dinner scene.

Misa has become quite useless ever since she lost her memory, she was always Light’s plaything before, but at least she had the shinigami eyes and therefore served a purpose. But with that gone, she’s constantly at the receiving end of bad jokes and half assed animation. If she’s supposed to act as comedic relief, she fails, her only hope at this point is to become an hero, and honestly, that would be a most fitting end to her.

~ Shirukii ~

A New Challenger Appears! More extreme writing in this episode, Mikami puts Light to shame. Look at the passion! He puts his whole body into it.

The episode itself was alright, exactly what I’ve come to expect from Death Note at this point. I.e. more perfectly executed plans, betrayals, rearranging the balance of power, etc etc.

Episode Rating: 9/10

Last episode Light contacted the president of the USA and told him to reveal the location of SPK headquarters. With that information, Demegawa from Sakura TV was instructed to lay siege to the building, smoking Near out, leaving him open to be killed by Misa’s shinigami eyes. The plan fails when Near realizes that the rioters are just anarchists, not true followers of Kira. Using their greed against them, Near showers millions of dollars over the crowd, throwing them into a panic. He then calls in the SWAT team, blending in with them and literally walking out the front door.

After escaping the riot, Near contacts the investigation team to let them know he made it out. He then reaffirms his belief that one of the members of the team is kira and should anyone have any suspicions, they may contact him. It’s made pretty obvious that Near is referring to the second L, Light, based on his previous suspicions, the convenient timing of the attack on SPK HQ and Light’s behaviour during the riot.

With Near’s suspicions being the same as the former L, Aizawa finally decides to contact Near. He tells him about the process the previous L used to clear the kira suspects, the 50 day confinement and Yagami-san’s act. However, trying to remain loyal to both sides, he doesn’t reveal the names of the two suspects. But Near’s smarter than that, and reasons that the only person who Yagami-san would act that way towards during the act is his son, so the second L and the person he suspects to be kira is Yagami Light.

Afterwards, Aizawa tells Light that he contacted Near, and wants to search both his and Misa’s room for a death note, Light agrees to it. However, Light already saw this coming, and arranged for Misa to give up ownership of the death note and send it to someone else already. So Aizawa’s search turns up blank, and even if he were to interrogate Misa, her memories of the death note are long gone.

When Aizawa returns from his search, Sakura TV’s Kira Kingdom is playing and Demegawa is on, saying that he is planning to construct something of an amusement park in honor of Kira, and is asking for donations from supporters. Light is angry that Demegawa is taking advantage of the situation, as it may tarnish Kira’s reputation. Just as he thinks it may be best to kill him off, the members on screen begin to die, Demegawa included. It’s the work of the one who Light chose to send the death note to, Mikami. With that, Light is convinced that Mikami is committed to the same ideals as kira, and is pleased with his decision to send the note to him.

Thoughts

A decent episode, though, admittedly, it wasn’t the most original one thus far. The two major plot developments have already been done before. The first being Near’s escape using the SWAT team to blend in, this is how they got Yagami-san out of Sakura TV’s studio. The other reused plot twist is the passing off of the notebook to a third party, the same tactic Light used the first time he needed to prove his innocence.

On that note, I like Mikami so far, he seems to be just as power hungry as Light, and shares the same concept of “justice”. He also seems to have the same interest in becoming godlike, which makes me wonder if he might betray Light down the line, to try and claim the throne for himself.

However, there seems to be an inconsistency with the death notes, from what I’ve observed. There should be two free death notes in the world at the moment, Ryuk’s extra death note and Rem’s old death note (recall that Shidoh went after Jealous’ death note instead of Ryuk’s extra). The inconsistency lies in the above picture, if it’s right to assume that shinigami follow the owners of their death note, either Ryuk shouldn’t be following Mikami OR he should have been following Misa.

During the raid on Mello’s base, Light gave up the ownership of his death note (Rem’s) and borrowed Misa’s death note (Ryuk’s) so he wouldn’t lost his memories, and sent his notebook to the police. Now the only way for him to retain his memories and not hold on to Misa’s death note was to reclaim the one he sent to the police, no problem there. But, this means that the death note that Misa has been using all this time is Ryuk’s, yet Ryuk was hanging around investigation headquarters as if the death note they had was his.

If anyone can find a flaw in my reasoning, or prove that shinigami don’t always hang around the owner of their death notes, then I just wasted two paragraphs…but it’s still fun to pick at nuances anyways XD

[EDIT] The more I think about it, the more I am forced to conclude that shinigami don’t have to stay by the owner of their death note. If that were the case, it would be pretty hard to hide that Misa is the second kira, as the whole investigation team can see Ryuk. It’s also a necessity that Ryuk watch over Mikami, both to teach him the rules of the death note and guide him to where Light wants him to go with it. But there’s still the issue of Ryuk suddenly disappearing from the investigation team’s headquarters, he was pretty much their pet, they’re going to notice if he suddenly disappears. Added to the fact that it happens at the same time as the deaths of Sakura TV staff, which couldn’t have been done at the hands of Misa or Light.

Near, knowing they had a shinigami, or even Aizawa, knowing the time line, might be able to conclude that the death note has switched hands yet again.

As for what happens from here on in…there are too many possibilities to consider, I can’t pick any single one that makes the most sense. However, what I am pretty certain of is something that was mentioned in a comment by Kanon_fan82 in a previous post, the undoing of kira’s world will be from the inside. Although Near has a pretty good lead, he isn’t as close to Light as L was, he will most likely need help from someone inside the investigation squad to bring him down. The most obvious person to do this is Aizawa, who has been suspecting Light for a few episodes now.

On a closing note, animation has been plummeting recently, character drawings in particular have been made of QUALITY lately. Production must be stretching its budget at this point, but fortunately we’re nearing the end, they only have to keep it together for 6 more episodes.

~ Shirukii ~

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 ~

EPIC episode. Apparently covering more than nine manga chapters, this episode pulled yet another 180 degree turn following last week. Although I found the pacing a bit TOO fast, it was still a captivating episode. Word has it that, at least in this arc, the anime is proving to be superior to the manga, quite a rare occurrence.

Episode Rating: 10/10

In the aftermath of the kidnappings, the Yagami household has relocated, partially to protect them from further targeting and partially to better care for Sayu-chan, who is left traumatized by the ordeal.

Back at Light’s apartment, Ryuk is greeted by the shinigami shown at the end of episode 28, identified as Shidoh. He demands Ryuk return his death note, but due to circumstances beyond Ryuk’s control, he doesn’t know where it is. Ryuk shoos Shidoh off, telling him to find it himself if he wants it back that badly.

Meanwhile, the investigation continues, with N’s information Light digs up some information about Watari’s orphanage, Wammy’s House. Rather than an orphanage, it was a place where children with potential to become L’s successor were gathered and trained. Among them, two stood out above the rest. Near, or N, the leader of the SPK (or what’s left of it, lawl) and Mello, the one whom Near suspects was behind the kidnappings and now holds a death note.

Wasting no time, Light sets another wtfhax plan in motion. First, using Misa’s shinigami eyes to scan known mafia members for the owner of the death note, Kal Snyder. Light uses his death note to control him, forcing him to mail the location of their hideout to the investigation team.

Shidoh happens to see the address that was mailed to Light and flies off to LA to find out what’s going on with his death note. He finds the hideout and introduces himself to Mello’s team, who try and kill him, obviously with little success. Mello sends Shidoh, invisible to all other humans, outside on patrol, bribing him with chocolate.

Anyways, I digress, back to Light’s plan. Next, he gives up ownership of his death note and tells Ryuk to give it to one of the investigation team members. He borrows Misa’s notebook, shoving it down his pants, so he won’t lose his memories.

The death note ends up with Yagami-san, Light calls him as Kira and tells him that all the known mafia members will die on November 10th (Protip: This is Shirukii’s birthday, buy him something!) at 11:59 p.m. He tells them the location of Mello’s hideout and instructs them to raid it at that time for the best chance at recovering the death note. Speaking as the head of the investigation team, Light says that even though it’s in accordance with Kira, they can’t afford to pass up the opportunity to recover the death note and capture Mello.

Prior to the raid, Yagami-san makes the deal for the shinigami eyes with Ryuk. At 11:59, cries of death echo from inside Mello’s hideout and the raid begins. The death note is quickly seized, but Light instructs them to pursue Mello. Yagami-san corners Mello in a room, but he has one last trick up his sleeve, the building is rigged with explosives. Mello seals the entrances and threatens to blow the entire building unless Yagami-san does as he is told.

However, one thing that Mello wasn’t expecting was the shinigami eyes, Yagami-san says his real name, Mihael Keehl, and threatens to kill him with the death note unless he surrenders. Mello, however, doesn’t think Yagami-san has the resolve to do it, and calls out to one of his remaining men, who shoots Yagami-san multiple times in the back. As the rest of the investigation team floods into the room, Mello presses the detonator, blowing up the entire building, while somehow managing to escape.

Surprisingly, most of the team, including Yagami-san, did not die from the blast, however he was fatally wounded by one of the bullets. In his dying moments he uses the shinigami eyes to note that he can see Light’s life span, proving that he doesn’t own a death note and is not Kira. While this works out nicely for Light, the more pressing issue is Mello, he urges his father to use his remaining strength to kill him. However, with the knowledge of his son’s supposed innocence, Yagami-san’s worries are gone and he passes away peacefully.

The death note is returned to Shidoh and Light stands silent, lamenting the events which brought him more loss than gain. Although he managed to pry a death note from Mello’s hands, he lost his father in the process, while Mello remains at large.

Thoughts

Bah @ long summaries. Though when so much material is covered in one episode, it’s an inevitability.

As mentioned before, various sources (mainly friends and 4chan’s /a/) are saying that the anime is handling this arc significantly better than the manga did. Apparently it’s not only this episode that will pack this much action, given the division of manga chapters left to cover in eight more episodes, much of the remainder of Death Note will be similar in pacing. This is excellent news, though I kind of wish they had shortened the Yotsuba arc and lengthened this one, as it’s a lot better IMO.

Now, as for Light’s plan. I’d say it was one of the simpler ones used, but effective nonetheless. Aside from using the shinigami eyes to find the owner of the other death note, there weren’t any “wtfux underground tunnel” moments. It was simple to follow and went just as planned, using the element of surprise as the main advantage.

There were, however, a few flaws. Most importantly, when Yagami-san was alone with Mello, why didn’t Light send him backup!? Given all their technology, I’d assume that they would all have tracking devices as well as a basic schematic of the hideout. So why didn’t Light send potentially life saving back up to his father, choosing instead to sit there and pray for him to kill Mello. Other than that, the explosion confused me, strong enough to level a building but controlled enough to leave the room they were all in intact and allow Mello to escape? Riiiiiight. No. And a side point, what was the point of the scene where Shidoh confronted Mello’s team? Nothing came out of it, he didn’t get his death note back at the time, and Mello just got a useless guard.

Moving on to a more random topic, what was up with this scene. It caught me off guard seeing Misa prance around in lingerie, and then the two start making out…with Shidoh looking on in the background. This scene crushed the spirits of many “Light is gay for L” fangirls/haetboys. Although, really, I still maintain that Light has absolutely no feelings for Misa and she’s only around for miscellaneous tasks and her shinigami eyes. Though, it begs the question, have the had secks? Four years is a long time, and they’re pretty old by now, I’d think that Misa would have managed to get it out of Light at least once in that time XD

Otherwise…

…imagine how she must have felt when she saw the death note getting more action.

Back to more relevant issues, it seems I was wrong in my guess as to which death note Shidoh would go after. I’m pretty sure my list accounting for all the death notes was right, which means that Shidoh didn’t care which death note he got back, as long as he got one. He ended up picking the one that most benefited Light, but the raid cost him more than he would have liked. But at least now he knows Mello’s name, and only needs to see a picture or his face in order to kill him, and with a fairly accurate composite sketch, that shouldn’t be much of a problem.

And so I’m left wondering how the allocation of the death notes will go from here. There are now two death notes in human hands, one shoved down Light’s pants and the other in the hands of the investigation team. Light can’t take Misa’s, as that would result in the loss of the shinigami eyes, and I doubt he wants to constantly walk around with a death note in his belt, so I’m curious as to what’s going to happen with that one. Keeping in mind that the SPK has their sights set on obtaining a death note as well.

On a parting note, some sad news =( I had the ending of Death Note completely spoiled for me. Lurking in /a/ I came across a thread with an image captioned “Raito’s swimming lessons”. The resulting photoshop’d manga scan was illustrative enough for me to piece together the ending. In all fairness, it was obvious and I called it a looooong time ago, but to have it spoiled still sucked.

WARNING! MASSIVE ENDING SPOILERS!

For the insatiably curious: Raito’s Swimming Lesson

As a small consolation, I lol’d.

Well, nothing to do but shrug it off and keep watching. Until next week!

~ Shirukii ~

Amazing episode! Second only to mind games, another great thing about Death Note are the sometimes ridiculously perfect plans that they come up with, like Light’s master plan or Higuchi’s capture. Although you have to suspend your beliefs as to how perfectly they work out sometimes, but when considered in ideal situations, they’re works of sheer brilliance.

Episode Rating: 9.5/10

Despite being exposed as a fake L and a new rivalry with N, Light’s team is given full control over the kidnapping and proposed exchange for the death note. With Sayu as the hostage and the death of the police director, Yagami-san can’t sit around idly. He decides to go to LA and negotiate, Light agrees but turns on his nice guy act and tells his father that if the time comes where he has to make a choice, to choose the one which will bring him and Sayu back alive.

Light’s plan of action is to track Yagami-san’s movements, waiting for a chance when they know Sayu’s whereabouts so they can rescue her without giving up the death note. However, nothing goes as planned. Yagami-san is approached in the airport and told to board a different flight, which is scheduled to go to LA but instead diverts to the desert and drops Yagami-san off. There he is lead into an underground enclosure, rendering satellite surveillance useless. With the investigation team already in LA, there is absolutely nothing they can do at this point.

In the tunnel Yagami is greeted by one of Mello’s men, holding Sayu at gunpoint in a strange contraption. The device is designed to provide a foolproof method of hostage exchange.

There are four chambers, two for the people doing the exchange, one for the hostage and one for the item being exchanged for the hostage. The chamber for the item has an opening on both sides, one so that it may be placed inside and another for verifying its contents. Once the item is placed inside, the chambers rotate so that the hostage can leave and the kidnapper can take the item. The whole thing is made with bullet proof glass to prevent a gunfight, and the hostage chamber has an opening so the kidnapper can shoot the hostage if anything goes wrong with the exchange.

Taking Light’s advice, Yagami-san makes the decision that saves the life of his daughter and gives up the death note. The death note is placed inside a missile which is fired, and Mello’s agent escapes in a helicopter. Near tries to track both the missile and the helicopter, but shortly after, the helicopter explodes and the missile signal is lost. Mello wastes no time in using his new toy, wiping out the known members of the SPK.

The whole ordeal ends in pretty much the worst case scenario for both Near and Light. Near loses almost his entire task force and with that, most likely the support of the CIA and FBI. And Light now has to worry about an unaccounted for death note with a mastermind owner, the L-like Near and maintaining his duties as Kira. However, as grim as the situation seems, Near acknowledges that it would have ended the same way regardless of who was in control, and suggests they work together from now on. Also, Near tells Light that he is almost certain of who carried this out, being Mello of course.

The episode ends off with yet another complication, a shinigami in the other realm reported a lost notebook, only to be told it was the one that Ryuk dropped. So the shinigami who it supposedly belongs to leaves for the human realm to get it back. Should he manage to do so, it will weaken Light’s strength as Kira, more on this later on in the thoughts section.

Thoughts

While I still hate Mello’s personality and ideals, I have to admit, he’s certainly on par with Light, L and Near. His plan was brilliantly thought and perfectly executed, and despite what I’ve said about third party interferences before, the shift in power it brings about it works rather well.

However, not only was Mello’s plan near flawless in thought and execution, Near and Light’s responses were rather pathetic. They both employed a “wait and see” attitude in regards to the situation. In other words, their actions were dynamic, responsive to the changing situation. As we’ve seen numerous times before, this never works. It’s always the plan that is thought out beforehand that will prove successful, while I admit that they weren’t in a position to control the flow of events, to literally sit there and wait for things to unfold was a tactic doomed from the start. But it just goes to show how capable Mello is, not to mention the amount of influence he holds.

I wonder how Light will cope with this failure. From what we’ve been shown, it’s the first time he’s screwed up so badly. To be fair, he’s been sitting around with little resistance for the past four years, so it’s understandable that his senses have dulled. But if you look at the situation a little more closely, it wasn’t necessarily a bad outcome for Light. He may have lost the second death note, but with that, the majority of Near’s team was disposed of and his support shattered. Also, Mello’s game of catching Kira leaves him in the most powerful position among the three, much like how he was able to manipulate L, he should be able to influence Near and Mello in their investigations, even more so since they don’t suspect him of being Kira. (or do they o.O?)

Still much hate for Mello though. Near and L have competitive natures that overlap with a sense of justice (albeit a little warped). Light has a really warped sense of justice, but it is undeniably effective. But Mello takes the worst from all of them, ridiculously competitive with absolutely no sense of justice, literally willing to do anything to win.

As for the introduction of the new shinigami, this has a multitude of possibilities. The first thing that we have to do is account for the death notes currently in the human world:

i. Jealous’ death note; formerly with the Japanese police, now in Mello’s control
ii. Rem’s death note; in Light’s control
iii. Ryuk’s primary death note; in Ryuk’s control
iv. Ryuk’s secondary death note; in Misa’s control

The one that the new shinigami is after should be the one that Misa is using (iv). Meaning that if she were to lose it, she’d lose her memories and more importantly, the shinigami eyes. But then again, if the new shinigami doesn’t have a death note himself, what incentive would Light have to just hand one over with no gain. If I were Light I’d tell him to go get Jealous’ notebook, a two birds with one stone deal.

But then again, these are just my (often insane) theories, most of which are thought up in the wee hours of morning in a sleep deprived state. It’s likely that none of these are even close to what will end up happening, but they’re still fun to come up with XD

So I’m left with nothing to do but wait until next week to see if my guesses are anywhere close to actual events, all the while dodging spoilers like the plague T_T

~ Shirukii ~

It’s the return of everyone’s favourite sport, EXTREME WRITING!

I can’t say I’m liking the new direction that Death Note is heading in. My theory about L being alive has obviously been proven wrong, however I was right in assuming that he has appointed his own successor. Only time will tell whether Near will be able to fill the emptiness left in the wake of L’s death, but with the interference of Melo, it’s much like what happened when Misa was acting independently as the second Kira. Interaction and mind games between three parties is just too difficult given the complex nature of the series.

Episode Ratings: 7/10 & 8/10

Following L’s death, the investigation team is left at a loss as to what to do now. But Light turns on his acting and pushes forward with the investigation, recovering the data lost from Watari’s purge. With L gone, the team proposes Light take his place, as L once said himself. Light had planned to do so all along, and non nonchalantly agrees.

With L gone and no one left to stand in his way, Light goes on a killing spree. Everyone that knew of L’s death, Light’s succession or was ever in direct contact with the investigation team was killed. Many of these people were criminals anyways, so I assume Light had no moral objection to the killings anyways.

Then there’s a time skip of about 5 years, it is now 2012, Light is 23 years old and has officially joined the Japanese police force. The rate of Kira related murders has increased significantly and the voices of the Kira supporters are beginning to drown out the rest of the world, Light’s new world order is beginning the take shape.

However…

L left Light a little surprise. Being absolutely certain that Light is Kira, L wasn’t about to leave him in such a position of power in the aftermath of his death. His true successor would be either Melo (blondie) or Near (whitey). Being much too emotional, Melo concedes and says that Near, who is much more logical in his methods, succeed L. This decision is made before the time skip.

And so, things are suddenly set into motion once again. Yagami-san gets a call in the middle of one of the team’s meetings revealing that the Police Director has been kidnapped and the kidnappers are demanding the death note in exchange for his safety. Light is bewildered by this move, as no one except the investigation team was supposed to know about the existence of the death note.

It turns out the kidnapper is none other than Melo, who has become jaded by jealousy over the past four years. Unable to accept the fact that it was Near who succeeded L and not him, he is now moving on his own to acquire the two death notes and “beat” Near.

Near isn’t exactly lofting around either though, he has created an investigation team of his own, dubbed the SPK (Special Provision for KIRA) comprised mainly of FBI and CIA agents. Around the same time the director was kidnapped, he sent an agent to the Japanese police force demanding they hand over the death note and leave the Kira investigation up to them. This leads to them learning that the director has been kidnapped and leads Near to believe that it is Melo who is behind it. Sharp kid.

Afraid that the director may give up information about Kira and the investigation team, Light kills him. Both Near and Melo immediately deduce that it must have been Kira that was responsible for his death. Melo uses this fact to his advantage and targets the Yagami family, kidnapping Sayu and demanding the death note in exchange. Near reasons that the director’s death probably means that Kira has ties to the Japanese Kira investigation team.

Not about to stand idly by and watch his daughter get killed, Yagami-san goes to make the trade, rushing in blindly without the time to formulate a plan.

At this time, Light decides to call the FBI agent who contacted the team and so he learns about the SPK. Much to his surprise, their leader, Near, who dubs himself ‘N’ knows that the real L is dead and that Light is only his self appointed successor. Light is now scared speechless, not only has his sister been kidnapped, but a task force beyond his control is investigating Kira, and the leader gives off an aura that is frighteningly similar to L.

Thoughts

Ugh, Death Note summaries are such a pain to do, there’s so much detail.

Anyways, I digress. As I said, I’m not too happy with the new direction that Death Note has taken. Not so much the unfolding of events, I’m not bitter that my theory of L being alive was wrong, although that would have been awesome. But it’s the new successors that leave more to be desired, specifically Melo.

The problem with Melo is that he acts on emotion and is the most unpredictable out of the three. I’m sure this is what the writers were going for when they wrote up his character, but he feels so out of place relative to the other characters. Death Note is an series based on logic, reasoning and wits, to throw in a character that uses these tools in such a rash and unpredictable manner destroys the balance. The main reason why Death Note is so interesting is because of the great care taken in planning your moves and trying to predict those of your nemesis. But Melo doesn’t do that, as illustrated by his spontaneous kidnappings, his style of action is reactive instead of proactive.

Melo also comes off as trying to emulate L, rather than become something greater. He doesn’t have a sense of justice, nor a desire to catch Kira, he just wants to beat Near. He’s even gone as far as imitating L in his eating habits.

Near, on the other hand, seems like a much better character. Although he emulates L in many of his mannerisms as well, it doesn’t seem as forced as Melo’s attempts. As Melo admits, Near is much more methodical and logical in his actions. Over the past four years he made direct contact with the president and managed to establish a Kira force made up of FBI and CIA agents, arguably the most elite investigators in the world.

And unlike when Light dealt with Melo, when Near contacts Light, he comes off as a force not to be reckoned with. Unlike Melo, who at this point is just a terrorist kidnapper, Near truly acts like L’s successor, as far as causing Light to feel L’s presence. Almost as if he had been resurrected ;)

Now I see why a lot of people were saying that Death Note fans would be split at this point. I can see a lot of people liking the change of pace that Melo brings, once again shifting the balance of power in unpredictable ways. But I’m sure that many people, such as myself, don’t like the idea of Death Note becoming unpredictable. The series has always come off as a carefully calculated game of chess in my eyes, to see it lose that structure saddens me. Hopefully Melo is dispatched of as quickly as Misa was and we see another fierce bout of intellectual fencing between Light and Near.

Speaking of Misa…

First the yaoi footwashing, now this. What’s with the increase in fanservice

I also heard that Death Note was actually supposed to end with the death of L and Light’s rise as the god of the new world. However, since Death Note is serialized in a shounen magazine, they wouldn’t allow “evil” to win, and forced the mangaka to write a more neutral ending. Is this is true, then it would explain why the characters seem a little forced and unoriginal, however that doesn’t excuse tacking on a weak ending. So even if he was forced to keep writing, I hope the mangaka still has some tricks up his sleeves. More than anything, a bad ending would be the worst thing that could happen to the Death Note series.

But in any case, it should still prove interesting to see how Light deals with the situation at hand. After sitting comfortably, without resistance, for the past four years, will he be able to revive his ruthless nature and survive the simultaneous onslaught of Near and Melo? The preview for the next episode already suggests that he is quickly losing control over the situation, but if the writers decide to take Light down, he better go down with one hell of a fight.

Aside: Death Note trivia! I didn’t notice it the first time around, but in episode 26, at 9:18 during one of the fights between Light and L, Light says Uguu~ after being hit. Rather unexpected, made me lol XD

~ Shirukii ~