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itsnotmymind) wrote2024-11-03 05:15 pm
itsnotmymind) wrote2024-11-03 05:15 pm
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Death Note: L and Light in the Rain
I finished re-watching the Death Note anime, so I thought I'd share some thoughts about my favorite pair of scenes: Ryuzaki and Light in the rain in episode 25, and drying up afterward. This is all based on the English dub Netflix uses rather than the Japanese, because I sadly don't speak Japanese.
Spoilers, of course.
I really think these are the only scenes where we meet the real Ryuzaki. He's a sad, awkward kidhwho seems to have a mental illness that causes hallucinations and he apologizes a lot. He apologizes three times to Light in these two scenes alone, and I don't think we EVER see him apologize any other time.
I do love that he makes Light step out into the rain and come to him rather than he going closer to Light.
I'm not exactly sure what Ryuzaki means when he says "nothing I say makes sense". Most of what we have heard him say has been speculations about Kira, and most of his speculation has been on the nose. On the other hand, L and Light were handcuffed together for awhile and probably witnessed sides of each other that the viewers did not see. And I did think Ryuzaki stating that flying a helicopter was mostly intuition might qualify as saying something that made no sense.
After agreeing that much of what Ryuzaki says doesn't make sense, L and Light proceed to take Ryuzaki's next declaration seriously and at face value: That Light is a pathological liar. Which of course he is, but on the other hand Ryuzaki has been dealing with amnesiac Light who doesn't seem to have done much deliberate lying.
It seems that Ryuzaki's odd list of skills includes foot massages. The drying-off scene happens to be the scene that convinced me that Ryuzaki's feelings for Light are not platonic. I'm not sure if I would say he is "in love" with Light. It wasn't long ago that he was disappointed that Light (apparently) wasn't Kira - because it meant L was wrong. And yet this is the guy Ryuzaki dubbed his first friend.
"You and I will be parting ways soon" - When I first watched this, I thought (having been spoiled for Ryuzaki's death from reading the manga long ago) that L had planned his own death, for some purpose. But there's no indication of that in subsequent episodes. So perhaps he means that Light will end up dead or in prison. Or perhaps he doesn’t know the ending, just knows that it will not end with himself and Light together.
I talked about Ryuzaki's feelings for light - now let me talk about Light's feelings for Ryuzaki. Again, I wouldn’t say Light is "in love" with L. Light doesn't have much love in his heart for, well, anyone. But it is hard not to look at his face at the end of the scene and see something. He certainly respects L. Then again, by the end of the episode he will be smiling triumphantly as Ryuzaki dies. It's complicated.
Spoilers, of course.
I really think these are the only scenes where we meet the real Ryuzaki. He's a sad, awkward kidhwho seems to have a mental illness that causes hallucinations and he apologizes a lot. He apologizes three times to Light in these two scenes alone, and I don't think we EVER see him apologize any other time.
I do love that he makes Light step out into the rain and come to him rather than he going closer to Light.
I'm not exactly sure what Ryuzaki means when he says "nothing I say makes sense". Most of what we have heard him say has been speculations about Kira, and most of his speculation has been on the nose. On the other hand, L and Light were handcuffed together for awhile and probably witnessed sides of each other that the viewers did not see. And I did think Ryuzaki stating that flying a helicopter was mostly intuition might qualify as saying something that made no sense.
After agreeing that much of what Ryuzaki says doesn't make sense, L and Light proceed to take Ryuzaki's next declaration seriously and at face value: That Light is a pathological liar. Which of course he is, but on the other hand Ryuzaki has been dealing with amnesiac Light who doesn't seem to have done much deliberate lying.
It seems that Ryuzaki's odd list of skills includes foot massages. The drying-off scene happens to be the scene that convinced me that Ryuzaki's feelings for Light are not platonic. I'm not sure if I would say he is "in love" with Light. It wasn't long ago that he was disappointed that Light (apparently) wasn't Kira - because it meant L was wrong. And yet this is the guy Ryuzaki dubbed his first friend.
"You and I will be parting ways soon" - When I first watched this, I thought (having been spoiled for Ryuzaki's death from reading the manga long ago) that L had planned his own death, for some purpose. But there's no indication of that in subsequent episodes. So perhaps he means that Light will end up dead or in prison. Or perhaps he doesn’t know the ending, just knows that it will not end with himself and Light together.
I talked about Ryuzaki's feelings for light - now let me talk about Light's feelings for Ryuzaki. Again, I wouldn’t say Light is "in love" with L. Light doesn't have much love in his heart for, well, anyone. But it is hard not to look at his face at the end of the scene and see something. He certainly respects L. Then again, by the end of the episode he will be smiling triumphantly as Ryuzaki dies. It's complicated.