Haha same. My mom and I watch anime together. She's even planning on reading some of the mangas. She wants to read the Death Note manga. I think that'll be awesome.
An interesting choice by the creator was to make the character of Light a genius from the get go. Usually the most celebrated characters are those that start off low and rise to the position of dominating power. Here, Light’s not just nobody who picks this book up, he’s a prodigy of Japan; athletic, good looking, smart, and has a dad who’s a high ranking cop. He comes close to almost being a fan insert character with those things from the start But I appreciate how he’s written
I guess the reason behind his popularity despite being a borderline "Self Insert" character is because we actually see him work for everything very carefully. We get to see his thought process, actions, mistakes and the consequences in full detail. Then to make it even better, we get an antagonist who poses an actual threat. Which gave us one of the greatest anime rivalries in existence. In most/horrible cases, the self insert character is the focus of attention. But here, the actions of the characters and the mind battles are the focus of attention.
anime ending is if you like Light but hate Kira. We see Kira lose, but Light comes back in a way, as we see his memories and he seems to be remorseful.
Surprised you didn't mention the epilogue of the original manga where Matsuda and Aizawa see how the world has drifted back into the crime infested world it was prior to Kira and one of them asking if they did the right thing bringing him to justice. It added further nuance and felt all the more like there was further consequences. I wish the anime would have kept that part.
I think it's kinda fascinating how both added stuff the other didn't have in their epilogue: the anime has Misa commiting suicide while the manga ends with the scene of a Kira cult and a priestess, the authors stating that they wanted to end the series with something beautiful, perhaps reaching out to the supposed goodness and beauty of Kira's world Light desired.
Also, the Matsuda's theory of Near using the Death Note killing Mikami (ten days after Light 's death) is interesting. Anime should have ended like manga. Imho that version lost the humiliation of Light. Him begging Ryuk for his life was awesome.
I really hate Light, but what I mean when I say that mostly is that I hate what the Death Note did to Light. Especially in the Yotsuba arc, we can see that Light was...a good person. He wanted to save people from Kira, and refused to lead on Misa. But I think it's important to recognize that his moral failing as a character was the fact that he *willingly* and *intentionally* let the Death Note corrupt him. He already believed he was better than everyone else to some extent. The allure of the Death Note played less of a part in Light becoming Kira than Light himself letting it corrupt him so he could live out a suppressed God complex and assert his superiority on the rickety justification of punishing the wicked. Had Light never found the Death Note, he would've remained more or less, a well-intentioned person and brilliant detective. I like to imagine he'd have worked with and eventually become genuinely close to and friendly with L.
The ending of the manga vs the anime might be controversial and people think the anime changed the story, but truthfully I like the anime the way it is
@@boldandbrash1990 Light during the Yotsuba arc agreed with Kira’s philosophy. He just hated Kira because he felt he was falsely accused of being Kira. Light had all the ingredients to be a horrible person. Him having power just unleashed his potential for evil. But that’s still on him, not the Death Note. Ryuk said plenty of humans have had the Death Note and none of them used it nearly as much as Light had when Ryuk first met Light, let alone years later of being Kira.
Read "at night I move". The mc doesn't have the same level of character development as light, but it's also a good strategic manga where the main character gets a supernatural power to kill people.
I find it also interesting that in the manga Light mentions that he had bad dreams haunting him ever since he picked up the death note. Shows that hes not a complete psychopath from the beginning. Its easy to forget that the first episode jumps from his first kill all the way to a week in in a matter of minutes and we dont really get to see how the note affected his psyche in the beginning.
In reality, that could have happened to a psychopath as well. Most of them live normal lives without even knowing that they are one, as is the case with Light.
I would love to see "what if" scenarios For example version of the story in which Light has never got back his memories about the Death Note Also just wanted to mention that I love the symbolism of some scenes. Cleaning Light's feet just like in Bible where Jesus is washing them. It hit me hard
I was trying to draw a comic following a similar concept! Like if Light lost his memory earlier. The idea was that Ryuuk decided to play along with Light's question of if he came to take his soul just to see what happens and amuse himself. This results in Light panicking and giving up the notebook in order to avoid that just so he can recover it later as an investigator, trying to trick Ryuuk without realising he fell for a prank. Unfortunately my drawing skills arent that refined so without a computer I cant really make it rn, but I'm hoping I can get back to it once I can buy a new one after the pandemic.
I actually like the manga’s ending more, because it pushes home the idea that Light was always a criminal and never a god. I think a common misconception about Light is that he had good intentions at heart. This isn’t true. Sure, he did think that there was too much evil in the world before he got the note, but in reality, he used the note because it was something new and exciting in a boring and meaningless life. In the end it was just an excuse which he quickly assigned in order to justify his use of the note.
I disliked all endings, simply put it's because they all feel so forced and poorly-thought out. The idea that somehow in a very small window of time, someone could fully copy a death note in the same handwriting style as someone else and replace it is insane. It is the equivalent of making a show which is realistic then suddenly giving the hero super powers at the end to achieve a good ending. It makes no sense and I think the ending is the worst part of the second half.
That's an element, but there's an element of justice in his original motivations. It's a naive child's view of the world, but he is a naive and sheltered person. He's also had it reinforced over his life that he's special and capable of succeeding (notice how his vision for the world sees him on top still, just as his experience in academics has reinforced his position at the top of school hierarchy), so he doesn't bother to reevaluate his ideals and objectively assess how they'd actually turn out in practice - light simply assumes that he's right and moves forward. There is some tacitly positive moral motivation in administering justice as a preventative measure, although reality shows that punishment is a poor prevention for crime because very little crime is a calculated risk vs reward assessment. Light thinks about crime as a logical choice because he's a logical person who isn't very capable of putting himself outside his own perspective of a logical person. So again, he just assumes he's right when studies into the psychology of criminology would show him otherwise if he stayed in school to pursue that like he probably would have considering his father's occupation.
there's 1 line from the last episode that I think really hits hard in the series and it comes from light talking about his dad... he didn't call his father a fool like matsuda thought but instead said "we live in a world where people who fight for their beliefs are made to look like a fool" but personally in my opinion I see it as light always had good intentions and always wanted justice and for people to live a fair and happy life where crime is unnecessary however he was very selfish in believing he was the only 1 who is correct and not to mention thinking getting rid of crime 100% was ever an option but when he gained back the notebook after losing his memories is when he was no longer who he started as.
@@cameron6538 it was also stated by the creators of the show if light had never gotten the death note he would've become one of the greatest detectives working side by side with L
If any person, fictional or real that needs endless respect, one of them has to be Mrs. Yagami. She had to go through her husband dying in his job, her daughter getting kidnapped, and her son dying without her knowledge. And even if she found out her son died, She would not even realize he was an egotistical psychopath. She needs endless love and respect. ❤️❤️
What I like about Death Note's anime is that, for the most part, it only adds detail to the world. You still get to see light beg, and it definitely shows his desperation, but then we ALSO get to see him contemplate on his past more quietly. Either way, it's a very minor change. In contrast, I'm still salty about how Promised Neverland S2 ruined everything.
IKR? I was totally open to The Promised Neverland taking a different route with the story to make something new, but it turned out so terrible. It was practically the same story, but rushed even more than the manga ending was, and some of the best arcs and characters were left out. I will forever be as salty as the dead sea because of that (I just wanted to see my bois Yuugo and Lucas, was that too much to ask?)
When I read the end of TPN I was disappointed (both because how rushed it was and because it really pissed me off how Emma was able to "cheat" her end of the promise in the end) and I thought "well, maybe the anime will have an original and better end" It kinda feels like karma
What I like about the manga ending is that there is an epilogue chapter where we are roughly a year in the future from Light’s death. We get to see how most of the world settles back to resemble what it was before Kira. We also see how others have come to worship and even pray to Kira, despite his demise.
The rich part is that the world never really got over Kira, but the other present and future human possessors of the Death Note, never actually decided to commit to Kira´s legacy either
6:16 "Knowing his world is crumbling around him, Light can only imagine how life would have been for him, had he never found the notebook to begin with, and makes him remorseful, because he knows it could have been great." Yes, the author stated that if Light wouldn't have picked up the notebook, he would have became a famous detective and ended up working with L, so definitely a great life.
I would have loved seeing a world where Light catches himself, and decides to write his own name to stop himself, an internal conflict of which version of him is stronger
@@thomasmorris4449 i recomend code geass if you enjoyed death note. I also recomend the anime banana fish, its really really good just a little mature.
Personally, I think either ending can satisfy someone's want to see how Light spends his last moments. There could be those that see him as someone that becomes unredeemable as the story reaches the conclusion so they want him to become an emotional mess and beg for some kind of way out, while others see a kid that got way over his head who becomes scared when his castle is destroyed. The two endings give an answer to each of these so I see what ending a person would prefer is connected to how they see Light at the end.
I prefer the manga ending to the anime ending personally. I do like the religious symbolism added by the anime, but I feel like Light's loss of dignity and humanity in the manga ending is a better fit for Light's character. Light lost because of his Ignorance and showing him pleading for safety and victory when faced with death and defeat shows how even though he's sunk to the absolute bottom he's still too ignorant to admit that he's lost. I really don't see Light regretting his actions or accepting defeat, in the end, he's far too arrogant for it. After all, he's a human who sees himself with the worth of a god, it doesn't get more arrogant than that. A more minor reason I prefer the manga ending is that the second half as a whole is better paced and less underwhelming in the manga. In both versions, the ending is what carries the second arc, but in the manga, it feels like a reward for finishing the series, while in the anime it feels like walking on a velvet carpet that's been placed on a rocky trail. Both endings are extremely satisfying though, and while I definitely prefer one, I think both of them are valid conclusions and, as Just Stop states, "Neither is objectively better".
@@efoxkitsune9493 Thanks, man! I honestly forgot about leaving this comment and reading it again definitely took me back to my Death Note enthusiast era. I wrote it 4-ish months ago so I feel like I would change some things about it but I still agree with my claim. I'm thinking it's about time I should give Death Note a re-read as well.
I'd like to think everyone has the power to change. "You don't know what you've got till it's gone". Light didn't realise how his life was and how innocent he was after obtaining the deathnote. The deathnote changed him and gave him the whole persona of being the God of the new world. At the end he acknowledged that he'd missed how things used to be. Because he was dying he was able to see the pain he'd caused and a life that he'd thrown away. I think that he is so strong for being able to realise that after how arrogant he is and all the lives he took. Deep down in his blackened heart the innocence still existed, then and only then did he realise what once was and what he'd left behind. How despite his ego he accepted defeat, he knew that he had lost. Dying on a stairway full of acceptance, pain and a tinge of regret. That he could neither go to heaven or hell.
I like the ending of that fan-comic where Light "wins" and creates his "New World" but then Ryuuk kills him and he finds out that in the afterlife he'll be killed repetitively for every single name he wrote on the death note including experiencing all the conditions of death before ceasing to exist. So he decides to keep going hoping that by the time he experienced all deaths in the book he'd have had enough time to force the Shinigami King to make a deal with him. It's good in the sense Light fans get to see his "utopia" become a reality and he not giving up in the end while Kira haters get to see him receiving a karmic punishment for everything he has done before he gets erased for good.
"Home" is a song, "Three Days Grace" is a rock band And ah, sorry then :/ If it helps, the title is called "Death Note Fan Made Alternate Ending Light Wins" while the uploader's channel is named "Julia"
I love that there are two different endings. I like both a lot, though I personally lean towards the anime. Hearing Ryuk's little speech while Light runs, those thoughts of what could be running through his mind. The music is so gorgeous, the anime looking stunning visually. Seeing Light finally stop and lie down on those stairs. It feels so...I don't know the best words to put to it. But it hits me so good.
When I first saw the series, I never had it in my head that Light would win, but honesty maybe he should have, with the only real karma being he dies from his own lifespan Apparently when Ryuk looks at Light with his eyes and we see the numbers they could have shown us just how little time he has in the long run
I'm surprised you didn't even mention the whole chapter that follows the one of Light's death, which was completely cut from the anime. Matsuda has an interesting theory about Near having manipulated Mikami with the death note in order to make sure he wouldn't check the note before going to kill the SPK
Man, Light is my absolute favorite anime character. I was saddened when I watched his death, but I was crushed when I read it. But that probably just goes to show how amazing death note is. The series made me care for and deeply appreciate...a killer. I'm sad that he died, but I'll take the anime route for which one I prefer here. They're both just too sad though.
bruh i felt really sad too poor light i know i know people would be like but light killed people light made people suffer hes a killer bro i dont care its an anime its not real life i dont get whats not fun about light
I hated his guts. And I think one of the main reasons was the feeling of betrayal tbh. He made me like him at the start. He made me sympathize with him, care for him, root for him, see his humanity and hope with all my heart that he'll eventually see the wrong of his actions and do the right thing. I invested time and emotional energy. But he kept descending further and further, until finally he became irredeemable. He abandoned all he seemed to stand for at the beginning. He became a mass murderer, a pathetic boy with a god complex, arrogant, ignorant, so incredibly full of himself. Callous. So the (manga) ending was really satisfying to me. A perfectly fitting end for someone like Light. SUPER compelling character though!! Truly one of the best. It was great following his descent into true villainy. Never felt cheap. He was super intriguing all the way through. But I have to admit I was really relieved when he finally got his comeuppance, haha.
@@efoxkitsune9493 Man you're the exact opposite from me, just reading that made me sad 😂😂 But he is a really great character, regardless of moral stances. I'm glad we agree on that much haha.
@@efoxkitsune9493 I just wanted to see what would happen after he won because it sounded interesting, his death sort of made the whole anime feel pointless, his ambitions amounted to nothing, didn't get to see it in the end. So it felt like a little bit of a slap in the face
@@efoxkitsune9493 Same, but I didn't care much for him. I just found him entertaining. When he meets Ryuk and says "I want to be the god of the new world" I understood that he wasn't doing this only because of his morals, he wants to be worshiped and praised. He thinks that he knows better and is above everyone else. If he had only killed criminals I could have some sympathy for him, but when he tried to kill "L" on TV it made me realize that he's just sociopath that wouldn't stop for nothing.
Also,the manga implies that although Light lost Kira on the other hand might have had a post-mortem victory as Kira's cult is no where near coming to an end,the impact Kira had on society is still present with all the people in the streets still as fanatical as ever,in other words SPK can end Kira the man but there is no guarantee because of cognitive dissonance that they will be able to end Kira the concept.
This was my first anime, my first proper introduction to anime. And after 7/8 years, I'm still in love with it. Shoutout to Death Note for introducing me to a world that shaped most of my personality, passion and improvement in art. 😤❤️
I think everyone has had some character that you wish for having Lights ending in the anime. Where usually they don’t get the privilege of dying a slow almost peaceful death where they see their past mistakes, how they know everything is over and have to basically accept the reality of it all. While seeing a character begging right before their death or dying so suddenly they can hardly react is satisfying I feel like anime Lights type of death is something that can satisfied for years if not decades later
When I first saw the anime at the age of 20 I really liked this ending, and found the manga inferior, because I thought Light was a well-intentioned person, who went off the deep end. Kind of how many people were sympathetic to MCU Thanos in Infinity War. Now at the age of 30, I think the manga is better, because I lived enough to recognise Light was full of sh*t from start, and he never actually cared about bettering the world, he just wanted to reshape it in his image. And the best proof of this are his thoughts before his first murder: the kindergaten hostage taker. There were what? 40 kids and several kindergarten teachers being held hostage, and what's Light's reaction? Is it "God, this is awful, if there's 1% chance this Death Note is real, I've got to take it to save them!"? No. Just the opposite in fact. He was prepairing to write a name in the Death Note to test it, but thought to himself "Wait, if there's 1% chance this Death Note is real, I should write the name of someone despicable.". From the start he didn't set out to save lifes. He set out to take them. Saving lifes in the proccess was just a side-effect, not the cause. He was an egotistic psychopath from the start, and he absolutely deserved the more humiliating death.
this, many light defenders fail to see it, even the anime with his different ending it shows a pathethic arrogant douche who never believed on the justice he preached so much
Saying he was a physcopath from the start is a bit of a stretch and is doing a disservice to his character, when light was about to write his first name on the death note, he contemplated killing a criminal and THEN turned his TV on to see a kidnappings was happening, even near stated killing 1 or 2 people out of curiosity in the beginning would've been a normal reaction, which is exactly what light did, it wasn't until AFTER he killed 2 criminals that he decided to become Kira, at which his mental state started to spiral, which light himself points out.
I don't like it, because in my opinion the point of this has always been that no one "deserves" death, that there's no justice or good, nor there is bad. In fact, death note laughs in the face of good and evil. Hence why there's no heaven or hell, everyone just goes to the same place, which is nothing. Light's "peaceful" death (which honestly was quite humiliating still), to me, was just an opportunity for him to reflect on his life and think "was it worth it?", because there's nothing after death, all that matters is life.
I disagree though , it's not fair if you put him in like that . Maybe you already forgot but he smart enough to realized there might be a consequence for his action if he keep using Death note , but he did and used it as much as possible with the goal in his mind at first few days is to reduce the criminals to made the world become a better place even the chance he might die later or "lost his soul" as he fear asked Ryuk until Ryuk clarify about it and at that point was when he grown his God complexed : "killing people without consequences" which is pretty understandable cuz who gonna judge you when even god of death dont even give a shit ? i wont talk about wrong or right about that method cuz it is a different matter , the point is light is a "good guy" at the start until Kira persona start to developed as Death note appeared it in his life . What you gonna do with a death note in your hand ? I'm confident say atleast most of us even a cowar , every day good guy or whatever would use it even once . And the fact Light killed the very first criminal guy i would say justify and doesnt "light up" about him as Evil or good guy , cmon would you tried that "1%" chance that very well can saved so many kids life even that you might kill a person ? I can rambling hours about how Light become Kira even he was a good person at first . . . but sum it up he's a smart kid , he know how the world work and how corrupted it is atleast in Deathnote world , look how balancely evils thing happen in his dailies life , so much that he can easy spot some of the most ugli psychopath criminals on his life to test the deathnote and he's son of cop chief definitely doesnt helped for his mental about the world too . that why the author connected him and Ryuk at the first sceen and said "this world is rotten" . The proofs he was a good person can be proved when he forgot everything about the death note and refuse use any dirty method that involve innocent people just to catch the criminals too , and the obivious one : Ohba himself said Light without Deathnote will become a great detective and against criminals along side with L , What more do you need to think he's not a good person at first ? One of the themes of deathnote obivious is "power corrupted people" even you are good person or someone have potential to become psychopath which i can agurt that light is more of a good guy than L if Deathnote didnt exist . Sorry for long comment and garbage englishu .
I disagree, if anything I'd say manga Light deserved the anime ending and anime Light deserved the manga ending. In the manga Light threw up and had a meltdown for just killing that one guy. Also he told Ryuuk that he made a psychological profile of every criminal he killed who was always someone caught on act in order to be sure he was only killing someone guilty. Of course I have no idea how he did that while hiding from the police and for hundreds of people per day, but hey anime logic.
I actually have a weird cognitive dissonance happening with the anime's ending. Light's actions throughout the series make it clear to me that he's lost it by the end, he's gone mad with power and has lost the ability to empathize with individual humans when he's been thinking of them exclusively as tools to forward his goals and feels nothing about killing them en masse. So when he passes that younger version of himself, I love the parallel (and I easily prefer it to the manga version for its effective imagery, but I think the manga version is just as applicable), but I think only the audience is actually seeing the potential he had. I think what Light sees there is the moment he became doomed, because he's too intelligent not to realize that the choice to pick up the Death Note led to this, and obviously knowing how it turned out there are so many things he would go back and change. I like the ambiguity of his reaction, but I think it's also very easy for people to assume that Light regrets his actions; I don't think he does. I don't think he ever does, he only seems to regret that his actions didn't create the world he wanted, and if he had a chance to do it all over again he'd be more careful. Less impulsive, like he was in his youth when he constantly made big, arrogant mistakes, until his conflict with L taught him he couldn't afford those. Maybe he wouldn't even use the Death Note directly or prolifically until he worked his way into a position of untouchable power. Maybe he wouldn't use it at all and seek to influence the world in all the same ways without that shortcut. There are literally endless ways he could have ensured another outcome if he had the understanding he does while he's running away from his failure, chock full of bullets and regret. Because, while his idealism absolutely got twisted by the power the Death Note gave him, I think Light was always going to turn into at least a fraction of the monster he became as soon as he got enough power. If he became a police chief, he would consider it part of his job to overlook certain indiscretions that cleaned up the streets or got rid of "undesirables," and quite likely begin to see his people as the only proponents for good in the world and thus above the law. If he ran for office, he would approve legislation in favor of the death penalty and restricting people who struggle financially from access to government resources. We know this because his targets were not only those who perpetuate injustice, but also those who are a "burden to society." He says this verbatim while he's formulating his dream of a perfect world, so on a very core level, Light believes that there is no excuse for people to depend on others and everyone should be capable of supporting themselves regardless of their economic, social, or physical limitations. The best outcome for Light, if he never picked up a Death Note, is if he lived his life as a bored pencil pusher, constantly feeling superior to everyone but never taking any meaningful steps to increase his influence on the world (or else having a transformative life experience that makes him re-examine and reconsider his biases). Otherwise, as soon as he got a little too much power, he would inevitably start to victimize the same people he claims to be saving--just like he did on an unimaginable scale when his power was nigh unlimited.
I still think the Re-Light mini-series was a missed opportunity. I know it was like a clip show with some new scenes thrown in, but they wasted the perfect opportunity to re-do the ending and make it like the manga.
Personally I don’t feel in the anime that light accepted his death at all he tried to run away from his problems rather than beg and reflected on his life but had to lie down in the stairs because of blood loss and couldn’t run anymore. I don’t think he is thinking about how he could have lived without the death note rather he is reflecting on when he found the death note and is devastated that all he has built is falling apart but reflecting on how it all started. He accepts his death because he can’t run anymore rather than just giving up on trying to escape he does because he has no way to try and escape anymore.
I vastly prefer the manga ending with its poetic justice and this is why: I’m of the opinion that Light was always a sociopath and a narcissist. He was never “innocent”, he wasn’t corrupted by the Death Note. He was an egotistic coward who was just given god-like power. It doesn’t take him long to develop a god complex. He isn’t even as smart as he thinks he is because he had supernatural help no one could have accounted for. His own ego is what gets him tricked into revealing his existence in the first place. Light is a monster and the anime ending is too easy on him. Scrabbling on the floor begging for the mercy he never showed anyone else is exactly what he deserved. When I first caught episode 2 on adult swim my impression was this was a series following a serial killer and nothing about it ever changed my mind.
@@omegazx7236 Yeah me too, I mean it makes logical sense for this to happen to someone, and there's nothing to suggest he's initially sociopathic and narcassistic, I think.
I prefer the anime ending. The manga one is like...dude, you'll die from your wounds anyway or survive from them but get sentenced to death, why you pleading to Ryuk? The anime ending is much more bittesweet as the sun slowly sets on him and the fate of the others are left to interpretation.
He still could have gotten life in prison or even if they executed him he would still have a time to sit in prison beforehand. Ryuk said: I don't wan't to wait, you lost. So thats the reason he wrote his name in the note, as he promised him in the beginning.
Btw, before writing his Name in the Note, Light has a complete breakdown and cries towards every "friend" or "partner" he had. And Ryuk said too: I have never seen someone who used a Death Note die without despair.
Manga is more fitting for Light’s character. Dude wasn’t some godlike mastermind above death. That was only what his ego had him believe. And it was his ignorance and ego that was his undoing. In the end, Light was just another pathetic human, who feared death, and it’s fitting he died pleading and begging in his knees. It’s pathetic to watch and it’s supposed to be. The manga made a point not to idolise and romantacise people like Light While the anime was more sympathetic and shifts blame off him, directing it to the Notebooks fault.
@@sasukesbussy7101 I mean without the notebook none of the story would have set off, probably, so it totally is it's fault. True villain in a sense is ryuk since I guess this has probably happened a bunch in the past because of him
I think both of them are great endings. If I had to choose one tho, it would be subjective, but I think the manga does it just a bit better. Especially because of the reveal at the end. We may have not thought about it a lot but we truly never did know where everyone went after they died, if they became shinigami, and with lights memory it confirms it, the memory that tells us he and everyone else will go to nothingness. It tells us in this moment that yes truly, light has lost. And in the memory it shows how light outsmarted ryuk and how he was content with it, but now thinking over this memory makes him scream in fear more and more. Everything he did crumbled so far down, he made no more sense, begging ryuk he Dosent want to die even tho him of all people should know that once the name is in, it’s over. He does not even think about humiliation at this point, all the way back in chapter 19 L was able to make him feel that way and this situation definitely does but he has no time at all to think about it, cause he can’t think, he clings on to what he has built. In the beginning he was ready to die, he thought ryuk would “suck his soul”. Even if he was caught by L he would show some sense of acceptance as shown in another continuity/ ending of death note that I won’t state to avoid spoilers, (not the fanmade ending were light becomes old and asks ryuk to kill him) but at this point Light can’t even think about the thought of dying. After everything he’s done he never saw an end road, he never saw a moment where it would be over, so for it to just abruptly end like this takes him for a loop. In the end he died. Not saying any words that show maybe he was sorry, no words showing the sadness in his heart, even tho it was there, his word is that a criminal would say, he never wanted to end up like a criminal, he told ryuk he would not be one of the bad people left. But like someone who did “wrong”, or knows what they did was “wrong” (because he acknowledged he knew killing was wrong but it was the only way to a peaceful world so therefore it is righteous) would beg for there life and do there best to get away. He begged a god of death itself, and died just like everyone else he killed. No honor, no symbolism, no moment of realization or choice of final words, he died begging and screaming.
This show was absolutely incredible, and definitely my favorite. I felt like I was going on the same journey as Light at the very end. The way he considered how his life and the lives of those he had effected could have been different is really sad. In that moment, he realized that he was once a brilliant student, now an unstable murderer.
Death Note will always be one of my favorite manga's and anime. I managed to get my dad to watch it with me one time and I was so happy to find that not only was he enjoying the series but he liked it so much we ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting. From 7pm to almost 5am we sat in the living room watching and having fun. He'd ask me questions that I couldn't answer without giving the story away and his questions and guesses were really good, letting me know he was really paying attention to every detail. When it got to be around midnight we'd ask each other if we were still good to keep watching and like I said we ended up watching the whole series. Definitely one of the most fun, simple bonding experiences I've had with my dad as a young adult, being 23 or so at the time.
Imagine if Light set it up to where when he died, his followers would carry out his will with their pages of the Death Note. And since the Death Note has infinite pages, this method would work to at least some degree based on how Light set it all it. So in the same way L had successors, Light would too. 🧐
wow this comment is from ages ago but i couldnt help myself haha,,, light wouldnt want any successors tho. he only used people to act on his orders for small periods of time and with the "kira" name. he used them when he cant kill those criminals regularly because people suspected him. if the killings had stopped when he was being watched, it would be pretty obvious that he's actually kira. he would be captured and put in prison but the "holy work of cleaning the world from evil" would still be ongoing because he still had those people who are still doing the same job he did (like mikami and even misa). but he wasn't ok with that because then he wouldnt have become the god he always dreamed of becoming. he wanted to be the one and only kira so yeah,,, l wasn't like that. and that's why he had successors. imo of course, im not the mangaka lol
I'm really happy you seem to be moving away from talking about youtube drama and putting more focus on talking about storytelling from your favorite stories. Keep up the good work my dude, love your content.
Second half is really good(mostly in the manga) Light losing it's a better ending than winning and has a better message overall The problem with the second half in anime is being rushed (They cutted some parts where Near was showing his deductions and lowering Mello's screentime)
I think this just opens interesting platform for Light's character analysis, the question being whether Light was corrupted by absolute power or if being already corrupted is what led him to use it in such way. It's great that we have representation of what both outcomes would look like. Personally I think manga ending is a bit more accurate because Light is already showing quite heavy narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies when he first starts using Death Note. Person like that would have qualms about begging and groveling on their knees if it benefits them. Person like that thinks he's always right, justified in his means and goals and while they usually try to please others and may even do it succesfully, that lasts only as long as there's any benefit to that. What we see in his last moments is what was always there, buried under countless layers of acting and facade. He would have been able to act like normal human being for the rest of his life without Death Note but should he have pursued detective work I think he would have ended up as darker version of L and probably with a sack of bones buried under his garden.
I genuinely don't understand people who claim that light is their favorite character...... if it's in the way that he's a really interesting protagonist with conflicting morals it's fine, but if they genuinely like him as a person....... major red flag
@@jessetheanimenerd3304 HAHA what??? I love Light cause he impacted the story and made it incredibly iconic and couldnt possibly be recreated by any other author but there are genuine people that like him as a "good person"???? tf where are they and how can I find and poke fun of them.
finally someone who talks about this. i've been thinking over it for years. i prefer the manga ending myself because it's the kind of ending light deserved and evolved towards, but the anime tried to give him a more graceful ending, trying to save his humanity at the very end. i don't want to try to save his image, the point of the story is to show how absolute power corrupts absolutely. light dying pathetically is perfect. but the anime ending is emotional so it's good too.
I mean.. I'm not usually one to care about the deeper message of a story or anything, moreso just the characters and story in it, so I do prefer the anime one
Both endings are great, aside from how bland of a final...well, not villain...adversary, I guess...Near is. If he were more interesting, I'd call both endings nearly perfect.
Ye, in all honesty, near is just simply a copy of L. I wouldve liked the second half more if near was portayed differently, like having his own unique traits. At least for mello, he is different from L, being the type of "detective" who is willing to do bad things to find out who Kira is. Near, on the other hand, is just a young, white-haired L who likes toys and is less interesting.
@@jtc8458 That's not true at all. Unlike L, Near actually had some sort of humbleness to him and his investigative style was much more laid back and passive. The anime just butchered the 2nd half of the story compared to the manga.
@@jessetheanimenerd3304 Lol Near was not humble, the reason he was put in was to show a different shade of grey and that not all good guys are good guys. He is much more aggressive with how he tries to get everyone to turn on Light, with less evidence than what L had. He was too focused on proving himself to others, while L was trying to prove Light was Kira because he had to. Even when characters hate him, he still acts respectfully towards them. He appreciates others and their feelings and seems much more human than spoiled robot baby Near. Near is still important to the story though, and I love how he was written.
The ending I wanted was: Light wins. But dies. Rem wrote his name and date of death as to die at the same time as Misa since she only wanted to keep him alive just so she won’t upset Misa.
I actualy like anime ending more because of what it implies. The fact Light had a moment to reflect and realise the changes he's come through on his way up his spiral of lies made me appreciate the story that much more. It happens in our lives all the time - we set goals, embark on our own journeys towards achievements, but we always end up different persons that we were when we started. We grow up and change, our priorities shift and without us noticing it we are a somewhat different person. It is that much insightful to look back in the past just to realise how naive or stupid you were, and what you might have done instead of what you ended up doing. Sometimes life runs too fast for us to catch up and we only slow down when we are far beyond the point of no return. Some say life shifts in front of your eyes before you die - what is this ending, if not it. That much more better than manga one.
personally i have a bias for the villain characters, so i like to think of L's death as the true ending. at least, it was a peak of sorts. i also really, REALLY like the anime ending. i'm a sucker for bad ends, but it was so bittersweet and was portrayed so beautifully that it stays in the lead for me. however, despite that, i feel as if the manga's ending could stand as the true ending, and not just because of the fact it's from the original writing. the manga's ending is so much more sadder. and knowing that light's final moments were spent with him pleading for help and that a year later his actions were worthless, it only hurts more. the anime does its best to show that light was just mislead, but the manga shows that light is just a cruel person. and like light's perspective, cruel and despicable people deserve death. it really solidifies that statement. it's also... agh i don't wanna say realistic but it feels more in character for light at that point. this anime is probably the first anime where i'm conflicted on which bad ending i like the most. a fake ending with L, the manga ending, or the anime ending. it's a wonderful conflict though.
Been waiting for about a decade now for someone to sit with the difference between these two endings, a conversation that often isn't touched on when people discuss this series. Appreciate this video hard!
•Manga Ending: Light begs and dies like a pathetic dog •Anime Ending: Light accepts his fate and dies alone •Live action Movie Ending: Light is tricked, L wins and both died •Musical Ending: Both Light and L lost and both died
Imo the ending of the anime doesn't frame Light as a more forgivable, empathetic or redeemable protagonist. It's simply a different experience for his demise. Him remembering his past, whether or not he did so with regret, doesn't seem like it's meant to say that he genuinely feels remorse for the horrors he's committed, or that deep down he's a good person who got twisted. I think it's simply a show of his human nature. To show the audience that he was never a God, but a normal man, a disgusting vile man who hurt and used others and even in his final moments, only longs for comfort and peace like anyone else. If there is regret in his remembrance, it has nothing to do with recognizing the harm he's done, or feebly imagining a world where he was a better person who made the right choices. If there was regret, it was regret he didn't succeed, that he didn't get what he wanted, that he ever suffered in the first place. He only cared about himself, from beginning to the end, and that scene accentuates that. He only remembers himself, thinks about himself, and it is a genuine reflection of how that's all he cares about, even in the end. He's not thinking about what he could have done differently, or feeling guilty for those he's hurt, he's simply remembering, clinging to comfort, to LIFE, before he's lost it. Like this video said, if it had been an earlier Light in the manga, he may have accepted death quietly because he knew there was no point in resisting, but in the manga he's afraid to die and throws all his dignity away at one last chance to live and continue his self obsessed mission. But I think the anime explores exactly the idea that Light knows that when it's coming, he can no longer do anything. And so he just accepts it. I don't think it lessens any of the pathetic psychotic behavior beforehand, only adds another slow somber tone alongside it to allow both Light and the audience to fully process what's happened. Both endings are amazing, and I really love finding out that's how the manga ended, it works just as well for the series, as others have said. But I just wanted to share my thoughts because I disagree that the anime ending is somehow meant to make the audience feel more sympathetic for Light, I don't feel the tone of that final scene was intended for that nor did it do it on accident. Light is still a monster in both endings, but they set different tones and explore his broken psyche as a simple human being who was obsessed with power in different ways.
I think the preference for wich ending is better really comes down to your opinion on Ligth as a whole,i personally like the anime's ending a bit more,but that's just cause i always saw Ligth more as a prety dark Anti-hero,for better of for worst his actions DID changued the world and did stopped crime,so seeing him show a bit of regret and just accepting his death in a calm way was a bit more fitting for him,but i also know that there are people who see Ligth as a straigth up twisted villian,so im sure they enjoy more seeing how his acts had consecuences that even he was not man of enough to face in the end
Those endings are great from a character standpoint for Light, but I still find the way in which he lost super unsatisfying. "nuh uh we knew about the fake notebook the whole time!" it's like a schoolkid saying they have an everythingproof shield, it sucked and didn't actually have light getting outplayed at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with him losing but it really just didn't happen in satisfactory way.
The slow, yet hair-raising death of Light in the mangas was definitely more intense. Imagine watching a god of death writing your name in the death note letter by letter, while you're bleeding out and with no way to stop him. And once he was done, for the last forty seconds of your life, all you see is Ryuk's hysterical grin and your name marked in the middle of a blank page.
I do love the anime ending better, especially since you do see that Light _feels_ regret, that in the end, that there's a part of "Light Yagami" inside what became "Kira" when it comes to the Death Note came into his life. Which _was_ the writer's intent. He did say that Light _could_ have become his own detective who would have worked with L had he never found the Death Note, and how the Note itself corrupted him. But I do love how both endings are equally right in the very end.
Light makes a more powerful "i am Kira" speech in the manga, it's more deep and makes you question if somebody else got the notebook, would they use for the good of the world of just for selfish reasons. It's a bone-chilling sequence.
Honestly, after watching your video. I come to Conclusion that The Manga ending was the Death of Kira showing that Light was already dead for long time. The person we see here is Kira a broken human was a God complex. Their is no Light Yagami anymore, in that moment he ripped his fault face off and Revealed himself. He couldn't admit to the fact that he lose everything that why he was begging while he was dying. In The Anime ending was the death of Light. What we see in that ending when he left. We saw a little of Light Yagami the boy who wanted to bring justice in the world wishing that in his final moments that he wish things would of been different. He knew it was too late and accepted his fate.
To me, Light seems more like himself in the manga, doing everything he can to win even if it means getting help (just like how he had others use the notebook for him). It seeemd he didn't care if he was desperate bevause those who saw would be dead with the assumption that Ryuuk would help him (because Ryuuk cares about being entertained by Light). In the anime, he doesn't seem like himself, running away without trying absolutely everything (such as asking Ryuuk for help). He just tries to run from the truth (that he got caught). He only thinks about how he was before the notebook not the fact that Ryuuk is about to hold true to his word and write Light's name in the notebook. To me that means there is no symbolic meaning behind his running away (which would have been like him).
And this is why I always find and enjoy that fan made ending on youtube, where it was all planned. Because not even 20,000,000,000 IQ L 2.0 would go after someone and connect them to Kira because they went to the gym twice in a row, because Near was total and absolute bullshit, and we all know it.
That's not how Near found X-Kira, it was very thoroughly explained in the manga. The anime just removed tons of content from the 2nd half, including the majority of Near's deductions.
I don't know if you've seen the Japanese live action movies Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name, but I actually found the ending used in The Last Name to be particularly noteworthy. It shares some similarities with the manga and anime endings, but throws in a couple interesting curve balls. It's worth checking out at any rate.
The Manga ending is Orange The Anime ending is Purple. Both are just colours that bring a different mood to the picture. Some like one of the colours more because they like the look of it. Maybe it's the atmosphere or deeper meaning behind each of them. However, they are still just colours and we need them both to make our world function. But perhaps we can put both colours in just one picture and enjoy the tone and atmosphere created by the contrast that still has some similar features for both of them. Instead of arguing, enjoy that they both exist for the better and worse of this silly little story.
I personally think they used the new ending for more dramatic story to add those final words of ryuk ! Still both ending were great ! My top 3 anime for sure
Always saw lights death as him not regretting what he did. Just seeing all the people he ruined and having an apathetic look on his face as a "I wouldn't have done anything differently" kinda of acceptance.
I don't really know which ending I liked better; unfortunately it was all tainted by that feeling you described of the second "season" being tacked on just so Light wouldn't win. The ending to season 1 was very satisfying, I really had no idea who would come out on top and I doubt I would have been disappointed with the results either way. Would have been an amazing place to end the series.
I personally prefer the manga ending. There is no dignity in death and as dignified as Light tried to present himself, it was sweet to see him lose it all, and I'm very sure that Light wouldn't act with dignity if he found out that suddenly that he was going to die in that very stressful situation where he was losing everything. That one page where it showed him as naked really hits home how naked Light felt in the moment that he was "exposed". Thinking about how great he could be is what he should have thought about before even accepting the DN. Maybe I'm just a big ol L fangirl, but I thought it was much more satisfying to see him suffer for his evil, narcissistic actions, not pity him over what coulda/shoulda been.
I preferred the Manga's ending. It was so much more satisfying watching Light's plans crumble right before him, and he got exactly what he deserved after he betrayed and killed so many of his own allies. It was very satisfying watching him pathetically beg for help when everything fell apart.
Unpopular Opinion: Death Note was as good as before after L died. Especially the manga is still super interesting and I love the new characters like Near, Mello or Mikami. I wouldn't say it's better than before L died but also definitely not worse.
In the anime's ending, ryuk didn't need to write light's name in the note, he was already dying with several bullet wounds. In the manga it was the same, he didn't need too, cause light would have been sentenced to death at that point, but he did it to teach him a lesson. That's why the anime ending is far more inferior to the originals.
Ryuk didn't need to perhaps....but Ryuk benefits from killing via a Death Note. Even if Ryuk benefits minutely, it seems within his character to do so.
I think the anime one isn't very good for lots of reasons. Taking the fact that the anime cut A LOT from the second half (around 10 episodes worth of content) aside, the cut content from the ending hurts almost the most. Near's speech for shorten by a lot, Matsuda's theory is out, the amazing shot of Near's fingerpuppet being the same size as Light is out, the final chapter that plays a year after the ending is out, meaning we lost the shot of Near eating choclate which in my opinion says A LOT about the themes of the manga. Near is in my opinion the best and most unquie character in the whole manga, so it sucks that we lost so much of him in the end.. well and through the whole anime since again, we lost 10 episodes worth of content from his arc that shows more of his character. Anyways. I also find Light running away, really, really, really dumb. Firstly) I can't believe that Light has remorse. He thinks he is perfection, god, unbeatable. He was ready to kill his family, Light dosen't care about anyone but himself anymore. He is a monster. There is no way in hell, that after 6 years of being THAT, he starts looking back with remorse on his past. Secondly) Near saying "Leave him alone, he will bleed out" is dumb. Near never wanted to kill Light, he wanted to lock him up, since Near dosen't think that he has the right to kill anyone (except if we say that Matsudas theory is right, which would make him a lot more grey, but that's for the reader to decide) so he would never say "lol he will die." Also for someone who is a super geniuse, letting Light run after finding out that you can kill with only pieces of the notebook is really dumb. What if he has one in his shoe? Would of sucked then, huh. The only reason this line is in, is to explain how Light could run away while being shot without the task force catching up to him. But in return it made Near look worse and dumber than he actually is. AND IT'S MAH BOIS LAST LINE. There are other things I don't like about it, but those are my main problems I think.
JesseTheAnimeNerd I know Light was both the main character and main villain, but he was still the primary main character, and a primary main character deserves a special death. I also love how, rather in the manga ending where he dies in the warehouse with everyone watching, the anime ending has just him and Ryuk. Like how it was in the very beginning. Besides, it’s nice to be reminded that Light used to be a sweet kid. He had a promising future ahead of him, but he threw it all away. The music, voice acting, camera work, and emotional impact deserve praise here. I also like how he saw L’s ghost while dying in the same way he killed L. Down to the camera angles, their deaths are nearly identical. It’s a nice bit of irony.
@@railenherman6482 Idk, I liked that Light and Ryuk actually conversed in the end of the manga instead of Ryuk killing Light on some random building. The anime ending, while beautiful, didn't properly reflect how Light would have faced death. The manga's ending felt more real, less romanticized. And to me, that's why I prefer it. The manga also has an epilogue, which was integral to explaining Mikami's actions at the warehouse.
i like the anime ending more it was was gut wrenching to watch light descending into insanity for his lust for power, its heartbreaking to see, which ultimately lead him to his own self destruction. the part were he was running and thinking back to his younger self gave me chills, he had a bright future ahead of him, I wish he never found that notebook.
I like the symbolism of light dying on a staircase, not at the top or the bottom. Just like he’s not in heaven or hell. But I wish we could have seen him begging Ryuk
Stupid tisms incoming... One aspect of each downfall of Light I find interesting is how the differences relate to what Near said to Light at the end. - The anime ending draws a bit more from Near pointing out that any normal or decent person would have thrown away the Death Note as soon as they realized what it was, but Light chose to continue using it. And at the end of it all, we see Light... broken, alone, pathetic, all of his work brought down, his life and its potential ultimately wasted, and nobody to blame for it but himself. He realizes this as he runs, then lays on the stairs, accepting the consequences of his choices... - The manga's more pitiful end for Light draws more from Near telling Light that despite all intentions he may claim and his aspirations of godhood, Light is nothing more than a killer. And this shows in how the previously cunning and composed Light is, after his confession, out of options. Light vastly overestimated the influence he had over people like Matsuda and Mikami, leading to them shooting him and abandoning him, respectively. And then there's Ryuk... to whom Light was just a source of entertainment (and apples), something the Shinigami is all too happy to turn on him, especially after seeing Light in this sorry state. And Light dies, begging for his life, overcome by fear of his encroaching death, humiliated and pitiful... nothing more than a sad, sorry criminal.
Omg I have never watched Just Stop before so I thought that based on the thumbnail that the magna included other random character we didn't see in the anime like that random cartoon character that is Just Stop xD
Death comes as the unwelcome caller, the midnight rapping upon the door of our lives we all know will come, must come, and yet is never sought, save in anguish or desperation. Death is a bride in white, thinly veiled behind the gossamer trappings of lifes simple enchantments. She shyly waits for us in the shadows least anticipated, daydreaming of her eventual union.
From a character perspective they are both equal, but Light should not be able to run after taking that many bullets. So overall the Mangas is better, I do like Light a lot though and seeing him go out with some shred of dignity makes me on a personal level prefer the anime’s.
@@ineedhealing5133 I mean, it did to me. Near basically just made wild assumptions that happened to be correct. And that thing with replacing notebook didnt make sense
My mom is a very sweet, tolerant woman, and whenever she tells someone that Death Note is her favorite anime, it throws them for a loop.
only way for this to click in my head is to imagine if maude flanders said this,that when I blinked
Haha same. My mom and I watch anime together. She's even planning on reading some of the mangas. She wants to read the Death Note manga. I think that'll be awesome.
My mom really likes death note too , she likes berserk more though
@@ariaaster4122 She single?
Woah bro
An interesting choice by the creator was to make the character of Light a genius from the get go. Usually the most celebrated characters are those that start off low and rise to the position of dominating power. Here, Light’s not just nobody who picks this book up, he’s a prodigy of Japan;
athletic, good looking, smart, and has a dad who’s a high ranking cop. He comes close to almost being a fan insert character with those things from the start
But I appreciate how he’s written
He's the most well flawed self insert
I guess the reason behind his popularity despite being a borderline "Self Insert" character is because we actually see him work for everything very carefully. We get to see his thought process, actions, mistakes and the consequences in full detail.
Then to make it even better, we get an antagonist who poses an actual threat. Which gave us one of the greatest anime rivalries in existence.
In most/horrible cases, the self insert character is the focus of attention. But here, the actions of the characters and the mind battles are the focus of attention.
I wouldn't call him a fan insert since I'd assume most fans don't really share his qualities.
@@brimward122 he can be called one because fans want his qualities.
@@brimward122 Fan inserts never share actual qualities with fans, they’re just want fans wish they were
The Manga ending is for if you hate Light’s guts.
The Anime ending is also if you hate Light’s guts but with some Shakespeare sprinkled on top.
And Berserk 1997 ending where it did is for you if you wanted Light to win!
And matsudas comment about Near possibly cheating in a later time skip in the manga is for those who liked Light
How could u hate light? He was a hero, not a criminal.
anime ending is if you like Light but hate Kira. We see Kira lose, but Light comes back in a way, as we see his memories and he seems to be remorseful.
@@Jake-bk4wh even light didn't end up seeing it that way in his last moments
Surprised you didn't mention the epilogue of the original manga where Matsuda and Aizawa see how the world has drifted back into the crime infested world it was prior to Kira and one of them asking if they did the right thing bringing him to justice. It added further nuance and felt all the more like there was further consequences. I wish the anime would have kept that part.
I think it's kinda fascinating how both added stuff the other didn't have in their epilogue: the anime has Misa commiting suicide while the manga ends with the scene of a Kira cult and a priestess, the authors stating that they wanted to end the series with something beautiful, perhaps reaching out to the supposed goodness and beauty of Kira's world Light desired.
@@3slicessenpaishe still commits suicide in the manga
Also, the Matsuda's theory of Near using the Death Note killing Mikami (ten days after Light 's death) is interesting. Anime should have ended like manga. Imho that version lost the humiliation of Light. Him begging Ryuk for his life was awesome.
P.s.: Matsuda talked about that with Ide, not Aizawa :D
@@kairo5023and Ide's simple answer to Matsuda is really good too.
I always liked the anime ending because of that "what could have been" point of view, it felt so bittersweet but conclusive
I really hate Light, but what I mean when I say that mostly is that I hate what the Death Note did to Light. Especially in the Yotsuba arc, we can see that Light was...a good person. He wanted to save people from Kira, and refused to lead on Misa. But I think it's important to recognize that his moral failing as a character was the fact that he *willingly* and *intentionally* let the Death Note corrupt him. He already believed he was better than everyone else to some extent. The allure of the Death Note played less of a part in Light becoming Kira than Light himself letting it corrupt him so he could live out a suppressed God complex and assert his superiority on the rickety justification of punishing the wicked. Had Light never found the Death Note, he would've remained more or less, a well-intentioned person and brilliant detective. I like to imagine he'd have worked with and eventually become genuinely close to and friendly with L.
@@boldandbrash1990 couldn't have said it better myself
The ending of the manga vs the anime might be controversial and people think the anime changed the story, but truthfully I like the anime the way it is
@@jw4034 The anime gave a little too much justification for some of Light's actions when it was better without it.
@@boldandbrash1990 Light during the Yotsuba arc agreed with Kira’s philosophy. He just hated Kira because he felt he was falsely accused of being Kira. Light had all the ingredients to be a horrible person. Him having power just unleashed his potential for evil. But that’s still on him, not the Death Note. Ryuk said plenty of humans have had the Death Note and none of them used it nearly as much as Light had when Ryuk first met Light, let alone years later of being Kira.
I think we can all agree, at least...
The Netflix ending is objectively the worst.
It doesn't exist for me.
Do we really have to bring that up?
the what ending ?
XD but the credits are great
I like it, also the Netflix ending is the same as the anime, it's good
Death Note is one of the best cat and mouse anime/manga that anyone can enjoy.
Read "at night I move". The mc doesn't have the same level of character development as light, but it's also a good strategic manga where the main character gets a supernatural power to kill people.
The only one that, in my opinion, tops Death Note is Monster
Sadly not everyone enjoys it.
After Tom and Jerry, of course
Also read, Maou Juvenile Remix
I find it also interesting that in the manga Light mentions that he had bad dreams haunting him ever since he picked up the death note. Shows that hes not a complete psychopath from the beginning. Its easy to forget that the first episode jumps from his first kill all the way to a week in in a matter of minutes and we dont really get to see how the note affected his psyche in the beginning.
In reality, that could have happened to a psychopath as well. Most of them live normal lives without even knowing that they are one, as is the case with Light.
I would love to see "what if" scenarios
For example version of the story in which Light has never got back his memories about the Death Note
Also just wanted to mention that I love the symbolism of some scenes. Cleaning Light's feet just like in Bible where Jesus is washing them. It hit me hard
Thats what the American movie was supposed to be during its original draft in 2008. A script got leaked somewhere years ago
I was trying to draw a comic following a similar concept! Like if Light lost his memory earlier.
The idea was that Ryuuk decided to play along with Light's question of if he came to take his soul just to see what happens and amuse himself. This results in Light panicking and giving up the notebook in order to avoid that just so he can recover it later as an investigator, trying to trick Ryuuk without realising he fell for a prank.
Unfortunately my drawing skills arent that refined so without a computer I cant really make it rn, but I'm hoping I can get back to it once I can buy a new one after the pandemic.
@@ale-xsantos1078 that sounds really cool
@@coldedits3027
Thanks! I hope I can pull it off
@@editorgt8623 Wait what? Where can I find that?
I actually like the manga’s ending more, because it pushes home the idea that Light was always a criminal and never a god. I think a common misconception about Light is that he had good intentions at heart. This isn’t true. Sure, he did think that there was too much evil in the world before he got the note, but in reality, he used the note because it was something new and exciting in a boring and meaningless life. In the end it was just an excuse which he quickly assigned in order to justify his use of the note.
This is just an interpretation, I personally disagree
I disliked all endings, simply put it's because they all feel so forced and poorly-thought out. The idea that somehow in a very small window of time, someone could fully copy a death note in the same handwriting style as someone else and replace it is insane. It is the equivalent of making a show which is realistic then suddenly giving the hero super powers at the end to achieve a good ending. It makes no sense and I think the ending is the worst part of the second half.
That's an element, but there's an element of justice in his original motivations. It's a naive child's view of the world, but he is a naive and sheltered person. He's also had it reinforced over his life that he's special and capable of succeeding (notice how his vision for the world sees him on top still, just as his experience in academics has reinforced his position at the top of school hierarchy), so he doesn't bother to reevaluate his ideals and objectively assess how they'd actually turn out in practice - light simply assumes that he's right and moves forward.
There is some tacitly positive moral motivation in administering justice as a preventative measure, although reality shows that punishment is a poor prevention for crime because very little crime is a calculated risk vs reward assessment. Light thinks about crime as a logical choice because he's a logical person who isn't very capable of putting himself outside his own perspective of a logical person. So again, he just assumes he's right when studies into the psychology of criminology would show him otherwise if he stayed in school to pursue that like he probably would have considering his father's occupation.
there's 1 line from the last episode that I think really hits hard in the series and it comes from light talking about his dad... he didn't call his father a fool like matsuda thought but instead said "we live in a world where people who fight for their beliefs are made to look like a fool"
but personally in my opinion I see it as light always had good intentions and always wanted justice and for people to live a fair and happy life where crime is unnecessary however he was very selfish in believing he was the only 1 who is correct and not to mention thinking getting rid of crime 100% was ever an option but when he gained back the notebook after losing his memories is when he was no longer who he started as.
@@cameron6538 it was also stated by the creators of the show if light had never gotten the death note he would've become one of the greatest detectives working side by side with L
If any person, fictional or real that needs endless respect, one of them has to be Mrs. Yagami. She had to go through her husband dying in his job, her daughter getting kidnapped, and her son dying without her knowledge. And even if she found out her son died, She would not even realize he was an egotistical psychopath. She needs endless love and respect. ❤️❤️
Oh man …you’re damn right 😢❤
What I like about Death Note's anime is that, for the most part, it only adds detail to the world. You still get to see light beg, and it definitely shows his desperation, but then we ALSO get to see him contemplate on his past more quietly. Either way, it's a very minor change. In contrast, I'm still salty about how Promised Neverland S2 ruined everything.
IKR? I was totally open to The Promised Neverland taking a different route with the story to make something new, but it turned out so terrible. It was practically the same story, but rushed even more than the manga ending was, and some of the best arcs and characters were left out. I will forever be as salty as the dead sea because of that (I just wanted to see my bois Yuugo and Lucas, was that too much to ask?)
Okay uhm couldn't care less about PNL but yeah death note is awesome
I just put it in my mind that TPN never had a second season.
When I read the end of TPN I was disappointed (both because how rushed it was and because it really pissed me off how Emma was able to "cheat" her end of the promise in the end) and I thought "well, maybe the anime will have an original and better end"
It kinda feels like karma
I'm the only person who saw the flaws and wanted something else but still enjoyed and loved what did happen and knows that it will never be changed.
What I like about the manga ending is that there is an epilogue chapter where we are roughly a year in the future from Light’s death.
We get to see how most of the world settles back to resemble what it was before Kira. We also see how others have come to worship and even pray to Kira, despite his demise.
The rich part is that the world never really got over Kira, but the other present and future human possessors of the Death Note, never actually decided to commit to Kira´s legacy either
Last chapter??
@@CerealExperimentsMizuki Chapter 108, to be exact.
I like that part too, especially the fact that although Light was dead, Kira is still alive
I also love how popular fan theory about Near using death note is mentioned by Matsuda.
6:16 "Knowing his world is crumbling around him, Light can only imagine how life would have been for him, had he never found the notebook to begin with, and makes him remorseful, because he knows it could have been great."
Yes, the author stated that if Light wouldn't have picked up the notebook, he would have became a famous detective and ended up working with L, so definitely a great life.
I would have loved seeing a world where Light catches himself, and decides to write his own name to stop himself, an internal conflict of which version of him is stronger
Honestly it was a great introduction to the weeb dream
It totally was
69 likes confirmed
XD
@@m1bl4n fr, I watched banana fish after death note and honestly it did become a nightmare after how much I cried
I never got into anime until last year.
Death Note did it for me
@@thomasmorris4449 i recomend code geass if you enjoyed death note.
I also recomend the anime banana fish, its really really good just a little mature.
Personally, I think either ending can satisfy someone's want to see how Light spends his last moments. There could be those that see him as someone that becomes unredeemable as the story reaches the conclusion so they want him to become an emotional mess and beg for some kind of way out, while others see a kid that got way over his head who becomes scared when his castle is destroyed. The two endings give an answer to each of these so I see what ending a person would prefer is connected to how they see Light at the end.
I prefer the manga ending to the anime ending personally. I do like the religious symbolism added by the anime, but I feel like Light's loss of dignity and humanity in the manga ending is a better fit for Light's character. Light lost because of his Ignorance and showing him pleading for safety and victory when faced with death and defeat shows how even though he's sunk to the absolute bottom he's still too ignorant to admit that he's lost. I really don't see Light regretting his actions or accepting defeat, in the end, he's far too arrogant for it. After all, he's a human who sees himself with the worth of a god, it doesn't get more arrogant than that.
A more minor reason I prefer the manga ending is that the second half as a whole is better paced and less underwhelming in the manga. In both versions, the ending is what carries the second arc, but in the manga, it feels like a reward for finishing the series, while in the anime it feels like walking on a velvet carpet that's been placed on a rocky trail. Both endings are extremely satisfying though, and while I definitely prefer one, I think both of them are valid conclusions and, as Just Stop states, "Neither is objectively better".
Great breakdown, couldn't agree more.
...Man, this takes me back... it might be time to give the manga a re-read.
@@efoxkitsune9493 Thanks, man! I honestly forgot about leaving this comment and reading it again definitely took me back to my Death Note enthusiast era. I wrote it 4-ish months ago so I feel like I would change some things about it but I still agree with my claim. I'm thinking it's about time I should give Death Note a re-read as well.
I couldn’t agree more. Anime ending might have neat symbolism but it’s no where near as fitting for Light’s character than the Manga
I mena that description also sort of describes determination(not giving up until the very end) so I mean.. could be seen as a virtue(?) sort of
I'd like to think everyone has the power to change. "You don't know what you've got till it's gone". Light didn't realise how his life was and how innocent he was after obtaining the deathnote. The deathnote changed him and gave him the whole persona of being the God of the new world. At the end he acknowledged that he'd missed how things used to be. Because he was dying he was able to see the pain he'd caused and a life that he'd thrown away. I think that he is so strong for being able to realise that after how arrogant he is and all the lives he took. Deep down in his blackened heart the innocence still existed, then and only then did he realise what once was and what he'd left behind. How despite his ego he accepted defeat, he knew that he had lost. Dying on a stairway full of acceptance, pain and a tinge of regret. That he could neither go to heaven or hell.
I like the ending of that fan-comic where Light "wins" and creates his "New World" but then Ryuuk kills him and he finds out that in the afterlife he'll be killed repetitively for every single name he wrote on the death note including experiencing all the conditions of death before ceasing to exist. So he decides to keep going hoping that by the time he experienced all deaths in the book he'd have had enough time to force the Shinigami King to make a deal with him.
It's good in the sense Light fans get to see his "utopia" become a reality and he not giving up in the end while Kira haters get to see him receiving a karmic punishment for everything he has done before he gets erased for good.
Finally someone mentions it, i love it too, much more than the anime/manga's ending(simply because i was always cheering for light to win)
Where do you read it?? Any link??
@@ale-xsantos1078 what's Home from 3 days??
@@ale-xsantos1078 also link doesn't work, I'm on mobile.
"Home" is a song, "Three Days Grace" is a rock band
And ah, sorry then :/
If it helps, the title is called "Death Note Fan Made Alternate Ending Light Wins" while the uploader's channel is named "Julia"
I love that there are two different endings. I like both a lot, though I personally lean towards the anime. Hearing Ryuk's little speech while Light runs, those thoughts of what could be running through his mind. The music is so gorgeous, the anime looking stunning visually. Seeing Light finally stop and lie down on those stairs. It feels so...I don't know the best words to put to it. But it hits me so good.
When I first saw the series, I never had it in my head that Light would win, but honesty maybe he should have, with the only real karma being he dies from his own lifespan
Apparently when Ryuk looks at Light with his eyes and we see the numbers they could have shown us just how little time he has in the long run
that's genius.
Well he did "win". The world has changed forever because of him, even if he's gone.
@@martmine4618 Not exactly in the manga. There’s an epilogue where the world almost completely goes back to the way it was before Kira appeared.
@@ShyGirlMPZ yep. Even when Light goes to prison by himself they said that the crime rate changed again and people wanted for Kira to return
@@ShyGirlMPZ hasn't the One shot retconed that with "Kira has become a part of history?"
I'm surprised you didn't even mention the whole chapter that follows the one of Light's death, which was completely cut from the anime. Matsuda has an interesting theory about Near having manipulated Mikami with the death note in order to make sure he wouldn't check the note before going to kill the SPK
Man, Light is my absolute favorite anime character. I was saddened when I watched his death, but I was crushed when I read it. But that probably just goes to show how amazing death note is. The series made me care for and deeply appreciate...a killer. I'm sad that he died, but I'll take the anime route for which one I prefer here. They're both just too sad though.
bruh i felt really sad too poor light i know i know people would be like but light killed people light made people suffer hes a killer bro i dont care its an anime its not real life i dont get whats not fun about light
I hated his guts. And I think one of the main reasons was the feeling of betrayal tbh. He made me like him at the start. He made me sympathize with him, care for him, root for him, see his humanity and hope with all my heart that he'll eventually see the wrong of his actions and do the right thing. I invested time and emotional energy. But he kept descending further and further, until finally he became irredeemable. He abandoned all he seemed to stand for at the beginning. He became a mass murderer, a pathetic boy with a god complex, arrogant, ignorant, so incredibly full of himself. Callous. So the (manga) ending was really satisfying to me. A perfectly fitting end for someone like Light.
SUPER compelling character though!! Truly one of the best. It was great following his descent into true villainy. Never felt cheap. He was super intriguing all the way through. But I have to admit I was really relieved when he finally got his comeuppance, haha.
@@efoxkitsune9493 Man you're the exact opposite from me, just reading that made me sad 😂😂
But he is a really great character, regardless of moral stances. I'm glad we agree on that much haha.
@@efoxkitsune9493 I just wanted to see what would happen after he won because it sounded interesting, his death sort of made the whole anime feel pointless, his ambitions amounted to nothing, didn't get to see it in the end. So it felt like a little bit of a slap in the face
@@efoxkitsune9493 Same, but I didn't care much for him. I just found him entertaining. When he meets Ryuk and says "I want to be the god of the new world" I understood that he wasn't doing this only because of his morals, he wants to be worshiped and praised. He thinks that he knows better and is above everyone else. If he had only killed criminals I could have some sympathy for him, but when he tried to kill "L" on TV it made me realize that he's just sociopath that wouldn't stop for nothing.
Also,the manga implies that although Light lost Kira on the other hand might have had a post-mortem victory as Kira's cult is no where near coming to an end,the impact Kira had on society is still present with all the people in the streets still as fanatical as ever,in other words SPK can end Kira the man but there is no guarantee because of cognitive dissonance that they will be able to end Kira the concept.
This was my first anime, my first proper introduction to anime. And after 7/8 years, I'm still in love with it. Shoutout to Death Note for introducing me to a world that shaped most of my personality, passion and improvement in art. 😤❤️
I think everyone has had some character that you wish for having Lights ending in the anime. Where usually they don’t get the privilege of dying a slow almost peaceful death where they see their past mistakes, how they know everything is over and have to basically accept the reality of it all.
While seeing a character begging right before their death or dying so suddenly they can hardly react is satisfying I feel like anime Lights type of death is something that can satisfied for years if not decades later
Im so happy Death Note is still being talked about today, such a great story
When I first saw the anime at the age of 20 I really liked this ending, and found the manga inferior, because I thought Light was a well-intentioned person, who went off the deep end. Kind of how many people were sympathetic to MCU Thanos in Infinity War.
Now at the age of 30, I think the manga is better, because I lived enough to recognise Light was full of sh*t from start, and he never actually cared about bettering the world, he just wanted to reshape it in his image. And the best proof of this are his thoughts before his first murder: the kindergaten hostage taker. There were what? 40 kids and several kindergarten teachers being held hostage, and what's Light's reaction? Is it "God, this is awful, if there's 1% chance this Death Note is real, I've got to take it to save them!"? No. Just the opposite in fact. He was prepairing to write a name in the Death Note to test it, but thought to himself "Wait, if there's 1% chance this Death Note is real, I should write the name of someone despicable.".
From the start he didn't set out to save lifes. He set out to take them. Saving lifes in the proccess was just a side-effect, not the cause. He was an egotistic psychopath from the start, and he absolutely deserved the more humiliating death.
this, many light defenders fail to see it, even the anime with his different ending it shows a pathethic arrogant douche who never believed on the justice he preached so much
Saying he was a physcopath from the start is a bit of a stretch and is doing a disservice to his character, when light was about to write his first name on the death note, he contemplated killing a criminal and THEN turned his TV on to see a kidnappings was happening, even near stated killing 1 or 2 people out of curiosity in the beginning would've been a normal reaction, which is exactly what light did, it wasn't until AFTER he killed 2 criminals that he decided to become Kira, at which his mental state started to spiral, which light himself points out.
I don't like it, because in my opinion the point of this has always been that no one "deserves" death, that there's no justice or good, nor there is bad. In fact, death note laughs in the face of good and evil. Hence why there's no heaven or hell, everyone just goes to the same place, which is nothing. Light's "peaceful" death (which honestly was quite humiliating still), to me, was just an opportunity for him to reflect on his life and think "was it worth it?", because there's nothing after death, all that matters is life.
I disagree though , it's not fair if you put him in like that . Maybe you already forgot but he smart enough to realized there might be a consequence for his action if he keep using Death note , but he did and used it as much as possible with the goal in his mind at first few days is to reduce the criminals to made the world become a better place even the chance he might die later or "lost his soul" as he fear asked Ryuk until Ryuk clarify about it and at that point was when he grown his God complexed : "killing people without consequences" which is pretty understandable cuz who gonna judge you when even god of death dont even give a shit ?
i wont talk about wrong or right about that method cuz it is a different matter , the point is light is a "good guy" at the start until Kira persona start to developed as Death note appeared it in his life . What you gonna do with a death note in your hand ? I'm confident say atleast most of us even a cowar , every day good guy or whatever would use it even once . And the fact Light killed the very first criminal guy i would say justify and doesnt "light up" about him as Evil or good guy , cmon would you tried that "1%" chance that very well can saved so many kids life even that you might kill a person ?
I can rambling hours about how Light become Kira even he was a good person at first . . . but sum it up he's a smart kid , he know how the world work and how corrupted it is atleast in Deathnote world , look how balancely evils thing happen in his dailies life , so much that he can easy spot some of the most ugli psychopath criminals on his life to test the deathnote and he's son of cop chief definitely doesnt helped for his mental about the world too . that why the author connected him and Ryuk at the first sceen and said "this world is rotten" .
The proofs he was a good person can be proved when he forgot everything about the death note and refuse use any dirty method that involve innocent people just to catch the criminals too , and the obivious one : Ohba himself said Light without Deathnote will become a great detective and against criminals along side with L , What more do you need to think he's not a good person at first ? One of the themes of deathnote obivious is "power corrupted people" even you are good person or someone have potential to become psychopath which i can agurt that light is more of a good guy than L if Deathnote didnt exist .
Sorry for long comment and garbage englishu .
I disagree, if anything I'd say manga Light deserved the anime ending and anime Light deserved the manga ending.
In the manga Light threw up and had a meltdown for just killing that one guy.
Also he told Ryuuk that he made a psychological profile of every criminal he killed who was always someone caught on act in order to be sure he was only killing someone guilty. Of course I have no idea how he did that while hiding from the police and for hundreds of people per day, but hey anime logic.
The anime ending was a masterpiece IMO
I actually have a weird cognitive dissonance happening with the anime's ending. Light's actions throughout the series make it clear to me that he's lost it by the end, he's gone mad with power and has lost the ability to empathize with individual humans when he's been thinking of them exclusively as tools to forward his goals and feels nothing about killing them en masse. So when he passes that younger version of himself, I love the parallel (and I easily prefer it to the manga version for its effective imagery, but I think the manga version is just as applicable), but I think only the audience is actually seeing the potential he had. I think what Light sees there is the moment he became doomed, because he's too intelligent not to realize that the choice to pick up the Death Note led to this, and obviously knowing how it turned out there are so many things he would go back and change. I like the ambiguity of his reaction, but I think it's also very easy for people to assume that Light regrets his actions; I don't think he does. I don't think he ever does, he only seems to regret that his actions didn't create the world he wanted, and if he had a chance to do it all over again he'd be more careful. Less impulsive, like he was in his youth when he constantly made big, arrogant mistakes, until his conflict with L taught him he couldn't afford those. Maybe he wouldn't even use the Death Note directly or prolifically until he worked his way into a position of untouchable power. Maybe he wouldn't use it at all and seek to influence the world in all the same ways without that shortcut. There are literally endless ways he could have ensured another outcome if he had the understanding he does while he's running away from his failure, chock full of bullets and regret.
Because, while his idealism absolutely got twisted by the power the Death Note gave him, I think Light was always going to turn into at least a fraction of the monster he became as soon as he got enough power. If he became a police chief, he would consider it part of his job to overlook certain indiscretions that cleaned up the streets or got rid of "undesirables," and quite likely begin to see his people as the only proponents for good in the world and thus above the law. If he ran for office, he would approve legislation in favor of the death penalty and restricting people who struggle financially from access to government resources. We know this because his targets were not only those who perpetuate injustice, but also those who are a "burden to society." He says this verbatim while he's formulating his dream of a perfect world, so on a very core level, Light believes that there is no excuse for people to depend on others and everyone should be capable of supporting themselves regardless of their economic, social, or physical limitations.
The best outcome for Light, if he never picked up a Death Note, is if he lived his life as a bored pencil pusher, constantly feeling superior to everyone but never taking any meaningful steps to increase his influence on the world (or else having a transformative life experience that makes him re-examine and reconsider his biases). Otherwise, as soon as he got a little too much power, he would inevitably start to victimize the same people he claims to be saving--just like he did on an unimaginable scale when his power was nigh unlimited.
Everytime i get to the end of this series my heart starts to drop
;3;
All these years later, we're still talking about Death Note. It might just be great.
There’s actually a musical based off the show. I’ll admit the ending is slightly rushed and some characters were cut but I’d recommend it.
I still think the Re-Light mini-series was a missed opportunity. I know it was like a clip show with some new scenes thrown in, but they wasted the perfect opportunity to re-do the ending and make it like the manga.
Personally I don’t feel in the anime that light accepted his death at all he tried to run away from his problems rather than beg and reflected on his life but had to lie down in the stairs because of blood loss and couldn’t run anymore. I don’t think he is thinking about how he could have lived without the death note rather he is reflecting on when he found the death note and is devastated that all he has built is falling apart but reflecting on how it all started. He accepts his death because he can’t run anymore rather than just giving up on trying to escape he does because he has no way to try and escape anymore.
I’ve been wanting to see a video talking about the ending differences for so long. Nice analysis!
I vastly prefer the manga ending with its poetic justice and this is why:
I’m of the opinion that Light was always a sociopath and a narcissist. He was never “innocent”, he wasn’t corrupted by the Death Note. He was an egotistic coward who was just given god-like power. It doesn’t take him long to develop a god complex. He isn’t even as smart as he thinks he is because he had supernatural help no one could have accounted for.
His own ego is what gets him tricked into revealing his existence in the first place. Light is a monster and the anime ending is too easy on him. Scrabbling on the floor begging for the mercy he never showed anyone else is exactly what he deserved.
When I first caught episode 2 on adult swim my impression was this was a series following a serial killer and nothing about it ever changed my mind.
I really disagree with that
@@omegazx7236 Yeah me too, I mean it makes logical sense for this to happen to someone, and there's nothing to suggest he's initially sociopathic and narcassistic, I think.
@@omegazx7236 I disagree with you
I prefer the anime ending. The manga one is like...dude, you'll die from your wounds anyway or survive from them but get sentenced to death, why you pleading to Ryuk? The anime ending is much more bittesweet as the sun slowly sets on him and the fate of the others are left to interpretation.
He still could have gotten life in prison or even if they executed him he would still have a time to sit in prison beforehand. Ryuk said: I don't wan't to wait, you lost. So thats the reason he wrote his name in the note, as he promised him in the beginning.
Btw, before writing his Name in the Note, Light has a complete breakdown and cries towards every "friend" or "partner" he had.
And Ryuk said too: I have never seen someone who used a Death Note die without despair.
Near said that he wouldn't kill Light, but that he'd lock him up.
Manga is more fitting for Light’s character. Dude wasn’t some godlike mastermind above death. That was only what his ego had him believe. And it was his ignorance and ego that was his undoing. In the end, Light was just another pathetic human, who feared death, and it’s fitting he died pleading and begging in his knees. It’s pathetic to watch and it’s supposed to be. The manga made a point not to idolise and romantacise people like Light While the anime was more sympathetic and shifts blame off him, directing it to the Notebooks fault.
@@sasukesbussy7101 I mean without the notebook none of the story would have set off, probably, so it totally is it's fault. True villain in a sense is ryuk since I guess this has probably happened a bunch in the past because of him
After rewatching DN I feel sorry for Light's mother and sister.
Damn, another upload, you keep on blessing us
I think both of them are great endings. If I had to choose one tho, it would be subjective, but I think the manga does it just a bit better. Especially because of the reveal at the end.
We may have not thought about it a lot but we truly never did know where everyone went after they died, if they became shinigami, and with lights memory it confirms it, the memory that tells us he and everyone else will go to nothingness. It tells us in this moment that yes truly, light has lost. And in the memory it shows how light outsmarted ryuk and how he was content with it, but now thinking over this memory makes him scream in fear more and more. Everything he did crumbled so far down, he made no more sense, begging ryuk he Dosent want to die even tho him of all people should know that once the name is in, it’s over. He does not even think about humiliation at this point, all the way back in chapter 19 L was able to make him feel that way and this situation definitely does but he has no time at all to think about it, cause he can’t think, he clings on to what he has built.
In the beginning he was ready to die, he thought ryuk would “suck his soul”. Even if he was caught by L he would show some sense of acceptance as shown in another continuity/ ending of death note that I won’t state to avoid spoilers, (not the fanmade ending were light becomes old and asks ryuk to kill him) but at this point Light can’t even think about the thought of dying. After everything he’s done he never saw an end road, he never saw a moment where it would be over, so for it to just abruptly end like this takes him for a loop. In the end he died.
Not saying any words that show maybe he was sorry, no words showing the sadness in his heart, even tho it was there, his word is that a criminal would say, he never wanted to end up like a criminal, he told ryuk he would not be one of the bad people left. But like someone who did “wrong”, or knows what they did was “wrong” (because he acknowledged he knew killing was wrong but it was the only way to a peaceful world so therefore it is righteous) would beg for there life and do there best to get away. He begged a god of death itself, and died just like everyone else he killed. No honor, no symbolism, no moment of realization or choice of final words, he died begging and screaming.
This show was absolutely incredible, and definitely my favorite. I felt like I was going on the same journey as Light at the very end. The way he considered how his life and the lives of those he had effected could have been different is really sad. In that moment, he realized that he was once a brilliant student, now an unstable murderer.
Death Note will always be one of my favorite manga's and anime. I managed to get my dad to watch it with me one time and I was so happy to find that not only was he enjoying the series but he liked it so much we ended up watching the whole thing in one sitting. From 7pm to almost 5am we sat in the living room watching and having fun. He'd ask me questions that I couldn't answer without giving the story away and his questions and guesses were really good, letting me know he was really paying attention to every detail. When it got to be around midnight we'd ask each other if we were still good to keep watching and like I said we ended up watching the whole series. Definitely one of the most fun, simple bonding experiences I've had with my dad as a young adult, being 23 or so at the time.
That’s awesome. My Dad would watch me play games.
Imagine if Light set it up to where when he died, his followers would carry out his will with their pages of the Death Note.
And since the Death Note has infinite pages, this method would work to at least some degree based on how Light set it all it.
So in the same way L had successors, Light would too. 🧐
wow this comment is from ages ago but i couldnt help myself haha,,, light wouldnt want any successors tho. he only used people to act on his orders for small periods of time and with the "kira" name. he used them when he cant kill those criminals regularly because people suspected him. if the killings had stopped when he was being watched, it would be pretty obvious that he's actually kira. he would be captured and put in prison but the "holy work of cleaning the world from evil" would still be ongoing because he still had those people who are still doing the same job he did (like mikami and even misa). but he wasn't ok with that because then he wouldnt have become the god he always dreamed of becoming. he wanted to be the one and only kira so yeah,,, l wasn't like that. and that's why he had successors. imo of course, im not the mangaka lol
"You see, in their last moments, people show you who they really are," - The Joker.
I'm really happy you seem to be moving away from talking about youtube drama and putting more focus on talking about storytelling from your favorite stories.
Keep up the good work my dude, love your content.
Light goes to Jump Force after he dies.
I honestly think the series should've ended with L's death.
Yeah, me too. The ending was just bad.
Nah, the second half was probably better than the first.
@@WobblesandBean the ending was the best part of the series wdym?
Second half is really good(mostly in the manga)
Light losing it's a better ending than winning and has a better message overall
The problem with the second half in anime is being rushed (They cutted some parts where Near was showing his deductions and lowering Mello's screentime)
It would hav even better overall but would have been a worse ending
I think this just opens interesting platform for Light's character analysis, the question being whether Light was corrupted by absolute power or if being already corrupted is what led him to use it in such way. It's great that we have representation of what both outcomes would look like. Personally I think manga ending is a bit more accurate because Light is already showing quite heavy narcissistic and sociopathic tendencies when he first starts using Death Note. Person like that would have qualms about begging and groveling on their knees if it benefits them. Person like that thinks he's always right, justified in his means and goals and while they usually try to please others and may even do it succesfully, that lasts only as long as there's any benefit to that. What we see in his last moments is what was always there, buried under countless layers of acting and facade. He would have been able to act like normal human being for the rest of his life without Death Note but should he have pursued detective work I think he would have ended up as darker version of L and probably with a sack of bones buried under his garden.
I genuinely don't understand people who claim that light is their favorite character...... if it's in the way that he's a really interesting protagonist with conflicting morals it's fine, but if they genuinely like him as a person....... major red flag
The amount of people who actually think that Light was a good person honestly scares me.
@@jessetheanimenerd3304 HAHA what??? I love Light cause he impacted the story and made it incredibly iconic and couldnt possibly be recreated by any other author but there are genuine people that like him as a "good person"???? tf where are they and how can I find and poke fun of them.
finally someone who talks about this.
i've been thinking over it for years.
i prefer the manga ending myself because it's the kind of ending light deserved and evolved towards, but the anime tried to give him a more graceful ending, trying to save his humanity at the very end.
i don't want to try to save his image, the point of the story is to show how absolute power corrupts absolutely. light dying pathetically is perfect.
but the anime ending is emotional so it's good too.
I mean.. I'm not usually one to care about the deeper message of a story or anything, moreso just the characters and story in it, so I do prefer the anime one
I take a chip..... and eat it!!!!!
While Watch just stop’s video
I did not know that Light died differently....
You know I'd be down for a Death Note reboot where Light hangs out with Grim from Billy and Mandy
Both endings are great, aside from how bland of a final...well, not villain...adversary, I guess...Near is. If he were more interesting, I'd call both endings nearly perfect.
he's much more fleshed out in the manga, along with mello too..... i have no idea why they cut so much of their scenes out of the anime
Ye, in all honesty, near is just simply a copy of L. I wouldve liked the second half more if near was portayed differently, like having his own unique traits. At least for mello, he is different from L, being the type of "detective" who is willing to do bad things to find out who Kira is. Near, on the other hand, is just a young, white-haired L who likes toys and is less interesting.
@@jtc8458 That's not true at all. Unlike L, Near actually had some sort of humbleness to him and his investigative style was much more laid back and passive. The anime just butchered the 2nd half of the story compared to the manga.
NEARly perfect
@@jessetheanimenerd3304 Lol Near was not humble, the reason he was put in was to show a different shade of grey and that not all good guys are good guys. He is much more aggressive with how he tries to get everyone to turn on Light, with less evidence than what L had. He was too focused on proving himself to others, while L was trying to prove Light was Kira because he had to. Even when characters hate him, he still acts respectfully towards them. He appreciates others and their feelings and seems much more human than spoiled robot baby Near. Near is still important to the story though, and I love how he was written.
The ending I wanted was: Light wins. But dies. Rem wrote his name and date of death as to die at the same time as Misa since she only wanted to keep him alive just so she won’t upset Misa.
Light lying on the stairs and taking his last breath is iconic. I'm glad the anime included that instead of him dying on the ground.
I actualy like anime ending more because of what it implies.
The fact Light had a moment to reflect and realise the changes he's come through on his way up his spiral of lies made me appreciate the story that much more.
It happens in our lives all the time - we set goals, embark on our own journeys towards achievements, but we always end up different persons that we were when we started.
We grow up and change, our priorities shift and without us noticing it we are a somewhat different person. It is that much insightful to look back in the past just to realise how naive or stupid you were, and what you might have done instead of what you ended up doing.
Sometimes life runs too fast for us to catch up and we only slow down when we are far beyond the point of no return.
Some say life shifts in front of your eyes before you die - what is this ending, if not it.
That much more better than manga one.
personally i have a bias for the villain characters, so i like to think of L's death as the true ending. at least, it was a peak of sorts.
i also really, REALLY like the anime ending. i'm a sucker for bad ends, but it was so bittersweet and was portrayed so beautifully that it stays in the lead for me. however, despite that, i feel as if the manga's ending could stand as the true ending, and not just because of the fact it's from the original writing.
the manga's ending is so much more sadder. and knowing that light's final moments were spent with him pleading for help and that a year later his actions were worthless, it only hurts more. the anime does its best to show that light was just mislead, but the manga shows that light is just a cruel person. and like light's perspective, cruel and despicable people deserve death. it really solidifies that statement. it's also... agh i don't wanna say realistic but it feels more in character for light at that point.
this anime is probably the first anime where i'm conflicted on which bad ending i like the most. a fake ending with L, the manga ending, or the anime ending. it's a wonderful conflict though.
Been waiting for about a decade now for someone to sit with the difference between these two endings, a conversation that often isn't touched on when people discuss this series. Appreciate this video hard!
•Manga Ending: Light begs and dies like a pathetic dog
•Anime Ending: Light accepts his fate and dies alone
•Live action Movie Ending: Light is tricked, L wins and both died
•Musical Ending: Both Light and L lost and both died
In all honesty, both endings are amazing. And I love both and won’t stop loving both.
I just got here when the video uploaded started
Imo the ending of the anime doesn't frame Light as a more forgivable, empathetic or redeemable protagonist. It's simply a different experience for his demise. Him remembering his past, whether or not he did so with regret, doesn't seem like it's meant to say that he genuinely feels remorse for the horrors he's committed, or that deep down he's a good person who got twisted. I think it's simply a show of his human nature. To show the audience that he was never a God, but a normal man, a disgusting vile man who hurt and used others and even in his final moments, only longs for comfort and peace like anyone else. If there is regret in his remembrance, it has nothing to do with recognizing the harm he's done, or feebly imagining a world where he was a better person who made the right choices. If there was regret, it was regret he didn't succeed, that he didn't get what he wanted, that he ever suffered in the first place. He only cared about himself, from beginning to the end, and that scene accentuates that. He only remembers himself, thinks about himself, and it is a genuine reflection of how that's all he cares about, even in the end. He's not thinking about what he could have done differently, or feeling guilty for those he's hurt, he's simply remembering, clinging to comfort, to LIFE, before he's lost it.
Like this video said, if it had been an earlier Light in the manga, he may have accepted death quietly because he knew there was no point in resisting, but in the manga he's afraid to die and throws all his dignity away at one last chance to live and continue his self obsessed mission. But I think the anime explores exactly the idea that Light knows that when it's coming, he can no longer do anything. And so he just accepts it. I don't think it lessens any of the pathetic psychotic behavior beforehand, only adds another slow somber tone alongside it to allow both Light and the audience to fully process what's happened.
Both endings are amazing, and I really love finding out that's how the manga ended, it works just as well for the series, as others have said. But I just wanted to share my thoughts because I disagree that the anime ending is somehow meant to make the audience feel more sympathetic for Light, I don't feel the tone of that final scene was intended for that nor did it do it on accident. Light is still a monster in both endings, but they set different tones and explore his broken psyche as a simple human being who was obsessed with power in different ways.
Its funny that you uploaded this because I litterly just got done rewatching it(for like the 5th time) today.
I think the preference for wich ending is better really comes down to your opinion on Ligth as a whole,i personally like the anime's ending a bit more,but that's just cause i always saw Ligth more as a prety dark Anti-hero,for better of for worst his actions DID changued the world and did stopped crime,so seeing him show a bit of regret and just accepting his death in a calm way was a bit more fitting for him,but i also know that there are people who see Ligth as a straigth up twisted villian,so im sure they enjoy more seeing how his acts had consecuences that even he was not man of enough to face in the end
I prefer the anime’s ending. It also gave us a glimpse of what happened to Misa, who was completely disregarded in the manga.
Those endings are great from a character standpoint for Light, but I still find the way in which he lost super unsatisfying. "nuh uh we knew about the fake notebook the whole time!" it's like a schoolkid saying they have an everythingproof shield, it sucked and didn't actually have light getting outplayed at all. I don't think there's anything wrong with him losing but it really just didn't happen in satisfactory way.
The slow, yet hair-raising death of Light in the mangas was definitely more intense. Imagine watching a god of death writing your name in the death note letter by letter, while you're bleeding out and with no way to stop him. And once he was done, for the last forty seconds of your life, all you see is Ryuk's hysterical grin and your name marked in the middle of a blank page.
Now I want to see an animated version of the manga
I do love the anime ending better, especially since you do see that Light _feels_ regret, that in the end, that there's a part of "Light Yagami" inside what became "Kira" when it comes to the Death Note came into his life. Which _was_ the writer's intent. He did say that Light _could_ have become his own detective who would have worked with L had he never found the Death Note, and how the Note itself corrupted him.
But I do love how both endings are equally right in the very end.
Light makes a more powerful "i am Kira" speech in the manga, it's more deep and makes you question if somebody else got the notebook, would they use for the good of the world of just for selfish reasons. It's a bone-chilling sequence.
Honestly, after watching your video. I come to Conclusion that
The Manga ending was the Death of Kira showing that Light was already dead for long time. The person we see here is Kira a broken human was a God complex. Their is no Light Yagami anymore, in that moment he ripped his fault face off and Revealed himself. He couldn't admit to the fact that he lose everything that why he was begging while he was dying.
In The Anime ending was the death of Light. What we see in that ending when he left. We saw a little of Light Yagami the boy who wanted to bring justice in the world wishing that in his final moments that he wish things would of been different.
He knew it was too late and accepted his fate.
To me, Light seems more like himself in the manga, doing everything he can to win even if it means getting help (just like how he had others use the notebook for him). It seeemd he didn't care if he was desperate bevause those who saw would be dead with the assumption that Ryuuk would help him (because Ryuuk cares about being entertained by Light).
In the anime, he doesn't seem like himself, running away without trying absolutely everything (such as asking Ryuuk for help). He just tries to run from the truth (that he got caught). He only thinks about how he was before the notebook not the fact that Ryuuk is about to hold true to his word and write Light's name in the notebook. To me that means there is no symbolic meaning behind his running away (which would have been like him).
And this is why I always find and enjoy that fan made ending on youtube, where it was all planned.
Because not even 20,000,000,000 IQ L 2.0 would go after someone and connect them to Kira because they went to the gym twice in a row, because Near was total and absolute bullshit, and we all know it.
That's not how Near found X-Kira, it was very thoroughly explained in the manga. The anime just removed tons of content from the 2nd half, including the majority of Near's deductions.
I don't know if you've seen the Japanese live action movies Death Note and Death Note: The Last Name, but I actually found the ending used in The Last Name to be particularly noteworthy. It shares some similarities with the manga and anime endings, but throws in a couple interesting curve balls. It's worth checking out at any rate.
The Manga ending is Orange
The Anime ending is Purple.
Both are just colours that bring a different mood to the picture. Some like one of the colours more because they like the look of it. Maybe it's the atmosphere or deeper meaning behind each of them.
However, they are still just colours and we need them both to make our world function.
But perhaps we can put both colours in just one picture and enjoy the tone and atmosphere created by the contrast that still has some similar features for both of them.
Instead of arguing, enjoy that they both exist for the better and worse of this silly little story.
I personally think they used the new ending for more dramatic story to add those final words of ryuk ! Still both ending were great ! My top 3 anime for sure
This is the kind of content I like to see. Please keep it up.
Always saw lights death as him not regretting what he did. Just seeing all the people he ruined and having an apathetic look on his face as a "I wouldn't have done anything differently" kinda of acceptance.
I never noticed the stairway symbolism. Nice catch.
I don't really know which ending I liked better; unfortunately it was all tainted by that feeling you described of the second "season" being tacked on just so Light wouldn't win.
The ending to season 1 was very satisfying, I really had no idea who would come out on top and I doubt I would have been disappointed with the results either way. Would have been an amazing place to end the series.
One of the best anime I’ve ever seen
I feel like the manga and anime had subtly different versions of Light. The endings they went for in each made sense.
I personally prefer the manga ending. There is no dignity in death and as dignified as Light tried to present himself, it was sweet to see him lose it all, and I'm very sure that Light wouldn't act with dignity if he found out that suddenly that he was going to die in that very stressful situation where he was losing everything. That one page where it showed him as naked really hits home how naked Light felt in the moment that he was "exposed". Thinking about how great he could be is what he should have thought about before even accepting the DN. Maybe I'm just a big ol L fangirl, but I thought it was much more satisfying to see him suffer for his evil, narcissistic actions, not pity him over what coulda/shoulda been.
I found this to one very great Just Stop video about the ending of the godly Death Note.
Also I wish everyone a great day.
I preferred the Manga's ending. It was so much more satisfying watching Light's plans crumble right before him, and he got exactly what he deserved after he betrayed and killed so many of his own allies. It was very satisfying watching him pathetically beg for help when everything fell apart.
Unpopular Opinion: Death Note was as good as before after L died. Especially the manga is still super interesting and I love the new characters like Near, Mello or Mikami. I wouldn't say it's better than before L died but also definitely not worse.
In the anime he does renounce Light as Kira as well. He just kills himself out of shame
In the anime's ending, ryuk didn't need to write light's name in the note, he was already dying with several bullet wounds. In the manga it was the same, he didn't need too, cause light would have been sentenced to death at that point, but he did it to teach him a lesson. That's why the anime ending is far more inferior to the originals.
Ryuk didn't need to perhaps....but Ryuk benefits from killing via a Death Note. Even if Ryuk benefits minutely, it seems within his character to do so.
As someone who loves Bennett to the frickin moon and back you have made me cry. 🥲
I think the anime one isn't very good for lots of reasons. Taking the fact that the anime cut A LOT from the second half (around 10 episodes worth of content) aside, the cut content from the ending hurts almost the most. Near's speech for shorten by a lot, Matsuda's theory is out, the amazing shot of Near's fingerpuppet being the same size as Light is out, the final chapter that plays a year after the ending is out, meaning we lost the shot of Near eating choclate which in my opinion says A LOT about the themes of the manga. Near is in my opinion the best and most unquie character in the whole manga, so it sucks that we lost so much of him in the end.. well and through the whole anime since again, we lost 10 episodes worth of content from his arc that shows more of his character.
Anyways. I also find Light running away, really, really, really dumb. Firstly) I can't believe that Light has remorse. He thinks he is perfection, god, unbeatable. He was ready to kill his family, Light dosen't care about anyone but himself anymore. He is a monster. There is no way in hell, that after 6 years of being THAT, he starts looking back with remorse on his past.
Secondly) Near saying "Leave him alone, he will bleed out" is dumb. Near never wanted to kill Light, he wanted to lock him up, since Near dosen't think that he has the right to kill anyone (except if we say that Matsudas theory is right, which would make him a lot more grey, but that's for the reader to decide) so he would never say "lol he will die." Also for someone who is a super geniuse, letting Light run after finding out that you can kill with only pieces of the notebook is really dumb. What if he has one in his shoe? Would of sucked then, huh. The only reason this line is in, is to explain how Light could run away while being shot without the task force catching up to him. But in return it made Near look worse and dumber than he actually is. AND IT'S MAH BOIS LAST LINE.
There are other things I don't like about it, but those are my main problems I think.
Didn't expect to see you here. I'm u/jacobisgone from the Death Note sub lol.
@@jacobisgone9530 Oh hello, my fellow second half protecter.
I like the manga ending more its more satisfying
I like the anime ending better.
@@railenherman6482 Why's that?
JesseTheAnimeNerd I know Light was both the main character and main villain, but he was still the primary main character, and a primary main character deserves a special death. I also love how, rather in the manga ending where he dies in the warehouse with everyone watching, the anime ending has just him and Ryuk. Like how it was in the very beginning.
Besides, it’s nice to be reminded that Light used to be a sweet kid. He had a promising future ahead of him, but he threw it all away. The music, voice acting, camera work, and emotional impact deserve praise here. I also like how he saw L’s ghost while dying in the same way he killed L. Down to the camera angles, their deaths are nearly identical. It’s a nice bit of irony.
@@railenherman6482 Idk, I liked that Light and Ryuk actually conversed in the end of the manga instead of Ryuk killing Light on some random building. The anime ending, while beautiful, didn't properly reflect how Light would have faced death. The manga's ending felt more real, less romanticized. And to me, that's why I prefer it. The manga also has an epilogue, which was integral to explaining Mikami's actions at the warehouse.
JesseTheAnimeNerd After watching all of Death Note, it feels so weird to see Light being a regular dude at the beginning.
i like the anime ending more it was was gut wrenching to watch light descending into insanity for his lust for power, its heartbreaking to see, which ultimately lead him to his own self destruction. the part were he was running and thinking back to his younger self gave me chills, he had a bright future ahead of him, I wish he never found that notebook.
There's also the live action tv series and films, which I believe both end the story before the time skip.
I like the symbolism of light dying on a staircase, not at the top or the bottom. Just like he’s not in heaven or hell. But I wish we could have seen him begging Ryuk
Stupid tisms incoming...
One aspect of each downfall of Light I find interesting is how the differences relate to what Near said to Light at the end.
- The anime ending draws a bit more from Near pointing out that any normal or decent person would have thrown away the Death Note as soon as they realized what it was, but Light chose to continue using it. And at the end of it all, we see Light... broken, alone, pathetic, all of his work brought down, his life and its potential ultimately wasted, and nobody to blame for it but himself. He realizes this as he runs, then lays on the stairs, accepting the consequences of his choices...
- The manga's more pitiful end for Light draws more from Near telling Light that despite all intentions he may claim and his aspirations of godhood, Light is nothing more than a killer. And this shows in how the previously cunning and composed Light is, after his confession, out of options. Light vastly overestimated the influence he had over people like Matsuda and Mikami, leading to them shooting him and abandoning him, respectively. And then there's Ryuk... to whom Light was just a source of entertainment (and apples), something the Shinigami is all too happy to turn on him, especially after seeing Light in this sorry state. And Light dies, begging for his life, overcome by fear of his encroaching death, humiliated and pitiful... nothing more than a sad, sorry criminal.
Omg I have never watched Just Stop before so I thought that based on the thumbnail that the magna included other random character we didn't see in the anime like that random cartoon character that is Just Stop xD
Death comes as the unwelcome caller, the midnight rapping upon the door of our lives we all know will come, must come, and yet is never sought, save in anguish or desperation. Death is a bride in white, thinly veiled behind the gossamer trappings of lifes simple enchantments. She shyly waits for us in the shadows least anticipated, daydreaming of her eventual union.
Light was the only person who was killed by death note knowing how many seconds he had left to die.
I bet that was a scary moment.
From a character perspective they are both equal, but Light should not be able to run after taking that many bullets. So overall the Mangas is better, I do like Light a lot though and seeing him go out with some shred of dignity makes me on a personal level prefer the anime’s.
Fun fact:
Matsuda only shot Light 3 times in the manga. While he shot him at least 5 times in the anime.
I would have loved the way Light lost if the reason he lost hadn’t felt so contrived. Near had an insane amount of plot armor
Didn't feel contrived at all to me.
@@ineedhealing5133 I mean, it did to me. Near basically just made wild assumptions that happened to be correct. And that thing with replacing notebook didnt make sense
@@cosas_de_gatosThat was because in the anime they cut many scenes and even entire chapters, in the manga their deductions are explained in depth.