History Headscratchers / DeathNoteVarious

** This troper [[RootingForTheEmpire roots for Light because he is a fictional character and I find him to be the most interesting character in the show]] with the most developed personality. He's also smart, badass, [[DracoInLeatherPants pretty]], and has more substance than say [[EmotionlessGirl L and Near]] (just watch I'm going to get killed by the fangirls now)-not that it's NICE substance-Light is an awesome ''[[VillainProtagonist villain]]'' but since most of his crimes are either off-screen or people who "[[KickTheSonOfABitch have it coming]]" it's easier to like him. Of course I wouldn't want to ''live'' in that world. (In fact in real life I'm opposed to everything he stands for). [[WishFulfillment But I also might root for like...]] {{ComicBook/Venom}} or [[Film/KillBill the Bride]], or Comicbook/ThePunisher or Series/{{Dexter}} or even your typical ActionHero that solves problems by punching people in the face, shooting things, and blowing shit up but I don't think you should go out and kill everyone who annoys you- so for those bringing politics into this [[MST3KMantra it's just a show, you should really just relax.]]

** Light's [[VillainProtagonist the protagonist]], and you generally care about them the most-[[CaptainObvious they're the focus of the story, after all.]] [[DracoInLeatherPants Treating him as a hero]] comes from Light being [[MagnificentBastard charismatic]], [[EvilIsSexy charming]] and [[VisionaryVillain having goals greater than himself.]]

** Mikami seems to be the kind of guy [[SuperOCD who likes his routines.]] Maybe he just got used to them? Also people might notice if he suddenly stopped wearing glasses and he is concerned about drawing unnecessary attention to himself. So maybe he changed the prescription so that they [[TheGogglesDoNothing do nothing but just look stylish?]]

*** It has been theorized that one must pass certain conditions to be reborn as a Shinigami (the most popular being they have to both kill with the Death Note and be killed by the Death Note, perhaps even killed by specifically be another Shinigami rather than a human) which may explain why that Shinigami Ryuk talks to seems so similar to Light, but since the mangaka aren't giving any hints one way or the other it's still speculative.

*** It has been theorized that one must pass certain conditions to be reborn as a Shinigami (the most popular being they have to both kill with the Death Note and be killed by the Death Note) which may explain why that Shinigami Ryuk talks to seems to similar to Light, but since the mangaka aren't giving any hints one way or the other it's still speculative.

*** I think a lot of it has to do with the live action films. Specifically, L:Change the World. There really is no reason for why that film exist other than money. L was made into an entirely different person in that film. He babysitts [[MoralityPet children]] (not just any children--they're orphans. and not just any orphans--they're [[LittlestCancerPatient sick orphans]]), stops a virus from spreading accross the world, and pilots an airplane. By the end of it he's telling a little girl that he "believes in her" and giving a robot toy to Near (who he apparently named).[[note]]Don't get me wrong, it was an interesting film to watch and the acting was good. But, damn, you can't get any cheesier than that. And some of the cheese [[TastesLikeDiabetes taste like diabetes]].[[/note]] He also had a change of hair and makeup. The first two films gave him [[http://www.cosplayisland.co.uk/files/costumes/2432/18941/l_death_note_the_last_name_5_by_lyciat.jpg a more crack addict look]] (like the manga); the third one made him look goth. Examples [[http://hasevenlime.up.seesaa.net/image/L-change-the-world.jpg here]], [[http://cdn.coolshite.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/still_4232-448x300.jpg here]], [[http://s.excessif.com/mmdia/i/95/9/l-change-the-world-haut-3655959dwcko_1731.jpg?v=1 and here]]. His appearance became very stylized and put together, while in the other films it's like he wakes up that way and doesn't even brush his hair. And to go along with the film, they made a photo book of Matsuyama as L. He plays with bubbles, [[http://i.ytimg.com/vi/DcNo1m-HFTU/hqdefault.jpg rides a merry-go-round]], [[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/19700000/Kenichi-Matsuyama-as-L-live-action-l-19751237-300-437.jpg plays with gummi bears]], rides a panda and eats candy with a look [[http://files.myopera.com/setiasn/albums/7635932/L-Lawliet-l-.jpg that makes you]][[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/16300000/L-File-no-15-Images-kenichi-matsuyama-16379877-1597-2560.jpg think he's]][[http://images2.fanpop.com/image/photos/10300000/KENICHI-MATSUYAMA-COMO-L-DEATH-NOTE-l-death-note-y-mas-10395073-652-1024.jpg doing some]][[http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/16300000/L-File-no-15-Images-kenichi-matsuyama-16379958-1585-2560.jpg thing else]]. Bishonefication to the extreme. Unfortunately, the film version has blended with the manga version in the minds of fangirls (especially the younger ones); to them, they're one and the same.

** [[HollywoodHealing Hollywood]] [[http://witegots.deviantart.com/art/251-Death-Note-Matt-Speaks-71518083 Healing]]?

*** Kind of like how so many a HollywoodNerd is fawned over for his "[[SesquipedalianLoquaciousness geeky]], [[NoSocialSkills dorky]], [[{{Adorkable}} cute]] [[TVGenius little]] [[ShrinkingViolet personality]]" that seems to be a turnoff in ''actual nerds?'' Yeah, I see what you mean. But seriously, if you think about it, he just has a sort of [[BadassBookworm way about him]]...his EstablishingCharacterMoment was [[DidYouJustFlipOffCthulhu pulling a fast one on Kira and telling him where he can shove his justice]]! Plus, the big black eyes help some. There's also the voice...
*** Except that in the case of {{Hollywood Nerd}}s they're usually 1) played by a handsome actor/ drawn in a generically cute or endearing fashion, and 2) are generally very nice people. L is unattractive- bags under his eyes, messy hair, and clothes he's worn for days or even weeks- and mean- torturing and attempting to manipulate a girl and being perfectly fine with letting people die as long as he gets the results he wants- yet fangirls still squee about how 'cute' and 'hot' he is, and how 'nice' and 'lawful' he is. Light's fangirls are at least understandable since he's handsome, generally well mannered with other people, and his method of killing criminals to create a better world is either a very bad thing or a very good thing depending on one's views on criminals and the law, and granted there are fans who like L for perfectly justifiable reasons, but the sheer amount of fangirls who like him for his [[InformedAttractiveness 'looks']] and [[GoodIsNotNice 'personality']] is ridiculous.

** Killing any more members would be too risky, before the end game. The task force is taking as many precautions as possible to protect themselves from being killed by a death note, if any of them die the first question will be "How did Kira learn their real name", and suspicions would inevitably turn inward again. Security on the Task Force by the second half of the series was likely so tight that any member death would HAVE to come from the inside.

*** In all likelihood that would not work, and Light would know it. The only way to test the rule and get results that are trustworthy would be to keep the identity of the criminal used in the test hidden from as many people as possible, in order to avoid Kira falsifying the results. To conduct the test Light would have to concede to keeping the criminal's name and face a secret from the whole taskforce including himself, especially since the 13 day rule was the biggest piece of evidence exonerating him and Misa from suspicion. If he could pull off the test with a favorable result and without drawing suspicion to himself that might be helpful but the risk is much greater; If he failed then the 13 day rule is exposed and his alibi begins to crumble, and if he pulled the test off and left ANY hint behind that he had accessed the criminal's information or the information had in any way leaked out, it would still draw suspicion towards him and would render the test result meaningless. And further more, if a third party ever ended up testing the notebook independently of the task force and discovering the rule was fake, that would also immediately draw suspicion back to Light and the Task Force; due to the nature of the 13-day rule it is very easy to manufacture a false positive but it would be nearly impossible to fake a false negative (i.e. the rule is real, but the test shows it's fake), so any test disproving the rule immediately has more weight than a test proving it. In the end, Light's best move was to avoid letting anyone test the rule at all, no matter what.

*** In all likelihood that would not work, and Light would know it. The only way to test the rule and get results that are trustworthy would be to keep the identity of the criminal used in the test hidden from as many people as possible, in order to avoid Kira falsifying the results. To conduct the test Light would have to concede to keeping the criminal's name and face a secret from the whole taskforce including himself, especially since the 13 day rule was the biggest piece of evidence exonerating him and Misa from suspicion. If he could pull off the test with a favorable result and without drawing suspicion to himself that might be helpful but the risk is much greater; If he failed then the 13 day rule is exposed and his alibi begins to crumble, and if he pulled the test off and left ANY hint behind that he had accessed the criminal's information or the information had in any way leaked out, it would still draw suspicion towards him and would render the test result meaningless. And further more, if a third party ever ended up testing the notebook independently of the task force and discovering the rule was fake, that would also immediately draw suspicion back to Light and the Task Force; due to the nature of the 13-day rule it is very easy to manufacture a false positive but it would be nearly impossible to fake a false negative (i.e. the rule is real, but the test shows it's fake), so any test disproving the rule immediately has more weight than a test proving it. In the end, Light's best move was to avoid letting anyone test the rule at all, no matter what.

** Given that we never see any, it's pretty doubtful. Though that does make me flash back to a [[Main/FanFic fan fic]] with [[Main/YaoiGuys Semegami and Ukegami.]] You can probably guess what their notebooks do.

** See [[CreepyCoolCrosses this trope page]] for the Japanese take on all this.

The CIA is foreign intel operations not law enforcement operations, hence no criminal investigators. The FBI is a law enforcement agency that conducts law enforcement operations in foreign countries and has for over 70 years. The FBI is not a domestic law enforcement but an international one. There is a FBI office in the US embassy in Tokyo and that is just one of at least 80 active ones. The FBI is who is sent to foreign countries in regards to law enforcement operations such as bombings for example. If a foreign gov't requests the assistance or takes the US offer of FBI resources for a criminal investigation it is not the CIA but FBI. In fact for counterintel operations in foreign countries the FBI does that work not the CIA. So yes the Japanese author knew more about how the US gov't would react to Kira killing US criminals then Americans would. Unless Kira was considered a national security threat the CIA wouldn't be heading the American response in Japan

** Light would be a magnificent actor. He is perfectly social and his acting skills stat is 10/10. He would probably be bored though and find such job empty anc unfulfilling, boredom was always his bane. L is a great liar, but his social skills stat is 1/10. He also would probably find it difficult to sit normally and hold things like a normal person (not impossible though). I think L would be an every Director’s nightmare of an actor. L would probably be only successful as a TV/Network series actor, playing a very specific role, but could be very popular. But just like Light he would find such job not really brain stimulating and quite boring.

** Well playing devil's advocate for a moment, WordOfGod says L and Near are "slightly evil" and if you read the manga L uses ColdBloodedTorture on his suspects and Near's using people as expendable pawns and his [[spoiler: MindRape gloating session at the end]] pegs him as just as much a [[TheSociopath sociopath]] as Light. [[AffablyEvil Kira will just kill you]], L and Near will MindRape and [[BetterToDieThanBeKilled torture you first]]; [[FateWorseThanDeath that is if they permit you to die.]] And if you're going to argue that evil acts don't matter as long as the results are achieved [[NotSoDifferent how is that ANY different from Kira's mentality?]] ''Manga/DeathNote'' isn't about a battle between good and evil. It's a battle between the sane (team L) and the insane (team Kira).
*** Difference? How did Near [[spoiler: MindRape Light in the end? he was gloating his victory sure]] but it came off more as a long ShutUpHannibal to me, and when did he use anyone as an expendable pawn? Like you mean Gevanni? He always offered him a choice first, he never forced them to do anything. L also tortured Misa because he couldn't do anything else, she was insane and there was no way he could have known about ownership of the notebook. Kira hurt innocents, L never did (unless it was self imposed like with Soichiro) How can you look at someone wantonly muurdering hundreds of thousands of people out of boredom on one hand, and someone torturing an insane criminal because he had no choice on the other and say NotSoDifferent?

** Tl;dr: The usual UnpleasableFanbase, as some of the tropers on ThisVeryWiki have helpfully demonstrated.

** Tl;dr: The usual UnpleasableFanbase.