Anime always has been a breathtaking and impressive animation genre, but it's taken some phenomenol pioneers to make it such a powerhouse. One of those pioneer series was Death Note, based on a manga of the same name. The story follows super-genius Light Yagami and what he does with the power to end the life of anyone in the world. With a few rules attached, of course. The only thing in his way seems to be the equally genius investigator, L Lawliet.
The battle of wits between the two men has become a revered and classic anime story that fans adored. However, even the most attentive, most devoted fans missed some secrets hidden between the panels. There are more to the main characters than the obvious.
Here are 10 Hidden Details About The Main Characters In The Anime Everyone Missed.
Light Wasn't Responsible For Ending Naomi Misora's Life
Naomi Misora was a clever detective added to the story after her fiance, Raye Penbar, passes on suddenly. In truth, Light targeted him and the other 12 FBI agents assisting L to protect himself. She started investigating once Raye was buried. Intelligent and prying, she kept her name hidden and figured out a lot about Kira before Light offed her. If fans noticed her death seemed pretty sudden, it's because it was. The writer realized he wrote Naomi too smart. To protect the dynamic between L and Light, and the logical integrity of the story, she had to go.
Misa Might Be Pretty Religious
People have mixed feelings about Misa. While she's Light's obsessive and devoted underling, she also can be obnoxious and can totally derail the tone of any given scene. Understandably, other than her pop star status and obsessions, fans know little about her. However, something that could help explain her fanatic behavior are all the crosses she wears. Misa's style suggest she could be pretty aggressively religious, which could lead her towards cult-y obsession more than the average gal. No wonder she sees Light as a chosen one and follows him like a cult leader.
L Knew Light Was Kira And Lied
Throughout the anime, L's suspicion of Light wavers from episode to episode. Generally, though, he says there's about a 5% chance that Light is Kira. Despite those low odds he gives his comrades, he still refuses to give up on Light as a suspect. Why? Well, most anime fans can catch onto the fact that L probably lied to assuage Light's concerns. However, the writer even gives proof of that in one of his extension manga. There, it's revealed that if L gives a percentage at all it means he suspects a person over 90%. And in Light's case, probably even more than that.
Light Wasn't The First Person To Pick Up The Death Note
This isn't explicit in the anime, but in the manga there was a pilot short story with a different boy. This boy, Taro, was only 13 years old when he found the Death Note. Unlike Light, though, he didn't immediately come up with a master plan to rid the world of evil. Taro wrote a name down and became sick with guilt, so much so that Ryuk helped him erase his choices. The anime excludes him, as do most adaptations, but there is a nod to him in the anime. When the Death Note appears on Light's school grounds, dropped and open, it looks like someone abandoned it, not left it purposefully.
L and Light Dance Fighting
L gets an upper hand in an iconic fight with Light by using a fluid, dance-like style of fighting. This style, as fans have noted, is a Brazilian dance-fighting that the locals call capoeria. It was adopted by slaves to free themselves from captors. They would innocently dance to entertain and lull into a false sense of security. Then, once they were close enough, they'd use the fluid motions of dance to move into fighting. While the writer didn't purposefully do this, it's so applicable and the writer liked it so much he made it canon.
Opposites Intellectually Battle
L and Light are meant to be seen as opposites of the same fiercely intelligent coin. The anime make it obvious in their behaviors and intellectual combat, but there are also signs of this in their arbitrary, daily life. For example, they use opposing computers. Light uses a PC and L uses a Mac. Furthermore, L's last name is purposeful. Though it's the weird surname Lawliet, it's pronounced "Low Light" to add to the stacking signs that he differs from and opposes Light.
Font-Sized
Of all characters in Death Note, L excels the most at being his most authentic, eccentric self. From odd postures to uncomfortable looking favorite sitting positions, everything about him is odd and unique. Even his sugar addiction is something next level. However, when it comes to the font he uses to represent himself to the public and Kira, he's surprisingly basic. In the anime, he uses the widely well known font cloister black. Despite its fancy look, it's one of the most popular fonts out there. Either he should have used something more obscure, or something much more off the wall and disliked. Say, the Sans font pre-Undertale.
Weird Brain Science
L has a lot of habits odd behaviors that are supposedly explained away by his brain power and investigative skills. Though that's what the anime and manga go with, most of them don't actually make much sense. His sitting style is said to increase blood flow to the brain, but that doesn't have any sort of scientific backing behind it. Furthermore, the anime and manga insist that his sugar addiction and eating habits don't make him fat because his brain burns so many calories. That pseudo-science is also unfounded.
L's Unknown Origins
Even though the show tells fans that L was raised in the British orphanage Wammy's House, his origins are otherwise unknown. Fans that pay attention to the details of how he's drawn, though, can guess some clues. The can deduce from the fact he looks like many of his neighbors and his fluency, it's safe to say he's part Japanese. The creator has since confirmed this, also saying he's part English and Russian. That explains why his eyes are wider and larger than many of his Japanese colleagues.
More Than Meets The Shinigami Eye
While Light and L take center stage for Death Note, the whole premise of the story (and the main character's power) relies on Ryuk, his Death Note, and the Shinigami world. Despite this, though, the anime almost completely ignores adding backstory to that aspect. There is still a whole unexplored mythos about the Shinigami world. For example, fans learn that there is a Shinigami king that they all respect and listen to, but is never seen. Clearly there is a history and dynasty past what fans see, and from how rigidly the Shinigami listen to the king, he's earned quite serious power over the others. Those kind of hidden details deserve exploration, but don't get it (at least in the anime).