As we left Volume One of Death Note, Light’s potato chips + hidden mini-TV ruse ensured that L couldn’t detect him carrying out his Kira killing duties and so the hidden cameras are soon removed from the Yagami household. L hasn’t given up on his suspicions entirely though – or how he puts it: there’s now a 5% chance that Light is Kira based on what they saw with the hidden cameras. That’s a probability that is about to go on a rollercoaster ride in the episodes on Volume 2, as L and Kira take their battle of wits to a whole new level. The big change occurs right off the bat in Episode 09 when Light passes the Tokyo University entrance exam as the top freshman in the year, although it’s a title he has to share with another student named Hideki Ryuuga – who turns out to be L using the name of a famous pop idol. He soon reveals himself to Light, making it all too apparent that the name Hideki Ryuuga is a trick to try and catch Light into revealing himself as Kira; because if he enters the name in the Death Note, the face of the pop idol would unconsciously spring up in his mind.
Just explaining the nuances and technicalities of the psychological tricks L and Light play on each other throughout this volume is exhausting, you can’t help but admire and be completely drawn in by the complexity of Tsugumi Ohba’s writing. For most films and TV series, the use of the terms “exposition” and “contrivance” are usually used in a negative light, but in Death Note Ohba as turned contrivances and lengthy reams of exposition into an art form, with L taking the initiative in his game with Light and constantly applying psychological pressure, and every single action that each character takes from then on out has numerous consequences and ripple effects that have to be closely considered. Tetsuro Araki’s direction continues to perfectly complement the complex and extremely expository script, knowing when to stop the action and linger intensively on the mental combatants and then ramp up the style with expressionistic thought sequences. We see the games and the relationship between Light and L develop through Episode 10 and in Episode 11 the series really come into its own as an action piece when a second person, claiming to be the 2nd Kira, hijacks a TV station and forces them to play tapes of messages and rules that they want impart to the public, police and the original Kira. The matter becomes more dire for the please when this new Kira exhibits the ability to kill people from their face alone and even one member of the Task Force succumbs to the powers of Kira number 2. This leads to an exciting solitary raid on the station by Soichiro Yagami to commandeer the tapes before they can be played, in what is really the first proper action episode in the series, showing the story can swing from a heavily dialogue-based psychological thriller to action thriller with extreme ease, never missing a beat. The episode is also significant in demonstrating the dire situation the police face when it comes to bringing Light and now the new Kira to justice; and it also offers a welcome break away from Light being the main antagonist.In Episode 12 the 2nd Kira reveals herself to be Misa Amane, a part time model whose parents were brutally murdered and then the murderer executed by Kira. Since then she has developed an obsession and idolisation of Kira, and when she was confronted by the female Shinigami: Rem, who gave her a notebook. Misa quickly sold half her lifespan to get the Shinigami eyes so she could augment the original Kira, and that gives her the ability to also spot Kira’s identity from sight. The introduction of Misa and the dynamic she brings to the series has been an occasional source of frustration and criticism for fans of the Manga serial. The main problem stems from her complete blind devotion and subservience to Light’s every whim, which not only sees her disregard the life of anyone but Light on numerous occasions, but it also warps her into an annoyingly persistent, bunny boiler type of character who doesn’t really have the intellect to keep up with or understand the deadly game Light is forced into against L. There’s definitely merit to the argument that Ohba portrays women as rather one-note, either clueless or shallow or obsessed individuals, but I also think there’s merit to the idea that characters like Misa are Ohba’s way of satirising the rather chauvinistic attitude Japanese society still holds towards women and how some women do seem to play up to this and certainly Shōnen serials tend to portray some of their female characters.
Just explaining the nuances and technicalities of the psychological tricks L and Light play on each other throughout this volume is exhausting, you can’t help but admire and be completely drawn in by the complexity of Tsugumi Ohba’s writing. For most films and TV series, the use of the terms “exposition” and “contrivance” are usually used in a negative light, but in Death Note Ohba as turned contrivances and lengthy reams of exposition into an art form, with L taking the initiative in his game with Light and constantly applying psychological pressure, and every single action that each character takes from then on out has numerous consequences and ripple effects that have to be closely considered. Tetsuro Araki’s direction continues to perfectly complement the complex and extremely expository script, knowing when to stop the action and linger intensively on the mental combatants and then ramp up the style with expressionistic thought sequences. We see the games and the relationship between Light and L develop through Episode 10 and in Episode 11 the series really come into its own as an action piece when a second person, claiming to be the 2nd Kira, hijacks a TV station and forces them to play tapes of messages and rules that they want impart to the public, police and the original Kira. The matter becomes more dire for the please when this new Kira exhibits the ability to kill people from their face alone and even one member of the Task Force succumbs to the powers of Kira number 2. This leads to an exciting solitary raid on the station by Soichiro Yagami to commandeer the tapes before they can be played, in what is really the first proper action episode in the series, showing the story can swing from a heavily dialogue-based psychological thriller to action thriller with extreme ease, never missing a beat. The episode is also significant in demonstrating the dire situation the police face when it comes to bringing Light and now the new Kira to justice; and it also offers a welcome break away from Light being the main antagonist.In Episode 12 the 2nd Kira reveals herself to be Misa Amane, a part time model whose parents were brutally murdered and then the murderer executed by Kira. Since then she has developed an obsession and idolisation of Kira, and when she was confronted by the female Shinigami: Rem, who gave her a notebook. Misa quickly sold half her lifespan to get the Shinigami eyes so she could augment the original Kira, and that gives her the ability to also spot Kira’s identity from sight. The introduction of Misa and the dynamic she brings to the series has been an occasional source of frustration and criticism for fans of the Manga serial. The main problem stems from her complete blind devotion and subservience to Light’s every whim, which not only sees her disregard the life of anyone but Light on numerous occasions, but it also warps her into an annoyingly persistent, bunny boiler type of character who doesn’t really have the intellect to keep up with or understand the deadly game Light is forced into against L. There’s definitely merit to the argument that Ohba portrays women as rather one-note, either clueless or shallow or obsessed individuals, but I also think there’s merit to the idea that characters like Misa are Ohba’s way of satirising the rather chauvinistic attitude Japanese society still holds towards women and how some women do seem to play up to this and certainly Shōnen serials tend to portray some of their female characters.
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