Akaihane

I have adored the Death Note anime throughout its entire run, but I can say, without fear of hyperbole, that these two episodes are the best the show has had to offer so far. Not only is this possibly my favourite part of the manga, but the anime took these pivotal scenes and not only executed them with an excellence I didn’t expect, but even added a few more elegant touches into the mix.

This post will obviously contains major spoilers for episode 24 and 25 of the anime, as well as the related chapters of the manga (notably 57 onwards).

I think one of my favourite things, something that, as far as I can remember, wasn’t as expanded in the manga version, is the fragility of L. The first time this is evident is when he touches the notebook and sees Rem; his look of shock is a long way from the expressions we are use to from the character. This depiction of a more human L is hit upon even more in episode 25; right at the start we have the added wintery scenes where Wataru brings L to the orphanage in England. And then we have another original scene of L and Light talking on the rooftop in the middle of the rain storm. L’s talk of the bells, which we have heard ring throughout the episode, hints upon what is about to happen and makes us question whether or not L has a feeling he is on the course to defeat. We also see a little of his weakness when he expresses regret for not being able to trust others, a sadness that he has never really been able to contect closely to another person, as well as his words in the following scene “I’m sad. You’ll undertand soon.”

The scene on the stairs where they dry themselves of the rain water is an allergory of betrayal, L’s request to “wash” Light’s feet; this seems to be a bibical allusion relating to when Jesus washed Judas’ feet the day before the man’s betrayal that lead to his death. It is a little unusual for one to do something intimate like this, but then L doesn’t quite understand social interactions with his autistic tendancies, and may not even realise the strangeness of his request. This massage even suprisingly seems to have a sexual tone to it, with not only the contact but Light’s occasional gasps, one that will be a delight to the LxLight fans out there. I am, however, a little confused as to Light reaching forward to dry L’s hair though; his face seems too gentle for his actions to mean he is simply bothered by the water dropping onto his foot. Perhaps it’s one of more than a few instances in this episode where we question that maybe deep down Light doesn’t want L to die, if perhaps he somewhere shares the same feelings that L seemed to have for him despite his suspicions, those of friendship.

And then we have the death scene. The slowness of the fall, the shock on Light’s face, the bells tolling once more in the background, L’s memories, and then the look exchanged between the pair where Light’s face tranforms into the insidious smile we know, the look of suprise from L falling to one of calm as he dies, knowing that he was right all along. It is a brilliantly constructed scene and I can’t see anyway I would have been happier with its execution.

Away from our two main characters, we have the new Misa scene where she retakes up her role as the second Kira. Dressed up like a doll, all in black, she walks through the city as a harbinger of death, leaving victims in her wake. The song playing over this scene, using Aya Hirano’s vocal skills, is unnerving while at the same time beautiful.

When it comes to series that stick closely to the manga they are adapted from, I’m always worried when they add scenes as they often do not meet the quality of the manga scenes, but in the case of episode 25, I think they have in fact really added to the impact L’s death has. In fact, I think I’m more touched by the anime’s renderation, and feel more in touch with the characters than I did when reading the manga.

The music has always been notable in the series, but in these two episodes seems even stronger, lending even more than usual to the atmosphere. It is haunting, and even the use of silence, especially on the rooftop scene when the question of lying comes up, (apt as episode 25’s title is ‘Silence’) makes an immense dramatic impact.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt chills like this watching anime, and it is sad to say that even though I still enjoy the manga after this point, this is without a doubt the best part in my opinion (though I still have to read the final two volumes of the manga).

(ISP is still being a bitch with allowing me to upload images, but both Random Curiosity and Memento have great screencaps to illustrate these episodes.)