Death Note

[piterdevries]

I just finished the anime last week. Anyone here watched it?

I just don't get how Mello helped in taking down Light, can anyone explain to me this? Thanks  ;D

[Dante]

I haven't seen the movie or the full anime series, but I do own the complete manga series, so let me see what I remember.

I don't imagine anyone will care, but there are spoilers below for the series 'Death Note.'

Imagine that Mello did not exist. The situation is as follows:

Light has given the real Death Note to Mikami, as he needs to distance himself from the actual process of killing. Mikami was chosen because he predicts Light's opinions perfectly, and can be depended upon to act mechanically, predictably. Orders are passed to him via Kiyomi. However, Near's group is getting uncomfortably close to Mikami. For this reason, Mikami is ordered to keep one of the fake notebooks in his possession and pretend to write in it each night, as was his habit with the real one. The real notebook is kept in a bank instead, which he visits weekly to wtite down the names (remember, he can also specify a time of death, so to an outside observer there is no difference between the weekly and daily updates).

Near's group breaks into Mikami's house and replaces the fake notebook with another fake. Near then challenges Light to the showdown at the warehouse. Both groups turn up, and as both Near and Light planned, Mikami arrives late. However, Near believes that Mikami is holding the fake notebook that he planted, when in fact Mikami has gone to the bank to retrieve the real one. He writes down the names of the SPK, and Near, and Light wins.

Now add Mello to the story:

The situation is the same as above. However, before Light or Near can act, Mello kidnaps Takada Kiyomi. Light prepared for this; Takada has a concealed scrap of the Death Note in her underwear. She uses it to kill Mello, and upon finding out what happened, Light uses his own Death Note to kill her, destroying all evidence in the process.

Here is the important part: Without Takada as an intermediary between them, Light has no way of contacting Mikami. And Mikami, dependable, pretictable Mikami, has predicted Light's actions perfectly. He knows that Kira will want Takada dead, what he does not know is that he has already killed her himself. So Mikami breaks his orderly routine, which Near's group has been observing for some time, and visits the bank on a different day in order to write Takada's name in the notebook. This tips off Near to the presence of the real notebook in the bank. He is then able to replace this notebook with a fake, meaning that when Mikami turns up at the warehouse and writes down those names, he does so in a fake.

It's rather complicated, isn't it? In summary, Light's henchman was too good at his job, which I think is a bit of a cop-out in showing that the writer was all too fond of the protagonist and couldn't bear to have him beaten by superior brainpower. When Near said that together he and Mello surpassed L, what he meant was that he himself was not willing enough to take risks, and it was Mello's risky (and ultimately fatal) strategm that allowed him to succeed. On his own, he would have failed.

I hope that was clear. I do tend to get carried away sometimes. Also the above was written largely from memory, so there might be some confusion here and there.

[blueskyblue]

I have seen it too. :D I have read the manga series few years back. I also have seen the third installment of the live movie "L, change the world" and it is just out of the series, but kinda good. :) I really love this series, especially reading the manga. ;D I'm kind of bored with the animation, maybe because it's only 37 episodes, as far as I can remember.

Is it true, there's a rumor going around, that several American film companies are trying to get hold of the rights to remake Deathnote? And someone told me that WB already got the rights? I'm not sure if they are true or just rumors.  :-

[piterdevries]

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2009-05-01/warners-brothers-acquires-live-action-death-note-rights

Might turn out like that Dragonball Evolution?