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ローゼンメイデン 
I'm sorry for the late entry as usual. I will also have to postpone writing about Darker than Black and Nodame Cantabile until Monday because my proposal is due in two days. After that, I hope I will have more time to resume my normal blogging. Anyway, with only two more episodes left, next week should be both exciting and confusing because Light and Near will finally have their confrontation. As for this episode, up to this day, I still don't fully understand Mello's full role in capturing Kira. I mean I understand that Mello's action inadvertently causes a flaw in Light's plan. However, I think it's rather hard to believe that Mello could predict what both Light and Mikami would do if something prevents Kiyomi from writing the name in the notebook.
The episode opens with montage featuring all of the characters engaging in their daily activities. It's obvious, however, that these montage serve to pad the episode out, which is rather strange since they still have quite a lot of things to cover. Giovanni is then shown telling Near that he's done things as Near ordered him. Cut to a shot of Mikami observing the notebook under a microscope. Later on, Kiyomi tells Mikami through the phone that she's received everything. Before the conversation ends, however, Mikami tells her that he's got something he'd like to add. After the conversation ends, Kiyomi sends a message to Light, telling him that she'd like to see him soon. Upon getting the message, Light is sure that this means Near is doing what he expected the boy to do. At the same time, Giovanni informs Near that he can confirm that for the past 3 days, Mikami uses 1 page of the notebook per day and there's nothing unusual with Mikami either.
Later on, Near makes a call to Light, telling him that there's something that he'd like to show Light. Light reminds Near that Near suspects him to be Kira so he doesn't think Near will show up. Near, however, assures him that he needs to show his face in order to pass on the information. Before they meet, however, Near wants to set the time and place for their meeting. Near also wants all members of the SPK members and Japanese police to present in the area. That means there will be 4 members of the SPK including Near himself. Near also promises to bring Mogi, who's still with them at the moment. Misa, however, will be released without giving her information of where they'll be heading. As for the place, Near shows a picture of a warehouse in Daikoku wharf. Near also wants Light and everyone else to bring the note that they have because if everyone goes, no one will look after the note. Near promises that he won't try to get the note.
Having said that, he wants someone other than Light to carry the note for he believes that Light is Kira. Near also wants to decide the time and date since he knows that Mikami makes his judgement at midnight, then Light usually tells Mikami whom to judge in the morning. Because of this, Near decides that they should meet 3 days later, on the 28th at 1PM. Upon hearing this, Light realises that Near is aware of Mikami's schedule but he pretends he's okay with Near's plan. After they cut off the phone calls, however, both Light and Near swear off that they will win this. When Light meets Kiyomi later on, he tells her of his meeting with Near in Daikoku wharf. Light seems pleased after this because he's now informed both Kiyomi and Mikami. The next day, Kiyomi and her guards are about to enter NHN studio when Matt arrives and throws tear gas at them. Mello then arrives in a motorbike, trying to persuade Kiyomi to come with him.
Thanks to Hal's reassurance, Kiyomi is convinced to hop onto the motorbike with Mello. After a while, however, Mello steers his bike to a narrow alley where the other cars can't follow them. He then chains himself to Kiyomi so that the newsanchor can't escape. Unfortunately, Kiyomi's bodyguards manage to corner Matt, who tries to escape in a car. In order to give Mello more time to escape, Matt steps out of the car, trying to encourage the guards to interrogate him. However, they insted shoot him at point blank range, killing the guy instantly. The guards claim that they know Matt is not going to talk anyway so the least that they can do is to kill those that go against Kira. Meanwhile Kiyomi realises that his kidnapper is Mello. However, it's too late for her since they already arrive inside a truck hidden in an alley. Once inside, Mello orders her to take off all of the clothes because there's a locater in it.
Meanwhile, Near convinces Light that he has nothing to do with this since it's bothersome for him as well. Light believes that Near is telling the truth, especially after Near assures him that they're going to look for Mello and Kiyomi's whereabouts. All of a sudden, however, Light gets a phone call from Kiyomi. Through a series of veiled conversation, Kiyomi manages to tell Light that she managed to kill Mello by writing his name on a piece of death note paper that she somehow keeps. Since Kiyomi can't write the name of the criminals, she decides to contact Mikami about this so Mikami can do it in her stead. A few hours later, Light and the other police think that Kiyomi is detained in Karuizawa. Hal, on the other hand, has arrived in the area, but she finds that the place has been burnt down along with both Kiyomi and Mello. Later on it's revealed that Light has written down Kiyomi's death by suicide through burning herself.
Impression:
I really feel sorry for Kiyomi in this episode. She did everything that Light asked her to only to find later on that she's nothing more than a tool for Light. However, it looks like this will actually be Light's downfall. We know that Light has always been keen on cleaning up his mess to the point of overdoing it. I also feel sorry for Matt, mostly because the guy was simply involved in Mello's plan but he doesn't realise the extent of the danger that he get himself into. The scary thing about this is how devoted Kira's followers have become. It's quite different to how things used to be. Moving along, I want to know how Takada could have killed Mello so easily. Does this mean she actually did a Shinigami eye exchange with Ryuk? How many times can Ryuk actually do this? I mean the thing only has two eyes but if both Mikami and Takada both have the eyes, then it's not so much of exchange but he simply gives them an extra ability.
Preview
Why did Hal let Kiyomi go with Mello? I don't understand. Doesn't she know Mello is a dangerous guy or something?
Also I'm not sure if she actually did the eye trade. I guess the reason she could kill Mello was that she had already got information about Mello from Light (there's a scene about this in this episode). And having seen his face, she could write down his real name and get him killed.
Takada didn't have the eyes of the shinigami
Light told her Mello's name
+
She saw Mello's face
+
She had a piece of the death note
=
Mello powned
Michael?? He's Matt, not Michael o.o
Hal knows very well Mello, they were working together in some ways, in the anime they cut the whole thing, damn!
Poor Mello, i cried for him, and for Matt too, they were sooo hot!
Kiyomi killed Mello so easy because she already knew his name! Light told it to her... The only reason he couldn't kill Mello was because he didn't see Mello's real face .... Only his dad and Kiyomi saw it .
You know I didn't even think of that (what the first commenter mentioned) -- because they cut out so much of the Hal + Mello interplay several episodes ago, it's going to confuse people when she lets him go off with Takada. In the manga, Hal and Mello are really working together. She isn't scared of him, she had him in her apartment for awhile. Actually, most people tend to think that they were maybe romantically involved, or at least she was attracted to him a little. In any case, I believe at one point she says that the only thing she is interested in is catching Kira, not picking either Mello's or Near's side. So when Mello shows up that day, she decides to trust him.
I don't know if they showed it in this episode or if they are saving it for the end like they did in the manga -- I saw a screenshot that made me think it was here -- but before the events of this episode occur, Mello and Hal speak on the phone (so they are still in touch regularly) and Hal informs him of Near's plans. Then he says something which results in her kind of expecting him to show up later. That's why she goes along with it.
Anyway ... yeah. This episode has been dubbed by we Mello and Matt fans as Cryfest 2007. It was pretty hard on everybody. We had been hoping Mello and Matt's presence would be expanded, not decreased, in the anime. But at least they made Matt's death extra badass -- it was way cooler than in the manga. Totally heartbreaking.
And I don't feel sorry for Takada, either. She is a tool with no conscience. I actually feel pity for Misa, because at least she has an idea of what is right and wrong; she's motivated by emotion, not by, gosh, a sort of religious fervor like Takada is. Takada is just creepy.
Was it really necessary to kill Takada?
All he had to do is hide the paper she had on her
@Garten:
Although I haven't watched this ep yet, I remember reading that part in the manga where guards told Matt they were afraid of being killed because of that incident... it scared me that people inKira's utopy wouldn't mind killing other people justifying it with 'for Kira'
About the shinigami eyes as everyone noted she was instructed by Light to kill Mello, she knew his name and saw his sketch
@Annalisa
Misa is as guilty as Takada... even more she knows Light, knows she is not more than a tool for him but still accepts it... she deserves what is going to happen to her
@Malek
Light is paranoid so he needed to 'clean' all the evidences...
Matt was named Michael? isn't his name
Mail Jeevas?
Those parts cut from the manga where they explain Hal and Mello's relationship are confusing. In the novel it looks like Mello already understood that something wasn't right with Near's plan... to what extent? I don't know but it looks like it.
Wow two eps more. Thanks for sharing your comments with us Garten!
Thanks to everyone for clarifying the relationship between Hal and Mello.
I also quite like how we get to see Near happily playing with his toy models. It's the first time I saw him smiling like a kid while playing with those things, rather than appearing creepy while being preoccupied with his deductions like in other eps. He's still young after all.
The montage is actually part of the last chapter of volume eleven. The artist purposefully drew those scenes without any dialogue.
And what on earth, Matt's voice is all wrong! :( They really need gaijin to do voice acting for foreign characters.
And they definitely didn't emphasize Hal's neutral relationship between Near and Mello enough. She's on neither's side, but keeps in contact with Mello enough to trust him. I mean, between a successor of L, and some lady who's obviously working for Kira, which would you pick? Right? Right.
This part was confusing to me in the manga as well. As far as I could tell, Mello did what he did because he knew that it would take out the only source of communication between Light and Mikami. Therefore, anything they did henceforth would be independent of each other. That becomes crucial for Near in the final confrontation. Whether he knew it would cause him to die or not, I don't know.
Both Mello and Matt got shafted in this show, big time. The least Madhouse could have done was added a scene of Mello actually dying, even though that wasn't in the manga. Then again, with the small amount they've featured him, I guess it wasn't necessary. I love Near, but so little Mello and Matt irks me, especially when they prove to be somewhat useful to Near in the long run.
It seems as though I'm the only one out there that actually likes Matt's voice...it sounds a bit old, yes, but I think it suits his bad-boy image quite nicely.
I think it's such a shame Madhouse cut out so much of Matt's screentime. His death in the anime just doesn't have the impact it had in the manga. And the way they cut out the complexity of Hal's and Mello's relationship...people who haven't read the manga will be confused as to why Hal let Takada go with Mello.
I know the second arc is not as popular as the first, but really, they shouldn't have cut out so much. Madhouse did a superb job on Monster, but they really spoiled what could have potentially been a very good anime series.
Matt = Mail Jeevas
@x
*Whether he knew it would cause him to die or not, I don't know*
That's the main issue... the author doesn't explain this but if you read the novel (which is supposed to be approved by the author) you read Mello saying:
"Something happened and I cannot succeed L," and before this he admits that Near is the one who would be the rightful succesor.
@Penguin Truth:
Mello's death was also short in the manga because the author said she didn't want to explain it more because that would ruin the final confrontation... I don't know how can showing extra images ruin the whole setting... unless Mello knew what was going on and decided to sacrifice himself.
As I stated before... we don't know if Mello *really* knew it or not. Mmm next week swimming lessons D:
@ibatum
This is an Anime error. Originally in the Manga, Mello and Hal knew eachother, and Hal was leeking SPK information to Mello without Near knowing. This is most probably related to why she let Takada go with Mello, yet in the Anime along with other things, this is left as unexplained.
How come I can't post a comment here?
there definitely was a scene in the montage where Mello was talking to Hal....
there are a few things i don't get in this ep...maybe it was explained in the manga but i haven't gotten to this part yet, so anyone...?
a. how did Takada manage to burn the building down if she was locked inside the truck? she didn't have any means to get out (the window she broke only lead to the driver's seat and it looked too high and too small) nor did she have any matches or gasoline...she didn't have anything!!
b. why -- WHY -- in God's name did Mello take off his helmet in front someone he knew keeps contact with Kira? if i remember right, he knows about the shinigami eyes, and even if he thinks Takada is not an owner of a Death Note, wouldn't it be obvious for someone as smart as him not to reveal his face when he knows his enemy can kill just by knowing that??? it just seems so un-Mello, how he didn't think of something like this. and it's frustrating to think that if he had kept his helmet on, he'd be alive!!
c. what was mello talking about when he was saying to himself that this was the only way and he had to do it? so does this mean he knew he would die? and did he really mean to kill Takada...? *confused*
This is great and all, but if you don't already know VIZ media sent out a Cease and Desist letter to Kuro-Hana and other major fansub companies who's projects included Death Note. The letter can be found here... http://kuro-hanasubs.com/kurohanaviz.jpg
mello -- Many people have wondered why Mello took his helmet off. The only logical conclusion is that he knew he was going to die. Something Hal will say in the final confrontation leads us to believe this, also. Still, it obviously doesn't sit right. I wouldn't say it is un-Mello, though. After all, he let Papa Yagami see his face, too, which was his real downfall. Mello tends to do things without really thinking.
It's never explained how Takada was able to set herself on fire, but maybe there was something in the truck (I think there were boxes?) or she was able to reach inside the cab and get something out to do it with. She was able to reach in the cab a little ... she's the one who broke the window, so that she could get Mello's phone after he died (bitch, she groped his dead body DX).
I don't know if he meant to kill Takada. He probably meant to keep her imprisoned, or maybe even hand her over to the SPK. If he'd meant to kill her, he would have done it right away, I think. And yes, I think he knew he was going to die, though while Matt was still alive he probably still hoped to avoid it.
Ok, so Takada really killed herself? Or Yagami did? (while he was in the car pulling the note out from his watch). So why did she cry so bad when Yagami asked her, "can you do it?" Is she too afraid to be a Kira? Or was it Mikami that killed Takada?
It is because she realized Light was just using her.
Just hope that they can finish subbing the series before Friday — like eagleace said, Viz sent out cease and desists to the sub groups, and they’ve got till the 22nd to comply.
@Venneh: The series finishes after the 22nd, so they won't be able to. But there will be other groups that will emerge to sub it...hopefully. =I
does death note end up with 32 series?
Annalisa: bitch, she groped his dead body DX
GOD I HATE HER SHE KILLED MELLO!!! grrrr...
viz is unbelievable!! just 2 episodes left and they won't even let us finish!! it's not like i won't watch the english dubbed...i will even if i hate Light's voice.
cy: DN was meant to have 37 episodes, but sadly viz has already stopped the fansubs, so we'll be left with 35 subbed episodes... :'(
So Viz already has this show out!! I had no clue, but i would rather also see the Japanese version.
Good Review!!!
@ Testament:
No, DN isn't already out. Viz was bragging, that they would release a subbed version even while the series is still shown in Japan. They are just big mouths and greedy on top of it.
I just hope, at least one fansub team is willing to continue for the last two episodes.
Now to ep. 35: I kinda feel sorry for Takada. But it was stupid of her to be decieved by Light in the first place. She is no femme fatale (eh, is this spelled correctly??). She is no different than Misa in the end. In fact, I think her even more stupid for following him, even though she has no real reason to.
Misa is thankful of Kira for killing her parents killer, but Takada just blindly followed an image created by Kira supporters.
I wanted to kick Light for thinking that women are just unreasonable beings, but how can you blame him after the ones he had encountered? *sigh*
My thought on how Kiyomi killed herself was by taking Mello's gun and blowing up the gas tank in the truck.
Also, I don't think she was locked in the truck, but that she didn't know where she was and she had no clothing. I mean, all in all, she's had a pretty tramatic/scary day, with the kidnapping, the motorcycle chase, being held at gunpoint, forced to strip, and now she doesn't know where she is and is pretty much nakid. So she calls up the guy she loves, and believes (quite foolishly, but believes all the same) loves her, hoping that he can come and 'save' her and make it all right.
"No, DN isn't already out. Viz was bragging, that they would release a subbed version even while the series is still shown in Japan. They are just big mouths and greedy on top of it."
Actually, it is out. Kind of. The first ten episodes (subbed) are available as Download to Own files through the official site. Does anybody know about it? NO, because Viz has done next to no promotion for it. I'm signed up to the mailing list and I have gotten maybe one email about it. I only know because I thought I'd check out the site randomly a little bit ago.
It's an understandable move by Viz. It's copyrighted, after all. But I really wish they would mention how buying from Viz would actually give the original author profits, somehow. But instead I just feel like I'm paying an American company and gipping the original Japanese author & producer. After selling the rights to DN, does anyone in Japan get anything for stuff Viz sells in America? Madhouse? Ohba? Anyone?
This is a modestly bad move by them [Viz], too. I'm betting that heaps of fans who were juuuust about to buy the stuff from Viz are now refusing to buy anything from them.
I'm curious though: between the group of fans who would've bought the Viz version but now won't because of this letter, and the group of fans who wouldn't have bought the Viz version but now have to in order to see the last episode - which group is bigger? If it's the latter group, Viz has made a profitable move. But the best move they could have made was to send C&D's before the fansubbing started, so fans would turn to them from the beginning.
*shrug* If someone wants to stick it to them, a good way is for some group to sub the last ep. and leak it out - not Kuro-hana subs, but some other group. That way, the second group will get their fill of DN and won't buy from Viz, and the first group still won't buy from Viz. They'll lose some profit. Some. There are still people who would buy from them anyways. I'm sure this has happened before.
Its a sad news that he Viz Media demand to cease subbing Death Note.
@x: if anything, I reckon what VIZ has done is profitable. The people who are getting sub versions from subbing groups will want to know what happens in the last two episodes.
Hence, forking over cash to buy minimum the last two episodes.
This episode really was confusing, but explained through these comments.
well, lucky for us there are still brave people out there, subbing DN...search on veoh.com and there are still lots of subbed stuff up...
Two more episodes, I can't wait XD
@orionstar: Even though groups like Kuro-Hana and Animanda have stopped subbing, other subbers have emerged. Quite quickly as well, much to my own surprise. And I'm not talking about the crappy videos like the ones on Stormberry, but actual torrents. There's a group called 'Cease & Desist' that have subbed and uploaded episode 36 onto Mininova. Curiously enough, their font and sub-style is exactly the same and Kuro-Hana's. Gee, I wonder who they really are? :P
@Tiin: Although, I can't see how VIZ would lose customers. People who decide not to buy because VIZ sent out C&Ds weren't going to buy it in the first place, they just wanted an excuse.
In any case, I'm glad that there are brave souls who sub for the non-Japanese speaking people despite the dangers they get themselves into.
I thought that they would show more of Matt.
The manga shows that Light killed her. Light wrote in the Death Note stating that she sets herself on fire. Mikami ALSO wrote her name in the Death Note, yet Light wrote her name first.
"June 18, 2007 | gokuno wrote:
Ok, so Takada really killed herself? Or Yagami did? (while he was in the car pulling the note out from his watch). So why did she cry so bad when Yagami asked her, "can you do it?" Is she too afraid to be a Kira? Or was it Mikami that killed Takada?
June 18, 2007 | jonlin wrote:
It is because she realized Light was just using her.
"
Nobody has really answered the question of how Takada could have caught the church on fire, so here goes: Its' shown (in the manga moreso) that Takada told Light the details of her whereabouts, including the fact that she was in the truck with Mello's motorcycle. When Light writes her name and means of death, he writes that she ignites the bike's gasoline, possibly using something she got off of Mello's body (bitch, haha).
The fact that Mello took off his helmet in front of Takada is inconsequential. In the manga, especially, it's shown that Takada could see his face through the helmet, and she notes that she recognizes him (and makes a comment on how scary it is that he could make it out of an explosion with just a scar) while they're on the motorcycle.
I think pretty much everyone (including me) is confused on why, exactly, the kidnapping took place. I have a few theories, though:
1.) Mello wanted to get Takada out of the way, since taking her out of the picture would weaken Kira.
2.) Mello wanted to try to use Takada to GET to Kira, and did not plan on dying.
3.) He wanted Takada to kill him, in hopes that someone would find her piece of the Death Note and use it as evidence.
It also complicates things that Hal (once again, only in the Manga) says to Near that she told Mello everything EXCEPT for Mikami. But, this could also give Mello more reason to go after her, if he didn't know there was another person working with Kira (so it would have an even bigger impact to take one of Kira's only allies).
I only have one more thing to say: Poor Matt. He was already barely in the story, and then he got demoted even further, and with strange colors. XD
Poor Matt ='( died with such little screen time... And poor Mello.... but at least he died being a hero =P
I feel sorry for Takada....after all, she really loved Light and all he did to repay her was kill her off... But then again, she was stupid enough to believe his act...
Miyamashi:
I think that Mello was working with Near because I think that later on Near mentioned that "Alone they are not smarter than L, but when they work together, they can surpass him"...or something like that...so I think that Mello's job was to get Takada out of the way(in other words--kill her off)so that Near wouldn't have to worry about her foiling his plan to ambush Light as being Kira. And I don't think that Near knew that Matt was going to die along the way too.
I nearly DIED when Mello did... I almost cried when Matt died.
Heheh, Mail Jeevas.. everyone I know hates that name but I love it. same with Mihael Keehl. No one can pronounce it either. Mihael = (Me-ha-el). My sister doesn't believe me, despite the romanization. Ugh.
Anyway, This was a sad episode. And I love Matt. And Mello. I love them better together when *censored*.
Yeah. This episode sucked. I'm gonna cry again when I watch it in the English like I did with L....
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