In the eighth episode of Death Note, Light is too good at this. Intrigued? Then it’s time for Mark to watch Death Note.
So, I have a question: Who called in the tip that Naomi was missing? I didn’t get a sense for how much time passed between “Overcast” and “Glare,” but it feels fairly immediate. Once Naomi goes missing, she’s suddenly on L’s radar. I don’t know if this is a plot point I should pay attention to or not, but I’m suspicious. The timing was so… intentional?
Well, regardless, no one focuses on that in this episode because L realizes that if Naomi is missing, that means she must have been close to figuring out something about her fiancé’s death. Gods, it’s so frustrating! I know that’s the point, but L and the team get so damn close to the truth, and Light manipulates it just perfectly so that he has the ultimate alibi. That’s the thing about Light: he plans ahead. Constantly. That’s what we’ve seen from him over and over again. He knew that eventually, he may slip up and attract police attention, so he set up a complicated way of determining if someone ever came into his room. He planned to be surveilled, so he planted those porn magazines in his bookshelf to further strengthen his alibi. And when it came to his murdering, he wrote out deaths in the Death Note far in advance, just so that he’d have a cushion. He could get sick. He could appear in public places while criminals died.
IT’S TOO FUCKING GOOD, Y’ALL.
Now, I don’t think that this is a case of someone writing this character as being utterly perfect. We’ve actually seen Light make mistakes, misjudge people, or miscalculate his power. Light is painstakingly careful, though, and it’s his advance planning that keeps him so far ahead of the investigators and L. It’s why he’s able to adapt to every single variable thrown his way. Hell, who would have thought to purchase a portable television and, using sleight of hand, hide it in a chip bag??? He’s unreal!
Except he’s actually very real, and more than anything else, “Glare” got me thinking about the future. L and the police don’t even have the supernatural on their radar, and until they get a clue that they’re up against something that’s not “natural,” for lack of a better term, then they’ll always be trailing behind Light. The Death Note gives him an advantage that’s not even on their radar! So how will the future of this anime look? I don’t think you can sustain this kind of back-and-forth for nearly thirty episodes, especially since Death Note is already barreling forward as it is. Will Light slip up and reveal something about himself to L? Is there a third party I haven’t met yet that will mess things up? And what of the very strange subplot involving Ryuk’s withdrawal from apples? Was that there to drop a hint about the shinigami, or was it weird just for the sake of it? (I realize I’m asking for background information on a floating reaper who looks like a clown, so… whatever.)
I don’t know, I’M JUST RAMBLING AT THIS POINT. But something has to shift this narrative in a new direction. I’m not saying that the show is stale or anything, because that’s CLEARLY not the case. It’s exciting, thrilling, and scary, and I’m enjoying it. I don’t know what I really expected from it, but it wasn’t this, and it’s always nice to be surprised by something I watch. Now that L doesn’t suspect Light, though, where does he go next? I don’t think the evidence will lead him down another path; he still hasn’t figured out what it was that Naomi knew. Maybe Light will start planting evidence, but even that won’t be a permanent solution. Damn it, I can’t figure this out! I’ll say that for Death Note: I genuinely can’t see the direction this show might take. I’m completely in the dark.
The video for “Glare” can be downloaded here for $0.99.
Mark Links Stuff
– I am now on Patreon!!! MANY SURPRISES ARE IN STORE FOR YOU IF YOU SUPPORT ME.
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– My Master Schedule is updated for the near and distant future for most projects, so please check it often. My next Double Features for Mark Watches will be Death Note and Neon Genesis Evangelion. On Mark Reads, Diane Duane’s Young Wizards series will replace the Emelan books.
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