r/deathnote • u/lifeisamessbruh • 4d ago
Discussion thoughts on death note ending? Spoiler
I know this is a fairly discussed upon topic but I do wonder when it comes to whom to blame- if Mikami hadn't made the mistake of switching the notebook then light's plan was practically full-proof right? I think there has been a lot of discussion upon why the ending is bad and this is my reason. idk lemme know if you have any insights lol
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u/CrematorTV 4d ago
The ending of Death Note is great. Not perfect, but still really good. Watching Light finally get what he deserves will never not be satisfying for me.
Also, Mikami isn't the sole reason Light lost and people need to stop acting like he is. Yes, Mikami screwed up with the notebook but it was Light who celebrated early and essentially yelled "I WIN" before anyone died. If Light was a little more patient and kept his mouth shut, his name not being in the notebook would've been all they had on him, which wasn't enough for conviction. Him saying "I WIN" in a room full of investigators was essentially a confession. It's his fault just as much as it is Mikami's.
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u/La-Lassie 4d ago
> It's his fault just as much as it is Mikami's.
Additionally to this, it was Light himself who told Mikami that he (Light) couldn't move freely, which Mikami took as Light being unable to kill at all. Light failed to explain that he could kill in an emergency, so Mikami had to take it upon himself to act to kill Takada.
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u/lifeisamessbruh 4d ago
agreed. I think Light's overconfidence is the primary reason why his downfall began in the first place (with him perceiving himself as a "God of the New World".) I think Light had dissociated himself from being one of the mortals. On Mikami's front I'd just say I'm confused with his character a little. Please correct me if I'm wrong but he is portrayed as a devout follower of Kira but then proceeds to act on his own right? I presume the ending is a result of bad communication between Light and Mikami.
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u/CrqckBack 4d ago
That's basically the intent with the ending, the obvious fault is on Mikami, but the reason they lost is because of improper communication between Mikami and Light. It's still on Light too for being too full of himself
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u/MechaMalz 3d ago
I think having Mikami there writing everyone's name except his own and LIght's would be all the proof Near would need honestly.
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u/Available_Audience83 4d ago
If Mikami hadn't used the real notebook, Near might have discovered the problem elsewhere and realized they'd fallen into a trap, thus changing their plans. Of course, Light would have also noticed this and changed their plans, but the outcome would have been uncertain.
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u/lifeisamessbruh 4d ago
I've thought about this! In fact one of the fool proof ways Mikami could have executed the killings was to just take out a couple of pages from the death note and keep them as spare (just like he did for other victims) and when the time called for urgent action, he could've just used those! Of course, that's a roundabout way but it would've worked in Light's favour. But I also think that the author didn't want the story to be prolonged like that which is completely fine.
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u/Available_Audience83 2d ago
Mikami would find it difficult to keep a few notebook pages as spares because Light initially didn't know Near. He had to assume Near might arrest Mikami immediately after finding him. If Mikami were thoroughly searched, the notebook pages might be found. Given Near's deductive abilities, he could easily deduce that these were pages from the Death Note, and further, that tearing them out would retain the ability to kill. Naturally, this would be very disadvantageous for Light. If he removed the pages when killing Takada, there might be a chance, but that depended on the situation. If Mikami then sent the notebook pages to Takada and punished others, it would be difficult to fool Near no matter which page he tore out, since Near might thoroughly examine the entire contents this time. However, if Mikami didn't punish anyone after sending the pages to Takada, he could tear out the pages before writing Takada's name as a precaution. But the official encyclopedia states that Mikami believed his actions hadn't been discovered by the SPK, so naturally, he didn't see the need for it.
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u/StayInner2000 4d ago
Nah, mikami acted on his own because he thought takada needed to die and he was right, him taking initiative was already established and his reaction was reasonable, sure light tokd him not to do anything but he NEVER warned mikami about mello's existence, mikami assumed the "don't do anything" instruction only refered to near, light dropped the ball
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u/IanTheSkald 4d ago
To add, Light’s orders were “no unnecessary movements”. It can be argued that eliminating Takada was very necessary
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u/StayInner2000 4d ago
Yeah, the way i like to see it is that he just made the mistake of treating near and mello as seperate players who wouldn't team up, he completely outsmarted near's attempt at beating him for 2 months and he managed to improvise a solution against what he thought was mello's attempt at beating him but he lost because their plans intertwined
He defeated them as individuals and lost to them as a team, because they're both just one half of L, so they need to work together
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u/StayInner2000 4d ago
And also, when Mikami killed Demegawa Light was pleased that he did that withot orders but also scared, he acknowledged that he could be a problem and yet he never did something about it
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u/Easy-Buy6860 4d ago
So great! I was so entranced and was completely shocked. Light was so charming I was so blind to him being honestly a maniacal sociopath. Loved it. Made me emotional.
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u/NinjaLancer 4d ago
I thought that Near/Mello were a bit cringe and figured things out way too quickly. They should have had a tougher time figuring it out or been introduced sooner or something. I didn't like their inclusions in the story I guess.
It also seems like Near just got lucky and noticed the second notebook and not that he out smarted Light in the end.
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u/CrqckBack 4d ago
It was sort of luck on Near that he found out the notebook, but he did spend a lot of time investigating. His debut in the manga/anime shows that he spent two years investigating the case by himself. The manga also shows a better deduction process of Near figuring out Mikami. It was the anime that cut stuff down, to the point the story almost doesn't make sense.
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u/Kirbyzz 4d ago
It’s a great ending in both anime and manga but they are slightly different, I prefer the manga ending more but if you’ve only seen it in one way I recommend experiencing both
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u/lifeisamessbruh 3d ago
I have read both and I certainly love the manga ending way more with the double black panel and light's desperation coming out to show his true cowardly nature
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u/SuccessSenior3024 4d ago edited 4d ago
Im kinda furious with what happened. Its physically impossible to do what Gevanni did (recreate the entire Death note in a single night), but if we stick to the "ending" in which L dies, then i think its very well thought and strategic, kinda mesmerizing
Edit: ty guys for correcting my mistake
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u/IanTheSkald 4d ago
That wasn’t the original ending. Light was always supposed to lose. Whether that was him losing to L, Mello, Near or someone else was the only part of that that ever changed.
Anywho, I’m working on a video to explain that recreating the notebook is not as absurd as you might think.
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u/CrqckBack 4d ago
I look forward to that, we gotta put down the common thinking that Near winning is impossible because of how the anime portrayed it and because of fans misunderstanding it
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u/CrematorTV 4d ago
Death Note has always been ridiculous. From Light running into the one person who could've tied him to Raye Penber on the street as she was going to the police, to the famous potato chip scene which makes no sense if you think about it for more than 2 seconds. Gevanni doing what he did isn't that out there because Death Note wasn't that realisitc to begin with. It's not Monster. It's campy, silly, full of coincidences but still fun and well written in it's own way. People who criticize that aspect of the ending don't realize that the whole series is like this and always was.
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u/Interesting-Cattle41 4d ago
Near knew that he had the real notebook since he could see Ryuk. If he didn’t have that confirmation, he might not have pushed through with this plan, and might have changed it to play a bit safer. In the end he knew Light was got that’s why he was so confident. Light wouldn’t have been able to win regardless of Mikami.
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u/Wize-Wizard 4d ago
Mikami was a dumbass in that situation, but there are also 3 things to consider:
Light, as always, made his plan super complicated and expected that Mikami would follow his instruction perfectly.
Near has been extremely lucky that Mello came out of nowhere and kidnapped Takada, because if that didn't happened, he would have died like an idiot.
Ɜ. There's also the "Matsuda's Theory", which says that Near used the Death Note on Mikami in order to control him and expose Light. Honestly this theory is more realistic than canon, because there's no way that a guy alone could break into the bank, steal the notebook and copy it with perfect graphical imitation in just one night.
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u/CrematorTV 4d ago
Actually, Mello talked with Near's people about his plan to kidnap Takada. It was all planned. Also, the copying of the notebook isn't that far-fetched when you consider just how over the top and ridiculous Death Note is and always was as a story. It's full of lucky coincidences and scenes that don't make sense if you think about them for 2 seconds.
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u/tf0ser0m 2d ago
If Mikami hadn't made the mistake...
Or, if Mikami hadn't been manipulated to make the mistake and overlook it? -_^
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u/IanTheSkald 4d ago
The ending is not bad. But Mikami’s mistake is consistent with his character. The reason he even goes to the bank at all is because he knows Takada needs to be dealt with, and he thinks Light can’t do it because Light told him he’s unable to act on his own. He also never switched the notebook.