DEATH NOTE / First Impressions

Summary:

After instructing Misa to continue the criminal killings for him, Light returns to the investigation where L is questioning Rem about the Death Note and about the Shinigami eating apples. L points out Light’s freedom to go out with Misa, but Light claims that he can’t love until the Kira incident is over. The next day, the group finds out that more criminals have died, meaning that another Kira has appeared. L suspects Misa again, but the 13 day rule has him confused since both Light and Misa are still alive. Rem realizes that Light doesn’t care if Misa is discovered because he’s confident that the Shinigami will save her by killing L. However, doing this will also result in Rem’s own death. As Rem is thinking about this, Light heads to the rooftop where L is already standing in the rain. L claims to hear the sound of bells, but then apologizes after Light says that he’s talking nonsense. He surprises Light by asking if Light’s ever told the truth. Light admits that he occasionally lies, but he also doesn’t think that there are people who tell only the truth. Back inside, the two dry off and L again surprises Light, this time by wiping Light’s feet. L explains that he’s massaging them as atonement, so Light lets him. When some of the water in L’s hair starts dripping onto his feet, Light wipes dry L’s head. As he finishes up, L talks about being lonely because they’ll be separating soon.

L then gets a phone call and the two return to the main investigation room. When L proposes using the Death Note for an execution to test the 13 day rule, Rem decides to act and sneaks off while the others aren’t looking. Rem’s first target is Watari, though the old man manages to press a button that deletes all his data before he dies. As everyone starts to figure out that something happened to Watari, they also notice that Rem is gone. L attempts to say something about the Shinigami, but he falls out of his chair mid-sentence. Light is the first one to rush to his side, and the last thing that L sees is the smirk on Light’s face. After L closes his eyes and dies, the rest of the investigation thinks that they’re next, but nothing happens to anyone else. Light pretends to be furious and demands that Rem come out, and when the Shinigami doesn’t appear, Light goes looking. He finds Rem’s Death Note sitting on a pile of sand inside the nearby server room, but he hides the notebook before calling the others over to see what happened. Light vows to them that he’ll avenge L’s death by solving the case, but as he walks away, he thinks to himself that he’s gotten rid of all the obstructions. He’s now the god of the new world.

Preview:

Wow, I got shivers watching this episode. The entire Misa scene was just creepy, including Hirano Aya’s singing. That was some great atmosphere they created, and there was plenty of foreshadowing that L would die (the bells tolling, L claiming that they’ll be separated soon). The overall episode still followed the manga, but the style felt completely different and they added the rooftop scene and the feet scene. The latter one there made me really sad to see L’s character die, and it made Light seem even more evil at the end. This is definitely my favorite episode of DEATH NOTE so far.
Having said all that good stuff though, the preview makes next week look like a recap episode about L.

83 Comments

  2. Wow, you’re right — the style has changed compared to major parts of the series that we’ve seen. Can’t wait to see what music they’ll use for that scene. ;__;

    Shiro
    Reply

  4. Damn, I can see that this is gonna be a great ep. How many more episodes till the end? Somewhere in the 30s right? I hope they can fill out the rest of the series without cutting stuff.

    mangamaxx
    Reply

  22. Omni you forgot your usual “Major spoilers ahead” in bold for crucial turning points in the plot. Don’t worry about me, I’ve read the manga, but a lot who hasn’t would risk getting spoiled unintentionally.

    Kinny Riddle
    Reply

  23. Although no new material next week is bad, seems good that they’re having this recap, since (very minor spoiler) doesn’t the story jump forward five years after this?

    Tryptomine
    Reply

  24. I doubt next episode is a recap. Maybe, just at the beginning of the episode but if they don’t get things moving along the anime will have to cut out a lot of content from the manga. I can’t wait to see Near and Mello.

    Foshi
    Reply

  32. Oh.my.god.

    This episode was just unbelievable. Everything was executed perfectly. From Misa’s goth-loli dress scene, the yaoi-like drama scene, Rem’s rampage and fading scenes, to L falling off from chair and Light screaming as if he didn’t see it coming.

    Man, I feel that Light’s eyes are becoming more evil with each passing episodes. Beautiful, this anime is so epical.

    Rasmiel
    Reply

  37. Gah. I hate it when cool characters bite it. Especially L. Even though I’ve read it, the animated version still shakes me a little.

    At least it looks like it was very well done. I like the reds.

    N
    Reply

  38. The final episode is Super Fail or Super Win depending on which side you like. 🙂 Alas, for me it’s FAIL. Gods it’s going to be painful watching those last few episodes. >___

    zalem
    Reply

  40. the anime made it more dramatic than the manga surprisingly since they have like what 10 more eps to go(excluding the next recap episode)… I reckon they will either [spoiler]skip past the intro of Mello and Near and dive right into the action. Starting from mello kidnapping sayu and asking for the Death Note in exchange[/spoiler] or after showing some recap next week we may be treated with some [spoiler]mello and near goodness for the 2nd part of the episode[/spoiler]

    cyw1988
    Reply

  43. Wow…this was a really spectacular episode! Definitely my fav so far.
    I really love how dynamic the story has become.
    The first scene with the church. (the animation is superb!)
    Misa in Lolita Attire singing. (very creepy…sets the mood just right)
    L`s Death. ;_; (I never cried so hard watching an anime!)
    And that little scene with L drying off Light`s feet? Is it just me or was that somehow very symbolic? Not to go all ‘religious’ or anything, but all I could think about was Jesus washing the disiciples’ feet. 0_0 And Jesus did that for all his disciples right? Even Judas, the one who betrays him? Sorta like how L suspects that Light will be the death of him and is now drying off his feet? ^^ Ah, I`m overeacting…
    Can`t wait to see Mello and Near!

    daten
    Reply

  44. The best episode since the first arc. There was a lot of symbolism, such as L bowing before Light and serving him, and plenty of dramatic music and sfx. They’re really pushing the concept to a more psycological story with the animation style of this and last ep. Way to go!

    tails
    Reply

  45. wow…do you think that this anime will follow the same ending as the movie(which was really good..i recomend ppl to watch it after the anime finish)…plz dont spoil it by saying the ending of the movie.just say ur comment without spoiling it for the anime

    gg
    Reply

  50. Just try to think a little coral : Misa already loses her memory, but she still remembered her love for Light. She just doesn’t know that he is Kira. So it will be the same thing.

    Za
    Reply

  52. Ryuuzaki! RYUUZAKIIIIII!!!!

    Darnit! Why’d L have to die!? He’s the coolest detective guy ever. I have a feeling this show is gonna be a lot less interesting now…

    Kid Kuwagata
    Reply

  53. Personally, I just hate the story from here on… except the ending. Though I still think it could’ve been better. Seriously, Shinigamis are sooo lazy, they will never write more than they have to…

    JCSlim
    Reply

  57. coral_girl, that’s something I didn’t like of this episode, they didn’t make clear that but in the manga you can understand it, it was something like, it would be useless, even if rem would kill raito, lawliet would capture misa, it would be the same, rem says something like “even if i kill raito, misa’s happiness depends on him, she would die if i kill him”

    now, it was great but i hated that they didn’t make lawliet say “yagami raito… so I wasn’t… bla, bla” T_T

    Go, Light! you’re the best!
    & Next chap is not a recap *spoi*, I mean it is but not all, next chap is something like introducing Mello & Near and when raito and misa are walking in the street and he decides he wants to live with her alone and the team decides they need “a new L” and light is the best for that job XD all that stuff.

    Damn watari, fuck you old man >> I hate them so hard! >_

    yami
    Reply

  59. i didnt understand something why isnt misa the one who killed L does she know his name or not did L prevent her from seeing him after he released her
    and what was Light going to do if rem didnt kill herself
    other than that it was an amazing episode soething i havent seen from long time

    qwertypoiuy
    Reply

  60. @qwertypoiuy,
    no, Misa didn’t saw L afther she was released. And Light would probably eat his hands of frustration if Rem didn’t kill L. But yes, he was convinced that Rem would kill him… So…
    Anyway, this episode was the best one. L saying; ‘watari…? Watari?!’ just broke my heart. And then he closed his eyes… even my brother cried a little (and he is 20 and never cries)
    Show Spoiler ▼

    Sooorry for my bad english~

    Near
    Reply

  62. damn at first i was gonna laugh at the scene wer L is massaging Light, kinda like Brokeback Mountain, but in the end i feel sad because Rem and L died… wonder what will happen next episode..

    Kira
    Reply

  65. That’s because one of the rules of the Death Note is that if the same person is written in another Death Note, that death will not take effect.

    L knew he was going to die, see 😀

    MCR
    Reply

  66. @MCR – that was the plot in the second movie, right? Completely different from how things play out in the manga. I would sincerely hope that the anime doesn’t start taking its cues from the movie plot.

    Of course, since the OP has already made it clear that Mello and Near are going to be appearing, it’s clearly going to stick closer to the manga than to the movie. So if it were to follow that movie twist, then it would end up with some kind of completely new hybrid plot.

    But I doubt that.

    cnet128
    Reply

  67. Nooooo they killed L and Watari!! 🙁 This blows, now they lost the only cool, smart, good guys 🙁

    Oh, and I really think Watari is cool, he’s like that butler of Batman, making L Batman 😛
    I mean c’mon, the dude is loyal, cool, smart, good AND, he knows how to use a snip0r 😉

    I hate Yagami Light now… bleh, dumb, evil, going for the power nab :(.

    Seiko
    Reply

  68. @MCR
    I haven’t really read the manga or watched the movie because I like to see how things play out in animation without knowing what’s going on, but if that were the case, then Rem wouldn’t have died because his action would not have extended Misa’s life….

    and to all those who were talking about Rem taking Misa’s Death Note and erasing her memories to protect her, she has to give it up willingly for that to work…

    Sigmond
    Reply

  69. I had read ahead in the manga (regrettably) so I already knew what would happen but it really hurt to see all that foreshadowing. T.T I mean especially the feet scene. To see Ryuzaki washing the feet of Light (aka “god” -.-). That just killed me right there.
    Still, somehow….. I didn’t cry. O.O (The only anime that has ever made me actually cry is Chrono Crusade.)
    the misa song thing was kinda freaky too. Added a nice but depressing touch to the episode. ^.^ I think my only motivation to watching the show now is seeing Light DIE!!! >.

    ebear
    Reply

  71. This episode is the most eerie and bizarre of them all. The mood was so sickening I wanted to keep watching. Not that I didn’t love the previous episodes. I just like this one a lot more than the others.

    FJGamer
    Reply

  72. yes l cleaning light’s feet is symbolic. there are a lot of references to the bible like in the opening and light being the god of a new world. and in the bible theres a story about a woman who cleaned jesus’ feet and by doing so showing humblesness and acknowledging he is god so l knew light is kira and he was showing that he knew that but kira didnt catch on i guess. hope that helps

    hillary
    Reply

  74. This was bonechilling. I have never been as much of a fan of Light because I lost all sympathy for him after he killed Ray Pembar. That, and how he made Pembar’s fiance wander off to commit suicide in an undiscoverable location? Geez, that is beyond cruel.

    Nevertheless, I caught the symbolism too. I would have to say that in light of the fact that L never seemed to be 100% sure that Light was innocent, in the back of his mind, he had to have at least a slight inkling that Light would be the one to cause his death. So to me, this does seem similar to Jesus washing Judas’ feet

    Yuri Rocks
    Reply

  75. This has to be one of the most amazing episode I’ve ever seen in anime

    The last 5 minutes blew me away, even knowing the event beforehand from manga, I still got goosebumps from watching it

    deltazechs
    Reply

  77. Why, him… L was the best… TT_TT
    I believe this was the most beautifully done episode, I wish they went farther into L’s past… TT_TT I still cry at the thought of it. *sniff* Damn now you guys got me going… *crys* TT_TT (My tears of sorrow) WAHH!!! L Don’t leave us!! Damn you Raito/Light Yagami, you and your stupid ideals of yours!!

    Anyway I believe if this mess never started, L and Light could have become really good friends and maybe even the top detectives in the World, but L and Near still rule, with Mello, Matt, and Light Yagami afterwards. Yes, Mello you are still second to me… XD

    Rada (R)
    Reply

  78. It’s almost eerie without L… Like I was thinking, who’s going to end this, this madness has to end some way or another.
    Plus remember these words, Raito cuz they’ll come back to bite you! “What comes around, comes around.” It’s bad karma man…
    Besides, with L, please bless him, TT_TT, gone this story is pretty much done for me… Still I want to see how Light will pay for his crimes! >:D
    I wish L could be alive now… There really is no point of going on without the World’s Best Detective on the case… L is probably crying now as he watches Light from the Heavens above, rain his stupid ideals onto the world… TT_TT Sayonara L-kun, I will never forget you… TT_TT

    Rada (R)
    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *