Death Note ep.30

May 10, 2007 | 22 Comments

It's hard to believe that there are only 7 episodes left to the series. That means in about 2 months, everything will be over. I have to say that the anime writers have done a good job of condensing the story thus far. Some of the elements that they left out are quite extraneous and could use a good trim in the editing room. Having said that, this episode unfortunately is still not exciting enough. Thankfully it's a prelude to a more tense situation which I believe we'll see on next week's episode. From there on, things will wind down to the finish line. I have to say, however, that it's been a blast watching Light getting increasingly cornered from every angle by different people who tries to catch him. I guess he didn't count on the possibilities that there will be other people who'd go after him after L's death.

In the aftermath of Souichirou's death, the SPK wants to know what Near thinks about the case. Near tells them that Kira and the Japanese police are working together. In that case, Kira is actually the 2nd L. Having said that, he's only 7% sure about this. Meanwhile the rest of the world becomes increasingly fearful of Kira while others decide to capitalise on it. Demegawa, the TV anchor from Sakura TV, for example, is now hosting a TV program called Kingdom of Kira and calls himself Kira's spokeman. Meanwhile, the President of the US announces to the reporters that the US will no longer go against Kira. Light pretends to be angry about this but deep down he declares his winning against the US. While the vice-president refuses to acknowledge Kira as righteous, he, however, also refuses to go after him. Aizawa is unhappy to hear this and even more so when Matsuda tells him that Kira don't think Kira is completely evil.

Matsuda understands that Kira is a mass murderer but at the same time he can also understands why the public thinks he's a messiah as well. As someone who feels that he's weak, Matsuda thinks he can understand this well. Having said that he's a detective and that's why he can't recognise Kira and must catch the guy. Much to Aizawa's surprise, Light tells Matsuda that he doesn't think it's strange. Light thinks that Kira realises that his action is evil but decides to sacrifice himself to do it in order to change the world. Light also tells them that it's not their decision to judge if Kira is evil or justice. The only thing they can do is to catch Kira. If they catch Kira then Kira is evil and if Kira wins then Kira is justice. Unknown to the others, however, Light secretly believes that from now on the world will slowly lean towards Kira and eventually Kira will become justice. Meanwhile back in the US, Near is unhappy with the current situation.

Later on, one of SPK's agent, Hal Ridner find out that Mello has managed to enter her apartment. Hal is being hold hostage by Mello and is forced to lead him to the SPK's headquarters. The other SPKs agent immediately point their gun at Mello but Near asks them to lower them since there's no point in shedding blood while their aim is to look for Kira. Upon hearing this, Mello wonders if all of these were Near's intention right from the start. Near admits that this is the case. Thanks to Mello, Near can narrow down Kira easily. Mello is unhappy upon hearing this and tells Near that he's not Near's tool. Before Mello can shoot Near, Hal reminds Mello that his intention is to capture Kira and that will be rendered moot if he dies now. Mello eventually agrees to lower his gun and asks Near to return his photo. Near does this and assures Mello that he's taken precautions so that no other photos of Mello were taken and that Mello can't be killed by the notebook.

Upon getting his photo back, Mello tells Near that he has no intention of co-operating with Near. Having said that, he decides to pay Near's favour by telling him that the murder notebook is the notebook of a Shinigami. If one touches the notebook, they can see a Shinigami. Although SPK agents don't believe this, Near believes Mello has no reason to lie. Mello also informs Near that there are fake rules written in one of the notebooks. Mello then leaves the place after telling Near that it's a race to see which one of them can capture Kira first. Later on, Near goes through every single rules in the notebook and comes to the conclusion that the 13 days rule must be the fake one. Upon finding out about this, Near decides to call Light to tell him that they captured Mello but he went away. However, they got information about Shinigami and the fake rule. Because of this he wants Light's opinion which one he thinks must be the fake rule.

Light has no choice but to tell Near that he thinks the 13 days rule must be the fake one. Light then asks Ryuk if there's any fake rule and Ryuk pretends that there isn't. This, however, delights Near and causes the other detectives to wonder if this means Light's innocence wasn't proven by imprisoning him for 13 days. Matsuda tells them that Souichirou could see that Light didn't have the notebook. At the same time, Near suggests that they test the notebook by writing Mello's name in it. If Mello dies and then he dies after 13 days, Near wouldn't mind. Light decides to ask the other Japanese detectives and their opinion basically amounts to disagreement. Near eventually decides to take off the glove and tells the other detectives to contact him if any of them feel that the 2nd L is actually Kira. This causes Aizawa to start doubting Light's innocence in regards to the 13 days rule. This causes Light to see red and swears off to kill Near.

Because of this, Light uses his Kira voice and contacts the President of the US, asking him to break apart the SPK. Meanwhile, Aizawa continues to suspect Light and can't get over the 13 days rule. Ide, who notices his behaviour suggests that Aizawa does what he must do. Unknown to them, their conversation is overheard by Light. Later on, Matsuda burst into the room to tell them that there is something going on the TV. As it turns out, Demegawa is now on a helicopter, announcing that he's leading mob to the hideout of an 'evil' organisation called the SPK. An organisation who tries to capture Kira. While the mob breaks into the building, Misa is watching the situation through camera, ready to write down Near's name. Light then contacts Near to tell the guy that this is probably Mello's initiative or maybe SPK only has simple protection system. Near is pissed off with this latest development while Light thinks he's winning.

Impression:

Ah, so the glove is finally off and Light and Near are going to try to off each other from here on. One thing that Light doesn't count, however, is the fact that he now has enemies trying to target him from every angle. Near is not the only one who's after him. There's Mello and then there are Japanese detectives like Aizawa, who's suspicious of Light's innocence. I have to say that Light's plan is quite devious and outlandish. Using a puppet like Demegawa to lead a mob into SPK's building is quite a clever tactic. As it is now, Near is now in great danger. Speaking of which, the writers have simplified the story in such a way that the story doesn't actually give details of Hal's complex entanglement with Mello or Mogi's involvement with the SPK while the mob tries to enter the building. I wonder how this will factor into the story later on since the plot kind of relies on both Mogi and Aizawa getting embroiled with the SPK later on in the story.

© memento 2003