The Endings of Death Note: How One Difference Shapes a Series

spoiler warning i'd think it would be obvious considering the title and all but the youtube comments section isn't the brightest of these kinds of things so yeah anyway let's cut to the chase death note most of us already know what the hell this is high schooler light yagami finds a notebook dropped by a wandering god of death named ryuk that allows him to kill people in any way he wants as long as he has their name to write and a specific image in his mind as a smart kid with a vision in mind for what can be done using the death note light then sets out on a quest to purge the world of all evil to become the ruler of a purer society adopting the pseudonym of kira as detectives and special organizations try to catch him all along the way but you already probably know at least that much right death note is after all such an easy to get into psychological thriller of a series that even people who don't generally like anime and manga can get into it with no problem it has phenomenal art iconic music a story with unforeseen twists and turns constantly shaking up the viewer's perception of the world and of course the characters whether it's the carefree bipolar personality of ryuk the calculative unconventional approach taken by the investigator known as l or the near insane obsessiveness displayed by the other main deafnote user in the series misa they're all certainly entertaining in their own way but what really makes them all shine even brighter are their relationships to the main man light yagami is probably one of the most intriguing characters in manga and anime making his way through the entirety of the series off nothing but his own wit charm and ability to deceive others his constantly shifting relationship with l over the course of the series is one of the most suspenseful well-crafted and not to mention memorable dynamics in anime pitting two incredibly different people against each other that partially see the intellectual fight they're having as a sort of game neither wanting to lose or reveal their hands until the moment of truth now in my opinion after l was defeated by light and his successors nier and mello came into the picture to finish what else started i think the manga did take a slight downward tilt and overall quality while i was reading i don't know it just felt like an extension brought about so that the series would be able to end with light's defeat but even so i do think the way near went about finally beating light was creative and that the ending of the series itself felt satisfying there's just one thing people who only read the manga or only watch the anime might not know however and that's that each version of the series has a similar but also completely different ending you you probably already know that if you read the title before clicking but shut up seriously though what i find the most interesting about these two endings is that they're both great in my opinion but the messages and portrayals of characters they give couldn't be more different basically giving a completely different mood as the series comes to an end but for me to get into that first i'll have to tell you about the original manga chapter where the story of light yagami came to an end giving some setup here light has been backed into a corner after inadvertently admitting to the police group he's been working with and near that he's kira only finding out afterwards that his plan has fallen through thanks to near's foresight about how mikami one of kyra's followers would act his own ego being light's undoing with nowhere left to go light confesses and gives a speech about his grand plan trying to kill near with the last piece of notebook he has before being shot by matsuda one of the police members he worked with this is where the big defining moment comes in having nowhere left to run every plan failed every other follower gone or dead his only current one present renouncing light after seeing him in such a vulnerable state the only option he has left is to beg specifically begging to ryuk asking him to kill everyone against him using his own death note but ryuk knows light's rope has come to an end so he decides to fulfill the promise he made at the start of their journey together and instead writes light's name in the death note killing him of a heart attack 40 seconds later after much more groveling and pleading what makes this entire ending so impactful is what it says about light as a character in this instance throughout the entirety of the series light has been a cool-headed planner with every precaution taken to not be found carefully setting up every domino to fall exactly how he wants never removing his poker face but in this instance that state of calmness is nothing more than a bluff so he doesn't even try to continue with it every shred of confidence light had has been taken so he sees no need to fake his persona any longer showing the depths of how far he's fallen from his more innocent almost normal self by now grasping at feudal straws asking those that don't care about human affairs to do his dirty work similarly speaking the fact that he's begging so desperately for it with no shame shows that any dignity he may have had before is gone he's scared now whereas in the beginning light didn't fear death and understood there would be no heaven or hell after he died but a single place everyone went to now knowing that death is knocking with no way for him to stop it having not fulfilled his goals from almost being a bit complacent after the death of l light is left fearing the thought of dying as it comes for him the old light may have been able to accept it if he had lost but this light has given up too much and come too far for him to lose so when he does it's almost like he can't accept it and would rather go into denial this ending for death note is very much a bittersweet type of ending for the series the sight of both ellen near has been able to come out on top but light has died after becoming nothing more than a shell of his former self clinging to non-existent threads after his fortress comes tumbling down and his previous morals or ideals no longer mean anything to him it shows us the darker side of what light has become thanks to having the death note a form we've seen him take shape of as the chapters have gone on and in the end it leaves us with a sense of longing wondering if there could have been a better outcome the anime adaptation of the same ending equally holds weight in what it's portraying but it also does things a little bit differently as far as the events of the last episode go most of what happened in my last description occurs here but instead of light's follower mikami renouncing him after seeing the god kira in such a wretched state he kills himself in front of everyone giving light the smallest opportunity to try escaping running away with nowhere left to go light can do nothing but remember his past self as he runs eventually resting on a staircase knowing ryuk is going to write his name dying there with no resistance as the episode comes to an end what obviously makes this ending so much different from the mangas is the lack of attempted bargaining light tries to pull with ryuk before dying instead though light still begs and pleads while on the ground for mikami and misa he's able to make it out and run away knowing he's going to die the fact he's choosing to run despite it all shows he's somehow trying to run away from the problems that have grown too big for him to confront knowing if he turns back for even a second they'll catch back up with him he's making a futile attempt to get away and all he can think about as he does this is what he started out as knowing his world is crumbling around him light can only imagine what life would have been like for him had he never found the notebook to begin with and it makes him remorseful because he knows it could have been great the notebook coming into his life took him from an aspiring high schooler with a penchant for crime solving to a washed up killer with no one by his side to help with that in mind he heads for a final resting place seemingly allowing ryuk to take his life knowing there's no way for him to get out of the situation instead of struggling and crying out for ryuk to save him this light sticks to his comheadedness even if it's just a bluff and lets his own life be taken to try staying true to at least some of the dignity he had in the start as opposed to the manga ending this series finale provides a much more somber gentle end for light after being defeated he still gets caught still has nowhere left to run and still cries out for those that can't help him anymore but he comes to understand at least partially just how much he's messed up since he got the note and doesn't fight it when ryu comes to take back what he lent to light in the first place dying halfway up a set of stairs in a peaceful yet also agonizing state symbolizing how he didn't go to heaven or hell after dying in the end i think both endings are equally valid when talking about quote-unquote true endings for the series but they're also very different conclusions while both aimed with sorrow knowing what's become of the main character after all is said and done one tries to almost uplift the audience with light's passing showing a more low-key subtle ending of him being a sympathetic kid that got corrupted by something he didn't originally ask for still holding on to a shred of his humanity and death while wallowing in the amounts of despair he caused whereas the other is more upfront about how gruesome it is and pays more attention to showing the fall of light as he disregards everything hoping he can live they give two completely different feelings and portrayals of the same character as he's entering his final moments but neither loses the death note spirit or feels out of place the two materials go for separate tones in the end but they're both equally respectful in how they handle the character and how he's fallen so far from grace really i'd say the most important factor here comes down to the consumer's interpretation of what fits the series end better i don't think you can really objectively say one is superior to the other since they both fit so well really it could just have to do with how you the viewer feel about the series and what you want of its characters as it enters the final chapter do you want light to have some form of minor regret in his heart while wallowing as he dies due to his own actions or is it better if there is no potential for sympathy as the shell of what light used to be is taken down for good each has its merits and downsides depending on what your preference is so i'm not going to say you should like one more or like another less it's up to you whether you think one both or neither are really good when put in the context of being the show's end all i want to do when talking about it is to show how drastically two pieces of media can differ in ending forming unique identities for themselves while still keeping the core themes of their series intact and satisfying viewers to the best of their ability do you agree with what i said disagree let me know down in the comments and hopefully i'll get to read it sorry if this video was shorter than others i usually don't make many videos of such minimal length but i'm going to be at the beach by the time this video goes up and i want to leave some content for you guys while i'm away hopefully you enjoyed it all the same as my other content and i'll see you again in the next video hope you all have a good day peace [Music] do [Music] you

Channel: Just Stop

Views: 583,379

Keywords: Death Note, Death Note Discussion, Death Note Review, Death Note Ending, Death Note Light Death, Death Note Manga, Death Note Anime, Death Note Manga vs Anime, Death Note Analysis, Just Stop Review, Just Stop Anime

Id: 6sml46UKs88

Length: 10min 0sec (600 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 30 2021