The Truth About Death Note
How to Read 13 >> The Truth About Death Note
Thank you Kuwamatsu-Aki for these wonderful translations :)
| 01. What was the purpose of Light using “L, did you know?” in the dying message? |
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He was simply making fun of L, and trying to shake up the investigation. And also because I personally really wanted to use it. laughs |
| 02. During L’s first meeting with Souichirou and the other detectives, what were the specifics of the trick he had prepared to determine whether any of them were Kira? |
During his individual questioning of the detectives, he was going to do the same thing he did with Light after their tennis match in page.21. But Souichirou and the others were so simple that in the end, L couldn’t even be bothered to try.
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| 03. How much can you trust the percentages L uses to express his level of suspicion? |
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Generally, any time L speaks in numbers, his suspicion has already exceeded 90% in his own mind. So you can’t trust him. And he’s a liar to begin with, anyway. laughs So, like L, I just make up those numbers randomly. |
| 04. What was L’s true purpose for following Light to college? |
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He had confidence in his theory that Light was Kira, so he probably wanted to confirm it himself, and show Light that he was on the attack. He was aware it was dangerous, but understood Light’s intelligence and was sure that Light wouldn’t try to kill him under uncertain circumstances. |
| 05. What was the reason L believed in the existence of shinigami after hearing Misa’s message? |
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“If I acknowledge the existence of shinigami, it makes a feasible hypotheses… But, must I go so far as to concede the existence of such things?!”
He reviewed the Kira case and came to this conclusion in an instant, and was astonished. While the other detectives were wondering what the second Kira was talking about, L was the only one who understood the message’s true meaning. And also, I personally wanted to make him fall on his backside. laughs |
| 06. Was Light’s “I have a girlfriend” line supposed to be foreshadowing of Misa’s introduction? |
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Light didn’t know Misa at this point, so it was not intended to insinuate her entrance at all. laughs It was simply an excuse for coming home late. Actually, I put it in because I wanted to write Sayu’s reaction to his “I had dinner at the hotel” line afterward. laughs |
| 07. Whose note did Light return to Rem before he was imprisoned? |
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There’s actually a time gap between the panel where Light gives the note to Rem and the next panel where Rem flies away. This is where the note shuffle occurred, so the note Rem left with was the one Light owned from the beginning. At this point, the trick to kill L had already been finalized, so I was extremely anxious about the fact that it was no longer possible to change anything. |
| 08. During the introduction of the eight Yotsuba executives, was Higuchi not sweating because he was Kira? |
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He remained calm among everyone else’s nervousness because he was Kira… was not my intention at all. This was simply the result of a coincidence with Obata-sensei’s art. I guess he didn’t draw Higuchi sweating because he thought it wouldn’t suit Higuchi’s cold features. Similarly, Namikawa wasn’t sweating either, after all. |
| 09. Why did the Yotsuba Kira turn out to be Higuchi? |
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Midou was meant to be a mislead and therefore out of the question. I rejected Namikawa because his role changed when he received the phone call from Light. I rejected Shimura because of his personality. People who use the Death Note must be foolish to begin with, so someone out of the remaining members who seemed foolish; And especially since the Yotsuba Kira was using the note for selfish reasons, it had to be someone with a sleazy personality… So finally, I decided on Higuchi through process of elimination. |
| 10. What was the reason for switching the note around between Ryuk and Rem? |
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Because it was necessary for Ryuk to be the shinigami to stay with Misa. Rem probably wouldn’t have let Misa do the trade for the shinigami eyes. Also, the note planned for Misa to dig up had to be her own. Otherwise her memories wouldn’t have returned, since she’d never used Light’s note before. |
| 11. What was the meaning of L’s final words, “ga… ma…”? |
| The manager thought it was “Watashi wa machigatte nakatta ga… Koko wa make ka… [I wasn’t wrong, but… I suppose I’ve lost…]”, foreshadowing Near and Mello’s introduction… But I think it’s best for everyone to come up with their own interpretations. It might not be fair, considering I don’t make it clear whether Matsuda’s theory in page.108 is correct or not either, but Death Note is meant to be completed and enjoyed using each person’s own interpretations. Sorry. |
| 12. What was Light planning to use the shared cell phone number system for? |
| This system is actually a convenient way for Light to obtain info on all the other detectives. An excuse to bug them, basically. laughs I originally wasn’t planning on introducing futuristic devices into the story… But I figured this wouldn’t be too far-fetched, and since the main characters split up between America and Japan, the plot would slow down if they were unable to hear everything at the same time. If each person had varying levels of information on the situation, it would’ve been troublesome for me because I’d have to insert explanations like “This character did this because he knew this much” in every scene… |
| 13. Was Misa able to see Shidou when he visited Light’s room? |
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No, and Light wasn’t able to see him either. The reason Misa reacted was because Ryuk looked like he was talking to himself, and she thought that was strange. |
| 14. Why did Light choose Mikami to be Kira’s stand-in? |
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I suppose he thought “This guy could work” and felt some kind of sympathy with Mikami. Also, since he was about to be put under surveillance and couldn’t retain composure, he really had no choice but to pick someone. And Mikami seemed like the best choice… That was all it might have been. Though you can still feel some composure from his lines. laughs |
| 15. Is it a special ability of Near’s to be able to watch many monitors at the same time? |
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Watching several monitors at the same time is probably a specific talent of Near’s, but L did something close as well, didn’t he. Since it’s a question of analytical ability and brain capacity, it’s not just limited to processing many images simultaneously, and a characteristic of the Wammy’s House kids is to be able to process large amounts of information at once. The top class kids are probably all able to do something similar. Mello… doesn’t seem like he’d be very good at it. laughs |
| 16. Did Near believe Mikami’s words about there being no shinigami with him? |
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Near didn’t know the rule about a shinigami always having to stay with the owner of the note, and furthermore, he didn’t know Mikami’s note was a fake at this time either. So he was completely fooled by Mikami’s act, and at that point had already decided to take advantage of the absence of a shinigami to try and switch the note. Then again, Light had already anticipated this as well, which was why he had Mikami keep a fake note. |
| 17. Why did Near have the detectives bring their note to the YB Warehouse meeting? |
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So he could take it and dispose of it, of course. So his “I won’t even touch it” statement to Light was a lie, and he intended to confiscate it afterward. What with Near and L, there sure are a lot of liars among the Wammy’s House alumni. I guess they’re taught that lies necessary to their investigation are okay. laughs |
| 19. Why didn’t Takada kill Mello soon after she was imprisoned in the back of the truck? |
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Because if she killed him while he was driving, there was a chance of an accident where she’d die as well. But if she’d known the rules better, she’d have known that it’s not possible to involve other people in the death…. That was what delayed her rescue and caused her downfall… |
| 20. How was Mikami able to tell Light was Kira? |
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As indicated in the scene, only Light’s life span wasn’t visible. And the reason Light’s life span wasn’t visible was because he had ownership of the note from the investigation headquarters. The ownership was originally transferred to Souichirou when they broke into Mello’s hideout, but Light touched the note first after Souichirou’s death and gained it back. After that, the note was stored away at their headquarters, but Light never officially resigned the ownership. |
| 21. What was Light referring to when he said “I manipulated Near to work directly on the note”? |
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He’s referring to the many acts he had Mikami put on, such as using the note on the train and saying there’s no shinigami. There’s actually several other scenes that weren’t shown where he had Mikami act like that. |
| 22. How did Mikami realize the note had been switched? |
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Mikami had already been informed by Light, through Takada, that it was likely Near’s group would switch the note. So the methodical Mikami went as far as getting a microscope, and used it to check the note every day. I had Obata-sensei draw that in page.97. |
| 23. Was Ryuk already visible to Near from the beginning of the YB Warehouse confrontation? |
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Of course. Furthermore, Gevanni and the others had also touched it during the process of switching the note, so they were able to see Ryuk as well. They were probably under strict orders by Near to show no reaction, but… it certainly must’ve been difficult to not get agitated upon seeing Ryuk. laughs |
| 24. How did Light know Near’s real name? |
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Light had instructed Mikami to kill Near first, and indeed the first name written in the note was Nate River. And since Mikami had been peeping in on Light and Near’s conversation, he was able to figure out who Near was. By the way, the “River” in Near’s real name is supposed to mean “one who flows (is linked) from L”. His first name, Nate, comes from the word “natural”, and means “type of prodigy whose current status comes from natural genius”. It’s quite a contrast to Mello, who’s the hardworking type. And my apologies to Mello, but I haven’t thought of any particular meaning to his real name. laughs |
