| Have you ever stopped to truly consider the character of Misa Amane? I don't mean as a cute celebrity or loud-mouthed pea-brain. Those things are merely distractions. But as a serial killer in her own right. One who fundamentally gets away with it, walking free by the end of Death Note. Writing in her journal Pseudomiracle, Teruzuki has more than contemplated the disconnect between fan perception of Misa-Misa and the reality as presented in the Death Note universe. She also notes how that 'innocent but wronged by Light' attitude has echoes in canon itself. Particularly in how Misa is never brought to task for her own murderous rampages. By Teruzuki's reckoning, Misa kills over 100,000 people, as chronicled within the pages of the Death Note manga. Maybe even double that amount. |  Misa redefines fatal attraction in Death Note |
Yet all we ever focus upon is her childish personality, as noisily expressed in all its banal, shallow conversation; her strange, but stylish fashion sense; and her tragic relationship with Light (plus exploitation by the same).
None of us quite registering that Misa killed people long before Light came onto the scene.
None of us quite registering that Misa killed people long before Light came onto the scene.
Murderess Misa Amane (Hinako Sano) as a spectator at her own victim's crime scene
Nor did she have any compulsion to target only those deemed 'guilty' by any moral code - be it societal consensus, state law or personal judgement. She used her Death Note to murder anyone who it occurred to her to do at the time.
Including those pretty much used as leverage in a terror campaign.
Including those pretty much used as leverage in a terror campaign.
If you do not try to capture me, no innocent people will die.
- Misa Amane, holding police and the press to ransom in Death Note
All this and more is highlighted and picked over by Pseudomiracle's Teruzuki -
who also reaches some conclusions as to why we're all so willing to ignore Misa's darker predilections as second Kira.
Can we say gender bias and sloppy story-telling?
Fully illustrated, with every point raised supported by Misa images from the manga - demonstrating quite clearly where we're missing a trick or ten (or several trillion), blind-sided by banal chatter and romantic sentiments - it's very much worth the read.
Check out Teruzuki's take on the matter on Tumblr, in her Pseudomiracle journal entry entitled: Some thoughts on Misa’s presumed victim status and the strange absolution of all her crimes for no apparent reason.
who also reaches some conclusions as to why we're all so willing to ignore Misa's darker predilections as second Kira.
Can we say gender bias and sloppy story-telling?
Fully illustrated, with every point raised supported by Misa images from the manga - demonstrating quite clearly where we're missing a trick or ten (or several trillion), blind-sided by banal chatter and romantic sentiments - it's very much worth the read.
Check out Teruzuki's take on the matter on Tumblr, in her Pseudomiracle journal entry entitled: Some thoughts on Misa’s presumed victim status and the strange absolution of all her crimes for no apparent reason.
