Death Note episode 23

Let’s talk about the 23rd episode of Death Note. It’ll make more sense if you read my other analysis first, and there will be spoilers. With that out of the way, I want to talk about Light’s worry when Higuchi is thinking of killing Misa. I like these little moments where you truly question if Light cares about Misa or if he’s just using her. And, I think the answer goes back and forth. Light has the chance to get rid of her a few episodes from now when Rem goes away, but he never does. You could say he just needs Misa’s eyes, but I think it’s more than that. I think a little part of him depends on Misa. Some of the time, that’s because her love for him feeds his ego and narcissism. Some of the time, she’s the only one who’s able to pull off what he needs. Or, maybe, she’s one of the only ones willing to give up her life in service of him if necessary. Even when Kyomi joins in and is willing to do anything for Light, he still keeps Misa around. Maybe that’s because he’s afraid her dying would put suspicion on him, but he’s definitely smart enough to think around that. Regardless of the reason, Light appreciates Misa to some extent, and needs her by his side. It may not be as a wife as she might’ve hoped, but he still worries for her and doesn’t want her to die. Whether he’s Kira or he’s lost his memory, he always cares for her. Next, I want to bring up when L poses that the other person in the car could be a Shinigami. Misa flinches, and that’s not something that L would typically miss. I believe the issue was that L was gauging Light’s reaction, so he didn’t notice Misa falter. Either way, L already had proof of Misa’s guilt; he didn’t need more. It was better to see if Light would be guilty as well. That’s why I kind of believe it was okay for L to chain up Misa when she was on her own. It was okay to worry she might do something wrong, and she’s still guilty, but perhaps that was too many chains. The moment in the car was also a lot like Misa’s first few days of confinement; L didn’t catch or question every word that was said. If he had, he would’ve heard the word “Notebook” enough to know how Kira kills and not need to keep watching him. I get the idea of wanting to drag on the intensity of the moment, but you can’t just brush over the fact that they were listening in on Higuchi’s every word; there were several things they should have known. I also believe there are so many things Higuchi could’ve done before resorting to ‘the eye deal.’ If he were just a little smarter, he could’ve written Misa’s name in the Death Note and made her expose Matsuda’s real name to him in a text, and then die. But, luckily, he’s not that smart. He’s more driven by money, and it allows him to gloss over normal ideas. I believe that’s why he was chosen for this; he has a clear reason to use Kira’s power, and that reason makes him throw away all common sense. It’s better to have a Kira who won’t think of going after the originals. This is also another one of those episodes where someone contradicts themself. Light asks L if Rem could really be from another world or some being. L says he really doesn’t want to believe that’s the case, but when he’s asked what he thinks, he says it might be a Shinigami. I know that was mostly him gauging Light’s response, but L sure does talk a lot of nonsense. He keeps too many things to himself, and despite trying to cover them up, they still end up leaking into his words. On another note, we have another accidental death caused by Kira in this episode. Sure, I’m angry that Higuchi killed a civilian and a bystander, even if it was a cop. However, that’s what Higuchi’s been doing this whole time; he’s been killing other people, other than just criminals. Even Light only killed those who came after him and criminals, minus the accidental damage to civilians, but Higuchi always goes beyond that and kills whoever he wants. That’s why he could never be looked at as a God, like Light. But this death is different. The rules of the Death Note state: “If you just write ‘die of accident’ for the cause of death, the victim will die from a natural accident after 6 minutes and forty seconds from the time of writing it.” That cop on a motorcycle definitely took less time than that to die in an accident. Higuchi wrote the name and ‘accident’ as the cause, sped off, the cop raced after him and called for backup, and boom! He’s dead. I know this is supposed to be a short show, with small episodes, but you could’ve made that a little longer to follow the rules this show is based around. Lastly, it seems Light noticed when Higuchi made the deal. Afterwards, when L was questioning what was going on, Light muttered, “Rem, a deal.” I can’t say whether his memory was glitching, and he recognized those words, or if he’s just picking up on them, but it is interesting. I wonder if he knew what was going on and purposely withheld it from L for some reason. Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for this episode. Please let me know if there’s anything I missed, anything you want me to mention for the next episode, or any show you would like me to analyze next. See you next time, and thanks for reading.