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Death Note Manga *Spoilers*
Jan. 30th, 2025 04:11 pmI finally read the entire manga of Death Note. Some thoughts on the differences from the anime - although some of these changes are clearly different because of different translation rather than because of differences between manga and anime:
• In the anime I watched, Ryuzaki just calls Light "Light". In the manga, he initially calls him Light-Kun and then switches to Yagami-Kun (in contrast to Light's father, who is Yagami-San). I'm really not informed enough about Japanese culture to explain the differences, but the context gives me enough information to follow the story.
• I miss L quipping "that would be dark" (as he does in the anime) when Misa is talking about how sad she would be if she didn't have Light. In the manga he just says "that's right", no pun. I don't know if this is the translation or an actual change between manga and anime.
• A difference between manga and anime that was definitely a not a translation was the scene between L and Light in the rain and the follow-up scene of them drying off. I was surprised to find that this was unique to anime.
On a somewhat related note, I'm really not happy with the portrayal of female characters. I do kind of like Misa Amane, but she's the most prominent female character and is a pretty but not-too-bright model who is motivated entirely by her love for Light. Kiyomi Takada, another prominent, is described as stupid despite her good grades and is also strongly motivated by wanting to be Light's romantic partner. Naomi Misora and Halle Lidner have potential, but don't get a lot of time spent on them. Maybe one of L's heirs could have been female?
Speaking of L's heirs, I do think the story lost something when L died. It had been the L and Light show, and Near (and Mello) just didn’t have the same relationship with Light. Nor did they have any relationship that we saw with L. There's a short sequel story included in this version of the manga that reveals Near and Mello had all of one conversation with their mentor. I had figured L was a hands-off mentor, but that was even more less interaction than I would have thought. Anyway, I do think it was brave to kill L, but I just couldn't get invested in the rivalry between Mello and Near in the way I did in the rivalry between L and Light.
• In the anime I watched, Ryuzaki just calls Light "Light". In the manga, he initially calls him Light-Kun and then switches to Yagami-Kun (in contrast to Light's father, who is Yagami-San). I'm really not informed enough about Japanese culture to explain the differences, but the context gives me enough information to follow the story.
• I miss L quipping "that would be dark" (as he does in the anime) when Misa is talking about how sad she would be if she didn't have Light. In the manga he just says "that's right", no pun. I don't know if this is the translation or an actual change between manga and anime.
• A difference between manga and anime that was definitely a not a translation was the scene between L and Light in the rain and the follow-up scene of them drying off. I was surprised to find that this was unique to anime.
On a somewhat related note, I'm really not happy with the portrayal of female characters. I do kind of like Misa Amane, but she's the most prominent female character and is a pretty but not-too-bright model who is motivated entirely by her love for Light. Kiyomi Takada, another prominent, is described as stupid despite her good grades and is also strongly motivated by wanting to be Light's romantic partner. Naomi Misora and Halle Lidner have potential, but don't get a lot of time spent on them. Maybe one of L's heirs could have been female?
Speaking of L's heirs, I do think the story lost something when L died. It had been the L and Light show, and Near (and Mello) just didn’t have the same relationship with Light. Nor did they have any relationship that we saw with L. There's a short sequel story included in this version of the manga that reveals Near and Mello had all of one conversation with their mentor. I had figured L was a hands-off mentor, but that was even more less interaction than I would have thought. Anyway, I do think it was brave to kill L, but I just couldn't get invested in the rivalry between Mello and Near in the way I did in the rivalry between L and Light.
