A complete idiot’s guide to Death Note plot holes
Death Note is a wonderful, intriguing series because of all the thought the authors put into devising its intricate world of humans and shinigami. So much thought, in fact, that my brain frequently sizzles and smokes when I try to follow each twist and turn of the very twisted plot. It’s probably inevitable that whenever I chat with someone about this series we end up listing all of the logical inconsistencies and plot holes we can think of. Whether they’re genuine plot holes or just my personal confusion is open to question, but here’s a list of 7 things I’ve been wondering about Death Note. I’m sure everyone who follows this series has their own quibbles, so feel free to post yours in the comments.
There aren’t any spoilers for the anime in what follows, but there is some vague discussion of things that didn’t happen in the manga and the movie. With that in mind…
1) If you’re a criminal and you change your name, which one does Light have to use to kill you?
The series never really defines what a name is. If you legally change your name, does your original name still work? What if the paperwork isn’t on file yet — does the Death Note somehow keep track of when the new name becomes legal? One of the rules states that the Shinigami Eyes see the name needed to kill someone, even for people not in the koseki. This might mean the “legal” name is not the be-all, end-all. However, it seems that nicknames and aliases aren’t good enough; writing “L” in the Death Note clearly doesn’t work. What if you’re Bono — does Light have to use “Paul David Hewson”, or is “Bono” sufficient? What about women who change their names when they get married — does Light have to use their maiden name because that’s the one they were born with?
If only your given name will work — because a name change or nickname like “L” is not your actual name — you might end up in a post-Kira Gedo Senki situation where everyone’s real name is a secret and everyone operates under an official alias.
2) If you have the same name as a famous person, does that mean Kira can never kill you?
Light says he can’t attempt to kill L under the name ‘Hideki Ryuuga’ because it belongs to a famous TV star and he might think of the wrong person by accident. Does that mean a criminal with a really generic name like ‘Suzuki Taro’ is safe? What about people named George Bush?
It doesn’t seem likely that all the criminals Light killed had unique names. I suspect that Light didn’t particularly care if he killed the wrong person by mistake unless it would raise suspicion. It makes me feel sorry for people named John Smith, though.
3) If Light writes down one name and pictures two people’s faces while doing it, which person dies?
This goes under the header of “people who have the same name”. Does Light get a two-fer if he pictures two faces while writing the name? Is there some sort of 51/49 split, where the person Light thinks of the most is the one who dies? It seems that Light doesn’t know quite how this works. He was clearly hesitant to try to kill L under the name ‘Hideki Ryuuga’, even though he would certainly be bending the full weight of his thought into picturing L’s shadow-eyed mug.
4) Given that L spent several years in the UK, how in the world was it possible for him to destroy all photographs of himself?
The UK is one of the most heavily surveilled countries on the planet, with more CCTVs than people by some counts. Given all these video cameras, why can’t Light find a single one with L’s picture?
Another angle: Light played a rousing game of tennis with L at college. We know Light was national champion in middle school, and since the game was close L must be pretty damn good at tennis too. Knowing L spent part of his childhood in England and is a national-class tennis champion, Light still can’t find out who he is or find a single picture? How many Japanese kids go to school in England? And play tennis? Like, 12?
5) On a more ethical note, how does Light know that every alleged criminal he kills is guilty?
It always bothered me that Light, being something of an anal-retentive tensai, accepts at face value the word of the police and media that people are guilty. Granted, he’s evil so he’s not losing sleep over it. Still, there have been numerous criminals freed from death row in the US based on DNA evidence. How many of those guys would Light have killed?
I don’t think the series ever really explores this terrain, possibly because Kira is the villain of the story and he does not question his own motives. It seems strange, though, that it’s never even suggested that Kira killed an innocent person. It would certainly alter the ambiguity of Light’s actions.
6) Broadcasting a criminal’s name and picture is tantamount to a death sentence, so why are the media and police aiding Kira’s murders?
I know that Kira announces (in the manga, at least) that he will begin killing police if the names and faces of criminals are no longer broadcast, but it seems hard to believe anyone would buckle under to such a threat. One can easily imagine the family members of dead suspects suing media organizations for complicity. It would be easy enough to use artist depictions of faces (if they ever figured out that drawings don’t work) when necessary to inform the public what a suspect looks like, or simply put a paper bag over criminals’ heads while transporting them. It’s true that Kira, as Light, had access to the police network the whole time, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand why the authorities don’t attempt to stop Kira in this way.
7) Given that L was easily able to narrow down Kira’s location with the Lind L. Tailor ploy, why didn’t he use the same method to prove that Light is Kira?
The point of the Lind L. Tailor broadcast was that only people living in the Kantou region observed it. When Tailor was murdered on-air, L immediately knew that Kira was in the Kantou region (and had a nasty temper, to boot). L could have easily used the same sort of technique to find out Kira’s identity once he’d narrowed down a list of suspects. Hijack the Yagami household television or Light’s internet connection with information about a criminal not available anywhere else. If the criminal dies, Light is Kira.
Well, I was only able to come up with 7 questions about Death Note, but I’m sure you have your own. Let me know your thoughts and whether any of these might have an explanation. My poor aching brain will thank you!
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I am not too much interested in death note to be serious and still has not picked the anime up even though I know quite a bit of it through the manga.
“It always bothered me that Light, being something of an anal-retentive tensai, accepts at face value the word of the police and media that people are guilty. Granted, he’s evil so he’s not losing sleep over it. Still, there have been numerous criminals freed from death row in the US based on DNA evidence. How many of those guys would Light have killed?”
Very interesting thought. The question of whether the person is truly guilty will never be answered because this ethical issue mocks the irony of truth in my opinion.
I love you for point 5. There are so incredibly many people discussing ethic questions of Death Note, but nobody even mentions that Kira might kill innocent people.
Point 7 is maybe not that relevant given the case that Light now realizes the trick. On top of that, it would be pretty lame end if a mangaka uses the same technique two times and it works the second time. In real life, that would work, but in a manga it would cause too many disappointed fans.
Regarding your 6th comment, Kira did threathen if the media or police stop broadcasting the suspects’ information, he will start to kill from the general public.
>>Whether they’re genuine plot holes or just my personal confusion
It’s your own personal confusion. You could have answered these questions IF you actually pay more attenetion:
1) If you’re a criminal and you change your name, which one does Light have to use to kill you?
Birth name.
2) If you have the same name as a famous person, does that mean Kira can never kill you?
No. All Kira has to do is to imagine the criminal’s face. So even if the person has the same name as a famous person, if Kira looks at a photo while writing the name, that person with the photograph will get killed.
3) If Light writes down one name and pictures two people’s faces while doing it, which person dies?
The name of the person whose name was purposely written in the note. What is the likelihood of Light or anyone to know 2 people with the exact same name and face and both happened to be criminal? very slim. Plus remember that Light can ensure that the person he wants to kill dies in specific way. If there’s another person called ‘Reslez’ that he doesn’t want to kill, he can make sure that the condition of death is limited in your own country so it doesn’t kill the other ‘Reslez’.
4) Given that L spent several years in the UK, how in the world was it possible for him to destroy all photographs of himself?
Again, if you have read the manga or be patient enough to wait for the answer, you would know the answer to this. Let’s just say he’s rich and influential to prevent further spoilage. This is a guy who can commission a hotel to be constructed in Tokyo. Do you know how difficult it is to commission a construction in Tokyo? A lot of strings need to be pulled.
5) On a more ethical note, how does Light know that every alleged criminal he kills is guilty?
I think you’re confusing Kira and the 2nd Kira. Kira doesn’t kill people who he thinks is lightly guilty. He tends to do his research (watch the episode where he kills the criminal who works at coffee shop – he knows in great detail of what the criminals have done even though the criminals managed to evade the justice system).
6) Broadcasting a criminal’s name and picture is tantamount to a death sentence, so why are the media and police aiding Kira’s murders?
Kira threatened not to just kill the police but also the public. Do you think the police want to be responsible for the death of civilians?
7) Given that L was easily able to narrow down Kira’s location with the Lind L. Tailor ploy, why didn’t he use the same method to prove that Light is Kira?
If you know how TV broadcast works then you’d know it’s impossible to just broadcast to one household unless the TV is connected to some kind of video which plays fake news. But in that case, Light would have noticed it. The smallest coverage one can have with TV channel in Japan is a region (ie. Saitama) but that’s too big of a sample to be effective and L manages to find out about Light without even having to do that anyway.
Yeah point 5 is the one I always had in mind. I wouldn’t call them plotholes though.
Interesting post, now I need to put my mind to thinking up explanations for these…
One other thing has just occurred to me- if someone has cosmetic surgery, does it still work if you picture their original appearance? How about if you think of them as a child and they are now an adult? Unless this was covered and I just forgot about it.
@meh – Thanks for your ideas! I think you missed my point a couple of times, though I appreciate the response. Re #7 – Don’t they have cable TV in Japan? Subscriber boxes have unique IDs. You sound knowledgable on this topic so I’m genuinely curious.
@tj – Some of the points were closer to questions or quibbles… I plead convenience. ^_^ Grouping them all under “plot holes” avoids a mouthful of circumlocutions.
To respond to comments on point 5 (continuing to broadcast criminal info), I honestly believe this is one of the biggest logical flaws in the series. As far as the police are concerned, Kira is already murdering civilians. Some of the people Kira kills have clearly not yet been charged with or convicted of a crime. A lot of governments refuse to negotiate with terrorists, so why would they give in to Kira’s demands without even testing whether he’d follow through? In their eyes Kira is a mass murderer hundreds of times over. If Kira kills enough “innocent” people, the public might begin to turn against him. He loses his chance at godhood — win-win for the government. Just some thoughts I wish had been explored more in the manga.
Interesting questions. I hope I’m not rambling too much with my responses ^^;;
2/3) Although Kira can concentrate on which exact person to kill, in the case of L and Hideki Ryuuga it really was too risky. Now, if L’s real name isn’t ‘Hideki Ryuuga’ and Kira writes it in the Death Note with the intent to kill L, L certainly will not die because that isn’t his name, but the next closest image for the name ‘Hideki Ryuuga’ in Kira’s head will be the celebrity Hideki Ryuuga. It was far too risky for Kira to try without being 100% sure of L’s real name.
5) It probably just doesn’t matter to Kira anymore. All he needs is for the criminal to be guilty in the eyes of the public. He kills criminals as an example, not out of any real kind of justice that isn’t part of his ‘Perfect World’ plans. Since they’re such minor parts of the story and are out of focus, we don’t get to see anyone trying to prove a dead convict to be innocent.
6) Despite all policies on dealing with this kind of threat, they are facing someone whose killing methods is completely unknown to them, except the fact that as long as that target’s face and name is shown, they can just suddenly die of heart attack. Now, most higher-ups in the police and government are just mortal people who’d rather not risk their lives in place of convicted criminals just to ‘test’ Kira. At most, they’d be smart enough to not openly oppose Kira until they can be sure of any safe way to defeat him or evade his grasp. Even if a significant person in the police/government does openly stand up to Kira, his death will can easily be a warning. The heads of TV stations would likely buckle under Kira’s death threats more than a convict’s family suing them. Raito is just one man, to the public he has become a supernatural force. Which is what he’s aiming for.
7) That method isn’t enough to pin Raito down. All, it can do is raise more suspicion.. and L had pinned all his suspicions on Raito already.. even if it is just 1%. To put Raito behind bars, they need concrete evidence, his methods and/or a confession. Now, suppose L pulled that fake info stunt. Soon, Raito will likely find out what they did, and then be extra careful since he’ll know that he’s under surveillence.. reducing chances of exposing his methods. L’s bugging of Raito’s house was a better method, had Ryuk not warn Raito about it. Suppose they pulled the stunt, and used it as an excuse to lock Raito up straight away and see if people stop dying. There really was no guerantee people whould stop dying if Raito’s locked up, because they never found out how Raito killed people in the first place. If people don’t die, then they have no choice but to let him go and consider him not guilty.. especially with Raito’s dad on the team. It’s a gamble. Of course.. if L wasn’t someone with a sense of justice and wanted to outsmart Raito at his own game, he could forcefully keep Raito locked away regardless of the results, but what of his credibility to his team then ?
I don’t think an evil been like Yagami Light take the time to think about the nnocent people who he could kill for error. Meaning, people who wasn’t guilty or for thinking about the wrong face while writing the name. He must think, there’re some casualties in all the wars.
These questions should be sent to the mangaka XD
Good points, I’ve thought about them myself when I read the manga but I’ve never put them into writing or at much length
hayate & Kojak – You made some really good points. About #5, I think you’re are right that Kira wouldn’t shed too many tears if he killed an innocent person by mistake. Not because it’s good enough for the public to believe the person is guilty — Light always seemed too self-righteous for that, which is why it bothered me — but because it would fall under “unavoidable losses”, collateral damage, like the FBI agents he sent to their doom. I think the general public might have a problem with it if it became a big story, but most of the people who’d care about that probably quietly oppose Kira anyway.
In regards to what you said about #7 and L having pinned his suspicions on Light already, I found this interesting partial translation of Death Note: How To Read. Quoting the manga-ka: “Generally, any time L speaks in numbers, his suspicion has already exceeded 90% in his own mind. So you can’t trust him. And he’s a liar to begin with, anyway.” O.O
@meh – I was thinking the same things
I also took my time to read the manga in detail, so I wouldn’t jump the gun or anything. There were some things that were confusing, but as I continued reading, it seems my answers are answered ^^;
In the manga, it’s mentioned that Light only kills criminals that did really serious crimes (such as murder and rape) and he does research on their reasons. For instance, he wouldn’t kill someone who did it as a self defence act, and if it was revenge, then he would do more research into the circumstances.
He’s not just bonking off random people, he actually thinks it through. xD
What if Light was wrong, what if the murderer was actually innocent, what if it was like in Prison Break and the baldie only robbed a bank and assisted in various crimes in order to save his innocent brother.
#5 really is the one thing that unravels the whole series. Saying “Kira does his research” doesn’t explain anything. The police do their research too, so Kira chipping in is superfluous. Also, most of the criminals killed by Kira are already in custody. If it’s such a good idea to scare criminals by killing them off, why don’t the police just do it themselves? Again, Kira is superfluous.
In a “perfect” society obtained through harsh sentencing, all you have to do to get away with murder is accuse people falsely (see the 1996 movie The Crucible for an exposition).
Basically, if you can bring yourself to swallow the sheer nonsense of #5 you can enjoy Death Note. If not, the whole thing falls apart.
4) L was raised in a Special orpanage like M&N. He grew up with a fake name. The Detective “L” might be over 100 Years old. Also Light needs his name not a Photo of him.
5) He researches and has some kind of judging who dies and who not. That occurs to himself as he turns “good”, that Kiras good/evil judgement matches his own.
But he has no problem to kill Inocents to further his own goals like the FBI Agents or the minor criminals close to them(to cover up the one guy who died to prove He´s really Kira to Penbar.
Remember the beginning when Light still had problems with killing (for a week…). He sacrificed morality for his “Utopia”. After that point he ignores ethics as value for his decicions.
6) That question was raised by someone fromthe Kira task force once L proved that Kira needs Name and Face.
L refuses because Kira would then kill inocents until the Police cooperates again.
Only somwhere during the 2nd Kira arc the “Killing requirements” become known to the Public.
1.If you’re a criminal and you change your name, which one does Light have to use to kill you?
I think it’s the birth name. Near’s example points to this direction: refers to the final chapter.
2) If you have the same name as a famous person, does that mean Kira can never kill you?
>> Not true.
Chapter 19: Since ‘Hideki Ryuuga’ is a popular name, Light is thinking towards a “Worst Case Scenario” deal if indeed he attempts to murder L using that name. Light is saying, “it’s very unsafe to try and experiment at this point regarding that name.” The primary reason why Raito “can’t do anything to L”, is that he will be the primary suspect if L dies. From Raito’s tone, it’s more of a supporting argument ‘not to try’, rather than a reason to kill with that name. He wants to try, but the risks were too high.
4) Given that L spent several years in the UK, how in the world was it possible for him to destroy all photographs of himself?
Two reasons:
I >> L’s identity most probably has not been legally/officially established.
Chapter 59: After Watari’s death , it was revealed that he is actually Quillsh Wammy, a famous inventor who built orphanages throughout the world. If Near and Mello grew up the Wammy House, then it is also highly probable that L spent his childhood there. When Near and Mello battled Kira, it is apparent that their identities have been protected. Following the same reason, L must have had his identity protected ever since he was a child. The education he got outside of Wammy’s House would be carried with a false name as well.
Although he said that he spent his childhood in England, it does not necessarily mean that L was born in England. Therefore, his birth may or may not be registered in England or in any other country.
II >> Moreover, L is pratically in command of the police force; that task is not impossible when you’re in his position. And he actually built a hotel in Tokyo? O_o” I’m still trying to grasp how powerful is this guy.
“I suspect that Light didn’t particularly care if he killed the wrong person by mistake unless it would raise suspicion.”
Perhaps you need to reread the manga?
Light carefully researches all his victims, except when he was under surveillance. One prominent example would be when Light met Raye Penber at the station, he threatened to kill a man who has never been convicted(due to lack of evidence) but many accused him of rape.
Also, when Misa-Kira surfaced, Light was not happy because his impostor was clearly hacking off people who are not heinous criminals. When Mikami-Kira kills criminals who only committed ‘light’ crimes, Light took steps in order to stop Mikami’s actions. Light also remarks that some of them wanted to repent, therefore they should not have been punished. This shows that Light, indeed follows up on the criminals.
6) Broadcasting a criminal’s name and picture is tantamount to a death sentence, so why are the media and police aiding Kira’s murders?
Chapter 11: This point was raised by Matsuda at the time they meet L. L then points out that Kira is holding the world hostage. If they do not broadcast the names and faces of criminals then Kira will start murdering innocent people.
This is just L’s belief and not necessarily a Kira fact. I do not believe Light will do this, though. He has his father’s computer for information and superb hacking skills. Even if it comes to a point where Light cannot acquire information from that, I believe he will be able to tap info from another source.
7) Given that L was easily able to narrow down Kira’s location with the Lind L. Tailor ploy, why didn’t he use the same method to prove that Light is Kira?
Extremely difficult to do (practically bordering on impossible in Tokyo). You’ll need to manipulate broadcast feeds from several tv stations (after all you’ll need it make it natural), you’d also need to isolate the household’s tv from public broadcasts (almost impossible). Moreover, when Light goes out of the house, he can just watch the big screens available to the public or just have an internet ready computer. And let’s not forget the mini tv-potato chip trick.
Well, I wouldn’t call all of those plotholes and I’ve wondered some of those things, too. It’s fiction, everything doesn’t have to be perfect.
#7: I think L knew Light would be under too much suspicion to act carelessly enough to be fooled by the same trick again.
But here’s a thing that I found myself wondering: Why doesn’t Light use traditional means to kill L, since he’s getting so close to him anyway. He could poison one of L’s snacks or just drug, strangle, frame an accident or whatever when there’s not much people around. Even with lots of people around, I’m sure he could come up with something nice and clean, if he only stopped thinking about the damn death note all the time.
Another thing I was wondering, why do the police immediately realize it’s a person? Realistically, since most of the ones shuffled off were already in prison, wouldn’t they assume there was something going on within the system?
“Hey, a buttload of prisoners are dying!
Ah, probably someone with magical powarz. We’re safe.”
To answer Question Number 2, where you say, “It doesn’t seem likely that all the criminals Light killed had unique names. I suspect that Light didn’t particularly care if he killed the wrong person by mistake unless it would raise suspicion. It makes me feel sorry for people named John Smith, though.”
Not true. I mean, even if the person doesn’t have a unique name, their face should be unique, unless they are twins. Light might write a name that is common, but as long as he pictures that unique person’s face along with that name, it’s that person with their own individual unique face who will die, not the other person with the same name. In the case of Hideki Ryuuga…that was a famous person, so it would be risky to write down the name “Hideki Ryuuga” while thinking of someone else named Hideki Ryuuga, because you are most likely to think of that famous person with the same name while writing the death of the person that you want to die. But it’s fairly easy to write down the name of a person whose named is not shared by a famous person, because then…you only have one face that pops ups in your head for that name.
Which leads me to your Number 3 question where you ask…”If Light writes down one name and pictures two people’s faces while doing it, which person dies?”
Well, the person who dies will be the person with that name. It doesn’t matter if Light thinks of two or more different people while writing that name in his death note…as long as he also thinks of the person’s face who is indeed of that name. In the case of Hideki Ruuga, it mattered as to which one would die because they shared the same name, and he might picture both faces. But when it’s of two regular people that he’s pictured with different names, then the one whose name is written in the death note will die as of that name being in the death note. It’s obvious that the death note knows whose name it belongs to, which is why if you write down a fake name in the death note as to supposedly belonging to that person, it doesn’t work.
And to a poster’s question about what if a person gets plastic surgery, and you picture their face as of before they got that plastic surgey while writing down their name in your death note, will they die? I would say that, yes, they will die from that, since the past face still belonged to them, and is their original/true face, if not for the plastic surgey.
And the same for picturing a person as a child, and writing their name in the death note while picturing that image. It’s still of that person, no matter that they’re older or not, thus they will still die due to the death note because of that.
As for your question of Number 5 — Even though a hard-time criminal can be innocent of the crime that they are convicted of, MOST are NOT, and I would assume that Light doesn’t care about that very small percent that a hard-time criminal may be innocent. Intersting enough…since L won’t even let the smallest percentage get by him.
Also, for The Number 3 Question…even toughh I already answered it, if you meant “What if Light thinks of two people with the same name while writing in his death note, which one will die from the death note? I get the feeling that the person he thinks of last out of those two while writing down that name in the death note will be the one to die from the death note… Either that, or both die from it.
I still have one more question not answered here:
Does the notebook get full? Does it have a magic/infinite number of pages? We know that thousands of people are killed by Kira, and also know that the shinigami mentions that the books can get full, but it look to me like an impossibility.
Any thoughts about it?
Regards
“It always bothered me that Light, being something of an anal-retentive tensai, accepts at face value the word of the police and media that people are guilty. Granted, he’s evil so he’s not losing sleep over it. Still, there have been numerous criminals freed from death row in the US based on DNA evidence. How many of those guys would Light have killed?
“Why doesn’t Light use traditional means to kill L, since he’s getting so close to him anyway. He could poison one of L’s snacks or just drug, strangle, frame an accident or whatever when there’s not much people around. Even with lots of people around, I’m sure he could come up with something nice and clean, if he only stopped thinking about the damn death note all the time.”
L would undergo an autopsy. Just like when he actually died from the DeathNote, after he died they took his body to determine a cause of death. If he’d been poisoned, everyone would know it was Light because not only was he under suspision but, he was, like you said, always close to L. He’d be caught.
There is a bigger and TRUE plothole that everybody has missed here. I know it is in the anime, but not sure if it is the manga. This is in episode 30 of the show. After Mellow tells Near about the shinigami and fake rule, he goes and checks with Light. Light asks Ryuk if there are any fake rules. Ryuk immediately says that they are all true. Even though Near never touched the notebook at this time, he was able to hear Ryuk say no and react to it.
Also, if you’re Chinese, Japanese or of whatever ethnicity with a unique writing script, does your name have to be written in your script, or can you write in Romanized, Cyrillized or whatever -ized, words?
@meh and tim : i agree wid ur conclusions esp #2,3,5
Light was shown more careful and a genius at his ‘work’
Most of the explanations are provided, but a few are vaguely/directly mentioned
4) Nobody says L is japanese, must probably he is England.
Moral of Death Note: Only england ppl with american underlings can stop the japanese evil ones (lol)
btw, kira rlz
why is ligh so hott?
i personally want to know this.
and why the hell did he have to be
“bored”
and mess with the damndeath note in the first place?
please email me ur answer:
jsweetarts45@yahohoo.com
thnx =D
Well, there are some thing I could fight back your questions, although for the most part these are things that are in a way irrelevent to the point. I suppose there is a rule to the (questioned) rules, but I don’t know.
Kira also can kill the name and face, but if he doesnt have the face they dont die, therefor he wont kill a famous person on accident but if he see’s there face before the writing, like such as L. but that brings up the question (does the person he first see die, or the person he see’s right before he finishes the name)
Perhaps L had some relation to the UK’s government and in such way had them destroy the evidence of his name being linked to the pictures. Or found a way to at least make sure the names/pictures were not put together, so perhaps he was just a random person without a given name, (or went by an alias while there and found a way around it)
With his ethics, realize Light kills several people who are innocent as well, in order to hide his identity, this isn’t a plot hole and more trying to understand a character trait. First off, a person trying to create a utopia, and has no worries about killing people innocent who threaten him, then in order to create a utopia, killing everyone who is a criminal is wrong because they may be innocent? Well in works both ways, what if many people let go are not innocent? So instead of waiting for the authorities to find out, to create a utopia (or how light thinks he will create one) wouldn’t it be easier, plus much more effective to kill them all instead of picking and choosing who may or not be innocent?
Also with the police, they saying that they did not want Light killing innocent people. In lights shoes, if they take away all the bad people, in order to make the police bring back the criminals to broadcasting, wouldnt you force there hand by killing innocent people, or police officials? L. already jumping ahead decides it would be better (they mention this in the show by the way) that they leave it as is, so at least he is killing criminals and not innocent people, because one way or another they believe (and are most likely right in believing) that people are gonna die, so might as well let kira kill the criminals and not the innocents. Thats pretty common sense. And it would be near impossible to stop the names and faces of every single person on the planet from getting to Kira.
Finally, why does not light use certain information in order to find L? Well same reason as to why he couldnt kill him is the same reason he can’t when L. Says to light “I’m L.” At the time they play tennis, Light already knows its either L. or a decoy from L. getting a name will do him no good cause killing him would alert the authorities to him. Who that isnt apart of the authorities that is human would know he is L? Nobody but Light therefor he shouldnt do that anyways.
And why doesn’t L use the same technique? Well L. and light are humans? Ever considered this factor? How many of the things have they thought to do in the show that you yourself would be smart enough to do? So just cause they didn’t think of doing something doesnt mean anything. There humans, they aren’t perfect and wont figure out EVERYTHING. Sure there smart, but wouldnt it be a little rediculous to make them perfect at every single turn? And even so, L. probably figures that Kira will not be stupid enough for fall for the same trick twice, even though light still uses TV to kill people. But thats the only explanation I can give, except that its a TV show, they need the characters to be a little believable, even if L is the expert investigator of the world does that mean he should not make any wrong mistakes? On several occasions he has done things that could compromise himself, but luckily for him Light did not catch on to those things, just as Light did some wrong things but L didnt catch on either.
People are forgeting there is lot’s of people in the world with the exact same name as another and i know two people who aren’t realted but have the same full name and look very similar live in the same area so how would kira kil them
Does every name he write have to be in japanese
what if he runs out of pages in his note book
And since he only watches news reports from japan is he only killing japanese criminals
What if the people he kills are innocent ot if he kills them he might cause a innocent to die?
What if the person he kilss was pregnant? the baby would be inncocent and would the baby die too would he have to write it’s name but the baby would’t hae a name yet?
Why does ryuk not kill light he’s a bastard.
And if the death god has dropped a death note book before does that mean there is more than one kira out there?
And why doesn’t kira just kill the plp he can’t kil with the notebook the old school way.
And since light can’t go to heaven or hell does that make him immortal and won’t so he’ll have all the time in the world.
To the previous previous post “mysterman”
“People are forgeting there is lot’s of people in the world with the exact same name as another and i know two people who aren’t realted but have the same full name and look very similar live in the same area so how would kira kil them”
There maybe twins out there that share the same/similar physical traits, but they are TWO different people. And it’s most likely that you don’t know two people that have the same name. Furthermore, when the media explains “this criminal, they’re just going to explain ONE CRIMINAL on TV, not two. And besides, if they live in the same area doesn’t really matter unless they are twins.
“Does every name he write have to be in japanese”
Does it really matter? It’s not like there’s any difficulties writing some kind of foreign name outside of the Japanese language be any difficult? If you’re trying to say that the Death Note is written in English, shouldn’t the people’s name be English as well? No, Ryuk simply states in the beginning that he believes that English is the most popular language, since most people know English, Ryuk may think it may be easier to explain the rules is why I think is also another reason for him to write it in English.
“what if he runs out of pages in his note book”
And apparently, in some part of the manga, it states that it never runs out of pages. I never had read the manga, but I have only watched the Anime.
“And since he only watches news reports from japan is he only killing japanese criminals”
That may be true that since he watches new reports from Japan, he’s killing Japanese criminals. But he also has a computer to silly, and he doesn’t ONLY watch news reports silly
Just because he is only seened watching TV doesn’t mean he only gets his information from the TV.
“What if the person he kilss was pregnant? the baby would be inncocent and would the baby die too would he have to write it’s name but the baby would’t hae a name yet?”
If the person was pregnant with a baby and was killed by the Deathnote, of course the baby would die, do you actually think that the mother who can’t even support her own needs can support vital nutritions or her baby? I don’t even understand what you’re trying to say…
“Why does ryuk not kill light he’s a bastard.”
In the beginning, Ryuk states that he’s neither against Light nor will he help Light, but simply a spectator, he only offers Light the Shinigami Eyes and Light turns down on it, that was the only time that you could say that Ryuk “helped” Light. And even if Ryuk does Kill Light in some point of the story, that would be boring.
SPOILER!
And besides, Ryuk does kill Light according to the Anime. The reason Ryuk kills Light is because Ryuk states that when Light goes to prison, Ryuk does not know when he will die which he says is “quite annoying” and so kill Light. And if you’re going to say, than how does Light kill those criminals in prison? I have stated earlier in the sentence that Ryuk DOESN’T KNOW WHEN THEY DIE
“And if the death god has dropped a death note book before does that mean there is more than one kira out there?”
Just because Light used the Deathnote in a fashion of killing criminals to create a new Utopia, doesn’t necessarily mean that other people are Kira unless they intend to do the works of Kira.
“And why doesn’t kira just kill the plp he can’t kil with the notebook the old school way.”
I have no idea what you’re saying, your grammar is pretty bad, at least spell correctly!
“And since light can’t go to heaven or hell does that make him immortal and won’t so he’ll have all the time in the world.”
No, that just means that Light’s “soul” is GONE FOREVER! In most religions, when you die you go to one of these special places and will eventually be reincarnated. In Light’s situation, he is gone for good. But maybe he’s a Ghost, that would be cool!
Other than that, I really enjoyed reading these plot holes, and watching Death Note, it had a really good story to it to. The story was very ‘twisty’ and ‘turny’ and made me think more critically for once.
Dont be so serious, people.
It came from an original Cartoon…
In this world.There are somany bullshit Movies..You know
But extracting these topicsis very interesting..I like it.
ONE MORE Question from me
??? the god of DEATH why flying like ANGELS.. coming from the sky above,then death note droped on the ground.Why all the gods of death not come from under world??? … ???
the answer to the killin famous people or people with the same name is this if light “Kira” is picturing the face of a criminal and writes downt the name of someone famous then the famous person wont die cuz that y u need a name and a face to kill! I got my own ? though if kira drops a piece of the deathnot on the floor and i pick it up it says in the show that pieces will still work even if there not attacked but wat if another person picks it up and writes a name in the deathnote will it still work?
1. – - so what?!
2. NO! He can only kill the person that he knows, the person that he intends to kill.
3. the person that matches w/ the name duh!
4. the guy is involved w/ the police force, n he is a super genius, n this is a anime/fiction, WE DON’T CARE!
5. He just does, the kid thinks too much, and he is a super genius like L, so he just KNOWS. Live w/ it
6. The police are not helping him, they are just stupid. It’s a anime/fiction, which does not need to relate to real life 100%!!!!
7. Cause that was just the tip of ice berg, just like putting a puzzle together, the edges are easy to find, but getting the whole picture done takes a while.
………….okay, I’m done ranting -_- but still pissed off.
Kira is so wrong on so many levels. The whole anime is about pure evil. It creeps me out. It still does. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.
“It always bothered me that Light, being something of an anal-retentive tensai, accepts at face value the word of the police and media that people are guilty. Granted, he’s evil so he’s not losing sleep over it. Still, there have been numerous criminals freed from death row in the US based on DNA evidence. How many of those guys would Light have killed?”
tensai = prodigy, right? I suppose the show is illustrating that prodigies are not necessarily know-alls… they’ll just very driven and stubborn about reaching a goal that they have decided on for whatever reasons. I mean, if he’s so smart, how could he possibly think that he could solve the world’s problems by killing criminals? I think it bothers me less if I don’t equate prodigy with being smart. But then perhaps he’s not a real prodigy, and he’s just good with logic puzzles? Yeah, it still bothers me. The show doesn’t really clearly say what qualifies as prodigy. It’s fine by me though if ‘L’ is a prodigy. But Kira should not be even within 10 metres of that label.
BTW, I liked your 4000 pt font comment.
Plus, the kanji for tensai literally means heaven’s blessing. So it bothers me that Kira should be called a tensai.
The manga was cool, but the anime had heapsof supense(especially ep25)
when Mikami heard Near’s explanation (he must have, he was standing right THERE!!) as to why no one died and that the one whose name wasnt on the note was Kira, hwy didnt he just add Light’s name to the list. Now this wouldnt absolve Light, but put the old ambiguity back!!! What a moron, if he couldnt figure that out! And to think he was supposed to be Kira’s successor, worthy of Kira’s trust!! So, in the end, Kira couldnt find his true successor afetrall! Anyone can find a very dedicated person to Kira, thats absurdly easy. The real difficulty would have been to find with the same intellect!! So, Kira failed himself, didnt he??
@dave
“that the one whose name wasnt on the note was Kira, hwy didnt he just add Light’s name to the list.”
Because then Light’s name would be last. As you may or may not have noticed, Mikami is pretty orderly and also cramp as many names into as little space as possible. He filled out in such a way that there was no way to insert a name in the list of names unless he put it last.
@meh
“If there’s another person called ‘Reslez’ that he doesn’t want to kill, he can make sure that the condition of death is limited in your own country so it doesn’t kill the other ‘Reslez’.”
It is stated in the rules of the Death Note that if the specified conditions could not be met, the person would simply die of a heart attack.
ppff… its just an anime… stupid otakus.. !! find a not-otaku girlfriend… let some sun touch your skin.. do something useful with your life.. whats next??.. dressing like that kira guy?? think that you are some weird japanes guy who can kill people using his notebook??..
its just… sad… so sad…i have no more words.. sad…
sad..
jajajajajajajjajaja i hate death note !!!
1) I would assume birth name. I did wonder about that vaguely. “What if you don’t have a name? What if you were never given one?” But everyone calls themselves something. So even if you go primarily by “Hey, you!” that’s prolly what your name would be with the Shinigami eyes.
2) That doesn’t mean that anyone with the same name as a celebrity can’t be killed. It just means that Light doesn’t believe in his ability to focus on the right person.
3) I believe there is a rule about this in the Death Note, but I can’t remember. I think that if you think of two people at the same time, it doesn’t work. That would just be my assumption.
4)L probably never let himself be seen much by people. After all, he spends most of his time indoors and rarely goes out. He could have had his pictures destroyed along the way. L is pretty secretive from the beginning. He probably went by a fake name and made sure no one knew he was L. So even if there are pictures, no one would know that it was him. Light would have a hard time finding him out of all the possible places to look, especially since he doesn’t know what L’s alias was in England either.
5)I agree with you on this. I think that’s partly why Kira is viewed as a murderer. I thought that from the moment he said he was going to become a God by killing criminals. I immediately thought, “Well, if some chick just hates a guy cause he doesn’t like her, she could accuse him of rape and Kira would kill him without knowing the truth.” He is ruthless, that’s what makes him so evil and cruel, not only because he’s taking it upon himself to decide who lives and dies, but because he also has no interest in truth. Anyone capable of being a criminal cannot be trusted to stay alive.
6) I think this was more of a social commentary thing. People like Matsuda who can understand Kira’s motives are going to be a little more supporting of Kira in his endeavor, people who feel that the police aren’t able to do enough and see Kira as a blessing. Those who agree with Kira’s sense of justice are going to aid him. If they are in a position to broadcast criminal’s names, they probably will. Also, Demigawa was the perfect example of why the media was helping him. They were greedy, they wanted higher viewership ratings. People in the news and media industry make money off of keeping the masses entertained. Kira was entertaining, he captured peoples attention. Of course they’re going to milk that for all it’s worth. Just look at Lost on it’s umpteenth season…
7) Firstly, I think L would have lost the support of the police if he jumped so quickly to the conclusion that Light was Kira. After all, he was investigating a number of people before he came down to the conclusion that Light was the most likely suspect. By that point, Light had a feeling that L was closing in on him. He probably would not have fallen for the same trick twice. The point to remember is that both of them are extremely intelligent. The reason that L never caught Kira himself is because they were on an equal level intellectually. Kira won by cheating in a sense. Had Rem not killed L, I believe they would have been in a stalemate for years until one of them got tired and slipped up. Also, even when L knew that Light was Kira, he knew that just saying that wasn’t going to solve the case, ie explain how he did it and why. He could not have simply arrested him and said, “I know he’s doing it, but I have no evidence as to how.” That’s a pretty flimsy argument in court.
Death Note does have some plot holes, but they’re pretty far and few. Personally, it’s the most solid anime plot I’ve ever seen. You really gotta read between the lines with some things though. The characters and their personalities really play into a lot of it.
sad..
Why don’t you get a hobby yourself? Ass.
Obviously you know about the anime/manga (and even know the word ‘otaku’) so what does that make you?
If you like something, why not talk about it with other people? Why does talking about it make us otaku? WTF?
So… if I said I like, say, indoor plants, does that mean I stay inside all day with them? No! It doesn’t. Does whatching an anime mean I have no life? NO! IT DOESN’T!
Do us a favour; why don’t YOU get a life and do something OUTSIDE, rather than sitting INSIDE at YOUR pc, writing a comment on something that is, in your words ’sad’ (which makes you just as ’sad’ as we supposedly are), and leave the fans to the fans, hey?
Yeah, I know that comment is months old, but I hate comments like that; they’re just so pathetically “sad”. XD lol
I dont get this, never have. It says SPECIFICALLY that if you make an error in spelling a person’s name more than 4 times in the death note, the death will not take place.
[img]http://www.designchronicle.com/memento/images/deathnote/01/deathnote0122.jpg[/img]
explain that to me? he still died…. cheaters!
Okay, I will not answer people already answered before, but I do think some of you had great explanations to the questions, and I must say that I don’t really have many questions about Death Note anymore.
@Shadow
Great way to tell Beto.
@Ichisan
It must simply mean that
1: Light wasn’t aware of this rule.
2: The correct spelling was one of the four he wrote first.
I’m not the biggest fan of Death Note (or anime in general), but a friend recommended it cause he said it was different from most of the other animes out there, so I borrowed the full anime DVD to watch.
I admit I was initially skeptical that it was gonna be any good, thinking that it’s probably some show to appeal to emos and kids who wanna seem cool and act like they’re all brilliant and clever like Light or L.
But I gotta say, there are no immediately apparent plot holes throughout the series. Why? Because most are plugged up by the “Death Note rules”. Read and think carefully whenever those “rules” appear and you’ll realise this. I believe there are over 30 rules shown in the anime, and even more from the manga (which I never read), and they pretty much cover any potential mistakes in the plot.
I came to this page expecting some REAL plot holes (like “How did L know this when L did this?”, or “Why did whoever do this when he didn’t know that?” etc), but all these just pretty anal and redundant nitpickings, sadly.
I ran through some of the comments, and most have been answered, but one that was missed.
Abel: “There is a bigger and TRUE plothole that everybody has missed here. I know it is in the anime, but not sure if it is the manga. This is in episode 30 of the show. After Mellow tells Near about the shinigami and fake rule, he goes and checks with Light. Light asks Ryuk if there are any fake rules. Ryuk immediately says that they are all true. Even though Near never touched the notebook at this time, he was able to hear Ryuk say no and react to it.”
Near was not reacting to whatever Ryuk said, because he could not hear him. What he was reacting to was Light specifically calling out to Ryuk by saying “Death God, blah blah blah”. So he was obviously reacting to the fact that there was apparently a Death God with Light at that moment, and he asks Light as much right away. Duh.
Ichisan: “I dont get this, never have. It says SPECIFICALLY that if you make an error in spelling a person’s name more than 4 times in the death note, the death will not take place.”
The rules specifically state that the if the name was misspelled INTENTIONALLY 4 times, the death will still take place. Only if it was accidental would the death be negated. Light was obviously writing down all variations of the person’s name on purpose, that’s why the guy died.
There is more to this, even though no one brought it up. The rules also state if a name was misspelled on purpose 4 times, the Death Note owner would die too. While this could be seen as a potential plot hole, since Light obviously didn’t die, the guy above me made a good point that Light was probably fortunate that he got the guy’s name right within the first four entries.
1) A ‘name’ only defines WHO you are, so as long as it was at one point valid, I think the death note will work.
2) lol I think you’re thinking too much. I don’t think Light will be thinking of celebrities while he’s killing. He only knows of Hideki Ryuuga because his sister likes it.
3) Again, Light’s not the kind to get distracted. I mean seriously. Would you be thinking of two people by some weird chance share the same name? Light’s a genius. He can probably control his thoughts.
4) L’s so secretive that he doesn’t go out much at all. I don’t think he ventures outside his hotel during cases but instead relying on Watari. And anyway, Light’s only a high schooler. Does he look like he has access to this sort of thing? If L left photos behind, then he would have been killed by his enemies sooner than this. L now goes out because he intends to stake his life on the Kira case
5) It says in volume 5 or 6 (I can’t remember) that Kira ONLY kills criminals that are genuinely guilty or whose punishment is enough (he’s not generally gonna kill if their sentence is enough to atone for their crimes, according to L)
6) Matsuda asked the same question in volume 2. L says that with someone like Kira, if they stop broadcasting, innocent people will be killed. And the media probably supports Kira to use the deaths as tabloid fodder.
7) L doesn’t investigate unless it’s not a waste of time and proves to be somewhat necessary. And seriously, that’s going a little too far, not to mention that L’s not going to expend all that effort when he didn’t even suspect Light at the time. The cameras work just as well, if not better. And that’s not gonna work with Light’s mini-TV
in regards to #4, where in the series does it EVER say L is japanese?
i mean, i know he was played by a japanese actor in the movie, but in the manga/anime i don’t think it ever alludes to what his race might be.
Erm……
1. Y Light yagami dun know that misa amane didn’t kill L through the CCTV?????He thought hu killed L????? (In Death note live action)
2. Light yagami dun know that Misa amane didn’t see L’s real name??
3. In death note anime,unnamed shinigami is Light???
4. If he thought L was killed by remu, he think hu killed Watari?
Pls tell me…….
my email is lightyagami360@gmail.com