News about Death Note

No Death Note End for Second Kira: How Misa Amane Simply Faded Away

16/5/2016

Misa Amane's character, and her possession of a second shinigami notebook, had a tremendous impact upon both major arcs of Death Note. But there was no Misa-Misa in the Yellow Box.

After screaming, scheming, manipulating and manoeuvring her way through nearly one hundred chapters of the manga, Death Note's main female protagonist was merely moved out of the spotlight and left sidelined from the plot.

"Where's Misa?" Light raged, in his final throngs of desperation, and we might well have asked the same thing.

She was with Mogi, in the penthouse of a posh hotel, stashed there by Near to keep her from helping Kira mid-climactic confrontation. Misa said it was without her consent, but she wasn't trying too hard to get away. She sounded downright enthusiastic when she was deposited into those luxurious surroundings, so that Mogi could attend the finale without her. Even then, Misa-Misa made no attempt to flee. She did not try to join her beloved Light.

It seemed out of character for her. This was the woman who would have died for Light Yagami; who twice shortened her lifespan by half each time on his behalf; who withstood torture for weeks on end in his defence; and who killed indiscriminately, in truly mind-boggling proportions of mass slaughter, to impress him or else cover his back.

Yet Misa wouldn't leave an unguarded penthouse, when every clue at her disposal hinted at a showdown moment for Light. She stayed put because it was pretty. Though, to be fair, Light did tell her to remain there for the time being. Though since when did directives like that figure, if Misa had any inkling that her erstwhile fiancé might need her.

We barely needed Death Note author Tsugumi Ohba to state what was obvious. Misa Amane was sidelined at the end, as he didn't 'have a situation in which to fit her'. (How to Read: Death Note 13) Just like Mello, Misa was simply bundled out of sight, however out of character the requisite actions and decisions, in lieu of her creator to pen a plot-line that accommodated all personae dramatis.

Perhaps it was hoped that we wouldn't notice. We did.

Do you agree with this reading of the situation? What do you think would have occurred had Misa Amane been in the Yellow Box warehouse? Would Light's mental disintegration have shaken her devotion to him, thus saving her from the suicide that finally constituted Misa Amane's departure from the Death Note story?

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Death Note Profile: Who is Misa Amane?

15/5/2016

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Misa Amane is the most prominent female protagonist in Death Note. An actress, singer and model, her beautiful demeanor and cutesy, Little Girl Lost persona conceal a much darker truth.

It concerns a woman who can kill at ease. Misa Misa - as she consistently refers to herself, always in the third person - is also the story's Second Kira. She possesses a shinigami notebook, presented to her by a Death Goddess Rem, who witnessed the disintegration into dust of a fellow shinigami who died to save Misa's life.

Her independent usage of it causes Light Yagami a great deal of trouble, forcing him to make contact with and befriend Misa Amane. His planned manipulation of her (in order to kerb her activities with said death notebook beyond his instruction) initially seems eased, when she instantly, loudly and vivaciously falls in love with him. But the love of Misa Amane does not come without strings, nor is she so easily directed as all idle accounts would lead spectators to believe.

The couple are soon dating and, by the end of Death Note, have long since been lovers, with their engagement due to be announced.

Misa as Second Kira also has an additional power to that wielded by Light Yagami. She has bargained half of her remaining life span so to gain Shinigami Eyes. That is the ability to read the true name and date of death for all living beings, in text and numerals glowing numinous above our heads. She uses this grisly sight to massacre victims which Light could never have killed. Her ultimate kill count is untold, but widely believed by fans to utterly eclipse those legions slaughtered by Kira himself.

The Names of Misa Amane

Death Note's Second Kira is alternatively known as:

弥海砂
Misa Amane
Amane Misa

ミサミサ
Misa-Misa
Misa Misa

第二のキラ
Second Kira
Daini no Kira
Kira II

Misa-Misa's Vital Statistics

Hair Colour:
Blonde (brown in live action and Musicals)

Height:
5' (152.4cm)

Eye Colour:
Brown

Weight:
5 stone 6lbs (79lbs; 35.8kg)

Occupation:
Model; actress; singer; TV personality; serial killer; Second Kira

Relationship Status:
Single at start; engaged to Light Yagami by end

The Family of Misa Amane

The impetus for Misa Amane's murderous behaviour and support of Kira stems from the slaughter of her own family.

It occurred on May 19th 2003 - according to the Death Note manga - when a burglar broke into the Amane family home. Misa witnessed the murder of both parents.

Her sister survived. Misa was living with her in Osaka at the beginning of the story.

In the live-action movies, her sibling - now a brother - wasn't so lucky. Misa Amane returned home to find her entire nuclear family wiped out in a single raid. The trauma incurred a need for vengeance.

Her attention was drawn to Kira after he avenged the murders for her, by killing her family's assailant as he served his life sentence in prison. At the time quite out of her reach.

Murderer Misa Amane Death Note the Last Name

Key Dates for Misa Amane

December 25th 1984:

December 25th 1987:

February 14th 2011:

February 14th 2014:

Misa Amane born

Misa Amane died

Manga

Anime

Manga

Anime

Misa Amane's Life-Span in Flux

Misa Amane's name through shinigami eyes

Even with shinigami eyes, Misa cannot see her own death date, only her name

Misa died on *insert date*. At least that's the date that would have been displayed to any Death God or those with the shinigami eyes to see, in the script above her head for most of her life.

It's the date upon which Misa Amane should have died. The date on which Gelus wrote her assailant's name in his own notebook of death, thus saving her life to the detriment of his own.

By which we mean that his transgression - apparently one of the most heinous there is for his kind - was instantly punishable by the hapless God being disintegrated into a pile of dust.

Having thwarted Fate as she did, we have to ask ourselves what new numbers appeared now above Misa Amane's head? Another far distant date, selected at random by whatever sentient presence throws such dice? Or something quite stunning in relative human terms?

To all extents and purposes, was Misa now immortal, barring accident or, you know, jumping off a bridge as she eventually did? We know that she wasn't actually immortal, because she did die.

We can also be certain that a date did appear above her head, and that it could change, because Rem knows immediately upon meeting Misa that she'd made the eye deal again with Ryuk. For the second time in Misa's life, her remaining years had halved. But therein lies the rub - Misa should already have been dead on both occasions when her life-span was thus curtailed. She should have died on the day of Gelus's self-sacrifice in her stead.

For shinigami, prematurely ending a human life by writing their name in a death notebook evokes its own reward. That time stolen from their victim is now added onto the death god's own life-span. If the newly deceased human should have lived another twenty years, then the shinigami authoring their demise is now assured an extra twenty years to their own tally.

Misa did not kill Gelus directly. She did not write his name in her death note (which anyway didn't belong to her until shortly thereon). However, by Gelus writing the name of Misa's would-be murderer in that same book, she inadvertently became the cause of the shinigami's disintegration into dust.

Later still, the desperate situation engineered by Light Yagami into being meant Misa's liberty and life were endangered again. Rem could see that Misa was foolish enough in love to repeatedly chop her life's span in two, in order to impress and/or save her beloved Light. With such an overview, the shinigami Rem saw no alternative herself but to kill Watari, then L, so to save Misa Amane from herself (and, by extension, them).

Two death gods, both infatuated with the enchanting human woman; both causally committing suicide via their death notes to save her life.

How many years had those two deities amassed between them, as yet to be lived, at the point of their deaths? And did those two tallies transfer to Misa Amane, as they would have to another shinigami?

There is circumstantial evidence to say that they did. Insofar as Ryuk looks quite stunned to behold the death date adorning Misa's aura; momentarily fairly speechless at the notion that half will soon swell his own life-span, as she begged to make the shinigami eye deal with him.

Moreover, Rem rushed into killing L and Watari for Misa's sake. It's questionable that such speedy action would have been necessary, if Rem could see that Misa had many more years left in her. Tenuous, we know, but intriguing nonetheless.

On the other hand, the rules of the Death Note are quite clear on the point that a human user writing names does not amass the lost life-span of their victims, in the same way as a Death God would.

However, it says nothing at all about the consequences of a human being instrumental in the death by shinigami notebook of its divine owner.

We do not know how many years Gelus and Rem had left. It could have been hundreds.

We do not know if those life-spans transferred to Misa Amane. She could well have lived for centuries (or mere hours, days, weeks, months...), if disillusionment and lovelorn grief had not sent her hurling from a high bridge to her death.

Or perhaps that moment WAS Fated. February 14th 2011 (or 2014, in the anime) was the date left there for heartbroken Rem to see.

If that was the case, we can calculate the dates displayed at any given time above Misa Amane's pretty brow. But only if we assume that she received no extra life from the two shinigami, otherwise all but the first and last dates must remain unknown.

Until Gelus intervened:
March 12th 2004 (or 2007)

March 12th 2004 (manga);
March 12th 2007 (anime)

aged 19

Until Misa made the eye deal with Rem:
Est. March 20th 2004 (or 2007)

November 25th 2031 (manga);
November 25th 2034 (anime)

aged 46

Until Misa made the eye deal with Ryuk:
November 4th 2004 (or 2007)

January 17th 2018 (manga);
January 17th 2021 (anime)

aged 33

Until the end:
February 14th 2011 (or 2014)

February 14th 2011 (manga);
February 14th 2014 (anime)

aged 26

Of course, this is only one possible example.

Assuming the date Misa died is, in fact, the end of her new life-span, then we are able to say that Gelus could have added anywhere between 1 and 38 years, and likewise, Rem could have added anywhere between 1 and 6 years. So another example: Gelus could have added 16 years, which would mean Rem would have added 3 years.

The amount of life gained from Rem depends directly on the amount of life Misa gained from Gelus. It can be worked out using the formula:

Y = 7 - X/4
(Where life added by Rem is represented by Y, and life added by Gelus is X)

Because the amount of life added by Rem and Gelus are directly dependent on one another, we can never know exact numbers, only a range of possible scenarios, represented by the graph below:

Graph calculating possible time added to Misa Amane life by the suicide of two shinigami to save her.

Possible time additions effected to Misa Amane's life-span by the self-sacrifice of two Death Gods on her behalf

NB: Mathematics contemplated, calculated and completed by Orangepunch and Richard Mak. With thanks to both!

The Suicide of Misa Amane in Death Note

The Auguries of Misa

Born on December 25th, astrologically
Misa Amane is Capricorn

Misa's birth date of December 25th 1984 (manga) also factors into Shēngxiào. The Second Kira is a Wood Rat in the Chinese Zodiac

However, the time-slip of the anime would have her born in 1987 instead. That means that now in the Chinese Zodiac Misa Misa is a Fire Rabbit

How to Read: Death Note 13 reveals that Misa Amane's blood group is AB

Misa Amane's Personality

Misa Amane is the archetypal It Girl; she has charisma in abundance, especially before a camera, and in life can delight just about everyone she meets. Give or take those with broader concerns (for whom she poses a distraction and a nuisance), like her lover Light, locked in fatal bouts of gladiatorial competitiveness with whichever Wammy boy offers the fight.

Death Note 13: How to Read describes Misa as having tremendous screen presence, resulting in a plethora of offers for film roles. This is coupled with beauty and a physique in great demand for modelling in top fashion magazines.

The actress and model knows well how to use such charms. Her flirtation with Higuchi Kyosuke prompts him with ease to divulge information that will ultimately lead directly to his death. Misa's coolness under pressure and ability to read social cues and situations with aplomb is also very much in evidence during the Yotsuba arc. Hosting an impromptu private party for the company's executives, Misa's able to help Matsuda affect his escape. Assessing and playing her part with barely a tip off regarding what was about to follow. She took it all in her stride.

It's not surprising then that the aforementioned Death Note manual affords Misa Misa top marks for charm, social skills and initiative. Don't let the big, batting, innocent eyes foll you, Misa Amane is one canny lady.

That conclusion is borne out in canon time and again, yet belied in the graph's piddling 3/10 ranking for her intelligence. There are equally low points for creativity, despite the canon Second Kira seeming quite resourceful. While her Genki Girl style outbursts does concur with the mid-range score for emotional strength.

Death Note's Misa Amane cannot be underestimated, but then perhaps we shouldn't ask too much of her either. And, of course, none of this accounts for her propensity to kill at will and whim, but mostly for her intense, jealous and all consuming passion in love with Light Yagami.

The Myriad Faces of Misa-Misa

Misa Amane Death Note manga

Misa Amane Death Note anime

Misa Amane Death Note game

Misa Amane Death Note: Relight anime

Misa Amane Death Note live action movies

Misa Amane Death Note the Musical (Japan)

Misa Amane Death Note TV drama

Misa Amane Death Note the Musical (Korea)

COMING SOON
Misa Amane Death Note US movie

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Indie Band Speedy Ortiz Release Death Note - Anime Inspired New EP Track

14/5/2016

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Announcing their newly released Death Note, Massachuttets band Speedy Ortiz

American Indie Rock band Speedy Ortiz, active since 2011, announced a new four-track EP to be released June 3rd. Moreover, they shared one of the new tracks included on their Foiled Again EP. It's called Death Note.

Frontwoman Sadie Dupuis confirmed the track is named after the anime, and we can even tell she’s probably not a fan of Light’s New World.

In the press release, she explained the title by pointing out the actual death note in the anime was an 'about an evil supernatural notebook that causes the death of anyone whose name is written inside of it'.

Although the title is meant as a reference, the actual song isn’t about Death Note. The lyrics are meant to touch on a more delicate subject. As Dupuis explained: “The song is about writing through your depression as a way to get better, and how in that way a death note can be kind of love letter to yourself.”

The song is available on Soundcloud. Or you can give it a whirl below too. If you love it lots, then buy the MP3 - download Death Note now, or wait until June 3rd to purchase the entire Foiled Again EP.

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Honolulu Artist Lei K Shares her Misa Amane Art in Graphite Pencil

12/5/2016

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Lei K, a professional graphite pencil artist from Nānākuli, Honolulu, has created this fabulous drawing especially for Month of Misa Amane. Death Note actress, idol and Second Kira in pencil art.

You heard it here first that Lei K will soon be joining Death Note News as a regular contributor. She practically is already, having pencilled artwork for three out of the four Month of... events thus far - with apologies on the fourth, as she was busy with actual paid commission work. Fair enough! Check out more from Lei K at her own on-line gallery.

Artists!

Display your Death Note artwork here and/or answer our questionnaire about creating Death Note fan-art in any medium.

Check out the Death Note News fan-artist contribution page.

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Why Does it Matter that Misa Amane's Blood Type is AB? (Article by Renchan)

11/5/2016

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It is time once again for another discussion on blood types. On this edition, we will be discussing one of the most divisive characters in the Death Note fandom – Misa Amane.

In all of my years in fandom, I have never come across a character that inspires such a dramatic reaction than Misa from the series Death Note. There are many opinions that float around, both good and negative, but those are a topic for another article.

Perhaps quite fitting for a character as divisive and stigmatized as Misa is the blood type of AB, the rarest blood type in Japan, and the most disliked. An AB blood-type, at a glance, is known for a character that is known for not having one set personality, known as ‘split-personality’ characters.

They are the unpredictable characters who tend to drive the story, or at least be a major influence in them.

But why the stigma?

AB Blood-Type and Stigma in Japan

In Japan, the most common blood type is A.

An A blood-type is known for being rational, calm, and predictable. Japan is a country known for valuing a conservative, group-mentality, where being predictable is good for the group as it means that you do not stand out.

This is in a direct contrast to a country like the United States of America, where individuality is viewed as the best way to be. Setting yourself apart from the crowd is celebrated, while in Japan, it is viewed as extremely negative.

People that have the AB blood-type are known as extremely unpredictable and even irresponsible in some cases.

There was a time period where various blood types were placed together in the workplace, believing that type A’s would work better with A’s, and so on and so forth. However, this posed a problem – no one wanted to work with the AB types, and so the model gradually died out.

In any case, being an unpredictable blood type already produces one strike against Miss Amane.

Why is the AB blood type known as the ‘split personality’ blood type? Well, it is associated with being both shy and outgoing, and serious yet not. AB people are known for having one personality that they show to the ‘outside’ world, and another personality they show to the people who are closest with them.

They are known for being a bit delicate and not being able to stand having too much pressure put upon them. They are known for being rather sentimental but also quite strict with themselves.

Considering how different Misa’s character is depending on who she interacts with, it is absolutely no surprise that this description fits her to a T. Sometimes she can come off as quite ruthless, while other times she seems warm and loving towards Light Yagami, her love interest (of a sort) in the manga.

Due to her status as an Idol, which necessitates a persona to show to the world, it is unsurprising that her regular personality is ever-changing as well.

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Welcome to Month of Misa Amane on Death Note News

11/5/2016

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Our Black Mass begins in the shinigami glow from eyes which seems otherwise wide-eyed cute in the sense of a Japanese Idol. Actress supreme; and serial killer on a massive scale too.

This is Misa Amane month on Death Note News, time for the Second Kira to have her hour in the spotlight. And by 'hour', we mean from yesterday until the 10th of June.

At the altar of this New World Goddess in human form, we will leave our offerings of creative content, analyses, profiles and opinion pieces, pictures, photos and stories enough to honour our model murderess.

Or condemn her, obviously.

Who is Misa-Misa to you? A sweetheart woman; a tragic love-lorn Ophelia type; your Queen or Kami; a funny/irritating Genki Girl of epic proportions; or just a murderer like her sometime nearly spouse?

Let us know. Show us. Draw, paint, compose, frame, pose, cook or tell, whatever your medium for self-expression on the subject of Death Note's Misa Amane. And check back often to discover new additions to our diverse collection of Second Kira stuff.

Last Day for publication: June 10th 2016.

How to Have Your Misa Amane Work Published on Death Note News

Veterans will know the score by now, however here is a recap for those needing the links to hand, 0r new to these kinds of events:

General submission page - all the media via which you may message us or submit content as files;
Cosplayer Questionnaire - to be answered by Death Note cosplayers (particularly those with Misa costumes) in order to advise others wanting to follow suit;
Fan-art Questionnaire - to be answers by Misa Amane artists and/or those creating Death Note artwork per se, who are happy to pass on tips to newcomers in the Death Note fan-art communities;
Fan-fiction Writers Questionnaire - to be answered by Death Note fan-fiction writers (Misa storytellers especially welcome) ready to extend the baton to those new authors coming through;

We have about four items ready for publication already, which demonstrates how on the ball some of you are. Everyone else, this event started yesterday, where's your Misa Amane articles, essays, analyses, images, photographs, tales, recipes and all the rest already? Off you go! Contribute now!

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L Theme Park Attraction! Universal Studios Japan Join with Weekly Shonen Jump to Bring Death Note to the Tourists

10/5/2016

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A theme park in Osaka will be taking day-trippers into the Death Note universe with L right alongside to ensure no-one gets themselves killed.

Because he was always so good at that...

Universal Jump Summer marks a collaboration between Weekly Shonen Jump and Universal Studios Japan. Running throughout the summer months of 2016 at the latter's tourist attraction, the event will bring to life major characters from manga and anime.

That includes Death Note detective L, who'll be recruiting rookie investigators (that'll be you) to accompany him through a role-playing, puzzle-solving, live action game entitled Death Note: The Escape. It will be built on the back of other Death Note themed Real Escape games, that have been running in cities around the world to mark the manga's 10th anniversary.

Additionally, the theme park will regularly host theatrical performances featuring another stalwart of the genre. One Piece Premier Show 2016 tells a story especially written for the event.

Unfortunately, visitors to Universal Studios Japan will have to pay extra to enjoy either of these anime-based attractions. However, their general admission price allows for free access to the third one - Dragon Ball Z: The Real 4-D. Not too much further information there, other than our hero Goku will be fighting the evil Frieza.

Yeah, whatever. Our lot will be with L, taking on the truly nefarious designs inherent in a locked door. And if you don't think that's dangerous, then you seriously never read Another Note. Hold on. Ok, so our guide looks like L. Fine. But someone must have double-checked his jam eating propensity.

Haven't they?

Enjoy going beyond in the Universal Jump Summer 2016 Death Note Real Escape event.

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Death Note News Editor Feedback on our Reader Survey and Other Updates

9/5/2016

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Many thanks to all who took the time to voice their thoughts on Death Note News' Month of... feature. In addition to airing viewpoints on various items relating to the running of the site, and how we deliver content to you, via the completion of last month's reader survey.

All comments have now been read. Some whilst blushing and feeling suddenly very coy; others forming a cringing addendum to our discussion agenda and/or directly onto a lengthening To Do list. All were very helpful and wonderfully appreciated upon receipt.

There were a few pointers requiring acknowledgement, answers, action or announcements, including the results of who will be featured at the centre of future Death Note Month of... events. I'm here to bring you fully into the loop.

Known Issues, Omissions and Pointers for the Death Note News Website

First the problematic parts, or things to be actioned here, to get them out the way:

Feedly RSS reader isn't picking up news articles very well - Matti to look into it;
Death Note TV drama analyses were never finished - another one for Matti;
Articles on Death Note News should clearly differentiate between canon fact/fanon speculation, particularly those submitted for Month of... features, which tend towards the theoretical - added to agenda for editorial meeting;
Comment on the Matsuda theory article proved canonically impossible the one re Near controlling Mello via a Death Note. The article should be altered, or a note added within the write-up, to reflect this - Orangepunch to do;
Not clear in the FAQ how one might join the Death Note News team - answer below, plus Matti to add to the FAQ.

Hopefully we didn't miss any and you're happy with the actions! Please do leave a comment below, if you have views to add to anything highlighted above, or spot something which didn't make the list.

How to Join the Death Note News Team

Contact the Death Note News Team

Ask. We're always good for welcoming new writers, or other talented folk, into our team. If it's a regular column that you wish to pursue, then hunt down Matti to discuss what you have in mind. Either way, our contact page has a plethora of ways to contact us. In this instance, an email (via the form) is probably best.

Whatever Happened to Those Voice Actor Interviews We Were Promised?

Everything has been collated, tidied up, formatted and emailed to the requisite Death Note actors. Each acknowledged receipt of the questions and indicated their intent to answer as many as possible.

Brad Swaile has since sent his apologies for the delay. Life has suddenly become very busy for him, and there ARE rather a lot of questions that were asked. He does still plan to return his answers eventually. Until then it's a patience Padawain moment.
Sergio Zamora was full of enthusiasm and beginning to work through them last we checked. We're slightly afraid that we've overwhelmed him along the way. No reason to believe that we won't get his responses back sooner or later.
Kim Hasper is currently exchanging emails with our German language translator, Jo Coburn. Unfortunately he MAY have to drop out.
Vincent Tong is a complete sweetheart, who gave up an hour of his life to answer questions asked by us on your behalf. We have it in the bag. Well, hard-drive. It could go up right now, if only the sole Death Note News team-member with any skill in video editing would stop getting ill and edit the video instead. We hold out hope that it will happen sometime this week. Poor love recorded it weeks ago, while the monthly focus was still upon his character Touta Matsuda! Sorry, Vincent.

Vincent Tong interview for Death Note News

The lovely smile of Vincent Tong, all unknowing that he'd be waiting over a month for Death Note News to actually feature his interview!

In short, we're confident that all (but possibly one) remain winging their respective ways to us and will be made public quickly thereon.

Results of the Reader Survey Regarding the Month of... Feature

We're already three days late with Month of Misa. Nine, if you count the original intention for it to begin on the first of May and continue through to its end.

However, it appears from the responses given in the reader survey that none of you are too worried about things like that.

You'd rather have well-written articles with every contributor's work included, than any strict adherence to the dates.

You also almost unanimously fed back that one topic per month is perfect; running them bimonthly not at all a welcome suggestion (mostly because momentum would be lost); and you're happy with how we're choosing the subject of each focus thus far.

That said, there were some great ideas thrown into the mix too. One person thought it might be nice to choose the topics a month or two in advance via readers' poll.

Another individual thought having a 'what if' month would be interesting, as in 'what would have happened to the characters if Light Yagami hadn't received his Death Note, thus the Kira case never occurred?' I have to say that my imagination has been running overtime in pondering, since reading it posed there. But could we pull off a whole month of it? Probably. Maybe another format would work better. It's one of those added to the staff agenda for mulling over.

Nearly all of you indicated that yes, you would like to see a Month of... focus being the forthcoming Death Note movie, released at the end of October 2016. Of those, one person voted for November to be the ideal month. The rest of you didn't mind, as long as it happens.

All excepting the single respondent who said no full stop to that and indeed everything about the Month of... events. He/she really didn't like it and wished it would go away. Your views have been read and noted. Thank you for them. Unfortunately, you were outvoted by your peers.

Everything in, it was overwhelmingly positive and extremely helpful. Even the person who hated the feature told us nicely! And we were really pleased with the wide array of places where people are finding Death Note News. Particularly as one source was apparently the Archangel Mello pointing this way with his fiery sword.

As for the one who asked if being in the Mello/Matt fandom counts - YES! Yes, it does. Most important part of the whole Death Note fandom Mello and Matt. Though I might be biased, given what I write.

Forthcoming Characters to be Featured in Death Note News Month of... Focus

Lots of fabulous suggestions here. We had Mello, Beyond Birthday, Mikami, Sayu, ALL live-action tellings together, L, Shingami (collectively), Naomi Misora, the LABB murders, and the movie thumbs up for a month closer to the release date.

We've decided to start with the one garnering the most votes in that survey. Admittedly to the mild surprise of all here, though we're game for everything. Bring it on! Therefore I can announce that June and July look like this, with more made public when we've finished tatting with the list:

Month of Naomi Misora on Death Note News

Coming June 2016

Ms Misora not only received the most votes overall, but she also managed to beat Beyond Birthday by a single point. Hence the surprise. Then again she does make quite a habit of thwarting of poor BB at the last minute!
Go Naomi! You won your month, fair and square.

Coming July 2016

Mr Mikami's high rating in the straw poll of suggestions was less surprising. We already hold in waiting two pieces of content about him, submitted by different readers, both long before he'd even been considered for a Month of... feature!

By tomorrow, we should have their submission and questionnaire pages up and ready. In the meantime, do feel free to send in things using generic tools for contributing content, or mentally amending questions pertaining to another character asked of Death Note fans writing, creating art or donning cosplay.

Also by tomorrow, we should actually start Death Note News' Month of Misa Amane. Three items in already. Get a head start on the crowds by chucking in any relevant content now.

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Death Note Movie to Begin Filming in Canada June-August 2016, Plus Deadpool Deputy Director Moves into the Frame

9/5/2016

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We've actually got dates for the filming schedule of Adam Wingard's Death Note movie! Plus one or two more details besides.

Last we heard, Warner Bros had put the movie up for grabs and Netflix was in the top running to nab it. There's no firm update on that yet, just that the strong rumours remain one nod short of fact.

What we can say is that production is being overseen by the presumably newly formed (considering the name) company DN (Canada) Productions Inc.

They will set up shop in British Columbia on June 22nd 2016, filming in various locations but mostly in and around Vancouver. Though all dates are subject to change, Death Note's film schedule is currently pencilled in to end on August 30th 2016.

As we've been asked this plenty of times and can finally answer it - Death Note's casting manger is Laray Mayfield, who we love for Fight Club. The company's production address is 310 - 330A 555 Brooksbank Avenue, North Vancouver, BC, V7J 3S5. (Tel: 604-983-5400 Email: [email protected])

Diving into Death Note - Deadpool's Assistant Director James Bitonti!

Deadpool's James Bitonti has signed up as co-producer and assistant director. There were actually bets being made here on a firm Deadpool/Death Note movie link being established soon. Unfortunately we kept it to ourselves instead of speculating in an editorial, else Death Note News would have appeared hot on the ball and well ahead of the crowd.

Bitonti, of course, is also known for X:Men and Rise of the Planet of the Apes. But Deadpool will be the clincher.

Adam Wingard remains the director, though his real name is actually WILLIAM Adam Wingard, according to the blarb. Producers Masi Oka, Brian Witten and Dan Lin also retain their involvement in the movie; along with executive producers Roy Lee, John Powers Middleton and Adam C. Stone.

Newly brought on-board is executive producer Brendan Ferguson, known for The Butterfly Effect, Sucker Punch and The Imaginarium of Dr Parnassus. He will also be acting as unit production manager. He'll be joined in the executive producer role by Doug Davison of How to Train Your Dragon fame.

Drew Locke is stepping in as production manager, Laura Livingstone is PC (anyone know what that stands for?) and Hans Dayal is location manager. He will be assisted in the role by Patrick Subarsky.

Finally, relative newcomer Ryan Halprin will be filling the position of production executive. Whatever that is. He was an assistant to Dan Lin on The Lego Movie, and co-produced the upcoming sequels.

Beyond that, you'll know more when we do.

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Death Note Tarot Tales V: Kira's Magician Versus the Wammy's Magi - Divine Wisdom and Poetic Justice in Death Note

8/5/2016

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Every epic journey must begin
with a step upon its routes, roads and Ryuk directed by-ways.

Every great destiny must have a destination.

Explored against
the back-drop of Death Note,
the Major Arcana Tarot cards
feature the realm of The Magician

~ written by our guide into
all things esoteric
Tarot Mikami

Death Note Tarot Tales on Death Note News

Welcome seekers after sama, kana and qi! You won't be the first to want to reverse your life's fortunes; otherwise embrace words to change the world; take steps to transform yourself into a hero; divert humanity away from its current perverse course; perfect its core that all may sing together - refraining from discordance, aligned in peace and harmony; gain insight into the working of the universe; realize your dreams; reach for the stars; sail across the cosmos and converse with the divine; enchant and charm Kannon at the gates of wisdom; seize manna from the Gods; invoke matter from the kether; traverse the mysteries and become God of this New World.

It's not unknown.

But no matter what foolish idea inflames your passion and ignites your will. Before you take your first steps onto the path of making it real, you will need some guidance. Sound the intro, maestro! And enter The Magician.

The Many Roles of the Tarot Magician

The second card of the Major Arcana starts the story proper. It stands at number one, as The Fool is zero. Without meeting or becoming The Magician, the Fool is merely a broiling mess of notions, running around like a headless chicken with no direction in which to pursue them.

If nothing else, the Magician is a doorkeeper - providing access to another (or the wider) world, opening a gateway onto an appropriate path, or acting as a way-marker signing the route to take. Usually this role contextualizes the bigger picture and sets out the destination. The Wise Man is concerned with destiny. Though the advice should be taken indiscriminately.

The Magician isn't necessarily on your side. The guidance given or the way forward illuminated might be a service provided in all innocence and altruism. Nevertheless, he/she has an agenda of their own and the knowledge to manipulate others too.

They may play a dual role - making Mafia profits sky-rocket, whilst diverting its resources into capturing a Death Note - and could as easily be trickster instead of consigliere.

Or a charlatan. This all-knowing being may present themselves as God, then turn out to merely be a man and a murderer at that. Worse still, a serial killer implicating you in the guise of the great detective L.

But the differentiation isn't always that clear cut either. Nothing so black and white.

The Magician juggles many roles, generally playing all the same time; multi-tasking meaning depending upon who is being addressed. One person's terrorist being another's freedom fighter and all that, while the manipulation might be to save yourself from yourself, or to aid a greater cause.

Either way, The Magician will certainly give our hero something to ponder and a route (or twelve) to take next. There's the potential for destiny-laden adventure and opportunities lessons to be learned here, if only never to be that gullible again.

The Meaning of Magician in the Major Arcana

Christians are most familiar with The Magician as the Magi - Three Wise Men in modern versions of the Bible; twelve Pharisee priests in the closest we have to the original - who visited the newborn Christ with gifts.

For everyone else, the name has largely denigrated to the level of sleight-of-hand illusionists and tricksters on stage, or grown fantastical in figures from stage or literature like Gandalf, Merlin and Obi-Wan Kenobi.

It used to mean so much more. The hints of it permeate our lexicon. We glimpse their greatness in words sharing the same root, like magnate, mega, magnitude, magnus, magus and majesty. That last also containing a hint of their skill as spokespeople, mediators, lecturers, teachers and orators - 'gest', as in 'jester', 'gesticulate', 'gesture' and the 'gist' of a story. It comes from Middle English 'to recite a tale', originating in Latin 'geste' or 'gesta' 'to perform deeds; to act'. By the time it hit 13th century France, 'geste' meant to 'narrate an heroic tale'.

Stories could (and often still do) command the will of a people. Which is why governments today are so keen to pressure the press into toeing the party line. In Medieval Italy and France, which is where our earliest extant tarot cards were made, the majesty of magicians led to them adjudicating in delicate matters, acting as counsellors or speaking on behalf of less learned individuals.

The Magicians as magisters, in fact, or magistrates. That 'gist' sometimes turning into its other form of 'iurare' to bring us to jury, and conjurer; or 'joculate' as joker or juggler. Wise counsellor or trickster indeed. Furthermore, the French word grammairien referred to 'learned men; magicians', whose ability to know the power and perfect usage of words gave us 'grammar'.

But akin to magician is also master, maestro, mahatma, maharaji, maharishi, yogi, guru, the one who knows. The Japanese would call them dai-sensai, or O-sensai, doshi, Rōshi, or know them as sifi. In addition to great wisdom and skill, The Magician brings into play the tools that the Fool might need t0 embark upon their journey.

In ancient Persia, the Magos were the learned members of the priestly caste, adept at astrology. They could give you the overview of your life and destiny, as it was written in the stars, taking in the knowledge of what constellation was on the ascendency or ruling within a certain house. It was up to you what you did with that information and how you let it guide your lives.

Over the centuries, their spiritual descendants have been known as the adepts in a variety of other fortune-telling, mind expanding, soul perfecting or perception enhancing skills. For example, those magnificent seekers delving into the Kabbalah/Cabala/Qabala as scholars, scryers, practitioners, occultists, alchemists, diviners, philosophers, Hermetic code-breakers and ceremonial magicians.

Enlightened beings who know The Way and what it might mean for you. But if it's shared - and done so entirely, selectively or else strewn with misinformation - and how that translates into relevancy for your own life's destiny, only a Fool can know in passing through the realm of the Magi.

The Magi In All Their Guises: Major Arcana Death Note's The Magician Card

The Death Note itself can be seen as falling right into the realm of The Magician. In fact, it's practically the Three Magi represented here in the notebook, as its role is considered in relation to Light Yagami.

Firstly Light has to find the shinigami's notebook, which serves the dual purpose of opening his eyes to the existence of a world beyond his own and highlighting its possibilities. Hitherto unconsidered (or disbelieved) realities are presented as a pathway upon which to forge his own destiny. It's the Tarot Magician as gatekeeper, signpost and luminary of higher knowledge.

However, its also the Trickster, or Charlatan, insofar as the falling Death Note serves Ryuk's agenda first and foremost. Its presence on Earth is set to alleviate the shinigami's boredom. Light will pick it up and, primarily believing it an elaborate prank, use it to the detriment of his own future. Not only will it curse his living years, but condemn his eternal being into the dissolution of Mu. This ultimate destination for Death Note users means that a destiny is foisted upon Light Yagami, manipulated by ignorance and curiosity into foolishly using it without fully translating all of the rules beforehand.

The Death Note wasn't on his side, nor against him. It's an item; a thing without judgement nor partiality. It serves an agenda encapsulated by itself. ('I am that I am' is the So'ham Sanskrit manta; also viewed as the Word of God in Christian mysticism; or 'As above, so below; so below, as above' in Hermetic teachings. All very much part of The Magician's inner knowledge, and here beautifully descriptive of the Death Note too.)

Secondly, Light actually reads the rules written inside the Death Note. Here the shinigami notebook becomes The Magician as a teacher; illuminating the arcane knowledge needed to utilize this supernatural tool. The rules themselves inspire possible ways in which Light may now traverse in order to fulfil his projected destiny.

Even more dramatically comes that third moment of the notebook of death as The Magician in Death Note. That's when the touch of it allows Light's mind to access his memories, previously locked away through rejection of the artefact. Perhaps it's not quite what the ancient Magos would view as accessing the higher self, but it serves the same purpose within the storyline. In an instant, Light Yagami's ignorance is dissolved, when the doors of perception are well and truly opened upon his past. His destination now reached, just as planned.

The Magician as Death Note's Gatekeepers and Arbiters of Destiny

Ryuk is another obvious contender for The Magician's Death Note tarot representative. His appearance directs the plot in a myriad of ways, not least because it clarifies Light Yagami's overview and destiny.

Just like his notebook, the shinigami confirms the existence of previously unknown layers to reality, broadening Light's horizons and information base.

Ryuk stands as guide and gatekeeper to the shinigami realm. Not only can he speak for and translate the Gods, he is one.

Whilst denying Light access to any such services, unless the whim of the moment takes him. Because he can.

The shinigami also acts as arbiter of knowledge concerning eternity and deals available to human users of Death Notes, which he does deign to share. Albeit selective in his choice of snippets to pass on, and deliberately obtuse in the timing of all such communication.

It's too amusing for him not to cause maximum frustration in thus trolling his human Death Note user.

Which all fits in completely with the reason for him being there, performing his role as Earthly sage and sometime mentor. Openly not on anyone's side - but that of his own amusement - Ryuk is the Trickster Mage personified.

His entire performance is dedicated to his own agenda, aligning with those of others only where each party's motives/tactics run in tandem. Or he's persuaded that the potential for entertainment is strong.

The Death God is, after all, quite bored and he's here to alleviate said tedium. Everything that occurs must factor that in first, as top priority, because it's certainly the only reason Ryuk is acting in any capacity right now.

L's Messenger Mage Watari: Herald, Spokesperson and Point of Contact

As gatekeeper to L, Watari's intervention at the Interpol meeting is pure Magician territory.

Not only does it alert all present to the avenue of inquiry now opening up due to the detective's interest in the Kira case, but it allows Matsuda - thus us too - to discover L's existence in the first place.

Thus the Fool takes the first step out of innocence, ignorance and a lack of context for the world.

For the veteran law enforcement agents there, Watari represents destiny in a very practical sense. They don't need to discuss the way forward in their investigation now, because L is involved. He IS the way forward; an option for the situation to be passed up to a higher authority.

(Sneak preview for a later major arcana card - The Hierophant describes L for those with knowledge and experience of his work.)

For Soichiro and Matsuda, Watari's position is doorkeeper to destiny in a much more ethereal way.

To one it will prove downright Fateful, while the other will reach the proposed destination (catching Kira) changed beyond recall.

Destiny's Magister: Roger Ruvie, The Wammy House Ringmaster Tolls Part Two

Roger Ruvie as the Magician in Death Note tarot

One day, Wammy House warden Roger Ruvie will be Watari too. His role will encapsulate The Magician in just the same way as Quillsh Wammy, as described above.

Nevertheless, in that Fateful moment imaged as tarot arcana (left), Roger already illustrates several aspects of The Magican card. Each face or facet exhibited simultaneously.

For a start, he's a messenger, delivering the news that the children's idol and surrogate father are both dead. Divining correctly the information received from a transmission's ending. Liaison, wisdom, enlightenment, all wrapped up in that single act.

He's doing so as Wammy's House administrator - which has its root in 'ministry/minister' and from there becomes entrenched in symbolism linked with The Magician. Minister meaning to 'act on behalf of a higher authority', hence a minister of the state in politics or the church (it literally meant 'priest' in Medieval Latin). It gets its secretarial sense from the French, where it became 'servant; overseer; watcher; manager'.

But may also relate to inspiration of a more tuneful note, hence minstrel and musician are both cognitive words. Each obviously pertaining to The Fool, yet The Magician too, as the latter can be former in receipt of self-awareness, context or knowledge, thus driving their own actions.

It all becomes much more blatant, when another cognate is brought into the mix - magistrate or magister. One who directs or adjudicates; making decisions; laying down the law.

Roger is authorized to tell a twelve and fourteen year old that their idolized foster sibling and beloved guardian are dead. Yet nothing of sentimentality here. His job is to collect children from around the world, bring them to The Wammy House and train them as potential successors to L.

His results are majestic. After coldly dismissing Mello's emotional outburst, the first question asked was which of them was chosen as heir. No querying the fact that kids are about to be sent into an arena which killed two adults, one purportedly the world's most genius detective. No options considered.

This Wammy Ringmaster magisterially sends both kids to fight round two; their destination seeming less destined than Fated, with such news extolled like passing bells, louder than ever tonight.

Mello the Consigliere: Death Note Mafia Mage with a Dual Agenda

Mello exemplifies The Magician with a dual agenda, while acting as consigliere within the Mafia family headed by Rod Ross.

It's similar to the previously examined outlook of that other magnate Ryuk, but Mello's motivational duality holds some important differences.

The Magician acts by manipulating an individual's lack of essential knowledge or wisdom. However this doesn't necessary occur every time, only when it suits our canny counsellor's alternate agenda to do so.

Sometimes the concerns will align for both advisor and their directed individual; sometimes not. Regardless, the interests of the latter do not factor into the guidance given by this Mage - whether in counsellor mode, or as councillor representing their client's views and speech to others.

Consigliere (or consigliori) - Mello's position in the Mafia - meant both by the way. Though technically describing solely the counsel given to the Don, consiglieri (in manga and in life) also fulfil many other roles ruled by The Magician. Including, but not limited to, mediating in conflict; liaising on the Don's behalf with important contacts and/or authority figures (judges, police etc.); and keeper/archivist of secrets for the entire Family's, so to retain an overview and warn if trouble may be caused, for example, by a capo acting rashly through ignorance of matters concerning another.

Mello seems to be a good consigliere. At one point Rod Ross is moved to comment that the genius teen has never been wrong in any decision made since joining their Family.

However, no-one should lose sight of reality. Mello was just using the Mafia to achieve his own goals.

The wisdom imparted by Mello as consigliere causes Rod Ross's profits to sky-rocket. Yet those and all other available resources are soon diverted into serving Mello's ambition to secure a Death Note.

After Mello achieves his goal, thus placing a shinigami notebook in the hands of his Mafia family, all agendas probably fell in line, shared and indivisible. For a moment, indeed it seemed to Ross et al that they had absolute power.

And then, in the next moment, they ended up dead. Mello using the lives of the last ones standing to make good his own escape.

Sakura TV as the Charlatan: Showmanship Masquerading as Wisdom

Death Note Tarot The Magician Sakura TV Charlatan

When Sakura TV appoints itself as the voice of Kira, it's an attempt to appear as The Divinely Ordained or Enlightened Magician.

As studio boss and anchor-man, Demegawa's overall aim is to trick unsuspecting individuals into believing the station has some conferred higher knowledge. Therefore attempting to gain the same trust or power given to The Magician.

Or in this case, boost ratings.

The Magician can well act as spokesperson for the people/individuals in dealings with authority, or magistrate dilemmas and/or direct juries. They can certainly translate the divine for those less versed in the sacred mysteries. However, its beholden upon us all to beware false prophets.

In its more negative (or domineering/pompous) aspect, our spokesperson Mage might not say what we wished them to convey.

Think politicians declaiming sentiments which make us cringe or cry, all in our name; or the journalist who twists your words, yet 'quotes' you all the same, in pursuit of a sensational story bearing no relation to what actually occurs; or the parent/guardian/teacher expressing their own views as if they were automatically shared by yourself, ignoring or over-riding any attempt at dissent.

While Kira may experience Sakura TV's antics (in the persona of Demegawa) as the above, every other viewer is watching a charlatan or mountebank in action. A pseudo-priest or trickster mantis preying upon the gullibility of their television audience turned congregation.

On the flip side, even the False Magician may inadvertently act as teacher. The lesson today from Sakura being not to believe everything you hear on TV.

(Particularly when tabled as a Trump; donkey imagery warns us off, as seen below The Magician's board in some ancient tarot decks. Mistake the babbling showmanship of this charlatan for wisdom, and your only sure destiny is to be made feel like an ass.)

Kiyomi Takada: Enlightened Divine Messenger of Death Note

I don't remember who said it, but the quotation snagged in my mind.

Someone was told that David Icke - the footballer turned commentator and write - was now telling all and sundry that he was the Son of God. There was a pause in which the informant gleefully awaited the witty put-down that was sure to follow concerning the subject of their gossip.

"Well?" The other slowly asked. "Has anyone checked if he is?"

And therein lies the rub. How does one verify such a claim? And if we can't, then how do we know for sure whether they're a mounteback babbling lies, or insane, or someone Cassandra cursed to be disbelieved in all the divine truth they tell?

The Magi would know. It tends to be them. Whether reading the portents in divination; searching arcane knowledge to uncover higher truths; or acting as intermediaries between the Gods and us, as the priestly caste or ministering on career paths.

Just occasionally, we get the real thing. Magos aglow with the numen nod - enchanters, prophets, seers, the chosen and invokers; attuned to the Great Music and entrancing with utterances lifted from source; merely mediums through which the universe flows.

Or television anchor woman/newscaster, who just happens to be the right person, at the right time, with a matching warped sense of morality and all the right contacts to be the Messiah.

The divine intermediary aspect of The Magician is represented quite literally by Death Note's Kiyomi Takada, twofold.

She performs her role as Messenger of the God(s) in that Takada is the actual, publicly appointed spokesperson for Kira; while also being the conduit that allows both Kiras - Light Yagami and Teru Mikami - to communicate in open conversation.

No charlatan this. Blessed Takada performs with gravitas; notably refined before this even began. Now perceived by the ever-growing faithful as gentle, radiant, the real thing and absolutely full of grace. Buying into and believing all Light says; mind mired and amazed beyond all rationality.

But then it was always thus:

Quem Deus perdere vult, dementat prius; quem di diligunt, adolescens moritu.
Those the Gods will destroy, they first make mad; and whom the Gods love dies young.

Le Bateleur Matsuda: Sleight of Hand Illusionist in Death Note

The Magician Matsuda - Death Note's Le Bateleur

Le Bateleur is the aspect of The Magician most familiar to us in the modern world; give or take a few fantasy movie mages, and their counterpart skills offered as an option for gamers.

This is the stage magician; the conjurer; the sleight-of-hand trickster; the illusionist; the abracadabra, now you see it, now you don't, bateleur drawing in crowds and thrilling them with misdirection, misinformation, smoke and mirrors distraction, before delivering all enrapt and gasping with awe to that climatic moment of The Prestige.

Le Bateleur - and its cognates Il Bagatto, El Bagatella, Bateleuse - refers to this tarot figure's stick, rod or, ta-daaaa, wand.

This aspect of The Magician appears throughout the Death Note series. There's even a whole chapter, in Death Note 13: How to Read, devoted to explaining all of the tricks inserted into the storyline by Tsugumi Ohba.

The Death Note Magician tarot card we've chosen to depict Il Bagatto in action features Matsuda faking his own death. Before a stunned crowd of Yotsuba corporate executives, he pulls off The Prestige in garnering their belief that the dressed up Aiber far below on the ground is Matsuda's mangled corpse. Meanwhile, Touta sits safely on a mattress a mere one floor below.

However, we could just as easily picked any of the dozens of scenarios, whereby Death Note's conjurers wash over truth with a new reality, attested by witnesses swearing on oath that they watched throughout.

Like when Light becomes aware he is being watched by surveillance cameras. He quickly acts to manipulate the evidence by a tricky sleight-of-hand illusion.

To the onlooker, it would appear as though he was only studying, while taking those potato chips and eating them. The reality being that Kira was killing criminals with a piece of the Death Note hidden, alongside a miniature TV, inside the chip bag.

Even L was fooled by that one.

So what's your favourite showing for the tarot Death Note Bagatella? Just to check that you kept observing, through all there was to see.

The Three Wise Men (Wam-Magi?)

In the time of Watari, after Kira was born in Japan, wise men from the Wammy's House in Winchester came to Kanto, asking, "Where is the murderer who has been born God of the New World? For we observed his kill count at its rising, and have come to take him down."

When Takimura heard this, he was frightened and all world leaders with him; and calling together all the Kira Task Force and NPA public relations officers, he inquired of them when the Kira was to be arrested. They told him, "In the Yellow Box Warehouse; for so it has been written by Near: 'And you, Takimura, in the land of Japan, are by no means going to know a thing about it, because Mello would have got you killed by then.'"

Then US President David Hoope secretly called - via Watari - for the wise men and begged each in turn to stop threatening to control him into doing worse than Kira, whenever any of them get hold of a Death Note. Then he sent them to Kanto, saying, "Go and search diligently for Kira; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage."

When they had heard the POTUS, they got him killed and replaced with George Sairas; and there, ahead of them, went the star Misa Amane that they had seen rising as Second Kira, until she stopped because L had her tortured. When they saw that the Japanese idol had started begging to have her life ended, they were overwhelmed with joy.

On entering the Warehouse, they saw the megalomaniac with Mikami his worshipper; and Near knelt down (the other two forced to too, as they were now dead and puppets). Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of cake, Transformers, and chocolate.

And having painted a vivid picture for Ryuk warning of a future bound to a Death Note now stuck in Near's vault - while Light languished in a prison for the criminally insane for life - Near successfully manipulated the Death God into taking out Light before returning to the shinigami realm. Then the Three Wise Wammys left for their own country, where verily two returned to the toy box and Near took L's Code for himself. And probably Mello's too.

Hold on! One missing from this listing of The Wam-Magi as read from the Book of God's New World:

Bored out of his mind, Il Matto stayed put in Winchester, playing SuperMario and thanking the Gods of the Internet that Kira never came with cyber-terrorism on-line. Else he'd never have been able to get away with hiding behind his lazy, mad, wise Fool routine; playing Tetris instead of getting himself killed in someone else's war. So wise he only ever ranked third and remained forever Il Matto. He probably wouldn't have amounted to much anyway. Beep, beep, lulwut, nub?

Ok, I've stopped now.

As if by Magic - More Death Note Tarot Tales

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Thank you Everyone who Joined the Month of Quillsh Wammy!!

8/5/2016

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This month, the honours are performed by one of our most prolific writers - the lovely Lua Cruz. Over to her with thanks for all she does too; no background task too small, no analysis too obscure nor too deep. All completed with intelligence and grace. The rest to follow is all her.

Lua writes:

The themed months are gone in the blink of an eye, and, risking repeating what was said in the previous months, wasn’t this awesome!?

It feels like there isn’t enough time to touch on every subject, which isn’t unexpected when fans come together to talk about interesting stuff. One article brings up more discussions, and, before you noticed it, you got lost on meta-analysis and caught yourself re-reading/re-watching Death Note.

And when you come back to the party, the party is over before someone calls the cops on you for making too much noise and playing loud music far into the night.

But it’s all good; now you know where the other fans are (which means the party never ended and you can keep the conversations going until everyone is satisfied. Just…quieter? To not disturb the neighbors because we are all nice, polite people here).

Anyway.

All the Thanks are Due For Death Note News Wammy Month Contributors:

I’m not really sure how to go about thanking everyone because it always feels like I’m missing someone who contributed and that’s so unfair of me. So, first, let me thank everyone involved because you guys did a brilliant work. The month of Wammy pointed a bunch of fans at an amazing topic, and it resulted in fantastic articles, great discussions and the analysis that this fandom comes up with that’s really awesome to read.

Matti, all the thanks to you for being an amazing hostess and making this site such a lovely place for Death Note fans to find. You put a lot of work into this, and, as a DN fan, I’m really happy you came up with the character of the month idea and that you’re making it happen. I’m really happy you came up with the whole Death Note News!

Not only that, thank you for writing fantastic fic focused on Watari. You do a lot and the result is amazing, thank you.

Orangepunch, thank you for the support behind the scenes. I saw maths happening and that’s awesome; it brought up more discussions, even if I can only admire maths from far far away.

Georgina Aguilar, thank you for adding beautiful fanwork to this fandom we all love and for allowing your art to be shared here.

Kinky Mattila, thank you for bringing to life a character we all appreciate in one way or another and for giving us tips so we can do it too.

CupofSquirrel, thank you for also bringing Watari out of the pages of Death Note and telling us a lot about it and encouraging more fans to cosplay.

Renchan, thank you for writing a great analysis on Watari’s blood type for us and giving us food for thought on the topic.

Everyone from the Pinterest Community for Wammy and Wammy’s House, thank you for keeping selecting and pinning stuff, grouping them in one place for all the other fans to find.

Ethereality, thank you for holding discussions with me about anything that can come up related to Death Note and that sparks the interest.

DeathNotegirl3675, for writing a great Watari fanfic to share with us.

Aerial Sky, for contributing to fandom in another awesome way and, in doing so, giving us more Watari fan-fiction to enjoy.

Tarot Mikami, for exploring the parallels of Death Note and Tarot with such depth and giving us interesting analysis to think about.

There is way more being discussed than we have time to write about in a month. That’s always a pleasant surprise.

It was fun; thank you all for making it happen. See you in the Month of Misa!!

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Death Note News Wammy Gift Store Now Open!

8/5/2016

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Everyone remembers going on a school trip to a museum or something and the mandatory stop by the gift shop at the end? No? Was it just me? I’ve seen collections of “I was thinking of you in [insert place here]” shirts when I was growing up; a tour doesn’t end without a gift shop to signal it.

So, to mark the end of an amazing month, a Wammy shop is now open!

You can find it here. There isn’t much yet (no shirts saying people thought of anyone but Watari during this months, tsk tsk), but there will be plenty to come.

Check back whenever you feel like searching for Wammy related stuff. Use the gift shop as an excuse to go through the Wammy posts again! Use the posts as an excuse to go into the gift shop. The shop is now open and you can come in at any time.

Watari Shop Now Open

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Watari's Moment: Poignant Wammy Fan-Fiction Penned by DeathNotegirl3675

7/5/2016

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Fan-Fiction writer DeathNotegirl3675 hails from the USA. As the moniker may have already implied, she deems herself 'obsessed with Death Note'. Originally her Death Note Watari stream of consciousness drabble was posted on DeviantART, where she wrote, 'I know its quite dark and sad, but I really hope you enjoy anyway!'

Watari's Moments by DeathNotegirl3675

He's been having this feeling for days now.

The unshakable, unmistakable feeling of dread, creeping up like a looming shadow.

Watari takes out his pure white handkerchief, and lightly dabs his forehead as he rests on the kitchen table. The friendly and inviting aroma of freshly made cake wafts around the room, making his dark premonitions something of a ridiculous thought.

His grey moustache furrowing into something of a half-hearted smile, Watari looks around the room.

This.

All This.

L what a wonderful man you've turned out to be.

My prodigy.

My son.

What a crazy life you've lead.

Watari remembers when he first found L that fateful day. With a messy head of raven hair, and grey eyes that stared into your soul.

Yeah, Watari remembers.

He remembers the way he stood, with a grubby lollipop in one hand, and a coat that was too large for his small body. He remembers the half-hearted, sad, broken smile that was on his face.

Yeah, he remembers.

He remembers the day when the little prodigy finally opened up to him. The day when they connected. The day L put all the trust his tiny little body could muster into the palm of Watari's hand.

Such fond memories...

He remembers the heartbreak. He remembers the trial and error, and the strength that pulled them through, together. They were a team, though all of their problems. He remembers their cases, and L's genius.

As time ticks by, Watari knows.

He knows its nearing the end..

The end of such a beautiful journey...

Then he feels it.

That thud within the burrows of his soul that stops his heart dead in its tracks.

no.

Oh God please no...

Let L be ok.

As his handkerchief floats delicately to the ground, and Watari is brought to his knees,

He knows.

A smile forms on his face; a knowing, wise smile.

L

Thank you for the memories...

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Thorns of Death: Wammy House Fan-Fiction by Aerial Sky, Plus Advice on How to Write Watari in Death Note Stories

6/5/2016

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Multi-talented Aerial Sky has shown up in a variety of guises for our Death Note Month of features. Last time, it was as a cosplayer for Matsuda month. This time she's sharing her Watari fan-fiction and talking us through the process of writing it, all as her contribution to Month of Quillsh Wammy. Discover more from Aerial Sky at her DeviantArt AerialSkyCosplay account.

Thorns of Death by Aerial Sky
- Watari Death Note Fan-Fiction

"What's wrong with her?" L questioned, frowning as he sat on the bed beside A. "Watari, why won't she wake up?"

But Watari hadn't spoken in hours. Ever since he had brought A from the coffee shop to the hotel, he had been silent. Did he know something? Had he known this would happen?

"Watari. Why won't she wake up? Is she dying?" L had an excellent poker face, but it was so tempting to let it fall. But he hadn't cried in years. Not since he was younger... He had built walls to protect himself.

The elder man sighed audibly, causing L to glance at him curiously. "She will be okay for now."

L paused, waiting for him to say something else. But he didn't. "For now? So she is dying?"

Watari's face was grave. "I was anonymously informed of this event beforehand. I thought it was some practical joke, but now I see he was being truthful."

"What are you talking about? Who called you?" L had never yelled at his father before. Not once. But it was hard not to. He had known that A would collapse like this, and he had done nothing to stop it from happening. "Who called you, Watari?" L's voice rose.

Watari had never seen this side of L before. It was hard not to be intimidated. He seemed... different. Evil. Capable of anything. "I could tell it was a man, but the number was untraceable, and I couldn't tell who it was."

"When did he call? What did he say?!" L was getting desperate.

"He simply said that A would be delivered to us in a few days time. He said her mind wasn't in the right place, and she wouldn't get better. He said she had the Thorns of Death."

"Thorns of Death?" L asked questioningly. What in the world was that?

"He said she was not who she seemed, and she was dangerous."

Dangerous. A. Dangerous. Those two words didn't go together. A would not even hurt a fly. "You're wrong. She's still the same. Just a bit more anxious and paranoid. Watari you didn't talk to her. She's still the same."

"Ryuzaki, she needs rest. Whatever this is that's hurting her, we need to leave her be for now."

"I'm staying with her. I'm not losing her again."

And Watari didn't argue, for as much as L tried to hide it, he saw that streak on his cheek. He knew L was serious. He never cried, so this had to be important.

"Tell me when she wakes up. I will do some research."

Death Note Watari reaching, L watching - Watari death

Aerial Sky's Tips on Writing Wammy in Death Note Fan-Fiction

Aerial Sky cosplaying L - Death Note News

Aerial Sky in her usual guise - cosplaying Death Note's L

Do you/have you written fan-fiction about Wammy now or in the past?
Sort of - I'm working on one right now

If yes, any anecdotes/background info about your experiences as a Mr Wammy fan-fiction writer?
I have included his character to build the story and suspense, but I am mainly wanting to make Watari as close to the manga and anime. I want him to be as accurate as possible, to avoid confusion and plot gaps later in the story.

Regardless of whether you have done this, how would you go about writing Mr Wammy fan-fiction?
Depending on whether it is a serious, dramatic, or comedic story, I'd say think about how you imagine Watari acting. He is normally a polite butler/father figure for L, but he has another side to him that is dangerous. For suspenseful or dramatic stories I would like to see his dangerous side.

What attributes, scenarios and/or characteristics are essential for bringing Watari to life in story-form?
His personality is interesting. Usually he does what L wants him to, and he protects L to make sure he is safe. In that sense, I take scenarios from the actual manga and anime and put it into the story to fit it.

How do you go about teasing out the fine detail in characterising Wammy, so to seem realistic to readers?
I take how he acted in the manga and anime and use that information to imagine him as accurately as possible.

How do you go about finding plot bunnies and beginning your Quillsh Wammy story?
I try to detail almost everything in the story, so that later the reader doesn't ask themselves "Where did that come from?"

In your experience, what are the common mistakes made by fan authors writing about Watari?
I think they make Watari out of character, which is something I try hard to avoid. When he does something that I don't see him doing, it's hard for me to see that scene play out in my head.

Any last tips for anyone reading, who wishes to start writing fan-fiction about Mr Wammy?
Always write things that interest you. If you aren't interested and care about it, then the reader won't either. Just be yourself, and express your feelings in your words.

Death Note Fan-Fiction Writers!

Would you like to contribute Death Note fan-fiction to one of our character monthly events?
And/or complete the questionnaire giving your take on how to write Death Note characters in fan-fiction?
Check out our Fan-Fiction Author Questions posed with you in mind.
And thanks in advance!

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Watari Letters: Death Note Canon Alphabet of Wammy Kids: L-Z

5/5/2016

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"Watari, from now on you must safeguard the world with the other Letters."
~ L, L: Change the World, p 17

Welcome back to our ABC list of known canon Wammy kids alongside the letter to which they were (or most probably were) assigned.

The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans is the intriguing institution which features so prominently in Death Note, or at least its alumni form the centrepiece of the war against Kira.

Each genius child raised there is afforded a bespoke education, side-stepping the normal system of classrooms, with professors, researchers and other experts in their field brought in for one-to-one demonstrations and tutorials.

Graduates get to enter The Wammy Foundation, a shadowy organisation founded by the man who raised them - their childhood benefactor and adulthood allocator of a single Letter which meant so much - Quillsh Wammy, aka Watari.

This alphabet of Letters from Wammy's House investigates the ethos and histories of each recipient for clues as to the character and motives of Wammy himself.

Death Note The Wammy's House gatepost sign

Death Note Wammy Letters' Alphabet Pt 2 - L-Z

Read the first part: Wammy Alphabet A-K

Watari, also known as Quillsh Wammy, had used the enormous earnings from the patents of his many inventions to establish the Wammy Foundation, an organization dedicated to building orphanages around the world.

Among them, one orphanage took in highly intelligent children from around the world without regard to nationality, race or gender and provided them with a specialized education. The orphanage was called Wammy's House.

There was no formal school or academic departments at Wammy's. Instead university professors, researchers and top specialists in their fields from around the world were invited to give individual instruction to the children according to their abilities and potential.
~ L: Change the World, p13

Near in the library Wammy's House Death Note

Death Note Mello and other Wammy House kids dining

L - Wammy Kid The Last One, or The Lost One - True Name L Lawliet*

* This is the name that features upon a collectors' card fitted as a bonus gift inside the back fly-page of manga manual Death Note 13: How to Read. It's also the name recorded in a Death Note, as seen in the Japanese live-action films.

However, in the novel Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases, narrator Mello wrote that L was in possession of well over 3,500 names and pseudonyms to hide his personal identity. Mello postulated the theory that even L didn't know his own true name any longer.

... the name L was, for him, just one of many. He never had any direct connection to that identity, he never thought of himself as L... L had a real name that nobody knew, and nobody will ever know, but a name which only he knew never defined him. I sometimes wonder if L himself ever knew exactly which name was written in the Death Note, which name it was that killed him.
~ Another Note, p43-44

Though M (presumably Mello again) subsequently contradicted himself one book on - in the novelization of the movie L: Change the World - when he casually informed the reader that only L and Watari knew his real name. Thus able to facilitate the key plot-line underpinning this variant of the story, wherein L won his war against Kira effectively by committing suicide via Death Note.

However, this was an alternate universe to that recounted in the manga and anime, wherein M as Mihael Keehl's Mello never existed, begging the question as to who is writing this novel now. Unless it's Maki, grown a little older and brought furthermore into the Wammy House loop. The fourth generation Wammy to be assigned that code-letter M, in lieu of poor, lost Mello, omitted unmade and erased from the record for this telling.

Anyway, onto the plot.

He wielded incredible power, was able to mobilize every investigative bureau in the entire world, and was applauded generously for his efforts.
~ Another Note, p10.

L is the one about whom the whole of Wammy's House, its founder, staff and children, plus its attendant Foundation revolves. He was the first of those genius orphans afforded special attention, a tailored education and a letter to use as his name and his calling code.

By accident, precedent or design, he set the standard whereby all other Wammy kids are measured. They are supposed to be precisely him and if they best him, they get his code.

But that's highly unlikely to occur.

As Beyond Birthday found out, beating him is one thing; it's quite another to persuade Wammy to relinquish his obvious favourite, so to divert resources and his personal support towards a more worthily ranked ward.

That was a pattern which began on day one, when Wammy brought the tiny orphan L into Wammy's House and left him with his peers in the ornately stained glass windowed main hall.

The other children rushed to give him a hug - cute, new, big-eyed boy and all - but that panicked L. He was only about eight years old, but managed anyway to beat up and floor boys and girls much bigger than himself.

Instead of reprimanding him and ensuring that he apologized to the kids and teens groaning against the floorboards all around, Mr Wammy thought this rather fabulous. Presumably the other orphans were shortly deprived of familiarity, friends and home by being relocated to sister establishments in the chain of Wammy Orphanages. Meanwhile, L got his own room, a computer and plenty of cooing fuss.

L managed to redeem his anti-social behaviour - if such was needed in Wammy's eyes - by perusing stock markets and advising the old man on what to buy and when to sell. In that way, the profits poured right in. That was the year that the eight year old took on the Winchester Mad Bomber and averted World War III.

Marking the moment when Wammy vowed to accept L's every decision and support him wherever possible.

From now on, the child, not the adult was ostensibly calling the shots; Watari would make good each hefty choice and passing whim spoken aloud by the eight year old.

Nor apparently was there any disapproval expressed for the dodgier demands, let alone censure or out and out refusal to comply. Watari just did it, trusting that L was clever and would be right. (Giving him just enough rope hang himself? Or truly in perfect trust of the child's truth and sense in all things?)

Therefore leading to a situation - so a canon Omake tells us, authored by Tsugumi Ohba and drawn by Takeshi Obata - wherein the adult L cannot dress himself, or attend to his own ablutions, without Wammy assisting with the fundamentals. L seen now as so intelligent that he's become downright infantile.

An absent-minded genius trope too far, or some manner of control/avenging the loss thereof/kicking back against too much of the same, or someone severely upon the autistic spectrum? Frankly it's way too tempting to assume the former, though the other options have their resonance in all other of L's famous ticks, quirks, eccentricities and prolific sweet consumption.

The latter also keenly enabled by Quillsh Wammy in butler (more like carer at this point) mode. Along with a pop, pseudo-scientific rationale that such quantities of sugary things are needful in order to keep L's brain whizzing along.

Being handed such freedom on a plate, with adults to order about too, would be heady stuff for any child. Pair it with extreme wealth and the ear of world leaders and suddenly even societal boundaries are non-existent. The possibilities are limitless, with even torture, killing and the ordering of a condemned man onto live television for his execution are not only on the table, but Watari's logistical and sniping skills will ensure all continues quite smoothly.

With a seeming lack of constriction akin to a juvenile Roman Emperor, it's little wonder that L emerges into the Death Note story with a personality self-confessedly childish, but also spoiled and cruel.

Death Note L and the Kira Task Force meet

However, a thick layer of covert constrictions hide just beneath the surface for the detective. He's been told from childhood two things - there are those in the world out to kill him; and world peace hinges upon his living in a state of constant, active and demonstrable investigations.

While the world leaders should make efforts to ensure the safety of all the finest minds... the current societal systems do not allow for this, and L believed he had no choice but to protect his mind under his own power... For a detective of L's ability, self-preservation and the preservation of world peace were one and the same.
~ Another Note, p 69

Ergo, his life is in danger, but he can't stop to save himself without imperilling the world. Not that most of the potential killers with him in their sights are that far from home.

Depending upon whether Beyond Birthday ever met L or not, it was either now or five years later - when L was thirteen - that The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans was established with Roger Ruvie at the helm. Employed by Wammy not as warden per se, but as a trained psychiatrist there to gather parentless, genius kids from around the globe, and to reshape them - body, personality and mind; self-identity changed as standard - into clones of L.

In a rare moment of introspection, L saw clearly what manner of man he considered himself to be - both inspiring and imbibing the Wammy ethos, as the one most influenced by its engineer. Amongst them all, L had the most direct, one-to-one contact with Quillsh Wammy, who set up the system and let it evolve that way. The current crop of Wammy orphans gathered together to learn what their privileged, pressurized upbringing was urging them to become.

L laid it on the line in his famous 'monster' speech. To be L was to embrace the monstrous. Just like him.

There are many types of monsters in this world, monsters who will not show themselves and who cause trouble. Monsters who abduct children, monsters who devour dreams, monsters who suck blood, and monsters who always tell lies. Lying monsters are a real nuisance. They are much more cunning than other monsters. They pose as humans, even though they have no understanding of the human heart. They eat, even though they've never experienced hunger. They study even though they have no interest in academics. They seek friendship even though they do not know how to love. If I were to encounter such a monster, I would likely be eaten by it because, in truth, I am that monster.
~ L, Death Note Relight: L's Successors

Driven home in the hearts and minds of his back-up foster siblings, over whose lives L is able to exert absolute control. Wammy, L and Ruvie colluding with potentially sociopathic abandon, in what can only be deemed 'experimental' upbringings for those children subjected in generational waves to that institution. No soaring IQ necessary to foresee tragic results in such child-raising methodologies, centring around rehumanisation at its core.

From suicide to serial killing through to the attempted pathogenic extinction of the human race, via joining the Mafia and martyrdom, Wammy kids answered their psyche's refashioning en masse.

... just as the greatest of detectives makes the greatest of criminals, a specialist in investigation is also a specialist in murder. From this perspective, this was nothing but a detective war. Beyond Birthday challenged L. And L accepted the challenge.

To put it bluntly, the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases were nothing but an internal struggle, a civil war within hour home, sweet home - Wammy's House.
~ Another Note, p106

Even Naomi Misora knew what had happened to detectives falsely identifying themselves as L, and B was from Wammy's House, so he knew better than anyone - so this choice suggests the strength of his decision. He never once intended to survive.
~ Another Note, p160

... it would certainly seem odd if (K), who was threatening the President posing as L, asked him why the US hadn't moved to kill L.
~ L: Change the World (novel), p140

In the end, it didn't matter how many Wammy kids strove to murder L. He beat them there too. No matter which version of Death Note is consulted, L kills himself. His suicide is either openly stated, as per the live-action movies, with him writing his own name in a shinigami's notebook to beat Kira; or else it's so subtle as to be barely acknowledged, hidden beneath an overlong stare at Light Yagami, circa Kira's 'just as planned' exclamation of victory.

That L had worked it out is confirmed conversely by his statement of the precise opposite. He dully enunciates that Light is not Kira, and should in fact be the next L. The mystery was solved; the game was over. Though to admit so was to lose the fun. The clash of minds that had begun with a challenge to Light Yagami, which was answered in kind. Without it, L could foresee the futile vastness of his life without that battle enriching all.

Already depressed, L said nothing, just concurred with the sentiment of Light's innocence.

It prolonged their cerebral sparring a little while longer, but it would kill L soon, as he well knew. It seemed worth the cost in the banishment of tedium and onset of fascination alone. Just to see what Light would do next, and to end the life that kept L trapped - 'a reclusive sociopath' - in Wammy's world of responsibility, self-protection and unceasing investigations. Now doomed to tedium post-Kira, plus the unsolvable crime because he would never catch Kira. He'd already let him go.

L's manga suicide was his silence. A final act of justice (belatedly) for his Wammy House brethren was in taking Quillsh Wammy with him.

M - Wammy Kid Mello - Mihael Keehl

I'm always number two… no matter how hard I try…
Mello, Death Note manga, chapter 61 (Number Two)

It's not just the notebook I'm after. I wanna eliminate my competition. I will be the best. I don't care what it takes. I'll beat Near by any means necessary.
~ Mello, Death Note anime, episode 27

In Another Note, Mello calls Wammy's House 'home, sweet home' and describes it as the place 'which raised me until I was fifteen'. (p11)

Between real time scenes from the manga (Zero) and anime (Renewal), plus flashback scenes from Near's memory in Death Note Relight: L's Successor's (and the one-shot manga), we have a fair bit insight into Mello's experience and behaviour during that time at Wammy's House.

Just as you'd except from a teenager who left the institution to join the Mafia, young Mello is shown to be a bully at while he was still there.

We see him kicking a football into another child's face. On another occasion, he's clutching another boy's hair and pulling his head down, whilst walking up the corridor.

He even attacks Roger, bunching fistfuls of the warden's lapels and half dragging him across a desk, in response to news of L's death.

None of this is reprimanded. There's no adult response at all from the first incident. In the second, Roger merely captures Mello's hand and holds it whilst untangling his victim's hair. No words are spoken about it.

During his lunge at Roger, all the older man can summon up is a vague, world-weary 'Mello', uttered like a sigh. Imagine behaving like that with your own parent or guardian, would you have received the same lack of passion in their reaction?

But apparently this is the Wammy's way and Mello is perfectly at liberty to use violence, intimidation and fear as part of his life strategy.

It's also semi-rewarded, insofar as the goals of the institution are concerned. L names Mello as one of his chief candidates for succession due to 'a nasty look in his eyes' rather than anything related to grades. While Roger follows up both latter acts of aggression with encouragement and/or expectation that the fourteen year old before him take the deceased L's position in the world, at least jointly with Near (a twelve year old).

Can we say child soldiers?

The bullying isn't all. We also view Mello as a Wammy boy apparently isolated amidst his peers. During L's 'monster' speech, Mello stands alone, away from the children excitedly grouped before the laptop through which L chats with them.

When he hears about L's death, Mello's mind flashes back to a moment in receipt of grades (pictured right). All of the other kids are flocking to read Near's paper and see his mark. Mello is left lonely and anxious reading his own. He also apparently studied alone, as the following panel demonstrates.

Probably because he's the Wammy House bully and this is the best that his foster siblings can do in their own defence and/or revenge.

Not all of them though. Near was quite happy to work with Mello, when their warden Roger suggested it, regardless of the look of utter horror twisting Mello's expression at the same time. Later on, Matt appeared from the peer-group at the Wammy House to partner Mello in the final hunt for Kira. So two people at least could have been, or were, Mello's friends there. That said, even bullies have confederates and/or a gang.

Mello goes for the biggest and the best (or worst, depending on how we're phrasing it) gang after leaving Wammy's - the Mafia. Wherein his admittance was assured despite his lack of Sicilian ethnicity (which kept Al Capone out); his posh Winchester/English accent; his youth; and his effeminate attire. All this was over-ridden by his demonstrable intelligence and the fact that he brought, as an entrance present, the head of a Mafia Don whom even Kira couldn't touch.

How literally should we take that 'bringing the head' tidbit? Are we actually talking the decapitated article in a box? Or information thereon? An alternative translation states it in the plural - 'the heads of Mafia dons, who even Kira couldn't touch'. Maybe this is the source of those skulls, with which the teenage Mafia era Mello likes to surround himself.

Nor is this the worst that Mello feels justified in ordering during those days. He arranges for the abduction of Japanese police chief Takimura, followed by the same for Sayu Yagami, both as bargaining chips to be exchanged for the Death Note in Japanese police custody. Takimura is killed by Kira in a pre-emptive move; Sayu is left catatonic with trauma.

No end of Mafia associates are killed, or pressured into giving up half of their lives to acquire shinigami eyes. Drug routes established. The President of the United States of American coerced into suicide in order to prevent Mello using the Death Note to force his hand. Like making him launch nuclear bombs around the world, thus causing World War Three. The theft of a missile. All but three of the SPK massacred as a test of the Death Note, falling around Near, probably as a show of strength for his benefit.

Therein lies the rub. It's all about Near, ergo all about Wammy's House, not really about Kira or Rod Ross's prestige and profits at all. When the pair finally confront each other face to face, the background fades to exhibit instead the stained glass windows from the institution which raised them, and continues to cast its pall over their lives right now.

Near and Mello Wammy House stained glass Death Note

For Near and Mello, the battle to become L is all. Both are willing to pull out extremities in action, thought and deed to secure the prize Wammy and Roger left dangling for them. Ultimately, Mello will give up his life simply to make it onto the final score-sheet as joint first, once he realizes that the end is nigh and he'll be second in perpetuity.

N - Wammy Kid Near - Nate River

I've wanted to make him taste his own pathetic failure with all my heart.
~ Near, Death Note manga, chapter 90

Don't worry, Commander Rester, making assumptions is part of any investigation. If we're wrong, all it'll cost is an apology.
~ Near, Death Note anime, episode 30

Giovanni: If there are shinigami, I might die, right?
Near: Yes.
Giovanni: ...
Near: If you are scared, I'll ask Lester to go.
Lester: ...
~ Death Note anime

Of all the Wammys - with the possible exception of Beyond Birthday and his peer, the institution's first child suicidee A - Near seems to have taken the directive to become L's clone most keenly to heart.

He never met his idol, so any physical emulation of his idol was accidental, or an inadvertent consequence of both boys being raised within the same system. This didn't matter. The purposes for which reprogramming children to match the prototype was deemed necessary didn't involve B-like cosplay antics. Before Kira, no-one outside the Wammy Foundation met with L face-to-face, therefore would be hard pushed to identify him in a line-up. There was a brief interlude with Naomi Misora, immediately prior to the Kira case, but L never actually introduced himself. Perceptive Naomi guessed anyway, but she had the huge clue before her of Beyond Birthday making an indelible impression whilst copying L in costume, aspect and stance.

Near's task was much more insidiously wrought than just dressing up would have been. He sought to think like L. Submerge his own personality beneath a persona modelled upon that of his predecessor, as Near believed him to be based on this own observations and insights gleaned from L's electronic address to the fourth generation Wammy wards en masse. Near didn't even ask him any questions. They never had a conversation.

Near, thinking of what L would do Death Note

Scant enough hints around which to mould a credible likeness in continuation of the L Code. Especially when it has to be enough to to fool world leaders, and high-ranking contacts - networked to no known degree in the past - drawn randomly world-wide from government, military, legal/law enforcement, intelligence, secret services and other offices. Plus those within the private sector, researchers, consultants and experts in fields raising across the academe.

With whom did L share a confidence? Who did he know? Detest? Exchange now impenetrable dialogue in language encroached in private in-jokes? All of which Near must know in order to pull this off, or else his failure is outright and absolute. 'Just a loser' in all he worked hard and aspired to be - surviving his nearest rivals; out-ranking the rest - the only source of meaning for his life. He was told. And equally raised to fear, as catastrophic on a global scale, being exposed as a fake L, alongside the real L's death now leaked.

World War III would start. Only the actual Lawliet held its inception in abeyance. Crimes rates everywhere would soar, in figures projected to make the upward surge post-Kira seem like an insignificant bump beside the inevitable spike post-L.

Near must have spent an inordinate amount of brainpower and time pondering all L was or seemed to be; imagining his world-view and thought processes; researching by whatever means may come every snippet of information truly known about his idol; deducing what triggered every known pattern in behaviour, decision-making and everything else besides.

Then Near would have to expend yet more energy, resources and concentration in seemingly endless hours perfecting his carbon copy role-playing of the same.

Allowing another man's self in totality to imprint as a mask over Near's psyche. To suppress his own as worth much less than this prototype soul; as he alone won the right to exhibit L in de facto possession.

Yet some part of Near's genius must be twitching rebellion in a dark, cerebral recess. As early as twelve months prior - to the day - Near espouses rhetoric about how he (in union with Mello) surpassed L. However, it's spoken hesitantly, with many pauses for reflection in its delivery during Near's final confrontation with Kira in the Yellow Box warehouse. Nor does his conclusion appear to have lodged inside his own mind, beyond a theoretical concept to mess with Light's mind.

A year later, Near's faded from his own world; withdrawing into isolation as a hermit obsessively constructing a whole city out of tarot cards, paranoid about the fragility of his finely balanced reality. One draught of wind or an unwary boot upon Rester's foot might bring whole sections of the edifice down. Near's obvious depression surely a consequence of his attempt to obliterate his distinct and natural self, in lieu of fulfilling his Wammy given destiny to become L. Lawliet.

All of this after several years in pursuit of Kira - as the L defined arena in which his prototype Code's pretenders must battle to the death for the right to claim it as their own. Not to mention that it followed on top of a childhood raised in the Wammy House, with its petty rivalries, academic expectations, competitive rankings and presumed early exposure to graphic evidence from crime scenes, as part of the endemic brainwashing forging a strong desire to become L, should a back-up be required.

It takes a retracing of his steps back to the start for Near to even grasp the issue. The return sparked by circumstance - a prospective new Kira appearing on the scene - coupled with the urgent messages forged in his own subconscious - Near's arranging for all previously present to reassemble in the Yellow Box warehouse on the first anniversary of Light Yagami's denunciation and death. Another confrontation in the offing, this time with a crime syndicate dealing in drugs.

That hardly seems worth the while of a Wammy kid, except that it puts altered realities in Near's frame of introspection.

Death Note's Hal Lidner tells Near he doesn't have to be L

In the midst of that mix, experienced after twelve months spent dissembling, something had to give. It seems to begin with the sequence shown in the panel above, whereby Hal Lidner affirms to Near that he doesn't need to become L. 'L is L, you are you,' Lidner tells him and Near is momentarily at a loss for words to say in response. He mentally assesses her wisdom in taking such a perspective and is forced to conclude that she is quite correct.

I wonder if it's deliberate or coincidental that Hal's further comment - 'we can handle it our own way' - apes Mello's upon leaving the Wammy House - 'I will find my own way'. Near would have heard such echoes of sentiment anyway.

Later in the conversation, Hal says quite pointed that Near is trying to think as L would think. Near, who had just accidentally knocked over a section of his tarot card city, asks the pair to leave. He telling adds that they shouldn't topple his towers on the way out. In tarot, The Tower is a card of necessary destruction in the major arcana. It wipes away the old that the new might flourish.

What we then see from Near is a breakthrough moment of self-awareness, in the most literal sense.

At first Near appears dwarfed by the spectre of L. We're still in the same location, but his own world torn down to facilitate a new configuration of tarot card towers.

Each one spells out the single initial L. Near's own figure is almost completely lost amongst them.

Meanwhile Rester speaks from a monitor above, peering down like God Himself, or an Orwellian 1984 style Big Brother. The message he has to convey could have been uttered by Wammy. It certainly encapsulates the Zeitgeist of Wammy's House - the methodology can be as awry as it needs to be in order to solve the puzzle. The method justifies the means.

Near meekly replies that he'll embody L, doing only what it would be natural for L to do.

He goes on to broadcast globally in L's name, with a speech that includes elements from the only one he ever personally heard L declaim. Near addresses the 'new Kira' situation with utter disdain, stating that he won't be getting involved, because it doesn't interest him. Just as L told the Wammy kids in Near's own hearing that he chose his cases solely if they piqued his interest.

Death Note manga Rest talks to Near over L towers in tarot cards

However, Near's concluding statement in the L speech was a denunciation that was never heard from Lawliet's mouth, nor anything akin to it. But it mirrored entirely that famously enunciated by Near to the first Kira - 'You abominable murderer'. It was Near's personality emerging in full strength t0 wipe away the vestiges of Lawliet.

This time, when Rester repeats Hal's assertion that Near is L, Near does not hesitate to concur. We get the wide view and see that the Towers of L aren't so much zones of intimidation. It's Near demonstrating full well his altered world view. He doesn't have to be Lawliet, because he's Near.

Near as L in the Death Note one shot manga

All of this is a far cry from the Death Note anime, which simply skips over the issues Near endures post-Kira. Or the Death Note movies, which only features Near in the third film (L: Change the World). There he's a very young child when L dies, delivered to Wammy's House as L's final act of salvation before the detective dies. It will be a long time, if ever, that Near will have to take on L's mantle in that alternative timeline.

Or you can opt for the timeline altered once more in the novelization of L: Change the World, which omits the Thai boy entirely, to reinstate a more commonly rendered Near in cameo as the end. Only this one doesn't have self-identity issues, nor any compulsion not to tell the US President that L is dead, and he is now L. This telling establishes L as a team effort rather than investigated in one figurehead, albeit one with the same initial as the overall group. Here Near comes across as Puckish, in fact almost angelic.

"Mr. President, this is L... The L organization has captured L-prime and recovered the Death Note. We will eliminate L-prime with the notebook. You can confirm the body in one hour at the Kira Headquarters in Japan."
~ Near, L: Change the World, p186

"By the way, Mr President, would you mind if also issued you a threat?... You will ensure a future where children can go on smiling. Will you promise us that? If you should break that promise, we will not hesitate to use the Death Note."
~ Near, L: Change the World, p187

Well, angelic only if we recall that Lucifer was also an archangel; that Gabriel's horn topples city walls; that Samael was an Angel of Death and Destruction; and that Michael wielded a fiery sword to wage war on God's behalf. Near stating that he'll murder a man, then destroy the Death Note in one breath, followed by a threat to kill the President via it, sometime in perpetuity, seems nothing next to all that. Even if he did get caught in a lie from his own tongue within seconds of stating it.

Then you get the Near characterisation - the latest incarnation at the time of writing - wherein the Puckishness and violence have come utterly to the fore. Though in this case it's stated that Near has dual personalities and it's the Mello persona sharing their body who has the capacity to kill.

None of which strays too far from previous canon, nor the attributes with which Near was originally created by Tsugumi Ohba.

Even in the manga, Near has no problem causing the death of others - or else placing them in potentially fatal peril - if it assists him in solving the puzzle. Thus Kira is led to Mello's Mafia family hide-out; dollar notes worth $10m are dropped on a square in Manhattan causing a stampede; Gevanni is despatched to recover a Death Note's pages, despite instant death if Near's deduction is wrong; and Near psychologically shifts Ryuk into a position whereby the shinigami is keen to kill Light Yagami ASAP.

If Matsuda's theory is correct, then Near went much further than what was less than subtly implied in the pages of the manga. The new L was a serial killer, whose victims could well have included Mello, and whose continued possession of the Death Note AND the L Code makes him a dangerously all-powerful influence upon the modern world's movers and shakers.

Just as he learned at Wammy's House.

O - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

We don't currently have a canon assignation for the Wammy group letter O, just the usual known candidates: Matt and Linda, plus Wammy House created and raised L clone Ryūzaki (from Death Note: Light Up the New World).

P - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

Wammy letter P is known in canon only through being shown on L's call/mailing list in the movie L: Change the World.

These are the individuals who make up the Wammy Members' Group to whom L breaks the bad news via email that Watari is dead. The Wammy House crest, their knowledge of Mr Wammy (and the fact that they'd care about his death) and that they are all designated with single initials renders it certain that they are active members of the Wammy Foundation.

Though we know nothing about P, it can be guessed through the precedent of the rest that he/she is probably a detective, scientist or excelling in the arts. Aizawa and Matsuda reported in the manga that most Wammy alumni fit into those three categories, and the known alumni have followed suit so far.

Of course, there's nothing stopping these letters also possibilities for being assigned to the like of Matt and Linda, though the timeline makes it unlikely to be Ryūzaki's letter.

L Change the World Wammy letters on L's screen

Q - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; Unless Strong Probability: Q - Wammy Kid Matt - True Name Mail Jeevas

The hacking defence system, developed by Wammy's House's Q and given to him by his personal friend Watari, had identified the perpetrator who had cleverly routed through several servers all over the world on its way into the lab's system. "Accessed from inside the lab..."
~ L: Change the World, p31

After sending one email, he deleted all his files using the emergency system created by Q.
~ L: Change the World, p32

Wammy Letter Q mentioned in L Change the World

Q's letter is seen in the call list of Wammy's kids glimpsed briefly upon L's screen during the movie L: Change the World (see P).

Unlike most on the list, this individual is also mentioned in the novelization of the same, where it's revealed that (s)he is some kind of computing genius.

For this reason, Wammy's Q is most likely the letter assigned to Matt, aka Mail Jeevas, named in canon as the third ranked Wammy kid of the fourth generation (i.e. next in line for L's succession after Near and Mello).

It is a truth universally known and recognized throughout the Death Note fandom that Matt is good with computers. On his Death Note Wiki page, where cited facts tend to be cross-referenced back to source, we're told '(Matt's) specialty is technology, and he is tasked by Mello to monitor the activities of Misa, Mogi and Aizawa.' The information is devoid of citation.

Matt's geek prowess in computing and 1337 cyber skills are implied in canon. Nevertheless it may surprise most to realise nothing in manga, manual, anime or elsewhere explicitly states anything of the sort. Unless we're missing some reference somewhere, Matt's technological genius is pure fanon.

What we are told - or shown - by Death Note's creators Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata is that Matt likes video games. He's rarely seen without a PSP or Nintendo DS in hand, and/or other consoles trailing in the background, unless he's driving a car, wielding a gun, watching Kira over the road through a camera or chatting to Mello over his phone about Misa, boredom and the unchanging nature of brick walls.

However, there are quite often computers in the vicinity too. Multiples thereof. Whole reasons in fact why fanon latches onto this notion that Matt is Wammy's technological genius, not least because of the sheer amount that surrounds him at every (woefully scant) view we get.

It may have seemed that all (Matt) did was play video games, but his existence itself was important (laughs).
~ Tsugumi Ohba, How to Read: Death Note 13 p 69

His character concept was a young man who loves video games and doesn't really care much about the world.
~ Takeshi Obata, How to Read: Death Note 13, p136

Death Note Matt inspecting computer as a child

Monitoring multiple screens, (Matt's) cockiness leads him to make a few mistakes.
~ How to Read: Death Note 13, p27

Whether the case is made for Matt being Q or not, he's likely to be the figure behind a Wammy letter. This correlation between implied official/widely accepted fanon facets of Matt with those known about Q is as close as canon has come to assigning him a letter thus far.

A major insight into the mores of Watari is afforded us through the added information about Q . The Wammy House computing adept has created at least two highly useful programs. They belong to him/her - unless the geek's own Hacker Ethic has seen them released as freeware online - and could be patented for personal profit outside the Wammy Foundation orbit.

Yet they have not. Moreover, Watari feels warranted passing those scripts onto a personal friend as a gift.

There could be quite innocent and laudable reasons for this, or it could be that all those high flying skills possessed by Wammy letters are never quite their own to utilize. Their gained wealth and honours fly straight into the Wammy coffers to be used as a common treasury for all within the House and its Foundation. Fuel for fan-fiction writers anyway.

As for Matt himself, he's yet another letter coming from the Wammy House into that deathly battle against Kira. After assisting Mello in some surveillance work in the USA, Matt flew with him to Japan. There he further helped out, this time firing a CS gun from the driver's seat of a red muscle car, creating a smokescreen to facilitate the abduction of Kiyomi Takada.

Matt was killed shortly afterwards, when cornered by Kira supporters and shot dead. He was nineteen years old.

R - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

Wammy Letters R, I, E, K, V, T on L's screen in L Change the World

R is amongst those Wammy Letters known only from a glimpse of L's computer monitor in the movie L: Change the World.

Those listed there were on the Wammy Members' Group. Each identified by just a single initial, alongside the Wammy House crest. Most were e-mailed by L that he might alert them to the death of Watari.

Only there's something different about B, R, V and T to all those mentioned from this source previously. They weren't in receipt of the missive, and their letters were blocked out grey with a line voiding the box to select them.

The implication is that these are Wammy kids who are no longer alive. A kind of confirmation coming in the inclusion of B there, assuming that this movie exists in the same timeline as the novel Another Note: The Los Angeles Murder Cases.

Beyond Birthday would indeed be dead this close to the end of Kira's reign. He was killed on January 21st 2004 of a heart-attack probably during one of Kira's purges of international prison populations.

S - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

To date, there is no known Wammy Letter S in canon, which isn't to say that one doesn't exist. The usual candidates apply here too.

T - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

T is known only from his/her entry on L's call/mailing list in L: Change the World live-action movie. However the initial is faded out to grey, implying that T is dead (see R.)

U - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

There is no Wammy U letter assigned in any canon source to date.

V - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

Another included on L's Wammy Members' Group mailing list in the film L: Change the World. V's initial is greyed out, it's owner presumed dead.

W - Wammy Letter for Watari - Quillsh Wammy Himself

It's difficult to know the motive for Quillsh Wammy in creating The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans in Winchester. Mostly in manga, anime, novels and live-action adaptations of Death Note, the altruism is played up in the persona of L's handler (as Tsugumi Ohba described him).

But the Death Note author also stated that Wammy cultivated those kids as detectives 'for fun'.

Even if Wammy's orphanage and the lettered foundation to follow were established for the best of reasons, gathering genius children from across the globe - for the most part relocating them to another country - then stripping them of their names and other indicators of self-identity robs all concerned of their birthright. Held up to the light of the UN's Rights of the Child (international law) and Wammy's House is shown sadly lacking for all its wonderful provision.

That document was certainly ratified in England, where Winchester is situated. Some government officials, and those in the local authority too, must be turning quite a large blind eye, or else Hampshire Social Services would be traipsing all over the premises. Closing it down too because, for all its bright and glorious intentions, Wammy's House is an illegal concern by universally declared human rights laws.

Obviously those politicians in Winchester, Westminster and in the offices of other world leaders too consider it expedient to let the institution continue existing - taking the Stalinesque position that the ends justify the means - but that's by the by. The question here is what Wammy himself thinks he's up to, and how he's squared it with his conscience (if, of course, he knows his operation to be criminally negligent and cares about that).

The hints from the manga are inconclusive to bordering upon the disturbing.

We never hear Wammy's own thoughts on what he's established, just catch an undercurrent of Aizawa's unease, as he reports back to Light what he find in Winchester.

Plus How to Read: Death Note 13's note on Roger Ruvie, that he was employed to collect children internationally and bring them to Wammy's House to train as L's successor. Watari employed him to do that. He pays his wages too.

The anime continues on along the same theme, adding nothing directly from Wammy's mouth, but providing us with snap-shot flashes of the orphanage with sobbing infants and bullying in the corridors.

Not to mention the strange spectacle of Roger telling Mello and Near (aged 14 and 12 respectively) that they now have to take L's place in the struggle against a mass murderer of global proportions.

Aizawa and Matsuda report back to Light about Wammy's House

And incidentally, their guardian is dead, along with their idol. The one they were raised to emulate to the point of becoming in a very literal sense.

Its director's cut movie length double bill - Relight - adds the darkest element yet in L's 'monster' speech, as recalled by Near. Whatever else anyone thought the Wammy Foundation to be, L was in it for the lulz. Apparently. Then Mello, as narrator in Another Note, takes the matter of Watari's motives and the institution's reality plummeting to whole new levels of criminal insanity and horror. Herein, Quillsh Wammy emerges as a mad inventor, dehumanising children to the level of machines, psychologically repackaging them as carbon copies of his prototype child. Then placing them on a conveyor belt onto martyrdom or becoming L mark 2.

Thereafter, things lighten up considerably. Wammy suddenly transforms into a kindly benefactor, personally concerned in realising the potential in each of his wards, coupled with a genuine zest to save the world - or change it, as the movies and their novelisation strangely phrases it.

Death Note L Change the World L and Watari

Though this overtly compassionate soul doesn't stop L, to all extents and purposes, committing suicide by writing his own name in a Death Note; F dying with a smile on his face in Thailand; and K building a biological contagion to wipe out all humanity. All directly or by proxy sent into the situations that killed or unhinged them by Wammy himself or one of his assistants at Wammy HQ.

Not one of them elicited a word of censure or damage limitation from their guardian either; nothing of consolation nor urging them to put their own safety and well-being above the perils of the case.

F's death 'couldn't be helped' (L: Change the World movie). K was never approached with the key information that she'd been assigned and kept not only her letter, but Watari's own esteem (L: Change the World novel, p 176-177). While sight of L's name in that Death Note almost prompted words in reaction from the man who'd raised him and continued to be a constant presence catering to his every whim. But Wammy stopped himself speaking 'and closed his eyes to contain his feelings' (ibid, p 16).

For that matter, though L was on the trail of Beyond Birthday enough to contact and advise Naomi Misora, Watari did not take the first available flight to Los Angeles in an attempt to calm his wayward, suicidal ward. With all L's considerable sway upon the movers and shakers of most nations - the USA topmost on the list - no apparent intervention was made on behalf of the badly burned Beyond Birthday. He was left to languish in a LA prison, until Kira killed him. (Nor then had the Wammy Foundation ensured his anonymity regarding face and name, as Near did for Mello. B lost and thus was excluded from the fold.

It's unlikely to be an appalled father figure washing his hands of the 'back-up'. Watari covers up or fixes the carnage from no end of criminal acts, up to and including murder, as enacted by his other wards. Like Near/Mello, in the Death Note TV drama (2015), phoning to announce that he's just killed Yudagawa. Wammy's reaction being to retrieve Near from the scene, arrange the clear up and cake. Near's favourite at that.

Death Note television drama. Watari brings cake for Near and L

Finally back to the manga's original story and timeline, wherein Watari, firmly entrenched in the perils at the front line of the Kira case, never once thought to phone home to tell Roger, "You know, this might be too dangerous for the kids. Plus they've got the onset of puberty looming on the horizon, which is going to play havoc with their thought processes and deductive reasoning. If anything happens to me and L, be sure and keep Near and Mello safe indoors, eh?"

Instead, he doesn't even deign to indicate a name for L's successor - news which every child there spends every second of their existence in conditioned striving to become - partially because he knew L had already named Light (more important information for the cohort in Winchester, perchance?), and also because Wammy's own death was so sudden.

Yet surely this ultra-efficient man had made provision? Given his wealth, responsibilities and current condition in risk of sudden death by Kira, it seems the most obvious rolling course of action for the Wammy House founder and father figure.

The only insight we get to the mindset of Quillsh Wammy, in regard to the ridiculously short life expectancy of those in his care, comes from his musing in response to the fait accompli of L's suicide - deferred by twenty-three days as per the extremities of the Death Note's limitations. In the knowledge that L would have contemplated every move available to himself before acting thus to checkmate Kira, a conclusion is reached - 'this was the choice L had made. How could Watari object?' (L: Change the World (novel), p17)

How could he not? When each tragic loss to the Wammy House cohort, met without comment, reaffirms the normality/inevitability/expectancy of such choices made, his objections should be paramount. Especially as L - with his own demise fixed and irreversible - instantly acted as though a burden had been lifted from his shoulders. A burden that the novel later articulates as,

... L did not and could not forget the face of thousands of victims... The chronically rounded shoulders, the inevitable dark circles, the eccentric tastes - L suppressed the pain of being a champion of justice, but the evidence of the pain was molded into his very body. L tore out his hair and howled at the sky, unleashing the agony inside his soul.
~ L: Change the World (novel), p151

It's a life that Watari chose for his favourite ward to live, when the boy was way too young to know what it could possibly entail. A whole Foundation was constructed around facilitating and perpetuating it, complete with staff-members tasked with replicating L upon the raw matter and vulnerable psyche of a steady procession of living children. The majority of whom L, at just twenty-seven years old, has already out-lived.

His guardian, mentor and carer Wammy hasn't left his side in over twenty-one years. Two decades of reaffirming to L that what he's doing is necessary and the only thing he could be doing. Acting like this is normal and right. Intimating that L perhaps owes him something for this relentless support and companionship, with so much time, wealth and world peace tied up in the detective going on as before; his burden bending his shoulders and adding dark pits around his eyes.

L looked up suddenly... with the worried expression of a child. "Watari, have I fulfilled you expectations?" Watari answered with his usual serene smile and uttered one simple unerring word: "Fully."
- L: Change the World, p188

X - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; Y - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; and Z - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

... I heard from L: the story of the detective war between the three greatest detectives, all solving that infamous bio-terror case, with guest appearances from the last of the alphabet, the first X to the first Z from Wammy's House.
~ Another Note, p170

X, Y and Z were all Wammy House children who assisted L, as he battled for supremacy over the original Eraldo Coil and Danuve.

Emerging victorious, L wasn't content to merely take the top spot in investigative global ranking. He took their detective codes too, hereafter able to call himself by their names; as evidenced in the battle against Kira, when he announced to the task force that he was in fact all three detectives now. Aiber was able to pose as Coil, in L's stead, when the Yotsuba Group hired the supposed 2nd placed detective in order to investigate the first.

Yet none of this explains what happened to X, Y and Z afterwards. Mello never tells us in Another Note; nothing more beyond that snippet quoted above. Nor do they turn up in the B case, or the fight against Kira which follows on.

Then again, that quotation can be read another way and perhaps they weren't assisting L at all, despite their Wammy House credentials. It seems unlikely that one or two WERE the original Coil and Danuve, challenging L for the chance not to be his backup nor copy. That would place them centre-stage, not cameos.

But nothing there says that they weren't the instigators of the bio-terror case under investigation. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that something like that was spawned from the dark corridors of the Wammy House to be unleashed upon the world.

In which case, all precedent says they're now tucked up safely inside their laboratories within the confines of the orphanage, welcomed home with an attitude akin to respect and a jolly well done. But for the fact that none of the trio factor upon L's calling screen in L: Change the World - plus Mello refers to all as 'the first' of their names in Another Note.

The implication being that these three Wammy kids no longer exist, even within the institution out of public view. Moreover, those who supplanted them in their allocated initials potentially were lost too. That is if we're taking all Death Note stories as one amalgamated canon, even where their time-lines clash.

The Wammy Alphabet of Death Note Letters

Entire list of Wammy letters colour coded according to status

Those names greyed out are already dead by the end of all iterations of the Death Note canon. Those inverted represent Letters whose allocation is currently unknown. Leaving just D, E, G, H, K, N and P still alive.

However, this is just one run through from all known canon data. We have indubitably got a mix-match of generations here. A, B, X, Y and Z are known to have been amongst the first. M and N were definitely fourth. L, H and W held their letters throughout. K's letter survived at least two generations in its allocation. It has to be assumed that for a letter to be reassigned (four times for four generation of alphabets filled and started again), the previous recipient is dead.

How many Wammy kids must have died then, for the latest as semblance of Wammy Letters to exist? A vague straw-poll based on the configuration seen above suggests that, of the overall proportion, 73.1% are dead.

It may be presumed that Ryūzaki, Linda and those nameless Wammy kids in the background of flashback scenes all bore an initial apiece. A single letter displayed upon a white screen when they called - stark black in an Old English font, in lieu of a real name.

And where were J, X, Y and Z on L's calling screen in L: Change the World? A possible 4-7 more dead or disappeared. J to a burning ship in the middle of a pixel ocean; the latter three implied dead by Mello's comment 'the first to hold those letters'.

And of the remainder, one planned to destroy all humanity but was brought back into the Wammy fold. Not before K had already killed thousands, obliterating whole villages along the way. While, if Matsuda's theory was right, another is a secret serial killer in possession of a Death Note's great power, in addition to holding the L title that every one of Wammy's children coveted.

As L's successor, N beat them all to what amounts - in practicality, wealth and influence alike - to world domination.

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Death Note Wammy Letters' Alphabet Pt 2 - L-Z

L - Wammy Kid The Last One, or The Lost One - True Name L Lawliet*

M - Wammy Kid Mello - Mihael Keehl

N - Wammy Kid Near - Nate River

O - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

P - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

Q - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; Unless Strong Probability: Q - Wammy Kid Matt - True Name Mail Jeevas

R - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

S - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

T - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

U - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

V - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

W - Wammy Letter for Watari - Quillsh Wammy Himself

X - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; Y - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown; and Z - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

The Wammy Alphabet of Death Note Letters

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