Highlights

• Death Note is a classic anime with complex themes, intriguing characters, and an engaging story that has earned it a place in the Anime Hall of Fame.
• The fate of the protagonist, Light, differs in the manga and anime versions, with the manga presenting a more gruesome and humiliating death before the audience.
• The anime portrays Light's death as peaceful and lonely, while the manga highlights his character's downfall and emphasizes the lesson that playing god has no ethical outcome.

The mega hit series Death Note is undoubtedly in the anime Hall of Fame. It’s a classic for a reason, with its complex themes of life and death, intriguing characters, and gripping storytelling. If you’ve ever asked for a recommendation to start your anime journey, chances are an anime fan has forced you to watch it. Death Note.

The original manga on which the anime is based turns twenty this year, while the anime is seventeen years old. It's been a long time since we saw Light's death at the hands of the shinigami Ryuk and his Death Note, however, did you know that Light's fate is treated differently in the manga and the anime?

Light's Death in the Anime

Under the alias Kira, Light becomes famous for killing criminals. In fact, he establishes a cult following. His followers call him a god, build shrines to him, and praise him as a deity for wiping out evil people from the planet.

One such follower is a young man named Mikami Teru, a criminal prosecutor who believes that Kira's sense of justice mirrors his own. He publicly shows support for Kira, to the point of being chosen as the "Hand of Kira" and helping Light through the events that led to his death.

In the final moments of the anime at the Yellow Box Warehouse, Light and Near had their own plans in motion, leading to this latest confrontation. This resulted in Mikami arriving at this meeting with a Death Note; Light believes it to be real while Near knows it is fake, as he switched the books previously.

Light talks overconfidently about victory as Mikami writes down all the names of the police and task force in the Death Note except Light's. When it is revealed that the book Mikumi is writing in is a fake, Light is exposed as Kira. Near's plan has been victorious.

After six years of being so calm and calculated, Light enters a manic episode. As Light laughs and admits he is Kira, he tries to convince everyone that his actions are to make the world a better place.

In their eyes, he is justice. Their argument is that it is unwise to kill him, since wars and global crime rates have decreased substantially under his form of justice.

Why would you kill the person who brought a utopia to the world? While Light acknowledges that murder is wrong, he begs everyone to see that he alone is worthy of slaughtering the truly rotten humans. Unfortunately for Light, no one buys what he sells. Near calls him a blatant murderer with the “worst murder weapon in history.” He is nothing more than a serial killer who is confusing himself with God.

In a fleeting moment, Light attempts to kill one last time by pulling out a scrap page from the Death Note in an attempt to write Near's name.

His fellow task force member Matsuda prevents this by shooting him, rendering him unable to write. Matsuda confronts Light, asking what all this is for. Light's own father, a police officer, was killed at his hands so that his world order could be a reality.

Light once again attempts to write Near's name on his Death Note page, until Matsuda shoots him multiple times to stop him. Desperate and writhing in a pool of his own blood, he begs Mikami to kill everyone and ponders what happened to everyone in his life, such as Misa.

Out of horror and despair, Mikami commits suicide by stabbing himself. As the police tend to him, Light quietly leaves the warehouse and runs away. Near tells his team not to pursue him, as he will not get far with his injuries.

As he runs off into the sunset, his life flashing before his eyes, Ryuk watches him and regrets the time they spent together. As a rule between the shinigami who owns the Death Note and the first human to pick it up, it is Ryuk's duty to write Light's name on it when his time to die comes.

Ryuk sees that Light has lost and does not want to wait while he is imprisoned, as who knows when he will die in prison. Afterwards, Ryuk writes Light's name in the Death Note and he dies alone on some steps, bathing in the colors of the sunset.

Light's death in the manga

Similar to the anime, Light completely falls apart when his plans fail in front of him. The once cool criminal mastermind has now become a blubbering mess of a man, and Light is exposed in front of everyone for the humble human he is. The events of the manga are the same as the anime, up until after Matsuda shoots him.

In the manga, Light yells at Mikami to write everyone's names in the Death Note and kill them, as it is his "role". To this, he questions how he can do that if he is holding a fake Death Note. Mikami does not kill himself like in the anime at this point, but instead rejects him as a god and yells "You are not a god at all!"

Light even calls out for help from Misa, who isn't even there. Many characters at this point have their own comments about Light's unfolding, including Ryuk.

Panicking, Light begs Ryuk to kill everyone with the Death Note. The task force panics, but Near is relaxed, as his logic is that if Ryuk wanted to kill them all, he would have done it already. Light begs Ryuk to kill them all, saying that he is the only one who can help him.

By feat, the police shoot at Ryuk and fail, as no earthly creature can harm him like a shinigami. Light laughs, thinking that Ryuk will be on his side.

He mocks Near as he is bleeding, saying that he should have killed him sooner, and now they are the fools who meet their deaths. However, to Light's horror, Ryuk says "No Light. It's you who will die."

This monstrous plot twist shocks Light deeply. Using all the energy he can muster, he tries to stop Ryuk from writing his name in the Death Note.

As Light tries to get up and fall, Ryuk tells him that he loses no matter how he sees it. He wanted to see how Light would get out of this mess, but instead, he trusted Ryuk. Light yells that he doesn't want to die, and Ryuk literally despises him. He says that this person he has become is nothing like him.

In accordance with the rules of the Death Note, Ryuk writes his name in the Death Note, despite Light's pleas not to. As his heart attack approaches, Light breaks down even further.

His breakdown continues into his final seconds of life, painting his character as embarrassing and desperate. In his head, he repeats that he does not want to die, until he finally does so at Ryuk's feet. Light dies in an undignified manner, which contrasts sharply with the quiet and isolated death in the anime.

Light's death in the manga seems much more gruesome compared to the anime. In the anime, Light disappears from everyone and dies alone. Even Ryuk seems to take pity on him, which could be attributed to the fact that they have known each other for six years.

He has seen the true Light and is possibly saddened by the person he has become in the end. He kills Light away from the people and says goodbye. The anime depicts this scene in warm sunset colors, indicating the end of daylight and the end of Light. It is almost peaceful how his death is portrayed in the anime.

Takeshi Obata, however, makes a point of humiliating Light as much as possible in the manga. Light's death is entirely in front of an audience, where he also cries and begs for his life.

All the players in his capture have something to say about him. Mikami calls him a false god, Near labels him a simple serial killer, and even Ryuk expresses disappointment in him. He sees Light's character bombing and wants nothing to do with it. Ryuk teaches him the ultimate lesson, that he is not a god. At the end of the day, one of the Death Note A's lesson is that no human being is divine and that playing god produces no ethical results.