Death Note might’ve ended a long time ago, but fans still want to change Light’s death in the anime.
Light Yagami is undoubtedly one of the most well-written anime protagonists out there. At the beginning of Death Note, we see him as a straight-A student who happens to stumble upon the eponymous notebook.
What follows is as intriguing as it is nefarious. The beloved anime show perfectly portrays Light’s descent from a person who wants to get rid of criminals to someone who’s developed a God Complex and isn’t above killing anyone, even his own family.
However, when it comes to the character’s end, the anime series falters. Instead of the manga’s brutal ending which shows Light writhing in agony and begging Ryuk for his life, the anime shows his death more poetically than he deserves.
In the anime, after having his true identity as Kira exposed and being shot by Matsuda, Light runs away to an abandoned building. Ryuk, who’s been seeing everything, chooses to write Light’s name in the Death Note as a mercy. The killer finally dies of a heart attack, illuminated by the setting sun.
It’s a jarring contrast to the manga’s ending which portrays Light as pathetic as he’s always deemed everyone else. For a killer who doesn’t hesitate to end people’s lives, he begs for his own and gets no mercy in return. It’s just what he deserves and is the perfect end to his crimes.
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“I REALLY wish they had used the manga ending for that, it was far more agonizing and scary for Light, as he deserved,” wrote one user on X.
“I feel like in the anime they kinda made it less pathetic and like… no… it’s supposed to be pathetic, that’s the point,” pointed out another.
“I know they needed to fill in air time but I hate how they almost made it seem like they were fishing for sympathy for the person he became. Compared to what he used to be,” a third criticized the anime’s ending.
While the manga perfectly captures the humanity in Light’s death, the anime adds another symbolism. At one point in the story, Ryuk reveals the users of Death Notes go to neither heaven nor hell. That’s why the anime shows Light dying on the stairs, never reaching paradise or purgatory.
For more on psychological thriller anime, check out which anime to watch if you like Death Note and the best body horror anime.
