Death Note ep.05

October 31, 2006 | 30 Comments

This is a satisfying episode although I'm a bit annoyed that the animators decided to end the episode before the big revelation. I guess cliffhanger is their way to maintain viewers' interest from episode to episode. The animation itself is pretty solid although I did notice one or two frames where the character model looks a bit off. These are mostly long shots though so it'll be hard to notice unless you happen to be pausing the episode to look for screenshots. As long as Madhouse maintain the quality at this level, I'll be quite satisfied. Moving on to other topic, I decided to read the ending to this series because the suspense was killing me. Much to my surprise it didn't disappoint me that much. I was a bit worried after all of the negative feedback about it. The situation included was a bit complicated and I thought it could use more twist than what was provided but overall, it was not a bad ending for the series.

Continuing from last week's episode, Raye tells Light that the truth is he's on a secret mission and therefore he asks Light not to tell Japanese police that he saw him today. Light promises not to say a word about this to anyone, not even his father. Unknown to Raye, Light also doesn't want anyone to know that he met Raye today. A few hours later, Raye returns to his apartment and is greeted by his fiancee, Naomi. He tells her that he just happened to encounter a bus highjacking today but the perpetrator got hit by a car. Naomi becomes interested to hear this and starts asking Raye some questions such as whether or not the highjacker is already dead and if the entire thing was just a coincidence. She points out that he was following someone on the bus and now a criminal probably died. Before Naomi can draw any conclusion, however, Raye tells her that while she was an excellent FBI agent, right now she's just his fiancee.

He reminds Naomi that she promised him that there'll be no more Kira case if he brings her here to meet her parents. Naomi apologises and tells Raye that it's just a habit. Raye tells her not to worry since she'll be busy once they start a family. Right now though, he wants her to tell him how he can nicely greet her father. Meanwhile, Light tells Ryuk that he will wait until next week before killing Raye because doing it so soon will point suspicion his way. Instead, Light decides to play with L again by giving him another dead criminal with cryptic message. This time around, he writes 「死神は」- Shinigami wa (Death God is). L realises that the previous message and this one can be combined into, 「えるしっているか？死神は」- L, shitte iru ka? Shinigami wa (L, did you know Death God?). This leads L to wonder if Kira is trying to tell him that Shinigami exists. Because of this, L asks Watari to tell the police to keep an eye on this kind of message.

One week later, Light is seen inside a train station with Ryuk, telling the Shinigami that he just found out that he can actually write the cause of the death first before writing the name of the person. Ryuk is surprised to hear this since he didn't know about it. Their conversation ends abruptly when Raye walks towards their way. After letting the man walk a bit further, Light sneaks behind him and introduces himself as 'Kira'. He, however, warns Raye that he'll kill the guy on the spot if he turns around or put his hand in his pocket. Raye is shocked to hear this especially since he seems to recognise Kira's voice. Light tells Raye that he intends on proving that he's 'Kira' by killing the glasses-wearing man who works in a coffee shop. Raye begs Light to stop but the man already drops dead right in front of him. Light then tells Raye that the man has been convicted of several rape charges but police never found him guilty due to lack of evidence.

Light also knows that L probably already told Raye that he can't kill anyone without knowing their face or their name. Having said that, he can still kill a few people here. Moreover, he knows that Raye has someone who is more important than anyone in here. Raye realises that Light is talking about Naomi so he has no choice but to follow his order unless he wants Light to kill her and her family. Light decides to ask Raye if he has laptop on his bag and if it contains the name of the agents who work in Japan. Raye admits that he owns a laptop but it doesn't have information on the agents. Upon finding out about this, Light gives Raye an envelope and orders the agent to use the transmitter and put on the earphone. Through the earphone, Light orders Raye to take the Yamanote line, either the outer circle (the one that runs clockwise according to the Yamanote map) or the inner circle (the one that runs counter-clockwise on the map).

Once Raye is inside the train, Light orders Raye to tell him the number of FBI agents that have been dispatched to Japan. Raye has no choice but to say that there are 4 groups, making a total of 12 people. Light then asks Raye to see the inside of the envelope. Raye is surprised to see another 4 sets of envelope with 'windows' cut out to allow him to write names on the piece of paper inside the envelope. Light orders Raye to write the name of the agents on the file. Raye is confused to hear this but writes the name anyway, thinking that if 'Kira' only knows the name, he won't be able to kill the agent. After Raye writes the name, Light asks him to check his laptop because he'll receive a file containing the possible FBI agent who work in Japan. Light orders Raye to write the name of the agents that he recognises on the monitor into the piece of paper again. After he completed he asks Raye to put everything back on the envelope and to sit quietly for 30 minutes.

By the time the clock reaches 4:41PM, Light orders Raye to get off the train. At that point, Raye suddenly gets a instant pain on his chest and gasping for air. In his last moment of death, Raye manages to turn around and look towards the closing train door to see Yagami Light's face smirking at him, bidding him goodbye. Light later on reveals that the paper that Raye has been using to write the name of his FBI colleagues are Death Note papers. In order to ensure that no one can connect Raye's death to him, Light has written a rule next to all of the agents' name that they'll be dead after receiving the same electronic file that Raye received. In other words, it was Raye who killed his own comrades. In the aftermath of the incident, the FBI decides to take their hands off this problem. At the same time, the police are not happy when they find out that the FBI who's been investigating them have been under L's directions.

The police begins to distrust L because of this. It doesn't help that 'Kira' has killed FBI, suggesting that those who oppose him will get killed. L then receives another riddle from 'Kira' who basically continues his previous message with 「りんごしかたべない」- Ringo shika tabenai (Only eats Apples), making the whole sentence into 「えるしっているか死神はりんごしかたべない」 - L, shitte iru ka? Shinigami wa Ringo shika tabenai (L, did you know that Shinigami only eats apples?). L is angry to realise that the whole thing was just a silly mindgame from 'Kira'. At the same time, Naomi is filled with sadness and anger, knowing full well that Raye was killed by Kira. Inside his home, Yagami Souchirou informs his family that he intends on chasing Kira even if it means that he'll endanger his life. His wife and daughter are against it but Light gives him a full support, claiming that he'll put an end to Kira if anything happens to his father.

The next day, Yagami Souchirou holds a meeting to tell the detectives that they may resign from the 'Kira' case if they want to do so. However, he hopes that there will be those who are willing to sacrifice their life to fight Kira with him. At the same time, Naomi decides to conduct her own investigation by asking the bus driver who got involved in the highjacking incident if he recognises Raye. The guy does recognise Raye but he can't remember the other passengers. Naomi thinks that if she's right then it means Kira was one of the bus' passengers. Back inside the meeting room, there are only 5 detectives left who are willing to gamble their life with their chief. However, they refuse to work with L unless he reveals himself to them. Because of this, L arranges a meeting with them on the condition that they do not reveal this to anyone else including their family. The episode the ends with the 6 policemen entering L's room in a hotel despite their initial reluctance.

Impression:

I know it was unintentonal but Light made me laugh out loud when he told his father that he'll personally go after 'Kira' if something happens to his father. I thought it was one of the most hypocritical statement I've ever heard from someone's mouth. Having said that, it's hard not to admire his intelligence when he leads L around a goose chase with that "Do you know that Shinigami only eats Apples" riddle. At the same time, that riddle also reveals Light's ignorance and arrogance. I think by mentioning Shinigami in his riddle, Light technically gives L a little bit of clue on how he manages to kill his victim. After all, L already knows that 'Kira' is capable of killing without getting in contact with a person. Anyway, I thought this episode does a better job of explaining why Light sent the files to all of the FBI agents in Japan. I couldn't figure this out until I realise that if he only sent it to Raye then it'll be to narrow down which sole agent received the file.

I think the one thing that Light didn't put into his calculation is the possibility that Raye's fiancee will seek revenge for his death. Naomi proved herself to be a very perceptive agent when she concludes that 'Kira' surely was on the bus that Raye took on that fateful day. The problem is, it won't be difficult for Light to kill Naomi if he wants to. Moving on to other topic, this episode once again presents a moral dillema for the viewers: whether or not they'll participate in hunting a killer if they know they'll be in danger from it. While I think Yagami Souchirou is a honourable man, I think he was also selfish and one-track minded in his decision. He immediately decides that he'll hunt 'Kira' even though his wife and daughter asks him not to. It makes me wonder if he even considers their safety. The question is, if you were the police, would you participate in the case, knowing your family could be threatened by the killer?

Preview

On next week's episode: L is revealed.

© memento 2003