Death Note (Drama)

Episode 11

Here we are: the final confrontation. Light continues making up excuses for his dad's death, and for a while, I thought he was succeeding. He blames Himura and Mello, and the police force is ready to chase them down. Mello threatens Light, Misa, and Mikami with knowledge of their meeting-place, but they're not too worried. They know they've won. Light will contact Mikami when he finds Mello, ready to jot down his name with his shinigami eyes. Misa will use hers to wipe out all the police investigators. Then, they can begin their new regime with no obstacles.

Except they haven't won. As Light finds out when he does confront Mello—who is really Near, because Near was just pretending, on purpose—nothing has gone how he thought it would. L predicted everything, and Near and Soichiro followed his lead. They ensured that the police force would not listen to Light any longer than necessary, and the pursuit of Mello was all just pretend. L got Near up to speed on Light's guilt and made sure that he was working with all the right people, including Himura—who was an FBI agent. The plan is miles deep, but there's no need to go through all of it. The point is that no one is having Light's nonsense anymore, and it's all Light's fault for losing himself too much in the Kira act. It isn't a mistake from Mikami that does him in this time. The iconic laugh and confession are retained from the original, but the scene plays out completely differently on a deeper level. This is much more desperate, tragic, and sad for the main character, coming down much harder on his cause and what it's done to him. It leaves viewers with a lot to chew on, specifically what about this version led to this point in the first place.

In many ways, it's more fitting for this Light to be an ordinary teenager who goes wrong. It shows why Light's view of humanity is incorrect. The world isn't divided into "good" and "bad" people, and just getting rid of the latter is no solution for peace and prosperity. That's not the goal of the criminal justice system. People often go down good or bad paths based on their circumstances. While the original version drew a lot of satisfaction from Light being rotten to the core, I ultimately prefer this show's approach. This Light Yagami is someone who could have ended up going down a different path, but for circumstances intervening in his life. L's final video shows that even he believed, to the end, that Light was inherently good and could have become a great investigator like he once wanted to be. If not for Ryuk and the Death Note, Light would have gone down a better path. If he hadn't been so far gone when he was defeated, maybe there would have been room for his redemption.

Light was drawn toward an evil end because of understandable ideals. The same is true of Misa and Mikami, victims of more truly unfair circumstances who do receive a sort of redemption by losing their memories of the event. (I certainly like this end for Misa better than the anime's, where she commits suicide over losing Light, or the manga's, where she goes on to spread the gospel of Kira.) Light is a hypocrite because his worldview is too limited. He's killing for the "right" reason, but he never grants anyone else that complexity. In the end, his limited worldview contributes to his downfall—he doesn't consider that his enemies can be as complex as he is or construct equally complex plans. He doesn't realize that Near could be faking the Mello persona as much as Light has faked remorse and ignorance so many times over. He doesn't consider that Mello could have secret allies just like Light does. Light doesn't wonder if L or his father left clues for others after they were gone, just like Light did when he lost his memory. This Death Note's worldview isn't as cynical as it looks on first blush. Just as anyone can become bad, anyone can use their talents for good too, if they're given the opportunities. Allowing people the circumstances for second chances is real justice.

Mikami is also treated better here. If Mikami still sets up Light's demise, it's only because he realized they were all doomed a bit sooner, and decided it was better to take out everyone else. Light, on the other hand, futilely grasps for the notebook even as it burns and he bleeds to death. He begs Ryuk to give him the shinigami eyes, even as it becomes clear that he has no life left to trade. Light is a slave of the notebook, not the other way around, as foreshadowed by his reaction to his dad's death. This time, he could do nothing to stop its destruction.

I figured when I first went into this version of Death Note that it might be entertaining in its own way as an alternate telling of the story. I never figured that it could surpass the original story in at least some aspects. This Death Note doesn't hold a candle to the anime's amazing direction or soundtrack, and rarely was the acting up to the standard of the anime either (though more on that in a moment). However, story-wise, this Death Note may be just as satisfying if not moreso. The ending was foreshadowed well without being predictable, and it fit perfectly into the story's themes. It turned Death Note into a story that could maybe give you something to think about. This version is also a strong appraisal of the justice system's power when used right—it's only as powerful as the people running it. It's an open debate if L and Near were the right people, considering how often they were willing to sacrifice people for the endgame. But with the help of Soichiro's sacrifice, they did get the job done.

It's not like the acting has been bad either. It hasn't been excellent across the board, but there have been some stellar performances. Masataka Kubota hit it out of the park as Light this week: nailing his infamous laugh, confession, and his madness as he obsessed over the notebook until his last breath. I was shaky on Kubota when the series began, but he has done a great job growing into his character. In many ways, he's paralleled how Light grew into the Kira character he created for himself. It's amazing how Light's dispassion toward others is contrasted with Near's tears at revisiting L's videos. Near was originally the stoic character and Light the man of feeling, but circumstances forged their paths in different directions since then.

In short, this version of Death Note is a more than worthy addition to the franchise. It takes its own spin on the story that may be more thematically rewarding than the original, without forgetting its roots. It's satisfying both to old fans of the anime and manga, and people experiencing Death Note for the first time. It's what I like my adaptations to be—a mix of the old and the new—and it only got better at it neared its conclusion. The Death Note j-drama was everything I'd hoped for and a little more.

Rating: A

Death Note (Drama) is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Rose is a music Ph.D. student who loves overanalyzing anime soundtracks. Follow her on her media blog Rose's Turn.