Death Note - A Retrospective (All Arcs Reviewed)

if you've clicked on this video you know what  Death Note is today I will go through all the   arcs of Death Note and discuss my thoughts and  opinions on them key word is opinion this entire   video is my opinion and feel free to disagree  obviously there will be spoilers for Death Note   in this video finally what counts as an arc can be  debated but I chose mine based on important story   changes I'll say what episodes are in each Arc so  look for that all right let's get [Music] started   I'm calling the first Arc of Death Note the Kira  Ark and while it's short it's very important a   lot happens here and it greatly establishes the  general character of light I like how he's almost   the entire Focus here we don't need any other  major characters yet we just need to see light   evolve and learn the rules of the Death Note  along with us the show presents us with a bored   high schooler who happens to pick up the notebook  of a bored Shinigami I love the way this is very   much glossed over by light he goes straight into  Destiny and how he's the chosen god of the new   world when when in reality he was just the first  person who took the notebook by complete chance I   also really like how the ability is introduced  we see light momentarily regret what he did or   rather be scared that what he did actually worked  but he quickly realizes what he must do he begins   using the notebook for what he believes are noble  intentions but as we see later all he is is a   crazy mass murderer with the worst murder weapon  in history but that's still a while from now now   I just want to make one thing clear for research  for this video I rewatched the entirety of Death   Note and at the same time I read the Manga so  in this video I will go over both as there are   some minor differences all right getting back  to it I really like how ryuk was written here   while the Shinigami realm was unfortunately very  underused for my taste ryuk is by far the best   part of it he provides some clear comic relief  from the beginning and tells us exactly what   awaits us light will be killed by him and there's  no way to prevent that the first episode ends on   a good note with one of the most iconic scenes  being shown depicting light killing dozens of   criminals from his own bedroom seeing the lengths  light goes to to hide the notebook is also a   great way to show how intelligent he is and how  well he can avoid police capture however we see   light's first great blunder with his killing of  Lindell Taylor this mistake would be extremely   costly later on allowing El to narrow down to  the region of Japan where Kira resides this was   an amazing introduction to L and showed someone  who could finally rival the mental capacity that   light possesses all great things from these first  two episodes in fact I'd call them perfect there   is nothing to complain about they introduced  the world we will spend the next 35 episodes   in perfectly and leave the viewer wanting more  this is the hook and it's just the tip of the iceberg the next episodes all follow two  separate plot lines one of light experimenting   on prisoners to see the limits of the death  note in preparation to kill the man following   him and one of the investigation team meeting  with L to solve the case the arc starts with   the grand reveal that light's father is in charge  of the investigation against Kira providing light   with Insider information from here we see light  make a move that I personally think is a little   stupid he practically shows L that he has Insider  information by killing criminals at certain times   as soon as he suspected of being a student the  point of this was not only to brag to L that   he can win even after handing him information  but to also Force L to not trust the police   force while I can see why this was beneficial I  personally believe light should have just stayed   out of it but I mean there were a lot of times  light should have stopped but his pride didn't   let him this leads to L sending FBI agents to  Japan which is exactly why this idea was stupid   it gets light followed to which ryuk asks light  one of the most what if questions of the series   The Shinigami eye deal throughout the series light  never takes the deal which makes sense however it   will always be interesting to think how he could  have won if he took the deal he could have seen   El's real name Rays Naomi so many situations  could have played out differently especially   if he made the deal at just the right time once  again light's Pride prevented him from winning   the bus situation is up next which I personally  think is the first brilliant plan of the series   light uses so many t itics here having the guy  see ryuk the fact that ryuk is unkillable his   experiments allowing him to control the guy and  the way he sees Ray Pen's name is also extremely   smart his next plan is one that I personally find  a small plot hole in but correct me if I'm wrong   when he approaches Ray from behind why could L  not see that on camera I mean we see that there   was footage so why not of this besides that this  is another great plan by light and for sure his   riskiest frankly it felt a bit out of character  for him to go there himself and say that he's Kira   there was a lot that could have gone wrong here  that luckily didn't or I guess unluckily after   the agents die we see El's first true loss he not  only didn't get any closer to finding Kira but he   let 12 innocent agents die coming off this event  El bounces back by meeting with the remaining   five officers chasing Kira these five will remain  as some of the most important characters of the   series well most of them this is also a good time  to say that L is an amazingly written character   so fun but also very smart he never feels stupid  but he has so many little quirks that he's just   funny to watch I've always loved this part at the  end too one of the few times he smiles throughout   the whole series now here comes one of my most  conflicted parts of the story L delivers clothes   for his dad and just so happens to meet Naomi  Mis the fiance of Ray penber who attempts to give   the police information about the Kira case that  she's gathered herself now I love the part here   that is just light and Naomi talking especially  after reading the BB murder cases she is such an   interesting character and I love the little we  saw of her my problem stems from the way the ark   progresses Naomi knows more about the Hera case  than L and staying out of spoiler territory for   the book I'll just say that she is extremely  intelligent however the longer we go through   these episodes the stupider she seems to get  she starts by giving light a fake name and   tries her best to get out of the situation  light continues to creepily follow her and   comes up with an admittedly good idea to tell  Naomi that he's working with L and that she   should be recruited my main problem with this  is that Naomi for some reason loses all reason   when Ella is brought up she just gives light her  real name no evidence needed some might say that   light being the chief son is evidence enough but  I disagree especially considering what we saw in   the BB murder cases it makes no sense that she  just let herself be killed like this this could   just be chocked up to Oba writing himself into  a corner or something more Sinister but we'll   talk more about the handling of female characters  in this show later for now just know that I don't   like this ending but it does give an admittedly  good scene of light being unnecessarily cruel   about killing Naomi from here L convinces the  task force to let him put cameras in the homes   of the Yagami and the takim mutas the two families  being investigated by Ray penber these are noticed   by light due to a trick he planted earlier and  so the problem becomes how does he kill under   these conditions and we get the most iconic scene  of the anime here while it is ridiculous it does   show how light has some seriously brilliant plans  that can even fool someone like L now for my third   favorite episode in the entire series encounter  this episode has near perfect scenes throughout   focusing almost entirely on light getting into  University the first hint of what this episode   is about comes in the entrance exam where we see  a familiar looking student sitting behind light   this reveal gives the audience so many questions  specifically if L is simply following light or   if they will interact as we see at the entrance  ceremony L plans on taking the offensive after   they finish giving a speech together El begins  telling light that he knows who he is to prove   that he's familiar with the police he finishes off  by dropping the bombshell that he is L this is a   great move for L to make but it's also a great way  to make the show way more interesting having L and   light directly talk is what makes Death Note what  it is even in just this first scene we see light   overthink the way he reacts and what he says to  L this puts L at a clear Advantage with him using   the fake name heuga if light attempts to kill him  the pop star will die on top of that as of right   now there is no evidence that this is really L  light also observes all of this with him screaming   truly losing his cool for the first time in the  series yelling at ryuk and complaining about the   power of the Death Note encounter is an alltime  great Death Note episode but even besides the way   it's written it perfectly Segways into what the  series will become light and L pretending to be   friends while both investigating each other just  before our next Arc starts up we see light and L   play tennis which is another amazing scene that  encapsulates their relationship extremely well   both overthink the tennis game to an overwhelming  degree after this we see the two in a cafe where   L plays a pretty smart trick on light to deduce  whether he's Kira or not the trick is so confusing   that I didn't even get it on a first watch  but L essentially uses the three photographs   of things prisoners actually wrote and gives  them to light to investigate light completely   rules out a fourth photograph for seemingly no  reason other than that he is Kira and he knows   that there is no fourth obviously calls this  out finally light's Dad having a heart attack   is an interesting Cliffhanger but it doesn't  really affect anything at large conclusively   the L Arc of Death Note is what furthers  the story into becoming the interesting   cat and mouse game that the series is known for  it's another near-perfect and excellently told Arc the second Kira Arc is another great  turning point in the battle between ell   and light introduces another Mainstay character  as well as the way L would eventually be killed   before all that we can talk about how the second  Kira is introduced through Sakura TV a tape is   aired that claims to be Kira after proving that  they are indeed Kira they explain that they want   public support this scene is good I like how we  don't see light for almost the entire episode   leaving something's up in the air ukita goes to  stop the broadcast and is killed I can't even   pretend I care to be honest he wasn't a bad  character the bigger question here is how did   Kira specifically light kill ukita his real name  shouldn't be known so this presents the question   of whether light made the ideal or not the way  this problem is solved by having soichiro crash   into the headquarters and forcing them to stop  the broadcast is fine but I would have preferred   to see something else it's a very minor nitpick  but it just feels slightly too unrealistic finding   out that light didn't do the killings provides us  with one burning question who is the new Kira and   why did they gain a Death Note right when this  question is asked it's answered by showing us   Misa ammane a model who has Shinigami eyes being  followed by REM REM is by far the most important   Shinigami other than ryuk however she is greatly  underdeveloped she facilitates much of of what   happens later Misa higuchi L's death all of these  things were caused by REM and yet she feels very   half-baked she loves Misa but not romantically  but it seems greater than just respect I'm not   really sure I understand the backstory of jealous  dying for Misa I just failed to see why that would   make REM want to do the same Misa also gives the  important ultimatum that either L will appear on   live TV or the deputy director leaving ell in a  tough spot as to how he will avoid dying in an   attempt to test light L invites him to view the  tapes and tell the task force his conclusions   this scene is well done and well played by both  light and L it culminates in light being given   more responsibility at the task force much to his  pleasure L will similarly use as an opportunity   to investigate light after the task force sends  a fake video pretending to be Kira Misa begins   to show a bit of her stupidity with her discussing  Shinigami in a response tape this is the beginning   of L figuring out how Kira kills which was always  one of the more interesting things to watch for   me after this Misa sends the task force a diary  that contains an obvious time for the two Kira   to meet but also a more discreet meet meeting  discussing notebooks something only Kira would   understand this will bring me into a topic that I  will bring up several times but as much as I love   Death Note all the women are written extremely  poorly Misa will be betrayed as smart in some   ways rivaling light but then she'll suddenly  become as stupid as a Bor it seems that OBO   sees women as very easily manipulated pawns  and this is not to say that it's not okay to   show smart people being manipulated the problem  is that you can't write manipulation like this   Misa from the beginning says that light can just  use her because she loves him sure you could say   that this is misa's belief in love but with  other characters like Naomi taka and REM it's   safe to say that Oba writes women as stupid and  almost always just as pawns for men but he can't   just have them be dumb he has to always contradict  that by having them be sometimes smart when it's   convenient to the plot it's just frustrating  to see characters so poorly written in such a   great series I love Misa and I don't think she's  extremely stupid or anything she's just trapped   in a world that's written by someone who writes  women unfortunately to put it lightly but back   to to the show Misa is presented with how to  kill a Shinigami knowledge that would become   very impertinent later on this method of killing  is also a little wishy-washy to me like how much   emotion should a Shinigami feel to die but that's  a minor issue light by the instruction of L goes   with maso to shabuya on the day Misa wrote about  the notebooks this was so that MOA could catch   light doing anything suspicious but to both light  and L's dismay there are no signs of the second K   anywhere Misa on the other hand sees light with  her eyes as lifespans of Death Note users are   not visible another example of Misa being smart  but that's all thrown away when she shows up at   lights house and begs to be his girlfriend this  whole scene is pretty bad to me but it introduces   an interesting Dynamic light can't kill Misa  because REM will kill him this is a great way   to keep light from just discarding Misa whenever  he wants furthering the story REM agrees to kill   L at light's next notice this goes into a scene of  L telling soichiro that if he dies in the coming   days light is Kira the reason for this is some  evidence they found of the tapes and ryuzaki's   suspicion that the Kira have met at school light  sees uzaki again before Misa quickly runs to meet   light this is one of the tensest moments in  the series for me Misa has seen L's real name   and there are so many parts that leave you on  the edge of your seat when Misa expresses her   confusion at El's fake name when the crowd comes  when El steals misa's phone and finally the reveal   that Misa was arrested on suspicion of being the  second Kira this is a great turning point in the   series and the introduction to our next Arc I  like how this creates some conflict with light   he has to put an end to the confinement of Misa  to prevent REM from killing him but he must also   take suspicion off of himself The Arc ends with  light coming up with his plan telling ryuk that   this is goodbye while I think this Arc is a bit  weaker than the previous IT introduces characters   really well even if those characters are flawed  and provides a nice Cliffhanger into the next one the confinement Arc is quite short and in  my opinion potentially the worst this isn't to   say that it's bad but when the entire Arc is  watching three people in prison it can't be   too enjoyable I also find the whole concept to  just not be believable like I understand misa's   determination when she still had knowledge of  the Death Note but she stayed in confinement   for 50 days after giving up her memories she was  blinded and constrained to an upright position no   real person could live under these conditions and  stay sane frankly it seems entirely unbelievable   similar story with light but at least he could  see one thing I do enjoy is how we see light   give up ownership there is clearly a plan that we  don't fully know about but it involves light going   back to being light I also like how well this  showed how desperate Ryu Zaki is for light to   be K even after weeks of the killings continuing  ryuzaki refuses to let light out light's plan to   take suspicion off himself works extremely well  against isawa and the rest of the task force and   eventually the culmination of his dad killing  him had me on the edge of my seat on a first   watch once again though the mental strain this  experiments would put on a normal person would   be detrimental but that's besides the point I  guess overall I would say that the confinement   Arc was necessary and a good transition but still  just a little [Music] odd in my opinion the Yuba   Arc is one of the more underrated arcs of the  show a lot of people say it's boring because   light isn't Kira or that it feels too confusing  but I've always personally seen it as another   near-perfect Arc starting off El's idea to chain  himself to light is a good move for him to make   but also a good way to confirm that L will not be  killed by light until the case is solved this is   also one of the two times in the series I'd say l  shows legitimate emotion we see ryuzaki depressed   that light and Misa weren't Kira or rather that  the power of Kira can seemingly be transferred   making the case essentially unsolvable the scenes  of light and lelf fighting are very cathartic in   a way I'm not sure why but it's just good to see  these two characters who hate each other so much   finally directly fight this Arc also introduces  Iber and wedy who are interesting characters but   I will say that they feel a bit useless I don't  see why they were necessary specifically Iber but   I guess it's always fun to see new characters the  scenes of ryuzaki making the task force members   choose between being an officer or working against  Kira is interesting but so mean I'm not saying   it's bad writing it just shows how harsh El can  be isoa leaving is realistic and well written in   my opinion I wish we saw a little bit more of him  and his family but the scene with his daughter is   genuinely heartbreaking the next episode shows a  similar disregard for developing the task force   members well I like what was done in just this  episode I wish it was brought up again it shows   Mata feeling inferior to the task force and so he  makes the extremely risky decision to break into   Yuba and eventually finds proof that one of them  is Kira but he ends up being caught in the process   this leads to an amazing plan by ryusaki that  allows Mona to survive like I said this episode   itself is fine but I don't like what it represents  I wish we saw more episodes focusing on task force   members specifically isawa and matuda I think  now is a good time to talk about the Yuba members   most of them are pretty underwhelming the only  two that are really important are namikawa and   higuchi namikawa was a character I legitimately  really liked higuchi is the exact opposite they   did a great job at making this guy super unlikable  and frankly disgusting the reason I decided to   discuss them now is that this is the point where  Ru Zaki as camera's place in the the meeting room   and where light contacts namikawa to be their  mole this brings in the very brief conflict of   Ellen light versus the rest of the task force  this conflict felt a bit useless but it helps   show that El is willing to let others die for his  investigation we also get the more casual scenes   of light ryuzaki and Misa all discussing the case  while it's a funny scene it doesn't feel out of   place and I quite like it it also shows light  refusing to manipulate women which is hilariously   ironic considering what he does as Kira despite  this Misa still helps which is nice to see because   it gives her a bit of purpose this scene is  also quite tense with her being tasked with   finding as much information as she can while being  interviewed by yotsuba suddenly in the bathroom we   get reintroduced to the world of the Shinigami  with REM telling Misa everything again I like   this it makes REM just the smallest amount more  interesting and once again proves that Misa isn't   stupid especially with the plan she con Coxs later  finding out that higuchi is Kira is interesting   and he's honestly probably the best pick like  I said before he's just so slimy and unlikable   misa's plan to trick higuchi into thinking that  she has the Death Note eventually proving to the   whole task force that he is Kira is a really  cool and wellth thought out plan great writing   for this more Misa focused episode and I wish we  saw more like it from here the ark really picks   up with the initial plan to catch higuchi killing  commencing the plan is amazing and seeing someone   like higuchi who is pretty easily manipulated fall  into all these traps is funny the wild goose chase   to find matsuda's name and the rest of the Yuba  members betraying him is really satisfying the   next little bit is just an intense Chase against  higuchi in which soichiro is shot due to him not   taking a gun as it is against Japanese law this  is an interesting scene that ly proves the point   light makes in the final episode of how people  who are just will never win but that's for later   seeing all options leave higuchi as he's cornered  thanks to the help of isawa is a phenomenally done   scene but what makes it even more interesting is  that this will allow ryuzaki to get his hands on   the Death Note for L to finally be able to learn  how Kira kills it's a big change in the series   that's where I'm going to end the yotsuba arc  while some might say it goes up until episode   25 the next two episodes are so different that  I'm calling them their own thing to me the Yuba   Arc was amazingly told and while it was slow in  the beginning it ended with some of the tensest   and most satisfying scenes in the [Music] series  this is a very short Arc but arguably the one that   changes the series the most as the name suggests  L dies here but before all that let's go back   to L getting the death note that scene did not  disappoint with L realizing all his suspicions   were true and immediately deducing that there are  two notebooks like's reaction to getting all his   Memories Back and the line immediately after is  the perfect return of Kira I've won even if I was   starting to like Light Yagami again him killing  higuchi is another Super tense scene that has done   really well and even though he may not know the  reasoning it seems like ryuzaki can immediately   tell the difference in light Misa also gets her  Memories Back and an attempt to make light happy   red does the Shinigami IDE deal to see L's real  name Ryu Zaki interrogates REM who never really   responds but for some reason ryuzaki believes  the two rules added by light are fake I'm not   sure why he believes this so suddenly but I guess  it could be chocked up to his stubbornness of not   letting light and Misa go light meeting ryuk is  also a great scene and from here we move on to my   second favorite episode of the series but it's  really close silence this episode is known as   the one where L dies and it's pretty obvious why  the episode is borderline from his perspective it   has what I think are the only scenes that are from  his perspective and nobody else's I will say that   this episode is handled very differently than it  was in the manga but this is a rare case of the   anime doing something absolutely better there is  nothing I prefer about the manga the anime really   did this Justice it starts with us seeing El as a  kid with wat transitioning into him simply staring   at wat the entire episode is extremely somber and  borderline creepy it's almost as if L knows that   he will die which is entirely possible he seems  very sure that light is once again Kira but with   a fake rule he can't prove it this episode also  has misa's song about light which is once again   almost creepy I love this scene though it has  some excellent lighting and just looks beautiful   overall seeing light manipulate REM with Misa  is sad I feel bad for REM ironically though REM   is my biggest problem with this episode I really  wish we understood why she cared about Misa like   I said before I know about jealous but why was  she willing to kill herself and let light live   just so that Misa could be happy anyways we get  one of the best scenes of the show with ryuzaki   and light on the roof personally I've always  interpreted this scene as El being honest with   light for the first time El discusses some Bells  which likely represent how he knows his death is   soon approaching he then goes on to say most  of what he says makes no sense and that nobody   should listen to him I've always seen this as him  his frustrations about how nobody believes his   theories about light like gives a CED response to  this in his normal fake tone Elvin asks light in   extremely interesting and direct question whether  light has ever told the truth or not the weight   of this line is clear by the complete silence  that follows it slowly the sound Fades back in   as like as another canned response I always saw  this as L asking light one last time if he was   Kira or not not even to convict him just for his  own satisfaction El remarks that he thought light   would give that kind of response and they go back  inside the foot cleaning scene is bizarre bizarre   but an interesting illusion to Jesus and Judas  finally we're brought to the scene where Ella   is getting ready to test the fake rule if it  is fake he will arrest Misa this leads REM to   kill wat who immediately deletes all data as he  was told to do so by L as the entire task force   building becomes red L Falls this scene is perfect  literally couldn't have asked for anything better   the faces The Sounds everything is perfect to show  how cruel light is how he didn't win because he's   smarter he won because he's crer in the manga L  says that he new light was Kira all along but I'm   glad the anime removed this ryusaki being silent  Works far better and is way more dramatic from   here I completely stopped rooting for light  to the point that it was almost unenjoyable   to see him win I know some might wonder why it  took me this long to get to that point but up   until L's death I felt some satisfaction seeing  the protagonist succeed even if I didn't agree   with what he was doing light also kills wedy Iber  and the Yuba group I feel bad for all of them but   light has become completely unforgivable these  two episodes are some of the best in the series   and although it's a short Arc this is one of  the best handled arcs from the manga now moving   on to the next arcs you may expect me to call  them far worse than these ones but just hear me out here is where a lot of people say that Death  Note became bad a lot of people even dropped the   series at this point which I personally think is  a little stupid while I agree that the second half   could be called weaker than the first it is not  drastic to me at all I would recommend people who   have only watched the anime to read the Manga  the death out anime cut out a lot of the manga   here and it made the entire half feel weaker the  biggest paradigm shift is who light is fighting   against with the death of L the job goes to his  two successors near and Melo I really liked how   they're both introduced with near clearly being  the one out of them more like L and with Melo   even being offered to work with him to which he  declines I love these two characters especially   near I will never understand anyone who says  he's boring look at him play with his toys same   for Melo although I feel like he was done very  dirty in the anime they cut out tons of scenes   with him and it makes makes him feel a little  irrelevant until the very end looking past that   though I think they're both majorly underrated  characters the time skip also happens around here   which was a good idea it really makes it seem  like the task force and near are going against   everyone near immediately establishes himself  as a threat by showing the president all the   research he was gathering and he's referred to  as L's true successor the next scene shows us   light sitting with the task force and his family  it's a nice scene and a good way of reintroducing   saou for later we then get the reveal that Melo  kidnapped the director of the NPA claiming that   he will use any means necessary to beat near  this is an interesting conflict seeing both NE   and Melo trying to catch light individually is  super cool to watch like killing the director   was an interesting choice but it obviously  backfired hard when Melo kidnapped saou this   is a great way to create suspense whether or not  light will kill saou is an amazing way to create   conflict and leads to some great development in  his dad since saou is in the US light calls the   director of the FBI who just so happens to be  with near and we get a great introduction to   Light's new opponent near is immediately very  confrontational calling light the second L and   telling him all about the spk I really love this  scene it shows that near is not really exactly   like L being slightly more direct with light but  the way he talks is definitely reminiscent of him   near lets light handle the situation no doubt to  try and gain more information on how he works but   also to prove that he is incompetent the exchange  of the death note for saou is super tense and the   entire time anything could go wrong it eventually  all culminates in saou living but the Death Note   getting into the hands of Melo near calls light  out for losing which annoys light the episode   comes to an end with a great sequence of both  sides being in bad spirits and near witnessing all   the members of the spk with publicly no names die  the whole scene accompanied by N's dice building   falling is done extremely well it ends with near  contacting light to tell him what happened in   revealing his suspicion of Melo although we see  that near doesn't fully trust light as he lies   about the existence of a photo of Melo this also  marks the beginning of cedo who is a Shinigami   that ryuk stole the death note of cedo is more so  a tool for Melo to use and also a tool to get get   rid of one of the death notes in the human world  he's an okay character I guess just super boring   this episode is also one of the more egregious  examples of the second half skipping parts of   the manga several chapters are skipped including  one of light demanding that the president work   with him and Melo also threatening the president  we also see that cedo helps out melo's gang in   this part while some may see it as Superfluous I  personally see these scenes as important as they   show both light and Melo working around each other  without these scenes Melo seems a lot stupider and   less important anyway light uses a very risk plan  that frankly feels a little odd he sends a letter   to the task Force's Kira giving them a Death Note  to use to kill Melo while I think this plan pretty   much told near that kirao was within the task  force I don't really know what else light could   have done this leads to the task force raing the  base on November 10th which is funnily enough my   birthday light's dad then gains the Shinigami  eyes from ryuk to kill Melo and they commence   their raid it goes well until we see soigo have  Melo cornered but hesitating to write his name   this is to the great frustration of light  who fails to understand why his father is   risking his life just to not kill the the man who  kidnapped his daughter this leads to Melo blowing   up The Hideout and escaping now what I don't  understand here is why light didn't just use   the notebook to kill Melo it would be unrealistic  for him to die here and as far as I can tell light   knows his name maybe I'm missing something but  regardless light's father lies in the hospital   with fatal injuries this is an all-time pathetic  moment for light trying to get his father to kill   Melo before he dies he is exclusively thinking  about his own interests as his own father dies   however importantly soich reveals that light isn't  Kira due to his lifespan being visible he dies   believing his son not to be Kira that brings us  to the end of the Mellow Arc this Arc was handled   terribly in the anime frankly while there are good  moments I think it's probably the weakest Arc so   far other than maybe the confinement although  I will say that the seeds are now planted for   a very interesting final Badge of episodes  near and Melo are established well at least   in my opinion and seeing light in a generally  losing position is interesting but from here I'd   say that I like the more complicated Direction  the series takes and am excited to explore near more I feel as though this Arc is really the  beginning of the direct battle between light   and near both of them take pretty offensive  positions and both play extremely well by   extension this is also the point where near begins  to believe that the second L is Kira while this   conclusion may seem a bit unrealistic for near  to reach with such little evidence he confirms   that it's only a small suspicion and is mostly  due to the way the notebook was sent to the task   force which makes little sense for Kira to do the  president discussing his neutrality on Kira is a   very overlooked scene that I I think is amazing  light tells the task force that if Kira wins he   will be justice but if they win they will be it's  an interesting idea that the Victor is the one who   writes the story and therefore the one who is just  I think it's also super insightful that light says   this to the task force to try to assure them that  they are right but it also is a message to himself   that if he continues everybody will see him as  Justice now another scene that is sadly neutered   in the anime is Melo invading the spk we see in  the manga that he lives in Hal's bathroom as near   did not Place cameras there Hal also feeds Melo  information about about the case and they seem   to be in a more romantic relationship in the manga  than in the anime anyway Melo invades the spk with   Hal as a hostage and demands that near gives  him the only surviving photo of himself we see   here that Melo truly hates near even considering  killing him as I keep saying I find Melo and n's   relationship super interesting they both have  their own methods of being successful but as   we see later they can't win without using each  other Melo tells near that the notbook has fake   rules in it and that the Shinigami exists before  leaving this leads to near contacting Ellen asking   him which of the rules he thinks is fake he  answers honestly and this leads to the task   force to start believing n's theory that L may  be Kira isoa and eay are especially suspicious   talking in secret about how they will talk to near  light realizes he has to act quickly and concocts   another interesting plan to kill the spk after he  realizes that they're getting too close he uses   his supporters to raid the building near counters  him with an equally brilliant plan of distracting   everyone with money and leaving in full cover  this makes near sure that Kira is the new L   to which he once again tells the task force this  leads them to start believing it as the previous   L also suspected light I like the way they do  this the task force can't arrest light because   at this point he isn't even doing the killings  he's become so powerful that he can kill them   all at essentially the Press of a button this  is something near tells isoa in the manga but I   think this scene is cut out from the anime which  is unfortunate isoa contacts near and tells him   about why light was cleared he practically tells  near who the second L is by saying a little bit   too much surveillance on light and Misa once again  commences with Misa being searched by Mogi and   isawa it is then revealed that the notebook has  been passed on to one of my favorite characters   tedu mikami mikami was chosen due to his Devotion  to Kira intelligence and similar viewpoints to   light with light and Misa under surveillance the  only question is how light will contact mikami   before we get into that I want to just talk  about mikami for a second as a child he had   such a strong sense of justice but to the point  that he would hurt himself to save others but as   he got older it began to get more brutal and his  own mother told him to stop getting himself hurt   for other people this all slowly wore mikami down  to the point that he wished these people would all   be deleted needed after this the bullies and his  mother die in an accident which terrifies mikami   later in life there were multiple times where he  wished for someone to die and they did he began   to think that there was a god looking down upon  him and when Kira came enacting the exact kind of   Justice he believed in he was a strong supporter  he worshiped his new God and upon being given the   power of that God he realized that he really was  special where that line of thinking took him we'll   see later after mikami kills dagawa he decides  to choose kyomi taka as the next spoke person   for Kira someone light dated in college I have  a lot of problems with the character of takaa I   think she's written just like all the other Death  Note women which is to say unrealistically it's   not as bad as Misa as light's manipulation here is  a little more realistic but takaa is still pretty   dumb I also hate the way she's given no serious  backstory I would say that taka and mikami are   equally important characters and while mikami gets  an entire chapter dedicated to his backstory takaa   gets nothing it sucks because mikami's backstory  is part of the reason I like him so much so I   really would have liked to see that for Tak we get  some scenes of melow and Matt which while nice are   almost unnecessary I really wish we saw more of  Matt he feels borderline weird because they don't   really introduce him he just shows up with no  introduction like we were meant to know who he   is now we get to the little game light plays where  he meets takaa nightly to communicate with mikami   the scene of light getting in direct contact with  mikami is great and light plays off it super well   him telling takaa everything is also super well  lit it looks beautiful the scenes of near talking   to light are always amazing they both clearly hate  each other so much and hearing them indirectly   challenge each other is amazing now we see light  layout his final plan with him asking mikami to   let takaa do the killings while mikami continues  to do them in a fake notebook Misa and takaa also   start their little beef here about light which I  personally hate neither of them are likable here   and these scenes generally amount to nothing near  also finds out about mikami and while I've always   defended him this feels a little too far while I  understand that he can view dozens of screens at   once I don't know why he'd be so sure about mikami  regardless he's right and just javani eventually   touches the notebook just to not see ryuk Misa  and Moi are apprehended by near which eliminates   Misa from the equation for basically the rest of  the series while it's sad to say I think Misa was   one of the less well-written characters in the  series especially in the second half at this   point everything is in place for light in ne's  plan although it seems like light has the upper   hand this is until Melo and Matt work together  to kidnap takaa this creates a tense situation   because light no longer needs takaa and if the  spk or police get to her first they'd find the   pages of the Death Note after takaa calls light  confirming that she killed Melo light kills her   both of these deaths are done well I especially  feel bad for Melo and Matt while they weren't   great people especially Mello it is still sad  to see them go and tako's death is also pretty   well done and that brings us to the end of the ex  Kira Arc I thought it was pretty good the anime   is definitely worse than the previous arcs but  I will maintain that the manga is much better I   think near getting more involved was also a great  decision but now we see our final Arc with the end   of Kira I'm just going to say this now this is my  favorite Arc while I have some problems with Death   Note none of them are present here it feels like  the culmination of all the plans laid out in the   previous six episodes all coming together the  deal for the ending is that all people working   on the cura case will meet in a warehouse with  the Death Note present this plan commences and   on the car ride there light thinks about how this  will be the beginning of the new world what's so   interesting here is that we know a bit of light's  plan but we don't know n's at all there must be   some reason why near would agree to this in fact  he brought the idea of meeting so why well before   that we see light walk into the warehouse and  see near wearing a mask of L this annoys light   severely who has none of the respect he had for  near that he had for L light appreciated the way   L was generally more secretive than near he was  careful with what he said meanwhile near simply   says what he thinks there aren't as many Mind  Games he repeatedly tells the group that light   is Kira and accepts no other suggestions near  takes off the mask and tells the group to pay   no mind to the man who will look in from the door  light seems completely bothered by the fact that   NE knows his plan NE explains that the man outside  is writing their names in a fake notebook and that   none of them will die the one person whose name he  doesn't write will be declared as Kira upon near   saying this light knows he's one he explains that  he had mikami pretend to do the killings while   it was taka the whole time near had replaced an  already fake notebook while mikami had the real   notebook hidden away light explains that NE lost  because he wasn't careful enough he claims that   L would have considered the notebook to be fake  and tested it but near was too stupid to think of   that light asks mikami to come inside as he counts  down the time before they should die as the time   reaches 40 seconds light can barely contain his  laughter before proclaiming his victory this is   the craziest Cliffhanger I have seen in a TV show  I cannot imagine going about my life for a week   not knowing what the answer was it's a good thing  I'm watching this over a decade later the final   episode being called new world is amazing the  wording light always used when talking about his   Utopia but in this case it's referring to how the  world would never be the same after Kira died as   mikami finishes count ing everyone remains alive  much to mikam and light's dismay and confusion   near takes the notebook and shows everyone how  light's name is not present and for the first   time we see light panic in the entirety of Death  Note we have never seen light genuinely freak out   in front of people but here his face and voice is  like no other time in this series near explains   that the reason he won is that Melo kidnapped  taka which allowed Javan to find the real notebook   after mikami went to get it to kill taka I see a  lot of people say that it's mikami's fault that   light lost but to me this is as much light's fault  as it is mikami's light never told mikami that he   had the notebook scrap in his watch and so mikami  did what he thought he had to do the reason near   won wasn't because of a mistake it was because he  and Melo finally worked together Melo made mikami   grab the real death note and ne's tail caught him  near and Melo represent the different aspects of L   and they will never be able to surpass him without  working together something near and eventually   melow both acknowledged melow represents L's  impulsivity and offensive plays like when he   directly went up to light and said that he is L NE  represents the way L sat back and planned things   like the way he caught higuchi and how he found  Kira's location felt very reminiscent of near near   and melow were both amazing characters and I love  this as their final moment together as light runs   away from his fate he begins hysterically laughing  and confirming that he is in fact Kira this is   a good time to say that light's voice acting  in both sub and dub is phenomenal Death Note   is the only anime I always watch in dub almost  everyone's voice acting is amazing and fits their   character super well the ensuing speech by light  is very well written with us directly getting told   what his ideology is the manga has him speak for a  bit longer which I find to be more interesting he   discusses how he believes that kind-hearted people  shouldn't be forced to live in a world where there   are criminals roaming around ready to harm them he  also claims that True Justice doesn't exist in our   current world people who try to be good-hearted  in this current world like his father will only be   killed I mean so Ichiro died because he couldn't  write down melo's name and he was shot by higuchi   for refusing to take a gun light claims that crime  going down is proof that his theory is true people   are happier under Kira and it's unfair for these  people to take him away for their own selfish   desires light then asked the people against him  if anyone else could have done this if they would   have come this far light knew that killing was  wrong but he believed it was a job entrusted   to him this is an excellently written speech but  ne's simple response destroys all of it light is   not a God he just so happened to pick up ryuk's  notebook and became a mass murderer with the   worst murder weapon in history a society ruled by  fear is not a good Society people being good out   of fear that a Godlike figure will cast judgment  on them is not healthy it's like a dictatorship   light doesn't take into account any circumstances  for crimes this is not meant to be a political   statement but Justice needs a spectrum and reform  is possible some people are in situations where   they have to commit crimes to live killing those  people accomplishes nothing but light can't see   this he's too blinded by his own ideals and so  he attempts to use a piece of the notebook in   his watch to kill he quickly reaches for it and  the name he writes is so interesting he attempts   to write ne's real name the only unarmed person  in the room the only person who can't kill light   at a moment's notice but he chooses near because  he's Petty even if it gets him killed light wants   to prove that he was better than near and by  extension L before he can get the name down MOA   shoots him I love this MOA was the only person in  that room who believed that light wasn't Kira the   entire story he believed in light and seeing him  act like this must make him feel so betrayed as   light begins writing the rest of n's name with his  blood monida repeatedly pounds lights with bullets   before nearly blowing his head off this scene gets  dark pretty quick with light graving in the ground   begging for someone to save him now here is where  the manga differs pretty heavily from the anime   I'll discuss the manga first as light calls out to  mikami he denounces his former God this leads to   light going to his only other option ryuk light  asking ryuk for help leads to him writing down   light's name this was a cool ending it made sense  that ryuk would do this I mean he did say that he   would never help light and seeing him beg for his  life life after just proves how pathetic light   truly is light's life ends with him dying alone  in the warehouse there's also an epilogue that's   absent from the anime that shows the task force  discussing cases with the new L AKA near this also   adds the theory that near wrote down mikami's  name to make sure everything went well as said   by Masa while eay denies this it has evidence as  mikimi died a few days later in prison this Theory   really changes the way near can be interpreted  he does say that he's no different than light so   perhaps he did write mikami's name regardless the  manga ends with some Kira worshippers including   Misa praying to their God the manga's ending is  great but the anime's is beyond perfect the anime   continues where we left off but instead of mikami  denouncing light he kills himself with the pen he   used to write the names I like this ending way  better mikami immediately denouncing light felt   a bit out of character instead I think it's  more interesting to think that seeing light   gravel on the floor made mikami realize that Not  only was light not the God he thought but mikami   therefore wasn't chosen by God he kills himself  in fear that his entire life's principles were   based on this dying man and that maybe he wasn't  as special as he thought during this time light   runs out of the warehouse with no destination  in mind he isn't trying to use one final trick   to kill near he isn't pleading with ryuk he just  starts thinking thinking of what could have been   of the honor student with a bright future the  model teenager a respectful smart and kind young   man that turned into the bloody mass murderer we  see today ryuk hits us with my favorite line in   the series talking about how he and light boast  EAS each other's boredom and how this ending was   inevitable the show ends with a beautiful scene  of ryuk writing down light's name as he lays down   to die on a staircase we get one more shot of all  three owners of the Death Note with Misa implying   that she kills herself as light dies he sees a  vision of L looking down on him this is one of my   favorite TV show endings ever it's so emotionally  charged beautifully animated phenomenally written   and new world is for sure my favorite episode of  the series I truly believe that even if you hated   the second half of it it is all worth it to see  this end to light one of the best written anime   characters of all time killed by by the very God  who gave him his powers all it took for light to   die was for ryuk to become bored and that is the  difference between a god of death and a [Music] murderer and thus ends not only the show  but my retrospective before I go I just   want to say thanks for making it to the  end but to also show your support for   this video most videos on my channel are  about JoJo but I like other stuff too so   if you want to see more like comment  anything it helps me know that this   is what you want to see anyways thank you  for watching and I hope to see you again

Channel: coolnugget

Views: 26,622

Keywords:

Id: XD9Or1-EY5s

Length: 42min 40sec (2560 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 01 2023