Death Note is a wonderful, intriguing series because of all the thought the authors put into devising its intricate world of humans and shinigami. So much thought, in fact, that my brain frequently sizzles and smokes when I try to follow each twist and turn of the very twisted plot. It’s probably inevitable that whenever I chat with someone about this series we end up listing all of the logical inconsistencies and plot holes we can think of. Whether they’re genuine plot holes or just my personal confusion is open to question, but here’s a list of 7 things I’ve been wondering about Death Note. I’m sure everyone who follows this series has their own quibbles, so feel free to post yours in the comments.
There aren’t any spoilers for the anime in what follows, but there is some vague discussion of things that didn’t happen in the manga and the movie. With that in mind…
1) If you’re a criminal and you change your name, which one does Light have to use to kill you?
The series never really defines what a name is. If you legally change your name, does your original name still work? What if the paperwork isn’t on file yet — does the Death Note somehow keep track of when the new name becomes legal? One of the rules states that the Shinigami Eyes see the name needed to kill someone, even for people not in the koseki. This might mean the “legal” name is not the be-all, end-all. However, it seems that nicknames and aliases aren’t good enough; writing “L” in the Death Note clearly doesn’t work. What if you’re Bono — does Light have to use “Paul David Hewson”, or is “Bono” sufficient? What about women who change their names when they get married — does Light have to use their maiden name because that’s the one they were born with?
If only your given name will work — because a name change or nickname like “L” is not your actual name — you might end up in a post-Kira Gedo Senki situation where everyone’s real name is a secret and everyone operates under an official alias.
2) If you have the same name as a famous person, does that mean Kira can never kill you?
Light says he can’t attempt to kill L under the name ‘Hideki Ryuuga’ because it belongs to a famous TV star and he might think of the wrong person by accident. Does that mean a criminal with a really generic name like ‘Suzuki Taro’ is safe? What about people named George Bush?
It doesn’t seem likely that all the criminals Light killed had unique names. I suspect that Light didn’t particularly care if he killed the wrong person by mistake unless it would raise suspicion. It makes me feel sorry for people named John Smith, though.
3) If Light writes down one name and pictures two people’s faces while doing it, which person dies?
This goes under the header of “people who have the same name”. Does Light get a two-fer if he pictures two faces while writing the name? Is there some sort of 51/49 split, where the person Light thinks of the most is the one who dies? It seems that Light doesn’t know quite how this works. He was clearly hesitant to try to kill L under the name ‘Hideki Ryuuga’, even though he would certainly be bending the full weight of his thought into picturing L’s shadow-eyed mug.
4) Given that L spent several years in the UK, how in the world was it possible for him to destroy all photographs of himself?
The UK is one of the most heavily surveilled countries on the planet, with more CCTVs than people by some counts. Given all these video cameras, why can’t Light find a single one with L’s picture?
Another angle: Light played a rousing game of tennis with L at college. We know Light was national champion in middle school, and since the game was close L must be pretty damn good at tennis too. Knowing L spent part of his childhood in England and is a national-class tennis champion, Light still can’t find out who he is or find a single picture? How many Japanese kids go to school in England? And play tennis? Like, 12?
5) On a more ethical note, how does Light know that every alleged criminal he kills is guilty?
It always bothered me that Light, being something of an anal-retentive tensai, accepts at face value the word of the police and media that people are guilty. Granted, he’s evil so he’s not losing sleep over it. Still, there have been numerous criminals freed from death row in the US based on DNA evidence. How many of those guys would Light have killed?
I don’t think the series ever really explores this terrain, possibly because Kira is the villain of the story and he does not question his own motives. It seems strange, though, that it’s never even suggested that Kira killed an innocent person. It would certainly alter the ambiguity of Light’s actions.
6) Broadcasting a criminal’s name and picture is tantamount to a death sentence, so why are the media and police aiding Kira’s murders?
I know that Kira announces (in the manga, at least) that he will begin killing police if the names and faces of criminals are no longer broadcast, but it seems hard to believe anyone would buckle under to such a threat. One can easily imagine the family members of dead suspects suing media organizations for complicity. It would be easy enough to use artist depictions of faces (if they ever figured out that drawings don’t work) when necessary to inform the public what a suspect looks like, or simply put a paper bag over criminals’ heads while transporting them. It’s true that Kira, as Light, had access to the police network the whole time, but I don’t think I’ll ever understand why the authorities don’t attempt to stop Kira in this way.
7) Given that L was easily able to narrow down Kira’s location with the Lind L. Tailor ploy, why didn’t he use the same method to prove that Light is Kira?
The point of the Lind L. Tailor broadcast was that only people living in the Kantou region observed it. When Tailor was murdered on-air, L immediately knew that Kira was in the Kantou region (and had a nasty temper, to boot). L could have easily used the same sort of technique to find out Kira’s identity once he’d narrowed down a list of suspects. Hijack the Yagami household television or Light’s internet connection with information about a criminal not available anywhere else. If the criminal dies, Light is Kira.
Well, I was only able to come up with 7 questions about Death Note, but I’m sure you have your own. Let me know your thoughts and whether any of these might have an explanation. My poor aching brain will thank you!
69 Comments
Erm……
1. Y Light yagami dun know that misa amane didn’t kill L through the CCTV?????He thought hu killed L????? (In Death note live action)
2. Light yagami dun know that Misa amane didn’t see L’s real name??
3. In death note anime,unnamed shinigami is Light???
4. If he thought L was killed by remu, he think hu killed Watari?
Pls tell me…….
my email is lightyagami360@gmail.com
To answer your queries:
1) The death note rules actually answer this question: a person’s current name is used to kill them, so yes, if he changes his name, his new name will have to be written in the death note for him to die. Also in the event that he was never given a name, every human is given a “serial number” and that number can be used in place of a name.
2/3) Of course Light can kill someone with the same name as a famous person. The death note explicitly states that it will only kill each singular person written, in other words, it won’t kill multiple people with the same name. The reason Light was hesitant to try this with Hideki Ryuuga was because this rule is generally vague, as are many other rules. Light was able to experiment with the other rules (trying to make a prisoner die in front of the Eiffel Tower and trying to make another draw a picture of L) but he was hesitant to experiment with this rule because the consequences could potentially be disastrous. I am guessing this rule would work in a way where it revolves around the 51/49 idea you mentioned earlier; of course, this is my assumption.
4) L spent all his years in the UK in a private academy, the same one Near and Mello are part of in t he 2nd season. It is not unreasonable to assume that he would have the ability to find and destroy all pictures of himself, like Mello does. And it would not be surprising if he erased all history of him playing tennis in the UK, which would also not be hard for him to do.
5) The ethics of death note don’t contain plotholes, but it is assumed Light puts research into various criminals he is unsure about (such as the cleaner he kills in the subway station when he is with Penbar) and makes a sound judgment based on his research.
6) L discusses this explicitly. He claims that if they took pictures of criminals off the news, Kira would begin killing pettier and pettier criminals + there would be a public uproar, as many humans support Kira. It would also be extremely difficult to completely censor such information.
7) This is not the way broadcasting works. L was able to do a public broadcast to the Kantou region because he was able to control the entire Kantou region’s broadcasting network. There is no network that codes for such a small unit as a single house, so he would not be able to specifically broadcast a message only viewed in Light’s house. If Light’s family tv had a special cable program, L could have contacted that cable company to send a message only to Light’s specific cable address, but since Light was using his own personal mini-screen LCD anyway, and since the news is usually broadcast on public tv not just privatized cable tv, this would have been futile and Light would have realized what was going on.
I agree with John on every point but wish to mention that on (4) you said that L was Japanese, he isn’t. L was defined as quarter English, quarter Japanese, quarter southern European such as Italian or French and a quarter something unidentifiable (personally I’d say Russian). His internationality (not a word I know) is apart of what makes he so hard to identify.
Point 7: (My knowledge of Death Note comes from the live action; sorry if I’m talking nonsense here.)
L has Light’s house bugged with microphones and video cameras. Light watches TV from inside his packet of crisps and continues to kill with the Death Note. He knows he’s being watched but implicitly trusts the news reports he sees. L has only to make modifications to Light’s televisions (the pocket set and his LCD) so that they picked up a locally broadcast signal. He broadcasts fake news reports about random criminals on Death Row. The moment they die, Light = Kira with 100% certainty. At this point Light is again simply writing names – the criminal he kills from inside the crisp packet dies instantly; L would know in real time as the deaths occur seconds after the phony broadcast.
The police burst in catching Light by surprise, they discover the fragment of Death Note and after turning his room upside-down, they also discover the Death Note. Whoever picks it up sees Ryuk, the truth of the Death Note is corroborated and everybody knows exactly how it all happened. L immediately disposes of the Death Note but Light walks free as “all he did was write names in a notebook”. Police announce that Kira was identified and shot dead. Death Note is gone; no Death Note, no Kira, case solved potentially 24 hours after L’s suspicion of Light is aroused.
Of course, presumably Misa still gets *her* Death Note – but perhaps, since Kira is officially dead by then, she doesn’t do anything with it; perhaps she commits suicide as she believes her “saviour”, Kira, has died. (She is only interested in being Kira #2 to attract the attention of Kira #1. If Kira #1 is dead by the time she gets her Death Note, probably she couldn’t care less.)
Kira dead, story over, all only an hour and a half into the first movie!
When a human picks up a death note, it becomes theirs. It is from then on, “their” shinigami’s responsibility to write down the human’s name in their notebook.
How is this possible, when the note is no longer theirs, and they only had one death note to begin with?
Ryuuku, and Rem had access to more than one death note from the beginning. But for a regular shinigami, who only had one death note, how would they kill the human who had the death note that was theirs, without another death note?
And if they couldn’t, wouldn’t that mean that they would eventually die, because they could no longer take the remaining lifespans of humans, without their death note?
SPOILERS ahead!!!
One thing that’s bothered me (anime series only, haven’t explored the other mediums):
During the course of the series, there are a total of 3 Death Notes that make their way into the human realm:
1) The one Ryuk drops at the beginning (stolen from Sidoh)
2) The one Rem gives to Misa (dropped by Gelus upon his death)
3) The one dropped by Rem upon her own death
If you follow the books separably they flow and appear / disappear from the human realm in this order:
Ryuk drops Sidoh’s book for Light. (Sidoh’s Book)
Rem gives Gelus’s book to Misa (Gelus’ Book)
Light picks up Rem’s book after L’s death (Rem’s Book)
Up until Misa gives ownership of Gelus’ book up (changing it’s owner to Light, as it is in his possession) Misa own Gelus’ book, Light owns Sidoh’s, Rem’s Book is not yet in the human realm.
After Misa give up ownership, Light owns Sidoh’s and Gelus’ books, as well as has Ryuk and Rem following him. Light then gives ownership of Gelus’ book to Rem, who then gives ownership to Ryuk who then gives ownership to Light again (Meaning Ryuk is now attached to Gelus’ AND Sidoh’s books, while Rem is attached to none).
Light then gives Sidoh’s book to Ryuk, who then gives it to Rem. Meaning that Ryuk is now attached only to Gelus’ notebook, and Sidoh’s has left the human realm.
Rem then gives her book to Higuchi, making her now attached to Sidoh’s book.
Light later gives up ownership of Gelus’ book, which Ryuk has buried for him. Keeping Gelus’ book in the human realm, but not owned by any humans.
Light then kills Higuchi while holding Sidoh’s book, becoming it’s new owner and attaching Rem to him.
Misa digs up Gelus’ book; being the first to touch it since it has been dropped this time, she becomes it’s owner and Ryuk becomes attached to her.
Later, Rem kills L (and herself) dropping her book in the Human Realm. Light picks up Rem’s book and now owns Sidoh’s book (which no one is attached to) and Rem’s book (which also has no attachments).
Quick update on current standing of the books is as follows:
Sidoh’s book (owned by Light with no attached Death God) becomes locked up by Light’s father. Light owns Rem’s book (with no attached Death God). Misa owns Gelus’ book (with Ryuk attached).
Later Gelus’ book is given to Snyder (not stated in the Anime, Light presumably gives up ownership of this book to Snyder so that Misa can find him using the eye’s), Gelus enters the human realm and becomes attached to Gelus’ book.
Misa sends Sidoh’s book (with attached Ryuk) to Light’s father and gives him ownership of the book (Plothole #1: Light is still owner of Rem’s book and should not have his timer shown when his father looks at him before he dies).
Gelus’ book is recovered, ownership is turned over to Gelus and both Gelus and Gelus’ book leave the human realm.
Sidoh’s book (with attached Ryuk) takes the place of Gelus’ book in the “Safe of L”. Light maintains ownership of Rem’s book (with no attached Death god) and presumably (though not stated) also gets ownership of Sidoh’s book (with attached Ryuk) when his father dies.
Later, Rem’s book (with no attached Death god) is sent to Mikami and has ownership transfered from Light.
Current situation now:
Mikami owns Rem’s book (with no attached Death god). Light owns Sidoh’s book (locked in “Safe of L” with attached Ryuk).
Light instructs Ryuk to watch over Mikami, however Ryuk is attached to Light and Sidoh’s book…. Not Mikami and Rem’s book.
Plothole 2: How does Mikami get the Shimigami eye’s? He doesn’t own a death note that has an attached Shimigami? When Ryuk explains to Light the Shimigami eye deal, he states that “[The owner of a death note] can be granted the eye’s of a Shimigami from the Shimigami that dropped it”
Since the book owned by Mikami (Rem’s book) was dropped by Rem, who is now dead…. how can Mikami make the eye deal at all (the book was not dropped by Ryuk, the deal should have to be made with Rem), furthermore… how can Mikami even see or hear Ryuk, having never touched a book that Ryuk dropped?
Those were my big plothole questions ;P
It took me a long time to figure out that the first book dropped by Ryuk was actually Gelus’ book, which explained why Gelus’ became attached to the book when it was owned by Snyder, not Ryuk….
Any ideas?
~Mike
I don’t know if your jumbled facts are due to watching the anime or what but you definitely have some mistakes in there. going off only the manga I can say that Gelus is dead and his deathnote does not get returned to his. Shidoh takes a deathnote and goes away though. Also, Ryuk at one point makes a comment that basically means if a deathnote is out of the owners hands for long enough the ownership will transfer. Mikami was visited by Ryuk after receiving the deathnote and made the deal then.
SPOILERS ahead!!!
(Couldn’t edit my above comment, I mixed up Sidoh’s and Gelus’ books while explaining at the end. This is the actual transferal of book ownership)
One thing that’s bothered me (anime series only, haven’t explored the other mediums):
During the course of the series, there are a total of 3 Death Notes that make their way into the human realm:
1) The one Ryuk drops at the beginning (stolen from Sidoh)
2) The one Rem gives to Misa (dropped by Gelus upon his death)
3) The one dropped by Rem upon her own death
If you follow the books separably they flow and appear / disappear from the human realm in this order:
Ryuk drops Sidoh’s book for Light. (Sidoh’s Book)
Rem gives Gelus’s book to Misa (Gelus’ Book)
Light picks up Rem’s book after L’s death (Rem’s Book)
Up until Misa gives ownership of Gelus’ book up (changing it’s owner to Light, as it is in his possession) Misa own Gelus’ book, Light owns Sidoh’s, Rem’s Book is not yet in the human realm.
After Misa give up ownership, Light owns Sidoh’s and Gelus’ books, as well as has Ryuk and Rem following him. Light then gives ownership of Gelus’ book to Rem, who then gives ownership to Ryuk who then gives ownership to Light again (Meaning Ryuk is now attached to Gelus’ AND Sidoh’s books, while Rem is attached to none).
Light then gives Sidoh’s book to Ryuk, who then gives it to Rem. Meaning that Ryuk is now attached only to Gelus’ notebook, and Sidoh’s has left the human realm.
Rem then gives her book to Higuchi, making her now attached to Sidoh’s book.
Light later gives up ownership of Gelus’ book, which Ryuk has buried for him. Keeping Gelus’ book in the human realm, but not owned by any humans.
Light then kills Higuchi while holding Sidoh’s book, becoming it’s new owner and attaching Rem to him.
Misa digs up Gelus’ book; being the first to touch it since it has been dropped this time, she becomes it’s owner and Ryuk becomes attached to her.
Later, Rem kills L (and herself) dropping her book in the Human Realm. Light picks up Rem’s book and now owns Sidoh’s book (with no Death god attached) and Rem’s book (which also has no attachments).
Quick update on current standing of the books is as follows:
Sidoh’s book (owned by Light with no attached Death God) becomes locked up by Light’s father. Light owns Rem’s book (with no attached Death God). Misa owns Gelus’ book (with Ryuk attached).
Later Sidoh’s book is given to Snyder by lights father (not stated in the Anime, Light presumably gives up ownership of this book to Snyder so that Misa can find him using the Shinigami eye’s), Sidoh enters the human realm and becomes attached to Sidoh’s book.
Misa sends Gelus’ book (with attached Ryuk) to Light’s father and gives him ownership of the book (Plothole #1: Light is still owner of Rem’s book and should not have his timer shown when his father looks at him before he dies).
Sidoh’s book is recovered, ownership is turned over to Sidoh and both Sidoh and Sidoh’s book leave the human realm.
Gelus’ book (with attached Ryuk) takes the place of Sidoh’s book in the “Safe of L”. Light maintains ownership of Rem’s book (with no attached Death god) and presumably (though not stated) also gets ownership of Gelus’ book (with attached Ryuk) when his father dies.
Later, Rem’s book (with no attached Death god) is sent to Mikami and (implied) has ownership transfered from Light.
Current situation now:
Mikami owns Rem’s book (with no attached Death god). Light owns Gelus’ book (locked in “Safe of L” with attached Ryuk).
Light instructs Ryuk to watch over Mikami, however Ryuk is attached to Light and Gelus’ book…. Not Mikami and Rem’s book.
Plothole 2: How does Mikami get the Shimigami eye’s? He doesn’t own a death note that has an attached Shimigami? When Ryuk explains to Light the Shimigami eye deal, he states that “[The owner of a death note] can be granted the eye’s of a Shimigami from the Shimigami that dropped it”
Since the book owned by Mikami (Rem’s book) was dropped by Rem, who is now dead…. how can Mikami make the eye deal at all (the book was not dropped by Ryuk, the deal should have to be made with, the now-dead, Rem), furthermore… how can Mikami even see or hear Ryuk, having never touched a book that Ryuk dropped?
Those were my big plothole questions ;P
It took me a long time to figure out that the first book dropped by Ryuk was actually Sidoh’s book, which explained why Sidoh was able to became attached to the book when it was owned by Snyder.
Plothole 3: Why can’t Sidoh see Snyder’s life timer. This is how Sidoh knew who owned Sidoh’s book in the human realm. The other Death god’s can see everyone’s life timer, even if that person owns a death note.
Any ideas?
~Mike
In regards to Item 1:
The Death Note requires the identity of an individual in order to take their life; the individual is distinguished by their name and face in the case of the Death Note. When an individual is born a name is decided for them so that they may be distinguished by something other than appearance, it gives them a fuller identity. So from there on the Death Note has the ability to strip that individual of their life. The question is “How does the Death Note know your birth name?”, after all it is just a notebook. Therefore I believe that that if a person changes their name, thus altering their identity, then the notebook must somehow be aware of this and accept it as the individual’s new identity just as it did when they were born. This new name becomes how they are identified by the world, and consequently I believe the Death Note must therefore also identify them in this manner. This concept could also be applied to the altering of an individual’s facial features, in the sense that this is how they are now identified.
In regards to Item 2 and 3:
The Death Note requires the name and face of an individual in order to take their life. If the one using the Death Note knows the faces of two individuals who share the same name then, assuming the Death Note can only kill one person of that name at a time, it will kill the one the Death Note’s user is most focused on in the moment the name is written. If my focus theory is correct then the Death Note could never kill two individuals of the same name when the name is only written once due to the impossibility of being able to focus exactly equally on two things at one moment in time.
In regards to Item 4:
Not all photographs are circulated across the internet and any CCTV footage of an individual would certainly not be. Also, unless there are major threats to security a country would not share CCTV footage with other countries, so even if an individual had access to a police computer in one country they would not be able to access information from other countries police computers. Besides I believe that in order for the Death Note to take an individual’s life it must know their current face, so any younger photographs where the face is not as developed as the current state will be ineffective.
In regards to Item 5:
Unless convicted by solid physical evidence it cannot be guaranteed that an individual is guilty of a criminal offence.
In regards to Item 6:
The media and police would be responsible for the deaths of many innocents if they did not comply to Kira’s wishes. Although if they did allow Kira to kill innocents, many would stop worshipping the killings.
In regards to Item 7:
Even if it was possible to broadcast to a single household, an individual such as Light would not be as foolish as to fall into the same trap again.
P.S. This is a very basic evaluation of these Items, if I was to fully elaborate and provide evidence I could well be here all day.
Re. changing names, I would assume that the Death Note works on standard “true name” magic theory. That is, knowing someone’s true name gives you power over them, as in various mythologies and fantasy stories. Modern ideas of ‘legal’ names always mess with this scheme, since what one considers a true name is a lot more ambiguous (and can change over time, so it’s not very “true”).
This doesn’t help the plot hole, but it does sort of parallel it to a common problem with an often-referenced form of magical thinking…
i have a question too
after watari and L died, (watari even bofore L) who sent the sms to the old man in the orphan asylum that l is dead? please send my an email to asgarcore@hotmail.com
Without reading every comment here, I’ll say that I’m not certain that some of these count as plot holes so much as misunderstandings and misinterpretations. Also, it’s probably better to have a strong familiarity with the manga, especially the guidebook How to Read, before tackling questions about Death Note‘s plot in any serious sense. Most of the questions presented here aren’t too hard to answer at least in part.
#1: Some of these questions are valid; others aren’t. Nicknames don’t work, and you need an individual’s full name. The reason Light is unable to kill L by writing “L” is that L’s full name is “L Lawliet.” (“L” isn’t a nickname, and there’s no reason to believe it’s a name change, but writing his full name would work.) By the rules, no, “Bono” probably wouldn’t work, but Bono’s real name would… the unexplained part is how a legal name change (especially to a married name) works. That’s not really a plot hole in any conventional sense so much as something that doesn’t seem relevant enough to mention.
#2/3: Rereading/rewatching the passage in which L is introduced as Hideki Ryuga would explain this, because Light discusses his own frustration at length.
Killing someone with a Death Note requires imagining their face as well as correctly writing their name. The assumption is that you would be trying to focus on one person at a time, and there’s no significant plot reason why we ever need to know whether focusing on John Smith would kill the John Smith you thought of first or the John Smith you thought of the longest.
The point is that if Light tries to kill L under the name of Hideki Ryuga, the face of the famous person is more likely to pop into his head. Not only that, but L can’t be killed by writing Ryuga’s name anyway: it’s not L’s real name. (Likewise, if Light thought of both L’s face and that of the real Ryuga, there’s no reason the real Ryuga wouldn’t die: the trick in this set of circumstances would actually be keeping the real Ryuga alive!) If that person dies in a suspicious manner that’s consistent with what L knows Kira can do (L is not yet fully aware of all of the Death Note’s capabilities), it narrows down L’s list of suspects to Light. Technically, anyone who knows L as Hideki Ryuga could be guilty, but that wouldn’t fit the rest of the evidence that L has collected at that point. Only Light fits those criteria.
I think there is a question here, though. L pulls this trick on the basis that Kira needs both a name and a face to kill, and assumes that as long as Light can’t get his real name, he’s safe. (This is why shinigami, and the shinigami eyes, prove so deadly to L in the long run.) However, to me… there’s a leap in logic on L’s part there, a gap in reasoning, since he’s unaware of the actual killing mechanism and does not know that Kira has to be imagining the face of the person he’s trying to kill. Light’s reaction–a frustrated tantrum–is predicated partly on the idea that he won’t be able to try to kill L under that name without the possibility of accidentally killing the pop idol. How would L really know it was even a possibility?
#4: L states that he lived in England for five years at some point in the past. First of all, it’s Word of God that L lies to Light a lot, so his statements in that scene (both about England and about being a junior tennis champion) might not be intended as truthful. Second, the DN universe is heavily fictionalized, so it’s not necessarily the case that L comes from a UK that has quite as many CCTV cameras as the real one (since DN’s Tokyo has them, though, I think it’s probably a fair guess that London does: why would Tokyo be more or less the same as in the real world, but London different?). If L lived in the UK for five years, though, DN canon suggests that it was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and not in London. He has heavy ties in the Winchester area, although it’s only in anime canon that he was ever definitively depicted as a student at Wammy’s House.
But, even going with the assumption that we’re not meant to assume that L is good at avoiding being captured in security footage, do you really think Light, a Japanese university student who has the police breathing down his neck, would be able to A. Access CCTV footage from the UK that B. was accurate enough to trace L’s movements at C. Some unspecified point in the past? It’s a needle in a haystack. He would need all the footage from all the major cities for an unspecified number of years; then he’d need to watch it. I don’t think many convincing arguments can be made that this is a viable plan.
Finally, as I know others have mentioned here, L isn’t Japanese. (The fact that none of the students at the university ever comment on the fact that he’s a foreigner is a minor plot hole, though!)
#5: Ultimately, Death Note‘s source material is a shounen suspense manga. The author didn’t want the philosophical debate to become too heavy or involved, because they felt it would slow down the plot. It also helps to understand the Japanese justice system a little bit when you discuss this point, especially with regard to the overwhelming level of support for capital punishment in public opinion. Your point is definitely something interesting to talk about, because it’s fair to assume that Light probably does kill some wrongly convicted people, but it’s not a plot hole.
#6: This is addressed in L’s first meeting with the Task Force members. L often has the task of plot exposition, disguised as explaining things to the team. Since Kira is “childish and hates to lose,” L hypothesizes that if they stop broadcasting the names and faces of criminals, Kira will force authorities to distribute the information again by “holding the world hostage” and killing people who are entirely innocent, with the insinuation that the police are evil for withholding the data and standing in Kira’s way, and that this is all Kira can do to rectify the situation.
Whether or not it’s flimsy, that’s the reasoning.
#7: I have noticed that other people have explained this one pretty effectively in earlier comments.
Asgar:
L’s main computer has a timer on it that sends the old man a text informing them that L is dead. Check Episode 26 or 27 (I’m leaning on it being episode 27, but I can’t remember.)
these supposed “plot holes” aren’t really plot holes… just nitpicking at things that weren’t explained in great detail. for a true plothole how about trying this:
Watari and L are killed by Rem… and everyone knows that Light never saw Watari… so why do they STILL focus on him when he could not possibly have been Watari’s killer, and logically since L died at the same time that would mean he didn’t kill L either.
Alan, unless I’ve missed something, they never really tried to pin L’s and Watari’s deaths on Light. Light only got focused on again ( properly ) when Near disproved the rule that Light had Ryuk place in the back of the Death Note, in accordance to killing at least every 13 days otherwise they would die.
Also, if Misa’s Shinigami Eyes could not tell what the names of people were if they were wearing a helmet, why is it that in episode 29/30 Light’s father can see Mello’s real nickname? Was the helmmet not a dark enough tint?
Also, did the rules of seeing the whole face apply to Shinigmai? If so, why didn’t L just wear a one-way dark tinted helmet? It would be uncomfortable, but nobody could kill him with the book, even with the eyes.
Why did L tell Watari to erase the data? I know that it was confidential information, but it was already safe as is. Why did it have to be erased?
Why did Light, in the last episode, turn around and SHOW EVERBODY that he was writing in the notebook? Couldn’t he have just written “Nate Rive” and then turned, faced Near, and written the R?
sorry for double post
If I remember correctly, Mello wasn’t initially wearing a mask when Shicoro encountered him in the room.
I don’t believe that was actually explained, as the Shinigami hardly killed enough for it to matter.
I guess that was just a dramatical twist. It may of been hackable. We’ll never know.
He never turned around, it would of just been his actions ( such as taking the pen from his pocket ) and everyone knew at that point about the piece of Death Note hidden in his watch.