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Whatever Happened to Those Voice Actor Interviews We Were Promised?

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.

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!

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.

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

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!

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

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.

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

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

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

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:

Le Bateleur Matsuda: Sleight of Hand Illusionist in Death Note

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?)

Posted as Part of Read More

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 Wammy Letters' Alphabet Pt 2 - L-Z

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

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

... 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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

O - Wammy Letter Not Assigned in Canon

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.

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

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 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

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

R - Wammy Kid Pseudonym and True Name Unknown

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

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

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.

... 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

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

The Wammy Alphabet of Death Note Letters

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Mr Wammy as played by Shunji Fujimura in live-action Death Note films

Watari - aka Quillsh Wammy - is L's 'handler' in Death Note.  He is also the founder of the Wammy chain of orphanages, including The Wammy House for Gifted and Talented Orphans. Also known as Wammy's House, this was the institution which raised L, Near, Mello, Matt, Beyond Birthday, Linda et al.  It is located in Winchester, England. We first meet Mr Wammy under his guise as Watari, an anonymous figure clad from head to toe in a black leather trench coat complete with Fedora hat.  He infiltrated a meeting of Interpol, wherein representatives of the world's law enforcement agencies had convened to discuss the Kira case. Watari was carrying a laptop from which emerged the electronic voice of L to address them all. Later, as the Kira Task Force are invited to meet L and vetted by the same, Watari appears again, this time in the suited guise of his actual self - Quillsh Wammy, benefactor of the Wammy Group chain of orphanages and the man who trained L to become a detective. He now facilitates his ward in his work solving crimes, acting as a handler, spokesperson or kind of butler.  Noted mostly for organizing logistics of manoeuvres ordered by L; transferring the funds to pay for the same; and bringing copious amounts of cakes, sweets and other sugary things for L to consume whilst puzzling over his cases. Elsewhere, it transpires that Wammy is a crack marksmanship, as well as highly skilled in espionage.  He made his considerable wealth as an inventor. Killed in the line of duty, during the fight against Kira, Quillsh Wammy is remembered as a 'great man' by members of the Task Force, lauded as the same by newspaper obituaries around the world. Yet there is a darkness that hides beneath the surface of this seemingly amenable, altruistic man.  As author Tsugumi Ohba put it, 'He's a guy who cultivates detectives for fun. That's kind of terrible, isn't it?' (How to Read: Death Note 13, pg 27).  Well, in anybody's language, that's child trafficking and rendition, at the very least.

Watari's Vital Statistics

Hair Colour: Grey Height: 5' 7" (170.18cm)

Eye Colour: Blue Weight: 8 stone (112lbs; 50.8kg)

Occupation: Inventor; L spokesperson; benefactor of orphanages; collector of orphans; educator Relationship Status: Unknown, presumed single

Key Dates for Watari

The Auguries of Quillsh Wammy

Born on May 1st, astrologically Quillsh Wammy is Taurus

Wammy's birth date of May 1st 1933 (manga) also factors into Shēngxiào. He is a Rooster in the Chinese Zodiac

However, the time-slip of the anime would have him born in 1936 instead. That means that now in the Chinese Zodiac Watari is a Rat

How to Read: Death Note 13 reveals that Quillsh Wammy's blood group is B

A Versatile Fixer - The Personality of Quillsh Wammy

Complete List of Wammy Kids in Death Note Canon

A - Name Unknown Committed suicide at Wammy's House (Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Case) E - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list (L: Change the World) J - Name Unknown Appears only as character in a DS Death Note game. (L: The Prologue to Death Note) M - Mello (Mihael Keehl) Joined the Mafia in a bid to catch Kira and succeed to the L title before Near did. When unsuccessful, he gave his life to help Near defeat Kira. (Death Note manga/anime) Letter Unknown - Matt (Mail Jeevas) Third ranked Wammy kid at the time of L's death. Matt ultimately stepped into the Kira case at the behest of Mello. He was gunned down and killed by Kira supporters. (Death Note manga/anime) R - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that R is dead. (B's is the same hue.) (L: Change the World) V - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that V is dead. (B's is the same hue.) (L: Change the World) Z - Name Unknown Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case. (Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)

B - Beyond Birthday Tried to lure L out with a series of grisly murders in Los Angeles; impersonated L for Naomi Misora, before setting fire to himself in a failed suicide attempt; imprisoned in LA, where he suffered a heart-attack and died (presumably killed by Kira) on January 21st 2004. (Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases) F - Name unknown Rescued Near from a remote village, where all were dying in a deliberate epidemic, and sent him to L. F was killed in Thailand when a US helicopter shoots down his trunk. However F was already infected with a deadly virus. (L: Change the World) K - Kimiko Kujo Scientist - unleashed a deadly virus in her own bid to 'change the world' by wiping out its human population. (L: Change the World) N - Near (Nate River) Mathematical genius, who de facto succeeded L at age twelve, when the latter was killed by Rem/Kira.  With clues provided by Mello's martyrdom to the cause, Near was able to finally defeat Kira in the name of himself, Mello and L, ergo Wammy's House. (Death Note manga/anime) P - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list (L: Change the World) Letter Unknown - Ryūzaki Cloned from L's DNA and raised at Wammy's House as L's true successor. (Death Note 2016) X - Name Unknown Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case. (Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases) Random Wammy kids as seen in Death Note: Relight (above) and Death Note manga (left)

D - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list (L: Change the World) G - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list (L: Change the World) L - L Lawliet Apparently the prototype 'special talent' Wammy orphan, for whom all the rest were raised as back-ups or successors. At eight years old, L could beat up the other orphans in Wammy's House. He also discovered the delight in solving true crime cases, and thwarted the Winchester Mad Bomber. Beyond that he made his name as not only the world's greatest detective but, under pseudonyms, the 2nd and 3rd ranked too.  He was killed during the Kira case. Letter Unknown - Linda Became a successful artist. During the Kira case, she drew images of Near and Mello for the Japanese Task Force. (Death Note manga/anime) Q - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list (L: Change the World) T - Name Unknown Shown on L's call/mailing list. However the name is faded out to grey, implying that T is dead. (B's is the same hue.) (L: Change the World) Y - Name Unknown Assisted L in the Detective Wars bio-terror case. (Another Note: The Los Angeles BB Murder Cases)

The Faces of Watari

Quillsh Wammy Death Note manga Quillsh Wammy Death Note anime

Quillsh Wammy Death Note Nintendo game Quillsh Wammy Death Note: Relight Posted as Part of

Quillsh Wammy Death Note live-action movies Quillsh Wammy Death Note TV drama

So - Run it by Us Again - How Did Death Note End?!  I Think We Missed a Bit...

Death Note Doesn't End at the Yellow Box

Matsuda's Theory is Not a Coda; It's the Final Piece in the Jigsaw Puzzle

No Black and White in Light and Near - Matsuda Muses Upon Morality Post-Kira

There's another point unsettling Matsuda, prickling at his conscience - just because they all decided (at the time and since) to stand against Light Yagami, why should that make them automatically pro-Near? It's like there's only two sides about which to align oneself, and if one is demonstrably evil/insane/wrong, then the other by default is good/reasonable/right. The entire Task Force appears to view Near as L's true successor, completely, absolutely and with all due trust.  Their resources are placed at the Wammy boy's command. Yet to Matsuda's mind, Near never earned that.  Moreover, there are a string of worrisome - potentially catastrophic - concerns which were never fully answered.  They could well be swapping one egotistical and manipulative serial killer for another; making the same mistakes all over again.  Unfortunately no-one appears ready nor willing to hear him out.

Does Tota Matsuda's Theory Reveal Death Note Truths as its Grand Manga Finale?

Near Played Mello like a Puppet

Was Near conveying misinformation to Mello via Hal Lidner, psychologically edging his foster brother into acting just as Near willed.  A pawn in his game after all. Alternatively, as alumni of the same orphanage, Near might be expected to know Mello's real name, while also having a good mental picture of his face.  Mello's move certainly benefited Near, while obviously having dire consequences for Mello himself.   Did Near write the name of his Wammy rival into the notebook captured from Mikami? Thus eliminating a challenger to his own glory right on the eve of Near's win over Kira, whilst also taking out the dangerous Takada, setting up Mikami, providing evidence that Light is Kira to throw into play AND testing possible conjecture of Near's own in the validity of his real/fake Death Note.  Five strikes in one foul swoop, if this one was true and Near really did manipulate Mello into his own martyrdom.  (With an option on Matt too. Near had the means and that eliminated the next in line after Mello, once the second's heart was broken and finally, decisively he could be burned out of this deadly game of L's Succession.) If Mello's abduction of Takada was orchestrated by Near via a Death Note, it would explain some of the more bizarre aspects and imagery surrounding Mello at this time. For a start, the moment of possession would have come when Hal and Mello spoke on the line. She passes on Near's specific message, "Soon he'll bring things to a conclusion directly."  And Mello answers, "He's going to make him write our names in the notebook directly."  Just as Hal said, he knew. The blond Wammy teen sits on a darkened throne, forearms draped across his thighs and hands dangling; head bowed listlessly beneath a cascading curtain of hair.  Like a puppet awaiting his strings to be pulled; on a floor decked as a chessboard; surrounded by mannequins, aping the debris from a battle-field; and a white dust-cover behind him draped as an awaiting winding sheet or shroud. If Mello's actions from now on are controlled by his puppet-master Near, then it accounts for his uncharacteristic lapse in judgement in the back of the truck.  When Takada - known to use the Death Note and likely to have a snippet of it upon her person - is allowed to retain her underwear, and is even afforded a blanket for the sake of decency. All the privacy she needed to extract the weapon to kill Mihael Keehl on Near's behalf.  Just as planned.

Near Controlled and Killed Mikami Near was in possession of Teru Mikami's name, facial image and a Death Note prior to the meeting in the Yellow Box warehouse.  Did he write Mikami's name in there, directing the lawyer's actions in the days leading up to, during and after their denunciation of Kira? Mikami died mysteriously in prison ten days after the Yellow Box confrontation.  His passing went without remark by those who should have been asking questions concerning its convenience in tying up loose ends for all on the Kira case.  Did Near kill Mikami by writing the fatality into a Death Note? I'm not going to tackle this key aspect of Matsuda's theory about Near in the Death Note ending, because quite frankly Casuistor and Teruzuki have already done and completely owned that.  Convinced me anyway. Read their take on the matter over on Tumblr:                  Matsuda’s Theory about Near’s Victory

All ur Death Notes Belong 2 Near Why was Near sole allowed custody of all shinigami notebooks remaining in the human world? Near stated that Ryuk confirmed two false rules, with one of them being the burning of a Death God's notebook will causally kill its destroyer.  Near then burned all of his accumulated Death Notes, in order to keep them from being used by any future Kira pretender. However, no-one else was present for that conversation with the shinigami. Though they all heard it heralded in discussion within the Yellow Box Warehouse.  Moreover, nor did anyone witness Near's Bonfire of the Death Notes.  Therefore how can anyone be so sure that he hasn't got them still? If Near possesses just one Death God's notebook, then he's currently an extremely powerful force to be reckoned with upon the world stage.  He's had ample opportunity to assess its possibilities and to know its limitations.  He's had Light, Misa, Mikami, Mello and a host of others test it out for him. He has already used it to control the actions of others, supposing that Matsuda's theory is correct; and has killed several times for personal gain and achievement by cheating. Nobody knows that he has it.  He's not orchestrating a crusade as Light attempted to do.  He's just got access to a remarkable level of personal power and influence, the eternal company of a Death God to discuss what's previously not been met in his philosophy.  Near's under the radar because nobody thought to check that he really did incinerate those books.  A strange oversight to be made by police officers entrenched for years on this case.

Why is Near Staging a Reunion on the First Anniversary of Kira's Death? Now, on the anniversary of that traumatic confrontation with Kira, why is Near: chasing a drugs cartel into the very same location; preparing to confront them actually in the Yellow Box Warehouse; and calling upon those there last time to join him in situ once again? Ide initially sees nothing strange in this.  Aizawa agreed to send the staff.  No immediate word from Mogi, though the assumption is compliance. Only Matsuda wonders what game the Wammy boy is playing now.  Though in this, at least, he does appear to persuade Ide that something strange is going on - a connection to what went before; what was previously arranged.

Posted as Part of Read More

The Redeemer Series was a nearly 5-book long, epic tome of a Death Note fanfic series written by Maru-Light and Andariel (under the combined avatar cocoacoveredgods). It focused on the premise that the Yellowbox Warehouse was essentially the pinnacle of L's 6-year long offensive against Kira, who believed L to be dead, when he really wasn’t. Over the course of thousands of pages, the drama of Death Note’s protagonists (including Mello and Matt, Misa, Near, etc.) post-canon rolled out in a sordid tale replete with angst, erotica, violence, and horror. It spanned at least five years of solid writing and regular posting, from the first book Redeemer, through its sequels: To Be or Not to Be, Our Time is Running Out, Sins of the Father and I’m Not Okay. It gained a loyal audience on Adult Fanfiction.net, and an equally loyal audience on DeviantArt where its authors also cosplayed and promoted it. It seemed to be endeavoring to continue through two more solidly planned novels: End of Days and Chasing the Dragon. But then suddenly, there was a twist. And now all the books of the series, save the first (Redeemer)—are gone. So what happened? As one of its two authors, please allow me to tell you the story of Redeemer’s creation and subsequent disappearance. Image: Redeemer cover art by Arrowchild

Success of the Redeemer Series - Death Note Fan-Fic by Maru-Light & Andariel

Writing on The Redeemer Series Begins to Break Down

The Restrictions of Redeemer As co-authors, our method of writing was to often volley paragraphs back and forth at each other to propel the story along, and then before upload, I would comb through chapters, as the principle editor, to make sure everything was fluid and had a cohesive voice. I started noticing, that in scenes involving more canon contexts, the writing began to get painfully repetitive, plots were stalling, we were echoing literal sentences back and forth at each other. I remember distinctly, one sex scene we were working on sounded so painfully done before, that we literally tore it out and fought to write it with entirely new dynamics so it wasn’t boring. And that was it. We’d grown bored. The only things that seemed to pique our interests were no longer the sex scenes, or the drama between the Death Note characters, but the original concepts we’d steadily been bringing in over time.  Stories of madness and asylums and insane serial killers. We whisked L off at one point and set him on a modern Sherlock Holmesian plotline by himself in Edinburgh, and it was the most enjoyable part of the book for me to write (and has since been reworked as the opening chapters of the original series.) I had inspiration again, I had drive, I didn’t want to return to the previous Death Note arcs. I wanted to be free. I wasn’t the only one. Anda had tired of everything. Getting her to pitch in on the books was like pulling teeth, when previously it had been so exciting and so fun. It was time for a change. But neither of us wanted to accept that the series had come to its natural end. Too much work had gone into it. Too much love and sweat and tears. Too many years and hours. Hours and hours and hours. So we came to a compromise.

'...le beau petit garcon...' Redeemer Series fan-art by Arrowchild, featuring Beyond Birthday and Mello

Backlash of Death Note Redeemer Series Readers

The Redeemer Series Transforms into The Breaking Across Devotion Series

Discover How

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