Highlights

• Death Note is a classic anime with complex themes, intriguing characters, and a compelling 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 engaging narrative. If you've ever asked for a recommendation to start your anime journey, chances are an anime fan 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. It's been a long time since we saw Light's death at the hands of 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, erect shrines to him, and praise him as a deity for wiping out evildoers from the planet.

One of these followers is a young man named Mikami Teru, a criminal prosecutor who believes Kira's sense of justice mirrors his own. He publicly supports Kira, to the point of being chosen as the "Hand of Kira" and assisting Light in 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 final confrontation. This resulted in Mikami arriving at this meeting with a Death Note; Light believes it to be real, while Near knows it's fake, having previously switched the books.

Light boasts overconfidently about his victory as Mikami writes down all the names of the police and task force in the Death Note, except Light's. When the book Mikami is writing in is revealed to be a fake, Light is exposed as Kira. Near's plan has succeeded.

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 meant to make the world a better place.

In their eyes, he is justice. Their argument is that it is unwise to kill him, as 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 implores everyone to see that only he 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's nothing more than a serial killer who's 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 task force colleague 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 become 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, like Misa.

In horror and despair, Mikami commits suicide by stabbing himself. While the police tend to him, Light quietly leaves the warehouse and flees. Near tells his team not to pursue him, as he won't get far with his injuries.

As he runs off into the sunset, his life flashing before his eyes, Ryuk watches him and regrets their time 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 doesn't want to wait while he's imprisoned, because who knows when he'll die in prison. Later, Ryuk writes Light's name in the Death Note, and he dies alone on some steps, bathed in 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 his humble humanity. The events of the manga are the same as the anime, 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's his "role." To this end, he questions how he can do so if he's holding a fake Death Note. Mikami doesn't kill himself like in the anime at this point, but instead rejects him as a god and shouts, "You're not a god at all!"

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

Panicked, 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 already done so. Light begs Ryuk to kill them all, saying he's 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 taunts Near as he's bleeding, saying he should have killed him sooner, and now they're the fools facing their deaths. However, to Light's horror, Ryuk says, "No Light. You're the one who's going to 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 struggles to get up and falls, Ryuk tells him that he's losing no matter how he sees it. He wanted to see how Light would get out of this mess, but instead, he trusted Ryuk. Light screams that he doesn't want to die, and Ryuk literally despises him. He says this person he's 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's breakdown deepens.

His breakdown continues in his final seconds of life, portraying his character as embarrassing and desperate. In his head, he repeats that he doesn't want to die, until he finally does at Ryuk's feet. Light dies undignifiedly, a stark contrast to the silent, isolated death of the anime.

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

He saw the true Light and is likely saddened by the person he became in the end. He kills Light away from the crowd and says goodbye. The anime depicts this scene in warm sunset colors, indicating the end of daylight and the end of Light. The anime's portrayal of his death is almost peaceful.

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 mere 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 Death Note A's lesson is that no human being is divine and that playing god produces no ethical results.