Official Death Note Thread

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Shieldbou
Wow, am I surprised not to see this one in the directory confused

Death Note

Where to begin... there are times in our lives where we all need to try something different, was it when you first picked up manga? Bought a book from a series just out? Death Note certainly falls into the 'different' category. When I was given the 1st volume as a present, I didn't know what was in store for me. And well, It was a change for the best. Screw Naruto, Bleach and Inu Yasha. Those were the words that raced through my head when I finished it. (Though, who does like Inu Yasha? and maybe Bleach...sorry Dsmile Death note is an intellectual cat and mouse chase between a mastermind detective (and an anorexic wink ) 'L' who is determined to find 'Kira' who turns out to be a smart high-schooler who wants to rid the earth of all criminals with the use of his 'Death Note' a book with the ability to kill anyone who's name is written in it with their face present in the writers mind.
Call me crazy, but Death Note is one of the most gripping, exciting and generally awesome mangas I have read! Now, I've generally veered out of my Manga reading days, but I'll never refuse Death Note. If you haven't read it..read it if you haven't bought it...then buy it. All I can say is that it breathes fresh air into this generation of Manga and anime *shudder*.

What are your thoughts on the series?

SB

MelloDraMattIc
I think that it's a good series. It makes you think, while most anime and manga just make you sit there and stare for about twenty-two minutes. And there's violence, just not...conventional violence. Well, not much until the Mello and Near arc starts up.
I'm currently obsessed with it. Mostly the Wammy Boys, thank you very much.

peejayd
* still hoped L did not die very early in the series... i think L makes the story exciting... smile

Kento
Yea after L was gone the series didn't hold me like it had. Not to say it was bad afterwards just L was one of the reasons I liked it so much. Near, Mello, and Light weren't really characters I liked.

Project Jedah

MelloDraMattIc
Didn't the volume in which L died in the manga sell less copies than all of the other volumes?

Kento
Really? That's weird if it did.

MelloDraMattIc
Yeah...I was reading a Death Note webcomic, and they were talking about that.
ALSO....What do you guys think of the voices of the characters in the English version? (Well, Mikami and Matt haven't showed up yet, but most of the characters have)
My Opinion:
I LOVED L's English-version voice.
Near's voice is okay.
Mello's voice is okay and all, but it's just not what I imagined.
Sidoh's voice is...unusual (all given respect to the voice actor!!)
Misa's voice was just how I imagined it.
Light's voice is good.
Ryuk's voice is good.
Rem's voice is (was?) good. Most people thought she was a guy, and I don't know how they were going to do it, but I think they did well.

Kento
I only really remember Ryuk's, and Light's voices...but I like them. Course I only seen like two episodes really, and the only reason I remember them is because I've heard them on other things.

Sanctuary
The Japanese version is a lot better. Light and L sound sooo much cooler. Light sounds terrible in the English version.


Bumping cause Death Note is teh awesome.

Vampire Savior
That smug and cocky bastard got what he deserved...

Kazenji
Who's everyones favorite shinagami ?

mine would have to be Ryuk.

MelloDraMattIc
Yes, yes. Ryuk is awesome.
So is the King of Shinigami, although no one has seen him before...which is interesting since they're making an action figure of him.

That reminds me...
There is no explanation of how Shinigami come to life or anything. I think that people who used or were deeply effected by the Death Note (like L) would instead of going to MU would actually become Shinigami.
What do you guys think?

Dark-Jaxx
The series was not as good after L died IMO.

And Ryuk is the shiznit.

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Dark-Jaxx
The series was not as good after L died IMO.

It had the potential, though. I think that the main problem was that it was rushed, and we didn't get time to get to know Mello or Near or Matt like we got to know L, and that's sad.

Nemesis X
You think they should make another Death Note series? Light was just a kid mad with power. Like to see who else goes crazy with the notebook.

Kazenji
Originally posted by MelloDraMattIc
.

That reminds me...
There is no explanation of how Shinigami come to life or anything. I think that people who used or were deeply effected by the Death Note (like L) would instead of going to MU would actually become Shinigami.
What do you guys think?

MU ??

Nemesis X
MU? Dude, don't you mean the afterlife or whatever?

Kazenji
Yeah mello

Talk !!

Nemesis X
Multi-Universe? Just a guess.

Kazenji
Theres a Multi-universe in death note now ?

Nemesis X
Kazenji, like I said before, it was just a guess I made.

Mello, explain what MU is because I'm going nuts trying to figure out what it is.

Dark-Jaxx
I am pretty sure the Deathnote itself said when a Deathnote user dies, they turn to nothingness.

MelloDraMattIc
Okay, okay, okay.
Fine.

In the last volume of Death Note, it says that after a human dies, they go to "MU (Nothingness.)" and it also says that once dead, a human may not come back.

So basically said, MU is where humans go where they die, which is Nothingness. Nothingness is what we often think of it of, but the correct term for it is MU.

Not Multi-Universe.

I hope that cleared up some confusion.

Nemesis X
So nothingness would pretty much be Heaven right? Going to that place, you hardly do much. Just floating on clouds and watching people down on Earth. That sounds awfully boring.

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Nemesis X
So nothingness would pretty much be Heaven right? Going to that place, you hardly do much. Just floating on clouds and watching people down on Earth. That sounds awfully boring.

Well, they don't really say, but I don't think so, because it says that MU (Nothingness) is where ALL humans go after they die.
(I hope this doesn't start a huge religion debate...)

Dark-Jaxx
Wait, ALL humans go to nothingness when they die?

Are you sure?

Cause I could have sworn to shit that Ryuk told Light that once you use the Deathnote, you can't go to Heaven or Hell.

Nemesis X
Well if you can't go to either Heaven or Hell then it probably means you go to the Shinigami realm and become a Shinigami and if that's true, what would a Shinigami Light Yagami look like?

Nemesis X
Originally posted by MelloDraMattIc
I hope this doesn't start a huge religion debate...


It probably will. Anime geeks will put anything on the internet and religion is one of them.

Advent
Originally posted by Dark-Jaxx
Wait, ALL humans go to nothingness when they die?

Are you sure?

Cause I could have sworn to shit that Ryuk told Light that once you use the Deathnote, you can't go to Heaven or Hell.

The quote Mello is referring to goes as follows: "All humans are destined to die someday. The place they go after death is 'MU' (nothingness)". It means everyone, including Death Note users. Plus, Light figures out and Ryuk confirms at the end that there is no Heaven or Hell as "all humans are equal in death".

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Advent
The quote Mello is referring to goes as follows: "All humans are destined to die someday. The place they go after death is 'MU' (nothingness)". It means everyone, including Death Note users. Plus, Light figures out and Ryuk confirms at the end that there is no Heaven or Hell as "all humans are equal in death".

Yeah, that's it...
That's basically it.

Sanctuary
yes

After Light dies in the manga there are 2 black pages to show that he is now in "MU", then on the next page it says:

All humans will, without exception, eventually die.
After they die, the place they go is MU. (Nothingness)

Nemesis X
Before Light died, he saw L. What's that about?

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Nemesis X
Before Light died, he saw L. What's that about?

That originally wasn't in the manga, like some other things in the anime (L hearing bells was one of them, as well) probably to add something to the storyline so that it wouldn't actually have a big, "The End" thing or to add more drama.

Or, it could possibly be L standing victorious and simply saying to Raito/Light/Whatever you must call him "I won."

Resplendent
Originally posted by MelloDraMattIc
That originally wasn't in the manga, like some other things in the anime (L hearing bells was one of them, as well) probably to add something to the storyline so that it wouldn't actually have a big, "The End" thing or to add more drama.

Or, it could possibly be L standing victorious and simply saying to Raito/Light/Whatever you must call him "I won."

I always took it as a:

"Hey friend, nice meeting you again. Now we don't have anything else to quarrel about. You got me, I got you."

In spite of the fact that they were always fighting in one way or another, I always thought of them as friends in a twisted little way.

Nemesis X
It creeped me out when in the anime, I saw L rubbing Light's foot because it was sore or something. My guess here is that if L didn't die, he would have either arrested Light because he knew he was Kira, or L and Light fall in love with eachother. Light and L did act kinda gay towards eachother before L died so it's a possibility that they would have been lovers and if that happened, I wouldn't watch the series anymore because the main character's a homo. How messed up would that have been?

Kento
Originally posted by Nemesis X
It creeped me out when in the anime, I saw L rubbing Light's foot because it was sore or something. My guess here is that if L didn't die, he would have either arrested Light because he knew he was Kira, or L and Light fall in love with eachother. Light and L did act kinda gay towards eachother before L died so it's a possibility that they would have been lovers and if that happened, I wouldn't watch the series anymore because the main character's a homo. How messed up would that have been? Not really that messed up at all coming from Japan....It's also not like it would be the first thing to have gay people in it either. Heck like the only kiss in Naruto was between Sasuke and Naruto. Hmm maybe that's where Naruto's obsession with Sasuke began truly. It's all clear now..Oh wait I've gotten off topic.

Besides L's to paranoid to get with anybody. Even more so the person he suspected to be Kira..without any real evidence to back it up.

Nemesis X
I don't know dude. When L told Light that he was the first friend he ever had, Light felt something and that something was probably what almost made him gay before L died in that episode.

stickman618
anyone else read that one shot of death note??

the idea of the eraser is kinda stupid i think

Kento
Originally posted by Nemesis X
I don't know dude. When L told Light that he was the first friend he ever had, Light felt something and that something was probably what almost made him gay before L died in that episode. Doesn't mean he'd actually get with him. Besides thinking of a guy as a real close friend doesn't make him gay.

Originally posted by stickman618
anyone else read that one shot of death note??

the idea of the eraser is kinda stupid i think No I haven't what's it about?

Nemesis X
Is there gonna be a new series of Deathnote?

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Nemesis X
Is there gonna be a new series of Deathnote?

The series wrapped itself up in a way that says, "Hey, this is it. Maybe we'll add in an epilogue or two, but that's it."

And a sequel to Death Note probably wouldn't be as good as the first. Even the live-action movies took the series in a whole new direction...

To answer the question to whoever asked that question about what the one-shot was: It was the original story of the Death Note before they made it what it is today. It's main character was an elementary school student (who looked a lot like Mikami) who finds a Death Note and starts writing kids' names in it. In this one, there's a Death Eraser that brings people whose names have been written in the Death Note back to life as long as they haven't been cremated.

Kento
Originally posted by MelloDraMattIc
The series wrapped itself up in a way that says, "Hey, this is it. Maybe we'll add in an epilogue or two, but that's it."

And a sequel to Death Note probably wouldn't be as good as the first. Even the live-action movies took the series in a whole new direction...

To answer the question to whoever asked that question about what the one-shot was: It was the original story of the Death Note before they made it what it is today. It's main character was an elementary school student (who looked a lot like Mikami) who finds a Death Note and starts writing kids' names in it. In this one, there's a Death Eraser that brings people whose names have been written in the Death Note back to life as long as they haven't been cremated. Well...that is weird. Also one psycho little kid.

Nemesis X
Doesn't that show on Adult Swim called Code Geass remind anyone of Deathnote because I'm looking at this show and I'm thinking "This show somehow reminds of Deathnote for some reason. Hmmmm".

stickman618
Originally posted by Kento
Well...that is weird. Also one psycho little kid.

the kid didn't know what it was at first

he used it as a journal and wrote "i was bullied by....today" and they died, then he meets Ryuuku and is given the eraser

http://www.onemanga.com/Death_Note/0/001/

Kento
Hmm that wasn't bad. The kid was actually a lot better than Light who went crazy. Though why is Ryuk still with him after seven years?

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Nemesis X
Doesn't that show on Adult Swim called Code Geass remind anyone of Deathnote because I'm looking at this show and I'm thinking "This show somehow reminds of Deathnote for some reason. Hmmmm".


Yeah...Light gets the Death Note from Ryuk, Lelouch gets the Geass from C.C. Both are objects of inhuman power given to mere mortals and both are used to establish (or in Lelouch's case, overthrow) a society.

Lelouch vs. Light...that would be an interesting fight...

Sanctuary
Originally posted by Nemesis X
I wouldn't watch the series anymore because the main character's a homo. How messed up would that have been?
What the f**k?


alsooooo
The creator already said, when L said Light was his friend etc, he was lying.

stickman618
how many pages does the death note have??

in the one shot it's only 60 and you can request for more from the shinigami

but in the real series, Light uses only two notes for years and even rips out a bunch of pages

MelloDraMattIc
The Death Note has infinite pages. I think somewhere in the rules it says that the pages in the Death Note will never run out.

And I don't think there's anything wrong with the main character being or not being gay. I mean, if it's a good story and if it had good art and a nice plot, it doesn't really matter. The fact that the character would be gay would just be another side note, like Mello never wearing socks or Misa making a commercial for lipstick.

Nemesis X
If they do make another Deathnote series, Light should return. What if someone had the Death Eraser and erased Light's name from Ryuk's Death Note and Light rises from the grave and seeks revenge upon the Mello and the detectives?

Kento
That would be a horrible idea. Light should not return at all..

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Kento
That would be a horrible idea. Light should not return at all..

Agreed.

Nemesis X
Then you all hate Deathnote if you hate the main character returning.

Kento
Not really...You don't have to like the main character to like a series. Death Note has become one of my favorite series and if there is one person I dislike more than Sasuke it would probably be Light except I like how he is when he forgets everything after giving up the Death Note. I like L but I don't want him coming back either. If it gets another part somebody else needs to get it. Bringing Light back would just be a step backwards. Bringing anybody dead back would be pointless also.

Nemesis X
Well if my idea for a new Deathnote series sucks, what would your idea of a new Deathnote be?

Kento
Not making a new one would be my idea...Some things just don't need to keep going. Death Note was awesome and it should be left at that. It wrapped itself up nice with Light being killed. Anything else would..just be like the series all over again with different people. Maybe a few different scenarios but nothing much new.

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by Kento
Not making a new one would be my idea...Some things just don't need to keep going. Death Note was awesome and it should be left at that. It wrapped itself up nice with Light being killed. Anything else would..just be like the series all over again with different people. Maybe a few different scenarios but nothing much new.

I totally agree. I think the same goes with all the anime that go on for hundreds upon hundreds of episodes. Early on, they were great and all, but as they keep on trudging on, things start repeating themselves, and they get kind of boring.

Every series needs an end, no matter how sad it makes the fans, because honestly, a series being short and wrapping itself up nicely is much better than a series stretching on for hundreds of episodes while slowly getting more and more worn and having to have a disappointing ending. Inuyasha is one example that pops into my mind as I type this.

stickman618
Originally posted by Nemesis X
If they do make another Deathnote series, Light should return. What if someone had the Death Eraser and erased Light's name from Ryuk's Death Note and Light rises from the grave and seeks revenge upon the Mello and the detectives?

the death eraser was a stupid idea and is not cannon to the main series.
and besides, Light was a great character and can't be replaced, heck, when L died the show kinda lost it's flare so i agree that they shouldn't continue this series, or restart a new continuity

and are the pages really infinite? i thought Ryuk said he either had to wait for the note to finish or for Light to finish. i was thinking, maybe it becomes blank and refills every time it changes user

Nemesis X
Are we gonna end up breaking our televisions if they make a series all about Misa?

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by stickman618
the death eraser was a stupid idea and is not cannon to the main series.
and besides, Light was a great character and can't be replaced, heck, when L died the show kinda lost it's flare so i agree that they shouldn't continue this series, or restart a new continuity

and are the pages really infinite? i thought Ryuk said he either had to wait for the note to finish or for Light to finish. i was thinking, maybe it becomes blank and refills every time it changes user

I think they are. I mean, it makes sense, because a Shinigami's life span depends on how many people they kill, and no one knows how Shinigami are created (they cannot sexually reproduce, as said in one of the Death Note rules) so if there were a limited number of pages in the Death Note, then that would probably be the end of Shinigami.

Originally posted by Nemesis X
Are we gonna end up breaking our televisions if they make a series all about Misa?

I'd probably smash my television with a sledgehammer in rage if that ever happened...I hate Misa.

Nemesis X
I hate Misa too. I only brought up the idea because I'm still wondering how they would make a new Deathnote (if there's gonna be one). If they did have a series about Misa, I would cut my TV in half with a chainsaw and burn the remains with a flamethrower.


Since everyone likes Ryuk so much, how about he gets his own series?

MelloDraMattIc
They wouldn't possibly be able to make a new series of Death Note. Even if Ryuk was the main character in this one.

The creators even said that it was over, so that's that.

And a series about Ryuk just wouldn't work out well.

As for more Misa-hatred, I first picked up Death Note when it first was being released in English, but I stopped reading it because of Misa. Then, I started liking it again after I heard about it becoming an anime.

stickman618
didn't Misa commit suicide at the end of the manga and suggestively in the anime too??

Nemesis X
I really haven't finished the Manga but I did watch the entire Anime and I don't recall that crazy chick ever killing herself.

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by stickman618
didn't Misa commit suicide at the end of the manga and suggestively in the anime too??

They don't say it outright, but they suggest it. Plus, with all the times she did the eye trade, she could have just died from a heart attack or something.

But yeah, she did die in the end. According to the thirteenth volume, she died a little more than a year after Light died.

So that means that the only survivor of this huge mess is Near...stupid bastard.

stickman618
and the other detectives

here's a question, if someone legally changes their name, do you have to right their new name or their birth name??

MelloDraMattIc
Originally posted by stickman618


here's a question, if someone legally changes their name, do you have to right their new name or their birth name??


Hmmm...I'm not really sure. I assume that it's your birth name. I mean, you could have put Matt's name (Matt) in the Death Note, but unless you put his real name, he wouldn't die.

Of course, that was just an alias, and he didn't (not that I know of) legally change his name. Neither did L or Mello or Near or Watari.

So it might be the birth name, I think. I'm pretty sure, but I can be disproven.

babel10
Death Note was so intriguing, it had you at the edge of your seat with both Light and L trying to get one step ahead of each other. But, after they killed off L the show and manga became boring since Light didn't have a real challenge, and Misa was showed way too much.

MelloDraMattIc
A little off topic (just a little) but I got a blind-box Death Note figure, and it came with a little piece of gum.

Does anyone know how the two relate?

Bro SMASH
I finally just saw the whole anime series. I was hooked! Boy, was I shocked at that twist at the end too!

I was mad when L died but I wouldn't say the series went downhill. Besides, Near wasn't bad.

Now I've been wondering, this would be a good case for an Ace Attorney game. I've been thinking about how can Phoenix Wright or Miles Edgeworth can solve the case without getting killed.

I always think a Death Note/Case Closed crossover would be interesting too.

kazewol
What would you do if you had the death note? I found some fatal flaws in Light's plans, or in the way he carried them out. One is when he decided to kill Lind L. Taylor, the impostor who was sent to broadcast in pace of L. This gave away his location. The Kanto region of Japan. Also, Maybe not quite as crucial, he showed himself to Ray Penbur as he was dying, leading L to believe that Kira was on the train. That is one of his biggest flaws, the fact that he reveals that he is Kira just before the victim dies. That was how Neer captured him. What would be your perfect plan?

AuraAngel
Not write in the Death Note directly because it drives people mad.

Nephthys
Originally posted by kazewol
What would you do if you had the death note? I found some fatal flaws in Light's plans, or in the way he carried them out. One is when he decided to kill Lind L. Taylor, the impostor who was sent to broadcast in pace of L. This gave away his location. The Kanto region of Japan. Also, Maybe not quite as crucial, he showed himself to Ray Penbur as he was dying, leading L to believe that Kira was on the train. That is one of his biggest flaws, the fact that he reveals that he is Kira just before the victim dies. That was how Neer captured him. What would be your perfect plan?

I think his biggest flaw is that he was kind of evil. Killing Lind L. Taylor wasn't just a bad move, it was pretty damn villainous to kill someone just because he insulted him and said he was going to try to catch him. And ironically, if he'd just left L alone, I doubt L would have ever been much of a problem. A lot of the time, L's biggest wins were just capitalising on Light making mistakes. If Light didn't keep slipping up while trying to throw L off, he'd be unable to so accurately pinpoint Light.

That said, if I had a Death Note I'd probably try the exact same thing Light did.

AuraAngel
Light actually only made a couple mistakes. L got so far because Light purposely let him get information (he has access to the police, his schedule resembles a students, he can control when death happens).

Lind L. Taylor was a mistake though. But given everything I think Light killing a person who dares challenge a guy with the power of a god, however innocent, is understandable. Horrible to be sure but if you had that kind of power would you really take lip from anyone?

God I love Death Note.

Nephthys
Yeah, and those were mistakes imo. He gave info to L in order to get closer to him so he could kill him, but as I said if he just left him alone L wouldn't really be an issue. Light just really wanted to kill him since as L said, he's a childish person who hates to lose. L calling him out and making him look dumb pushed him to it really.

Well this was pretty early in the series, its the first really bad thing Light does. Its kind of unreasonable for how early it still was for Light to get that conceited.

I'd say another mistake was him showing off for the cameras when L has him under surveillance. That was imo the thing that made L really peg him as Kira.

AuraAngel
Originally posted by Nephthys
Yeah, and those were mistakes imo. He gave info to L in order to get closer to him so he could kill him, but as I said if he just left him alone L wouldn't really be an issue. Light just really wanted to kill him since as L said, he's a childish person who hates to lose. L calling him out and making him look dumb pushed him to it really.

Well this was pretty early in the series, its the first really bad thing Light does. Its kind of unreasonable for how early it still was for Light to get that conceited.

I'd say another mistake was him showing off for the cameras when L has him under surveillance. That was imo the thing that made L really peg him as Kira.

If they're intentional I don't think it would be proper to call them mistakes. But that doesn't matter. Light messed up in the long run lol.

By this point Light has killed hundreds. Killing people has slowly but surely become a casual thing for him. And if you read him as a sociopath from the beginning based on his actions then it makes perfect sense that he would not care.

But even if you take Light at his most idealistic based on some of the things he says(I'm here to save the weak and create a perfect world) then one could still justify it. Light is trying to stop crime and force people to think "if I do this bad thing I'll get killed" and here is L telling him, in front of the entire world no less(as far as Light knew), that he is evil and by extension wrong. I would not call it a stretch to assume that an idealistic Light would see this as fanning the flames for criminals to stand up against his actions and commit more misdeeds. From that perspective L seems like a villain because, in going against what Light sees as a perfect way of keeping justice, he is advocating crimes. Shouldn't he be punished for that? Wouldn't it be fitting that the man standing against justice be struck down for all the world to see? That would send a stronger message.

And it is framed so that Light doesn't have to think about his actions since...he didn't kill an innocent man. He killed a criminal on death role. This is no different than what he had been doing so why think on it?

Edit: The cameras thing was a bit of a tricky situation but yeah one could call that a mistake(I'm assuming you mean the whole figuring out L was lying about sending in like 1000 agents) but he only did it, I would imagine, so he could get closer to L. At the very least playing dumb or acting uninterested would seem out of character with Light's background. But that was a trickier situation that I'm not remembering as well as I could.

Q99
Light's problems were a couple fold. One, he was proud, and wanted to not just accomplish goals but *win*, opposing him alone was enough to get on his list (aside from L, remember the women investigator who found him early. He actually told her, and were it not for the mind-control powers of the DN, that could've sunk him, and personally I was incredibly surprised that she didn't leave some clue behind despite that). Two, and this sometimes helped, sometimes hurt, is he tended to go for the elaborate, sometimes needlessly complex plan rather than the simple. It makes him unpredictable, but it also puts him in more danger and leaves openings. There was normally a safer, more methodical route to doing things.

AuraAngel
Originally posted by Q99
Two, and this sometimes helped, sometimes hurt, is he tended to go for the elaborate, sometimes needlessly complex plan rather than the simple. It makes him unpredictable, but it also puts him in more danger and leaves openings. There was normally a safer, more methodical route to doing things.

I read a book this semester that talked about naval tactics in WWII between the Japanese and American forces. The author seemed to suggest that this is a trait of the culture(whether he is right or not I can't be sure since the history of strategy is not my forte) but it did make me think of how Light's plans compared to L(who is English I believe), Near(either English or American since that is who he gets support from) and Mello(who is probably the same as Near). Not saying that was a conscious decision but I do wonder if it is part of the popular subconscious.

stickman618
Light's biggest failing was his pride.

AuraAngel
What was L's fatal flaw?

Nephthys
Not having supernatural aid.

Also, morality. Somewhat. As the author said, he was almost always 99% sure that Light was Kira. He could have taken him out if he'd allowed himself to.

Edit: He could also work on his communication and social skills.

AuraAngel
I dunno if morality was what kept him from doing that. Near implies that he and L wouldn't do it because they didn't want to admit to Kira that they couldn't get the 100% proof. L was not exactly morally upright.

Nephthys
Well whatever it was, thats a weakness.

Q99
Originally posted by stickman618
Light's biggest failing was his pride.


Well, that and his willingness to kill large amounts of people.


Another thing to think about: He largely went after criminals convicted of serious crimes. I.e. he mostly got people the police already had or likely would soon get anyway.

Nephthys
True, but I always thought Light was more interested in preventing violent crime through fear. And eventually iirc he did stamp it out because no-one wanted to risk it anymore.

Yamcha
L's biggest flaw was not hiring The Punisher to interrogate Light, if he was shocked by the methods Mello used it would have been hilarious to see his reaction to Franks xD.

http://i40.tinypic.com/20r0e9f.jpg

Q99
Originally posted by Nephthys
True, but I always thought Light was more interested in preventing violent crime through fear. And eventually iirc he did stamp it out because no-one wanted to risk it anymore.

And honestly? That doesn't make sense. It's only ones who the police know the names of that he can even try of, and one of the things about major criminals is the punishment is already so heavy that they work on the mindset that they won't get caught.

Worse punishments past a certain level are not shown to be effective, and Light isn't actually better at finding out who did it.


Plus, Light was mostly operating in Japan, and on the global level even his kill-rate is fairly insignificant.


And iirc there was only a moderate decrease (one character even noted that if you count the Kira killings, the total rate was up), which made some sense, since it was something new and unusual... but it'd be a temporary thing, once criminals accepted it as the way things were. Once there's no shock value, I would seriously expect it to have next to no impact on crime.

AuraAngel
Originally posted by Q99
And honestly? That doesn't make sense. It's only ones who the police know the names of that he can even try of, and one of the things about major criminals is the punishment is already so heavy that they work on the mindset that they won't get caught.

Worse punishments past a certain level are not shown to be effective, and Light isn't actually better at finding out who did it.


Plus, Light was mostly operating in Japan, and on the global level even his kill-rate is fairly insignificant.


And iirc there was only a moderate decrease (one character even noted that if you count the Kira killings, the total rate was up), which made some sense, since it was something new and unusual... but it'd be a temporary thing, once criminals accepted it as the way things were. Once there's no shock value, I would seriously expect it to have next to no impact on crime.

There are records of tons of criminals who you wouldn't call major.

No but that is the point of what Near says at the end. Light is just so confident in his own judgement that he doesn't care/realize this.

...you're going to have to elaborate how a guy who could kill so easily has an insignificant kill rate. In the grand scheme of things with our millions of people sure he's only getting a small percentage. It is still the most ever killed by a handful of people by a large margin.

Down 70% according to Light himself at the height of his power and no one disagrees with him. But yeah it was temporary according to the epilogue.

Nephthys
Originally posted by Q99
And honestly? That doesn't make sense. It's only ones who the police know the names of that he can even try of, and one of the things about major criminals is the punishment is already so heavy that they work on the mindset that they won't get caught.

Worse punishments past a certain level are not shown to be effective, and Light isn't actually better at finding out who did it.


Plus, Light was mostly operating in Japan, and on the global level even his kill-rate is fairly insignificant.


And iirc there was only a moderate decrease (one character even noted that if you count the Kira killings, the total rate was up), which made some sense, since it was something new and unusual... but it'd be a temporary thing, once criminals accepted it as the way things were. Once there's no shock value, I would seriously expect it to have next to no impact on crime.

Um, yeah it does. Nobody actually knows that he only knows the ones the police do. Hardly anyone has any info on Kira since L was so tight-lipped about his investigation. Plus thats not even true since he got Misa to get the death god eyes, so really he only needs to have an image of them. And theres a hell of a lot of difference between thinking the police won't catch you, and chancing some quasi-deity finding out and give you an inescapable heart-attack. Plus theres the fact that Light frequently targets criminals who wouldn't actually get the death penalty. Even if you just get life in prison, he will just kill you and no lawyer in the world can help you. There is no fighting Kira and barely anyone knows how to evade him.

The series disagrees, since Matsuda and others explicitly says that crime is indeed drastically down and that life has generally improved under Kira.

Pfft, what? The President of the USA was cowed before Kira. The entire world was under his yoke at that point. As I recall, Light had even taken to killing tyrants and had brought about world peace by the second half of the series.

Q99
I'm pretty sure at one point he publicly demanding the police continue to let out names.

It is going to be noticed he's doing publicly known murders- and Misa needs not just a photo, but a photo and knowledge that they're a murderer.




And any crime worthy of life in prison is very much a 'the person assumes they won't be caught,' one. No-one says 'life in prison isn't that bad.' They either don't think of consequences at all, or assume it'll happen to someone else.

And we're still talking largely people-in-prison here.




The series takes a rather... optimistic view as to it's effects.

AuraAngel
Originally posted by Q99
I'm pretty sure at one point he publicly demanding the police continue to let out names.

It is going to be noticed he's doing publicly known murders- and Misa needs not just a photo, but a photo and knowledge that they're a murderer.

And any crime worthy of life in prison is very much a 'the person assumes they won't be caught,' one. No-one says 'life in prison isn't that bad.' They either don't think of consequences at all, or assume it'll happen to someone else.

And we're still talking largely people-in-prison here.

The series takes a rather... optimistic view as to it's effects.

No. L just assumed he would do something like that. Whether he would or not is left to the imagination(but he would). Misa as the fake Kira probably said something like that and maybe Light when he was posing himself as Kira for the police force.

It was. And the knowledge is simply assumed. It is part of the reason Light is a horrid person.

Incarceration by a government funded institution is a far cry away from possible death from a god. Crimes still happened and the mafioso were still around but the status quo would undoubtedly be changed to make crime a far riskier prospect.

Now is the series completely realistic with the effects? Nah, probably not. Honestly people would be in panic because the Kira murders are without a doubt confirmation that the supernatural exists (a fact the series sorta brushes off) more than they would be worried about a crime. We're dealing in the hypothetical.

stickman618
Originally posted by Q99
Well, that and his willingness to kill large amounts of people.


Another thing to think about: He largely went after criminals convicted of serious crimes. I.e. he mostly got people the police already had or likely would soon get anyway.

He only started killing innocents when L insulted him by calling him evil. Lind L. Taylor wasn't innocent but for all Light knew, he was just some detective. If Light didn't get insulted and never changed his methods, he would've never got caught. There's no way L could've narrowed his search down to a certain region in Japan without Taylor's death.

AuraAngel
Uggh...

People always say that the second half is infinitely inferior to the first but in my honest opinion, while L vs Light is indeed the best, the Yotsuba stuff is just such a snoozefest on rereads. Aside from seeing Light and Misa behaving differently and the tension of waiting to see Kira again it is just so boring. Some of the adventures are fun and stuff but the council are not exactly the most memorable cast around.

At least the Near and Mello stuff let us see how the world evolved a bit.

Q99
Originally posted by stickman618
He only started killing innocents when L insulted him by calling him evil. Lind L. Taylor wasn't innocent but for all Light knew, he was just some detective. If Light didn't get insulted and never changed his methods, he would've never got caught. There's no way L could've narrowed his search down to a certain region in Japan without Taylor's death.

He only knowingly started innocents then. He was still relying on police investigation which is not 100%.

AuraAngel
Light cannot conceive of a judgement of his being wrong. If they've gone before a judge they're guilty. Sure we know that he probably killed an innocent person before Lind L. Taylor but that is partly why Light is a bastard.

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