Still Near? Mello? Matt? The scene and stance contain elements of them all
Are we watching Near turn into Mello? Or maybe we just glimpsed Matt? Or have we missed the point entirely in our house?
Whatever else occurs in a Death Note television drama episode, first and foremost we're watching for Mello here. Mello/Matt's the community whence my partner and I met, moved in and now sit together watching this show.
Which pretty much puts us on Near Watch, give or take a puppet, as we're now quite convinced that multiple personalities is a factor in this character. (S)he's both Near and Mello.
And may now be Matt too.
Whatever else occurs in a Death Note television drama episode, first and foremost we're watching for Mello here. Mello/Matt's the community whence my partner and I met, moved in and now sit together watching this show.
Which pretty much puts us on Near Watch, give or take a puppet, as we're now quite convinced that multiple personalities is a factor in this character. (S)he's both Near and Mello.
And may now be Matt too.
Near's Split Personality in Death Note (2015)
Near's character has been slowly and subtly changing over the past three episodes.
From a base-line of a clever, serene white-clad figure clutching a Mello puppet, we saw the human and dummy's voices merge (episode 4); then Near leave the house (episode 5) - apparently alarming news for Watari and L - still with a puppet, but one which now sat mute, and the white attire now bisected by grey pinafore trousers.
In episode 6, that transformation is so far advanced that the puppet has gone entirely. The previously unsmiling Near has now donned an elfin smirk.
That white mop of hair seems messier, more akin to a fringe at the front, slightly longer at the back. The lighting has lessened the white, making his/her barnet appear almost blond, maybe rosy in some scenes.
The grey pinafore, seen in shade, seems darker, closing in on black.
From a base-line of a clever, serene white-clad figure clutching a Mello puppet, we saw the human and dummy's voices merge (episode 4); then Near leave the house (episode 5) - apparently alarming news for Watari and L - still with a puppet, but one which now sat mute, and the white attire now bisected by grey pinafore trousers.
In episode 6, that transformation is so far advanced that the puppet has gone entirely. The previously unsmiling Near has now donned an elfin smirk.
That white mop of hair seems messier, more akin to a fringe at the front, slightly longer at the back. The lighting has lessened the white, making his/her barnet appear almost blond, maybe rosy in some scenes.
The grey pinafore, seen in shade, seems darker, closing in on black.
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Some kind of personality shift has taken place rendering the character much further away from Near, as he's known from the manga and anime. The toys have gone and, by the end of the episode, (s)he has even stopped twirling a lock of hair.
So let's assume that Near has multiple personalities. Mello has previously existed as a suppressed persona projected onto a puppet by Near's ventriloquism. Heard in the real world, as L responded to Mello's voice in episode 2.
Episode 5 signified the start of the personae changing places. In episode 6, I believe that we're seeing that process gather pace.
So let's assume that Near has multiple personalities. Mello has previously existed as a suppressed persona projected onto a puppet by Near's ventriloquism. Heard in the real world, as L responded to Mello's voice in episode 2.
Episode 5 signified the start of the personae changing places. In episode 6, I believe that we're seeing that process gather pace.
Live Action Matt in Death Note TV Drama?
At first sight of Near, my knee-jerk reaction was to turn to my partner and gasp, "So Near's Matt as well now?" After all, we were viewing a character with a Puckish smirk, who was crowing after having successfully hacked L, undetected for weeks.
My partner wasn't at all convinced, pointing out the chair upon which this character was perched. Big, ornate, red chair screams Mello from the rafters.
I was reminded that Matt's never been as embraced in canon, as he was by the fandom. The producers probably never considered him important enough to add into the Near/Mello mix.
Flailing around for extra evidence, I alighted on the fact that the camera - towards which a desolate L peers as he realises he's been hacked - bore the codemark F1.3.
I was reminded that Matt's never been as embraced in canon, as he was by the fandom. The producers probably never considered him important enough to add into the Near/Mello mix.
Flailing around for extra evidence, I alighted on the fact that the camera - towards which a desolate L peers as he realises he's been hacked - bore the codemark F1.3.
Three in one! The third in the first (Matt in Near)! Woot! Game over!
I seemed to be convincing nobody with this line of argument.
Nevertheless, that initial shot still seems to me to have elements of the first three Wammy kids. Near's still apparent in the white under-shirt and twirled hair; Mello's in the smirk, chair and dark clothes creeping over the top; Matt's in the redness (yes, I know red hair is a fan insertion) and the computer, particularly its usage in hacking.
But the snigger at the end - sans lock twisting - was pure Mello.
I seemed to be convincing nobody with this line of argument.
Nevertheless, that initial shot still seems to me to have elements of the first three Wammy kids. Near's still apparent in the white under-shirt and twirled hair; Mello's in the smirk, chair and dark clothes creeping over the top; Matt's in the redness (yes, I know red hair is a fan insertion) and the computer, particularly its usage in hacking.
But the snigger at the end - sans lock twisting - was pure Mello.
Death Note Drama's Live Action Mello
I'm expecting Near to transform even more fully into Mello as the plot gathers pace. Thus presumably Mello was the figure seen in the scenes flashing over the closing credits, as teasers for episode 7.
A hand up to his mouth - not seen in any previous Near mannerism - is half cut off by the bottom of the screen. What's the chance that a wider shot will reveal that it grasps a chocolate bar?
A hand up to his mouth - not seen in any previous Near mannerism - is half cut off by the bottom of the screen. What's the chance that a wider shot will reveal that it grasps a chocolate bar?
Is that you, Mello? Stop cosplaying Near at once.
And this is how the television adaptation of Death Note will get us through the Mafia!Mello part of the story. Which - if it continues to run this parallel to the canon tale - will be coming up quite soon.
In short, WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE A LIVE ACTION MELLO IN THIS DEATH NOTE TV DRAMA! At least that's the conclusion in this house.
On that excitement, I'm going to pause here and look at the rest of the episode in a separate blog entry. I've waffled enough in this one.
In short, WE'RE ABOUT TO SEE A LIVE ACTION MELLO IN THIS DEATH NOTE TV DRAMA! At least that's the conclusion in this house.
On that excitement, I'm going to pause here and look at the rest of the episode in a separate blog entry. I've waffled enough in this one.
