First of all, I apologize if the above screencap isn’t something you’d like to see on top of an entry. ^^ I haven’t properly capped the episode and that’s all I could come up with for the time being. Spoilers for the episode after you click on the link.

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I’m among those who disagree with Madhouse for rewriting chapter 107. Doing so is very detrimental to the dramatic impact. I was afraid Madhouse would attempt to portray our resident megalomaniacal psycho in a more sympathetic light, and I wasn’t wrong – they did. *pulls a face* The fan in me thinks that they consider too much screaming and evil laughter is okay for manga, but would be an overkill in an audio-visual medium.

Animation is heart-pounding, and the scene in the previous episode where Mikami is writing down the names almost knocked me off my feet. Speaking of Mikami – what did he stab himself with, and if it was his pen, how come it made him spout off blood so – well, so profusely?

Last but definitely not least: Mamo, wonderful job. No, I shan’t offer to have your babies, since that’s not how I feel about you. (I tend to think of the TeniMyu guys as little brothers) May you live long and enjoy a prosperous career.

Apology to anyone who is reading this journal regularly (there seems to be one person who does, at least) – at the moment I’m crazily addicted to Death Note (manga, anime, movie), so you’ll see plenty of DN entries here. (Actually, I’m just crazy, period).

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Madhouse, realizing full well that anime is in many ways a different medium from manga, decided not to merely carbon-copy L’s death from the manga. They employ visual gags instead – flashbacks, scenes ending in silence, and blurry, seen-through-handheld-cameras images. L’s final thought (“So I wasn’t wrong…”) is erased, as if to maintain that he, too, ends his life in silence, without the chance to articulate his discovery about Kira even to himself. Watari’s death is one of the creepiest parts in the episode, what with Rem fading into the background and the music. The blackout before L falls out of his seat is another fitting visual gag.

On another note, if Mamo keeps screaming like this, they’d encourage him to be the next Seki Tomokazu.

I did the fanbook’s “Which Death Note character are you” quiz via the translation in deathgod.org, and I’m not at all surprised that my result is Light. I think it should be too obvious. (Shinsekai no megami to naru!)

You can read the translated quiz here. And tell me what your result is!

Two days ago I borrowed nine Death Note manga volumes from a friend. Re-visiting the earlier volumes is tremendous fun. Yay for the breakneck pace. We wouldn’t have it any other way, would we?

Some fannish thoughts about the series. Silliness and spoilers galore.

During high school, Light sometimes walks home with two schoolmates. Do you suppose one of them is the Yamamoto that appears in chapter 108? They look the same, anyway. Then again, Ooba says that chapter 108’s Yamamoto is a new character.

Does anyone else think that the finger-puppet Near makes to represent Mikami looks like Stephen King?

Someone has written a crossover with TeniPuri, right? I mean, Light was a tennis champion during junior high, and both series run in WJ magazine. The combinations are too hard to resist.

Fan disappointment aside, Lawliet’s death, especially in the wake of Light’s regained memories, is completely logical. If Ooba does not kill Lawliet, fans will be pleased, but the series will lack credibility. So, goodbye Lawliet. At the same time, though, it also amuses me to see Light walking around with that big, so-psychotic-it’s-almost-dopey “hee hee, I won!” grin all over his mug.

That Light’s life is extinguished (I like bad puns, sorry) the way it does shouldn’t be surprising. Play with fire, and all that. That ending also sort of compensates for a lot of the things missing from the second arc compared to when Lawliet is still around – Light’s fiendishly clever tricks and maneuvers, detectives that are really intriguing and not just two halves of a deceased one.

ETA:

Speaking of Near and Mello – if they don’t remind us constantly of Lawliet, readers might have an easier time switching into the second arc. It would’ve been better if Near and Mello are completely different from their predecessor (for example, one of them could be a girl, but this is a shounen series, so we can rule out that possibility). Instead, we keep seeing that each of them is a half-Lawliet and therefore we keep missing the panda-eyed detective. “If only he were still here!”

By 2009 Light is already resigned to having Misa around (ahaha). What interests me most at the moment is his speech pattern when he commands her to do something. (e.g. “Misa wa damatte!”) ‘Misa’ is the subject of the sentence rather than something added after the imperative verb. It’s like speaking to a pest-like little sister. A little sister you sleep with. (pause) Okay, I’ll shut up now.

…Okay, so I’m not as desperate as that. I finished reading the scanlation lately (read: aeons after everyone else) and would like to exchange thoughts with fellow DN readers. To begin with, a couple of general questions about the series.

1. What do you think of Misa’s portrayal as a giddy, clingy uber-cute girl? Do you think that’s what she genuinely is, or is she smarter than she appears to be?

2. How are Light and Lawliet different in their attitude toward (what they believe to be) justice?

(I say Lawliet instead of L because, as the Salon.com article points out, “Kira” and “L” are identities rather than characters)

3. In your opinion, does Light underestimate Near and Mello? What might cause his stubborn conviction that each of them is less capable than Lawliet?

4. Do you think what Matsuda does to Light at the Yellow Box warehouse is out of character or in character? Do you think any of the other police officers would be able to do pull the same act?