#isn’t his whole thing kind of like if kira didn’t have the notebook lol

[wouldkirakillthem]

dexter morgan from showtime's dexter

[13eyond13]

Do you really think Takada could have gone against Light's wishes or used him in return in a way that made sense with the way she was written morally, politically and personality-wise? How do you imagine that could have gone? What could she have wanted to do, achieve, or how could she have gone against his wishes? And do you think it would have been more morally related, like Mikami killing people that didn't fit Kira's criteria, or more at a personal level? Both?

I would also like to know if you think Light liked Takada to some extent or even harboured some feelings for her, despite his ultimate coldness, and if you think their relationship gets a different treatment in the manga and the anime.

Hello again! Thanks for both of your asks. I am only publishing this one with the questions, but I liked and agreed with all the insights you included about Kiyomi, Misa, and Light in the previous ask too. And I'm very impressed that you re-read the entire manga in such a short period of time! Please be warned that I'm too tired and lazy at the moment to reread anything myself lol, so I am basing this off super distant memories of last reading and watching the successor arc approximately 3 years ago now...

(under a cut bc it's a bit long)

Do you really think Takada could have gone against Light's wishes in some way? Or used him in return in a way that made sense with the way she was written morally, politically, and personality-wise? How do you imagine that could have gone? Would it be more morally-related, or on a personal level, or both?

I think yes, it could've been possible for Ohba to write Kiyomi that way instead while still keeping her in-character. But he normally isn't too concerned with emotionally developing most of the characters apart from Light. And any drastic changes in behaviour like this for Kiyomi in the second half would probably be more effective if Ohba had been consciously setting her character up from the very start to return again later on, or to play a role in the narrative of that sort. And apparently this was not the case. Ohba said in the behind the scenes book that he never originally planned for Kiyomi to return at a later date when he first introduced her; I think she was initially just meant to be one of the many expendable female classmates whom Light was camouflaging his social life with while being tailed at school. Indeed, barely anything of significance happens in Kiyomi's introductory scenes to even really warrant introducing her character by name. So when she was brought back as Kira's spokesperson later on I don't think it was because Ohba had some strong desire to further develop her emotionally. Maybe he was mostly just wanting to flesh out Kira's posse and the overall worldbuilding a bit more. This is typical of the series in general though, as most of the characters stay pretty static in their stances and their motives and emotional journeys apart from Light.

I don't have a ton of energy to come up with a lot of specific scenarios for Kiyomi to do something differently right now, and to be honest it's kind of even slipping my mind how the whole thing even was working between Light and Kiyomi plot-wise in canon as it was. Like I'm totally forgetting now what kind of faking they had to do initially with each other and the task force listening in on their meetings and Light secretly being Kira and such, lol.

But anyway, here are some things that maybe could have been done differently with her character:

SHE DIDNT ACTUALLY LIKE HIM BACK THEN -It could've been revealed that Kiyomi hadn't actually had sincere feelings for Light when they were dating back in the day at all, and that Light's vanity about his usual popularity with girls somewhat blinded him to this fact. I think this would be just as realistic as Kiyomi secretly holding a flame for him all these years and then agreeing to be his mistress, for sure. And it would make sense to me that she is equally as opportunistic and shallow and image-conscious as he is when it comes to who she dates, both in the past and in the present. Especially because apparently she was the one who made the first move and asked him out. Even if this didn't affect the plot all that much, I still think it would be funny and a bit of a refreshing break from everyone always drooling all over Light

SHE DID LIKE HIM BACK THEN, BUT SHE DOESN'T LIKE HIM NOW -She could have maybe genuinely liked Light when they briefly dated at school, but him being kind of a dick to her back then means that she no longer feels anything for him when he looks her up again. She could still act like she is interested in rekindling their romance, but really only be doing it for utilitarian and selfish motives of her own. Maybe career-building motives or ideological ones or personal ones, or a mix of them all, who knows. But she would be secretly playing him the entire time he's playing her; inwardly looking down on him for his vanity and his arrogant assumptions all the while he is secretly looking down on her for apparently being so gullible. It could possibly be pretty funny to watch

SHE LIKES HIM AGAIN, BUT THEN SHE CHANGES HER MIND - She could still be genuinely into it him when they reunite, but then experience something traumatic or shocking like the kidnapping a bit earlier in the plot that she survives and that radically changes her views. It could make her completely lose her faith in her Kira ideals, or her attraction to Light, or both. Or maybe just something like the grim reality of Light asking her to personally murder people with the notebook could cause her to rethink things that she previously stood for, because it all becomes a lot more scary and gruesome and real. She definitely had a horrified reaction when faced with the task of committing any murders herself, but she still went along with it anyway. That easily could have been a personal crisis that set her off down an entirely different path

I would also like to know, considering Takada's relationship and parallelism with Light, and how Light seems to treat her marginally better than he treats Misa while with her, if you think Light liked her a bit or harboured some kind of feelings for her, despite ultimate coldness, and if you think their relationship gets a different treatment in the manga and the anime.

I think Light treated Kiyomi with a bit more attention than Misa mostly because she is higher maintenance in the respect she requires from a romantic partner in order to feel trusting of them and devoted to them. But he still mostly looked down on her inwardly, and seemed to barely even pay enough attention to her to develop any feelings for her otherwise. All of Light's thoughts about Kiyomi are dismissive and mocking and unkind, no matter what kind of flattering and admiring things he's saying to her to win her trust. I don't think he particularly hated her or anything like that; but he clearly didn't ever respect her or find her very interesting, either. I think this is because he could successfully fool her with his manipulation, and because all he ever really cared about whenever he was interacting with her was using her to achieve his own goals.

Their relationship was depicted pretty similarly between the manga and the anime, I think? But it's been so long now since I've read or watched it that I can't really confidently say what the major differences between the anime and the manga for this relationship are now, sorry. I haven't been keeping fresh on canon these days, because I'm spending all my time this year trying to read and watch new things instead

[miss-ali-lawliet]

Hello

For the ask game:

3. what do you think about Light? 10, 24 and 25, please.

Thank you for the asks and honestly great questions!! I have a feeling this most is going to be a bit long, so hopefully I can get my thoughts and everything out in a way that’s easy to keep up with!

Also spoiler warning for those who haven’t finished the series!

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3. What do you think about Light?

I honestly have SO many mixed feelings about him, like it’s hard to just be like ‘oh i hate him’ or ‘oh I love him’ because it just isn’t that simple for me personally, which that itself is a great sign of a character since you have to think about that sort of thing with them. Right off the bat though,  I’d like to say that I think Light as a character is phenomenal. He takes the character-type of what many would consider as the ‘perfect guy’ for the main character but twists it in a way that makes the reader/viewer question the protagonist their supposed to be rooting for. 

I also think of Manga!Light and Anime!Light as different people to an extent, as in the manga you watch a seemingly ‘normal’ guy who has issues with the world deal with the sudden power that was thrown on him. I talked about it before in my last ask post, but the scene after Light killed his first person after testing out is a great way to express how he feels, and is one of the few times we really see Light show THAT much emotion. He shows regret and guilt, thinking himself as a murderer and you can tell how it affected him. Anime!Light you don’t get that, and instead he seemed to just take on the task of being Kira and god of the new world without much else thought. I definitely prefer M!Light in comparison to A!Light to say the least, so I’m going to focus a bit more on the M!Light side of things.

I personally found myself wanting to have hope for Light, even though I knew that he wasn’t going to get better but instead worse over time, and honestly it’s probably better story wise to keep him as the ‘bad guy’ who stays bad instead of trying to pull a redemption arc out of no where or something. I have a feeling I’m beginning to ramble, so I’m going to try to wrap this up.

I have a love-hate relationship with Light, because even though I don’t agree with his actions and the tactics he uses to get the ‘perfect world’ he wants, and I do find his thinking flawed and find him very arrogant the more power/ego Kira gains over the world as the story goes on. Yet I find him as a character in general just fascinating. I was definitely more on L’s side of things and found myself enjoying a majority of the scenes where people simple put Light in his place and treat him like a dude with a god complex rather than what he wants/expects. There’s just a lot of thoughts I have about him, but yeah it’s just a love-hate sort of thing for me when it comes to Light. 

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10. Do you ship any characters?

I usually find myself being a bit of a multishipper when it comes to most fandoms, it just depends on the source material and the characters obviously. I definitely can enjoy a lot of the ships when it comes to the fandom, but even if I don’t like a pairing I do my best to remain pretty respectful about it. 

One thing to note is that I can’t really find myself shipping L with anyone in the series to be honest, like I can find myself enjoying his relationship dynamics of characters but with my own interpretations and DR stuff, It’s hard to view him with someone else romantically. 

Some ships I like/don’t mind though (especially when it comes to au stuff as most of these in canon probably wouldn’t work out lol): Matt x Mello, Mikalight, Rem x Misa ig? (more like the concept is sweet i think even though in canon Misa treats her pretty badly and Rem said she doesn’t think of her that way), uhhh. My brain is pulling a blank right now but these are the main ones that come to mind.

Some platonic pairings I enjoy (as there are a lot more of these for me): Matt + Mello, Mello + Near, Matsuda + Misa, Honestly all the task force have really interesting dynamics with one another, L + Watari (obviously in a father/parent way, I just like seeing their interactions), Ryuk + Light, Ryuk + Misa, L + Matsuda’s relationship is honestly pretty funny to me and honestly L’s dynamics with the task force is also interesting as well. 

I think that’s it when it comes to shipping stuff atm

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24. Any headcanons you’d like to share?

Oh! I feel like I have a couple but at the moment my mind is pulling a blank for some reason. Some head canons that do come to mind though deal with my Death Note DRs in some way but they can also be interpreted with the actual series itself, so hopefully this is good enough! Usually I do better with a certain prompt of some sort though for future references though! 

I’ve seen a post a bit ago about Matt and Mello being roommates of some sort at Wammy House and they find themselves in that roommate mentality still when they do room together, and honestly I agree so much with that. 

When Mello leave the Wammy House I see him not contacting Matt or anyone from Wammy House as he turns his focus on his side of the Kira Case, even if apart of him misses them and what he grew up around. Yet he pushes through because he’s stubborn and wants to do whatever he can on his own with the Mafia without involving someone like Matt, probably for his safety. After the explosion though when he has no one on his side, I think that’s when he realizes there’s only one other person he can truly trust and rely on and that’s when he contacts Matt to help him on the case. 

Not really a headcanon as the author himself mentioned that the rivalry between Mello and Near was one-sided and that Near actually liked Mello, I do see both boys sometimes wondering what it would have been like if they didn’t have that rivalry and became friends instead. I honestly see Mello thinking that more towards the end of the case and after the explosion, but at that point he’s probably thinking it’s too late to even pursue a friendship like that with him. 

I like to think that at Wammy House, Matt didn’t really understand Mello’s rivalry with Near and at times questioned him about it at first but he was pretty supportive 

He didn’t have anything against Near though and was pretty indifferent on the whole thing personally, but if it made Mello happy and helped him achieve a goal he had no reason to deny.

Matt in general in general is someone that gives the vibes of not caring about much, but if you’re close to him he is literally SO loyal?? Like if someone close to him has an issue, even if he might make a comment or remark, he is always there to back them up. 

I like to think that over time Light actually enjoys Ryuk’s presence, kind of like a sense of some sort of comfort that he isn’t alone of some sort? Like at first he might have been annoyed and still gets annoyed whenever he acts annoying and distracts him from work, but also I think he doesn’t like hate his company. Probably would rather be around him than Misa unfortunately </3

I think that L and Chief Yagami had a pretty good friendship, or perhaps not friendship but i’m not sure what to call it atm. Like I think L respected him a lot and Soichiro was the same towards him, and I think at times if they decided not to talk about the Kira case it’s usually pretty good for the most part.

It’s not really a headcanon but Matsuda trying his best to get some positive attention for things he does in the case is funny and kinda sweet. Most of the time L probably ignores his antics and doesn’t really feed into it, but there’s like one or two times where he actually does

It’s probably very small, probably something along the lines of “Good job.” or something but Matsuda feels so happy that he even acknowledged him like that and didn’t call him stupid for once. Definitely was a good boost in his mood

I find the thought of Light and Ryuk playing video games early on when he first gets the notebook charming in an almost funny way. Like Light probably either was talked into it by the shinigami or was like ‘screw it, I have nothing else to do atm’ and Ryuk is just happy he can actually do something and not just watch him working 

Light is definitely competitive in games though, like he’ll probably try to act like it wouldn’t matter but like most things with him, but it did lmao

I find the thought of the wammy kids doing things to mess with/annoy Roger so entertaining. Like I feel bad for him, but if I were asked to assist in the pranks or antics I probably would just for his reaction alone

Think that’s all for random misc head canons for now, if you want something more specific just send a request!

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25. Ramble on about whatever you’d like 

Thank you for this one! I usually feel a little guilty whenever I ramble on about things in general, but the fact that some people are interested in my thoughts on things is so sweet!

At the moment though I’m honestly not too sure what to ramble about as there’s a lot on my mind and it’s hard to pick one thing and honestly it can be a bit hard to go through all my thoughts at times. 

But! One thing I will always stand behind that ya’ll have probably seen countless of times so far is that the Wammy Boys deserved better and I will always say it if necessary tbh. Speaking of wammy house though, that comes to mind is that I wish I could learn more about it at times, yet I also enjoy the mystery of it in a way. It’s something I’d be so down to learn more about, but if not I’d be pretty okay with that outcome. Plus just leaves things for fans to interpret in their own ways if they want, and that’s something I definitely enjoy when it comes to the fandom is how they take something vague and turn it into so much more. 

Also speaking of the fandom I’m surprised yet so thankful/grateful for is that the death note fandom is still going on here. It was such a relief seeing that I wasn’t alone in my hyperfixions and thoughts, and seeing all the talent in the art, writing, etc, is just amazing and something I look forward to a lot in all honesty. I’m also just so thankful for the people that take time out of their day to look at my blog in general. You like, reblog, or follow me? I literally want to be your best friend and if I wasn’t so nervous about starting conversations with ya’ll I definitely would have messaged a couple of ya’ll a while ago. Until then I hope you just read this and see me on your blogs and hope my reactions and comments is enough until I get less nervous lmao. 

One last thing before i close the blog off is that I love L with my full heart and I adore Matt and Mello so very much. My favorite lads <3

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Alright that should be it for this post! If you stuck around, thank you!

Some future posts to expect: Matt, Mello, + a f!reader based on the dream I talked about before, some L angst, and possibly something with Light :)

Anyways have a great day/night and here’s a reminder to stay hydrated and eat something if you haven’t already <3

[13eyond13]

Comparing Manga!Near to Anime!Near

Sure! I actually found Near’s character very wooden and boring the first time I watched the anime, and then was very pleasantly surprised at how interesting and full of personality he seemed when I read the manga later, so I think comparing Near’s character in both sources is a great idea. I’ll outline the major differences I found between them below.

(This post is using the official English translation of the manga and the English subtitles from Netflix for the screenshots, by the way):

1. MELLO AND NEAR’S PERSONALITIES AND MOTIVES ARE DIMINISHED IN THE ANIME’S VERSION OF THE WAMMY’S CHILDHOOD FLASHBACK:

This is a scene that was changed slightly in the anime, and at great detriment to both Mello and Near’s characters and the audience's immediate understanding of them, I think. When we are first introduced to these two in the manga it shows a few panels of Mello being a bully at Wammy’s who gets right into the center of the action, and Near being a loner who is invited to participate but prefers to do puzzles by himself:

The anime begins directly at their meeting with Roger in the office, so we know nothing about how these two normally behave at the orphanage or how their peers perceive them / interact with them:

When asked to work together Mello refuses and explains to Roger that he and Near have always been at odds. The manga shows a flashback to Mello studying very hard to surpass Near's scores and always failing to do so, which sets up his inferiority complex and his strong work ethic. It also shows Near being surrounded by admiring students, which indicates he was probably well-liked despite being a loner, and shows that he’s very competent, the most successful student in the school:

 The anime simply has Mello say that they've always been at odds and competing with each other. Mello describes himself as overly emotional and Near as logical and cool-headed, and then they just leave it at that.

It isn’t until much later in the anime -- after the kidnapping, when Light finally finds out about Wammy’s -- that the difference in Near’s and Mello’s academic ranking is even mentioned at all:

I think the manga gives a much better sense of the successors’ personalities and motives right away than the anime does. All we see in the anime is that Near seemingly doesn't give a shit about L's death, nor care much about how the successor choice is made, and that Mello is temperamental and thinks that since Near’s unemotional he will be able to better solve the Kira case. I remember finding Near extremely cold and wooden the first time I watched it, because his reaction to L’s death is so callous, and none of that other stuff about him was shown or explained.

2. THE SPY IN THE SPK IS TAKEN OUT OF THE ANIME STORYLINE:

In the manga once the NPA Director is kidnapped by the mafia Near starts to suspect there is a mole in the SPK who would've leaked their plans to the kidnappers (which there is, Ill Ratte):

In the anime Ratte's role as the spy was cut out of the storyline altogether, so Near just immediately figures it out and then orders his FBI agent to cooperate with Soichiro:

I’m guessing they cut that spy bit out of the anime due to time constraints, but Near being betrayed by one of his employees and being shrewd enough to suspect it adds an extra little layer of vulnerability and sympathy to his character beyond just “smart, blase guy who never loses his cool.”

3. NEAR NO LONGER SUCKS AT DARTS IN THE ANIME:

The scene of Near and Light first talking on the phone and Near calling Light “L number two” is basically the same between the two sources:

Except that in the manga Near is shown to absolutely suck at darts, lol:

In the anime Near is just sitting there building a basic tower out of dice:

Little detail changes like this might not seem that consequential, but I'd argue they make all the difference; sucking at darts adds an endearing aspect to Near beyond just “humourless successor of L who sits around playing with toys a lot.”

I love it because it seems like exactly the opposite of what you'd expect them to show in order to get the audience on his side and believing he's L's super-competent successor, you know? It made me laugh and feel affectionate toward him in the manga, because he looks so dang serious about it; plus I love that he sticks with it for so long despite clearly not being very good!

*(side note: Tumblr’s image uploader glitched out at this point, so unfortunately the rest of the post won’t have any visuals, apologies:)*

4. THERE IS NO “WAS HE EATING CHOCOLATE?” SCENE IN THE ANIME:

Near never detains Sayu and Soichiro after the kidnapping to interrogate them in the anime, so sadly we don’t get that hilarious little manga moment where he deduces it was Mello behind the kidnapping because of the sound of him eating chocolate over the phone. 

5. NEAR’S RESPONSE TO THE SPK DEATH SEEMS LESS EMOTIONAL IN THE ANIME:

His reaction to most of the SPK getting murdered is different in anime, and I would argue he comes off much less sorrowful or shaken by the deaths. He seems pretty matter-of-fact about it, and almost like he'd predicted and planned for it to happen that way. The main emotional reaction we see is his dice tower falling and his face looking intense/angry. 

In the manga Near is caught off-guard by the deaths; he laments that he didn’t find the spy in the SPK before it was too late, and then he says to Light: “I was somewhat prepared for this the moment YOU gave the notebook away to the kidnappers, but it sure does hurt.” He is shown looking very sad about it. Light asks Near to share information, and Near has to deliberate for a while internally about whether he wants to trust Light with any information about Mello or himself before he agrees.

In the anime Near calmly predicts the deaths right before they happen, then tells Light that they died, then says: “L, you helplessly handed over the notebook.” Light asks him if he would have done anything differently if he was in charge, and Near says: “No, with that kind of preparation it would’ve been taken either way. There’s no point in us arguing. Let’s help each other and tell each other what we know. I have some idea of who the culprit may be.” MUCH LESS EMOTIONAL, and a bit overly willing to immediately volunteer information about Wammy’s and Mello to Light.

6. NEAR COMFORTING AND INFORMING THE SPK ABOUT MELLO AFTER THEY ARE DISBANDED BY THE GOV’T IS CUT OUT OF THE ANIME:

In the manga Near spends a good deal of time explaining Mello’s thought process to his team and warning them about his dangerousness before they ever meet up with him. He tells Halle in particular to watch out, because he believes Mello will target her home because she’s the most vulnerable, and then says to whole group: 

“If you’re scared, you don’t have to participate. But please don’t leave the headquarters. I’m scared, so I’m not going to go outside.” 

This display of thoughtful consideration for his team’s feelings and safety and his honesty about his own fears is not shown at all in the anime, as it skips directly from the news of the SPK being dissolved to Mello breaking into Halle’s apartment and taking her hostage to the SPK HQ.

7.  NEAR SEEMS A LITTLE MORE EXCITED BY MELLO’S ARRIVAL IN THE MANGA THAN HE DOES THE ANIME:

And there was a more in-depth explanation given in the manga about why he continued to defend Mello and sympathize with him. But even so, I would say these scenes are for the most part very similar between the two sources. The anime did a great job adding some lovely stained-glass visuals behind the boys and such here, too!

8. THERE IS NO SCENE OF NEAR AND MELLO WORKING TOGETHER TO QUESTION MOGI IN THE ANIME:

This is a real shame, because it’s basically the most fun interaction these two have and the closest they get to collaborating in a personal way after their dramatic reunion at the HQ (even though it could also be seen as Mello just attempting to taunt/use Near, but Near doesn’t seem to take it that way). Near’s interactions with Mogi and Mello are weirdly cute in this scene, as he often compliments them on their impressiveness and such, so it’s too bad that the anime chopped it out!

9. THE ANIME PUTS A MORE POSITIVE SPIN ON NEAR AND MELLO’S COLLABORATION AGAINST KIRA:

It’s left very ambiguous in the story if Mello was trying to save Near or beat him by kidnapping Takada. The manga takes a typically unsentimental view of Mello’s intentions, and the anime takes a more hopeful view of them.

In the the manga, Near says this: “I find it hard to believe that Mello thought that far ahead. But I am sure that he was always trying to get ahead of me. And that’s not all. Even if he didn’t surpass me, Mello always said that he was going to be number one, and that he was going to be better than me and L. But I always knew I would never be able to surpass L. It could be that I lacked the action and he lacked the calm; and even though we couldn’t surpass the one we admired on our own, together we can stand with L. Together we can surpass L.”

In the anime, Near says this: “I believe Mello knew in his heart that alone we aren’t able to reach our goal, to surpass L. But together... together we can stand with L. Together we can surpass L!”

10. NEAR’S PHILOSOPHICAL SPEECH IN THE WAREHOUSE IS CUT OUT OF THE ANIME:

It’s probably my favourite thing he says in the entire manga, so that’s too bad! He says it in response to Light’s passionate Kira monologue.

In the manga, after Near shuts Light down, Light says: “Near, you're wrong. I'm the icon of justice now.”

Near replies: “You may be right. I'm no different than you. I believe in what I think is right, and believe that to be righteous. Nobody can tell what is right and what is wrong, what is righteous and what is evil. Even if there is a god, and I had his teachings before me, I would think it through and decide if that was right or wrong myself.”

I loved getting these little deeper thoughts from Near in the manga; it made him come off less cold and uncaring and more human and insightful to me.

11. NEAR HAS A PLAN TO LOCK LIGHT UP FOR LIFE IN THE MANGA THAT ISN’T MENTIONED IN THE ANIME:

When Light tries to stall for time by attempting to tempt Near into testing the Death Note, in the manga Near replies:

“Light Yagami. Kira. I have no plans to kill you. I really don't care if the notebook is real or not anymore. From the very beginning, my goal was to capture Kira. All I want is for everything to become clear and for Kira to be captured. You're as good as arrested now, and I'll confiscate the notebook Mr. Aizawa has. That should be enough. And I will not announce Kira's arrest or the existence of the notebook to the public. I believe that everybody here can keep that secret. I'll take full responsibility for locking you up in a place where nobody will find you until you die."

I find this both refreshing and scary, because it shows Near’s definitely not doing this for his own glory or his ego (like Mello and L might), but it’s also a very ruthless and scary side of Near that adds a lot of spice to his character! I can’t imagine much of a worse fate for Light than that had Ryuk not gotten to him first, yikes.

12. THE EPILOGUE CHAPTER IS LEFT OUT OF THE ANIME:

In which Matsuda and Ide speculate about Near possibly “cheating” with the Death Note (aka being behind Mikami messing up with checking for tampering and dying in prison ten days later and such). Near is shown doing well as the new L, playing with toys and eating some of Mello’s trademark chocolate and collaborating with the NPA on their new work. Which is nice!

So in conclusion to this massive post, I would say that most of the characters in the second half of the story kinda got shafted by the anime because of how the plot was condensed; it didn’t help that the animation portrayed the subtler characters like Near in a less dynamic/expressive way than the original manga art did, either. Despite what it may sound like, I do love the anime a heck of a lot, but I think people will probably miss out on a lot of Near’s charm if they never get to experience the original manga version of him, as well!

[13eyond13]

The Rest of the “What If?“ Questions:

I’ve had a huge influx of “what if” alternate scenario type asks the last 2 days, and I’m not sure if they’re all from the same person or several people. I really do appreciate the interest in getting my take on this stuff! But to avoid spamming the dashboard more with all these answers I’m just going to put the rest of them into one ask here:

FEM!LIGHT’S STANCE ON WOMEN:

I think she would both resent being a woman and also still look down on other women, but still be extremely confident and sure of herself on the inside. She’d probably have some internalized misogyny and still view men as superior and wish to compete with them more than with women, but she’d also resent men for being valued more highly within the patriarchal culture she was raised within, so it would be a bit of a complicated mix. She’d probably still grow up idolizing Soichiro instead of her mother, because even though Sachiko is no doubt also smart and talented she is submissive and seemingly content with carrying out her supportive, servile domestic role as a mother and a housewife. Light would probably dream of far more ambitious things for her own future with the idealistic and egotistical personality she has and all the accolades she’s gotten in her academic and athletic and social pursuits. I also think she’d be a lesbian, but that it would only really awaken in her once she met L, who would also be female in this AU, and the first woman she found genuinely fascinating and truly “worthy” of respect.

HOW L WOULD CONVICT A MEMORYLESS LIGHT:

I’m not really sure. I guess L would have to get irrefutable physical evidence that proved Light had been Kira originally. Even if Light denied it the entire time he obviously could still be condemned as Kira if the evidence against him was strong enough. I think proving some of the rules fake would’ve brought L a lot closer to proving Light was guilty, but I’m a bit too lazy right now to try to think this AU scenario out the whole way through from beginning to end. It takes a lot of mental energy and revisiting of the source material to do so entirely accurately, so I definitely very much admire Ohba for keeping the canon plot so free of holes. There are always so many technical little things and different characters’ points of view to keep in mind!

IF THE DEATH NOTE WAS A “LIFE NOTE” INSTEAD:

Lol, I mean I guess a Life Note would probably revive people who had already died, or something like that? That could also cause a lot of worldwide havoc, though I’m not sure it would technically be a crime to bring people back from the dead! I wonder how Light would use something like that to achieve his New World… revive all the innocent victims who had been unjustly murdered by evil criminals or something? Lol I don’t really know, my brainpower is pretty zapped for thinking these things out right now…

However, this does remind me a bit of the “Death Eraser” that was included in the original Death Note pilot chapter! Ohba initially toyed with the idea of having an eraser that went along with the notebook which would bring the Death Note victims back to life. You can find that pilot chapter online with a little Googling if you’re curious about it. I’m so glad they decided to scrap that silly idea for the actual official series, haha.

HOW INNOCENT!LIGHT WOULD REACT TO MISA TELLING HIM HE IS KIRA:

@whiteroes1977 I think he would be both horrified and also know that it made sense, since he was already thinking that Kira’s ideals and methods lined up pretty closely with his own. He also thought that he would probably try to catch himself if he’d lost his Kira memories. It would definitely be a big internal struggle between Light’s desire to see himself as a good/innocent person who operates within the Law and his ego/ideals/belief that he was the only person who could truly bring about the new world he envisioned from the start. I’d love to see him have to make a big moral choice about becoming Kira again like that when he was still amnesia!Light, since he really didn’t know he was going to regain his Kira memories when he touched the Death Note in the helicopter at all.

IF SACHIKO PICKED UP THE DEATH NOTE:

Hahaha hmmm… I like to think that Sachiko is where Light gets most of his brains and also his more mysterious and sneaky side! There isn’t much to go by in canon about Sachiko’s character other than her role as a supportive and hardworking mom and housewife, but it would be very interesting if she decided to do something with a Death Note that would go totally against what everyone expects from her somehow. Maybe she’d also have a strong vigilante streak based on the frustrations she felt about Soichiro’s career; or maybe she would do something totally for herself with it and way outside of the box, and end up carrying on with this secret life that was both a guilty thrill and an escape from her humdrum duties in the home. It’s a bit hard to say without fleshing out her character a lot more than Ohba did in canon though, and I’m not really feeling up to doing that right now, sorry.

WHAT IF RYUK HAD KILLED EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WAREHOUSE INSTEAD?:

I think that Light would have been very happy if Ryuk did that, and he’d have continued right on with his plans to become the God of the New World. The SPK and task force was pretty much the only thing standing in the way of him achieving this goal at this point, so he’d just see it as serving them right for defying him like that. I don’t know the exact specifics of how he would achieve actual godhood, like if he would choose to make himself a public figure as Kira or just continue to work behind the scenes forevermore? I’ve always wanted to read a really detailed and realistic AU about Light actually winning and the crazy ways the world would change, but I haven’t managed to think it out myself to any satisfying degree yet. I definitely don’t imagine it would be the idealized world he imagined though, as even if crime was completely eliminated it would be a totalitarian dictatorship under which everyone was living in constant fear and feeling very oppressed.

HOW LIGHT WOULD REACT TO MALE!MISA:

Male!Misa could be pretty interesting too, with both canon Light and fem!Light. I imagine it would still be very off-putting to Light for a guy to show up at their house and come onto them that strongly, no matter how you headcanon Light’s gender or sexuality. I guess Light wouldn’t automatically look down on male!Misa for his gender, so that might be a small advantage that male!Misa would have over female Misa. But it could also potentially work against male!Misa since Light would probably expect more from guys and find that kind of behaviour from a man extra unsettling. What i find the most interesting to think about with male!Misa is how the fandom’s reaction to the character might differ, honestly. I think male!Misa would both have way more stans and also way harsher criticism piled upon him, maybe? I think he’d be shipped a ton with the male characters as well. Certain flaws and behaviours would be treated with way more lenience and forgiveness, and then other ones would be pointed out much more harshly, as well. It’s always pretty interesting to contemplate this stuff, but unfortunately I’m a bit too tired to add a whole lot of detailed insight on the topic at this point.