Death Note - S1E3 - Dealings
Otaku vs Notaku features a person obsessed with anime and manga (15-year-old Kali) and a Notaku (a word we made up for a person who doesn’t watch anime – Kali’s mom, Project Fandom founder, Nina) watching and discussing an anime series. Their first project is Death Note. They take turns reviewing each episode.
At a police briefing, we learn that the cops, with L’s help, have narrowed their focus in finding out Kira’s identity. Based on the times the criminals are killed, they figure Kira must be a student - never killing when he’s in school. They also make note of the many false leads and confessions they’ve gotten. One detective, a young man named Matsuda, timidly points out that since Kira has been doing all this killing, crime in Japan has gone way down. The police chief figured that would happen, but he warns that they shouldn’t go praising Kira’s efforts because they’re still wrong. L asks that the police look into whether or not the victim’s photos were released to the public at any point.
When Light’s dad comes home from work we learn that his father IS the police chief!
Light has access to the files on the case and learns that they’ve figured out that he never kills during school hours. In order to throw them off, Light starts including the time of death with the cause of death. This way, he orchestrates the death of several inmates to go down while he’s in class. L is no dummy and realizes that Kira changed up his pattern right after they came up with the theory of him being a student. This tells L that Kira has access to their investigation and he calls in the FBI to look into all the cops involved. They determine that there are 141 cops with access to the information.
Several cops asked to be pulled off the case. They’re worried that if Kira can kill people by simply knowing their names and faces, they’re walking targets. Meanwhile, L is hiding behind a letter on the computer screen. I gotta say, they’re not wrong.
My boy Ryuk is Switzerland. He’s not on Light’s side or L’s. But he feels obligated to tell Light that he’s being followed by a human - mainly because it’s creeping him out. He knows the mystery man can’t see him, but since he’s always behind Light, it feels like he’s being followed too and he ain’t having it. Light wants to know who this person is so she can take care of him.
Once again, Ryuk starts dropping important knowledge all late. This time, he tells Light two major differences between being a human with the Death Note and being Shinigami.
- When a Shinigami looks at a person, they can see their name above the person’s head and their life span. If they write your name in the book and kill you before you’re supposed to die, the time difference is added to the Shinigami’s life span. If you’re supposed to live until you’re 60, and Ryuk writes your name in the book when you’re 40, he gets 20 years added to his own life.
- Also, a person who takes possession of the Death Note can get the Shinigami’s eyes and have the power to see a person’s name and life span, too, but there’s a price: half of their remaining life span. If Light wants Shinigami’s power, he’ll give it to him and he’ll be able to use the Death Note a lot easier that way - especially when it comes to identifying the person following him.
Of course, Ryuk isn’t going to tell Light how much time he has left before making the deal because what fun would that be?
Observations and Conversations:
- Kali pointed out that even though we see Light’s life span when Ryuk looks at him (see above) it needs to be converted to “human time” so we still have no idea how much time Light has left.
- We both agreed that we wouldn’t take the deal. It’s too risky!
- The reveal that Light’s dad is the police chief was a little convenient, but well done.
- I love how Light comes up with a way to throw the cops off his scent, but in doing so he also gave L more insight into who he is. I’m even more intrigued since Light revealed to Ryuk that was his plan all along.
- Ryuk telling Light that he’s being followed was the funniest shit ever. I loved how he was basically like, “I know it’s irrational. I know he can’t see me, but it’s still freaking me the hell out!”
Kali
