Death Note

Near suffers horribly for that too, as a lot of what gets cut out are Near's monologues explaining his thought process as well as his development and motivations. As a result, he just seems to be a quirky smart guy who invents conclusions on the spot and then is right about them.

edited 18th Nov '15 3:16:17 PM by TobiasDrake

Another Death Note parody, a BAKAYAROID, to be specific:

I got no problems with Near but he's just not as good as L as a Hero Antagonist.

Also Mello was only a threat because of a lot of plot armor, like Light's dad being a moron.

edited 18th Nov '15 4:37:58 PM by Nikkolas

I'm fine with Near not being as good as L because he's not supposed to be. His and Mello's failure to live up to L's standard is a driving part of their characters and conflict.

That's why I find it awkward when people complain about Near being a relatively underwhelming attempt at a Replacement Goldfish because that's not a criticism, it is exactly what he's supposed to be.

edited 19th Nov '15 7:31:43 AM by TobiasDrake

That's what he's supposed to be In-Universe, the problem is that he ends up being it even out-of-universe for a lot of people. And that's not a good thing, intended or not.

I mean, the idea of a guy being a Replacement Scrappy In-Universe can create a very interesting character if it's explored adequately (it was sort of happening with Mello, but he got too little screentime), but Near just... shrugs and go on and does things with no personality.

That's a good point. Mello is struggling very hard with L's legacy while Near barely seems to care. His personality is understated and bordering on nonexistent.

Like, right now, what would you say Near's ultimate motivation was? WHY was he after Light?

L always struck me as an Early Doyle Sherlock Holmes, who was less concerned with bringing criminals to justice than he was with trying to entertain his brilliant mind by solving problems.

Near thugh...he's just kinda going through the motions.

edited 19th Nov '15 1:28:25 PM by Nikkolas

Yeah I get the point of Near, but that doesn't make me care about him.

Oh wait, nevermind.

edited 20th Nov '15 1:47:56 PM by dRoy

So what is everyone's favorite piece of music off the great OST?

I still have yet to watch the anime but I loved listening to the songs while reading the manga.

It's gotta be L's Past. I just wish it was longer.

"Low of Solipsism". It's just really hype when that song plays.

I really like this song and picture.

Hmm... Something's not guitar-y about this guy... Hey, wait a minute.

In a sad version of Fridge Horror, the survivors of the Yagami family. And if thinking about it wasn't bad enough, then some really good fanfic writers got ahold of it... Not. Fair. Light ruined the lives of the people he should have loved most in the world and they did nothing wrong. And the bastard STILL didn't realize what he was doing!

...and the manga: Light (on the phone): Sorry mom, I can't come home again this year. Tell Sayu that I promise I'll find time to come back home next year so we can spend some real family time together. Harsher in Hindsight knowing that there will be no next year…

Was reading the DN Tear Jerker page. Now I am sad. I never even thought about this.

[[quoteblock]]The main reason Light's intellect is considered overrated by comparisons to L is because of the massive handicap he was working with. The deck was stacked in his favor from the beginning.[[/quoteblcok]]

I have never understood how that's supposed to reflect negatively on Light's intelligence instead of just shin brightly on L's. Especially with Light's ability to deal with unexpected circumstances and the fact that he willingly handicapped himself early on with not taking the Shinigami eyes. Admittedly that had long-term issues but considering his dilemma was something a lot of other people would have considered/would not be able to do without.

Like, if the issue is that the author rates Light as smarter than L and you disagree that's one thing, but I don't get the rest.

Speaking of Light dying anyone think he would have eventually picked a successor? He seems like the type to do that while at the same time trying to hold death off for as long as possible.

Light refusing the Shinigami Eyes always struck me as one of his many mistakes brought on by ego. Light's logic for not taking the Shinigami Eyes was that he needed to retain as much of his lifespan as possible in order to rule the world as its new God. This is fundamentally flawed reasoning by the fact that from the beginning of the series, there has been a guillotine blade hanging over his neck in the form of Ryuk, who has openly confessed that he will kill him the moment he gets bored. Light was never going to have decades of ruling the world with an iron fist.

I don't think Light ever really thought much about that. I think he took Ryuk's intention to kill him as an empty threat, because I don't think he ever considered his own mortality as a potential outcome at all. I can't imagine Light leaving behind a successor because I can't imagine Light's death to come as anything but unexpected for the man who would claim the title of God.

In fairness, how many people actually thought he was serious about that? And I can't really fault him on not wanting to cut his lifespan in half (for whatever the reasons) when there are other potential ways out of situations.

On another note, I dislike how the anime did his death. It took away from the moment, both for the visceral and it frankly seemed to good for him.

I knew he was serious right from the start. He had no reason to lie about it and he's a pretty simple, straightforward guy. When Ryuk says, "I love apples!" it's because he loves apples. When he says, "Imma kill you if I get bored," then he's going to kill you if he gets bored.

At L's funeral, when he told Light, "It sounds like things are going to be pretty boring from now on, huh?" I always caught the veiled threat. I'm not entirely sure if Light did.

edited 1st Dec '15 10:43:24 AM by TobiasDrake

Isn't it a rule he had to do that? They had three years off boredom after L died and he didn't make his move and the only reason he decided to kill him then was become he realized the time had finally come.

I don't think that was threat so much as him stating how things have to end, no matter how anything else goes.

Yep. Rule 64.

Ryuk cannot leave until he writes Light's name in his Death Note. He could wait for Light to die naturally before doing that, but the only reason he's even doing all this is for entertainment value.

edited 1st Dec '15 11:55:29 AM by TobiasDrake

I've always considered the biggest proof of how much Light changed over the course of the series to be his first and final interactions with Ryuk. You might recall that when Light first met Ryuk, he thought he was going to die. He had what was blatantly a magical artifact and he was smart enough to realize such things don't just come out of nowhere without consequences. Now Light, who is thinking he's going to inevitably die, comes face-to-face with Ryuk. I don't know about you but Ryuk looks like the exact type of being that is designed to drag me off to an eternity of torture in Hell.

But Light was prepared for this. He showed no fear of Ryuk and faced his mortality without batting an eye.

Now compare and contrast that with Light's actual death. No Hell, no perpetual suffering or punishment, just an end. How does Light react? Not very well, to put it mildly. The mere realization of his inevitable death terrifies him to a pathetic, sorry state. Light who once faced death with dignity now cowered before it.

• LILIANA VESS: Look at me, Bolas! I can feel death breathing down my neck!
• NICOL BOLAS: Perhaps that is because it has been such a close companion all these years.

Light knew at least some measure of humility once, but by mastering death and self-identifying as God, he lost sight of that. At some point, he stopped believing in his own mortality, in his own fallibility, in the very premise that he could be wrong or could fail - until the cold, hard truth was staring him straight in the face.

At the start of the series, he stared into oblivion and he accepted his place. At the end, he stared into oblivion once more and he blinked.

edited 1st Dec '15 5:02:22 PM by TobiasDrake

I was wondering if he had to actually be the one to kill him or just write his name down. I thought it was the latter but wasn't sure. Given how things ended it didn't really matter though.

I think it's just write his name down. Light's life is always in danger but Ryuk is insistent that it'll end with him writing Light's name in his death note. Considering how rules lawyer-y the Death Notes are it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

It is just writing his name down. Ryuk cannot go home until he writes Light's name in his Death Note. This can occur either before or after Light dies naturally.

However, Ryuk is doing all this for entertainment value, not because he's Light's best buddy or believes in his ideals. He's just here for the lulz. If at any point it appears that Light will no longer be able to provide those lulz - such as when Near nails him and it becomes clear that Light's going to spend the rest of his life in a prison cell - Ryuk will kill him and go find something else to do.

That's the tragedy of Light's position. I cannot help but feel that if he ever decisively won such that there was no longer any task force to dance around and no longer any investigators to play chess with and no longer any conflict that could challenge him, Ryuk would get bored. And Light dies when Ryuk gets bored. There was never going to be a scenario where Light spends thirty or forty years ruling the planet unchallenged.

So Light talks about his plans for the world and Ryuk laughs. Light says he needs as much lifespan as he can get and Ryuk laughs. Light discusses long-term ideas for changing society and Ryuk laughs. It's actually kind of funny in a dark way when you're in on the joke. "Humans are so...interesting."

edited 2nd Dec '15 7:38:55 AM by TobiasDrake