| 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?
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?
