It has been almost two decades since the psychological thriller, Death Note ended. However, it is still a very popular series in the anime community.
Among various elements of the series, Light’s death still sparks discussions among the fans.
Yes, if you didn’t know, Light Yagami is dead.
Before getting into his death, let us walk down memory lane once more.
Who Is Light?
Light Yagami, better known as Kira in the series, was an ordinary high school student. From the early days, he was believed to be a genius with a brilliant intellect. With a polite and reserved personality, he was popular among his friends and family. He spent most of his time doing stuff like a normal teenager before he found the Death Note, which turned his normal life completely upside down.
How did Light get the Death note?
The series starts with Ryuk, a Shinigami, wandering in the Shinigami realm. The Shinigamis are referred to as the God of death. Each possesses the Death Note, which holds the power to kill anyone whose name is written on its pages. Ryuk states that he is bored, and decides to visit the human world to kill boredom.
Ryuk managed to get his hands on the Death note of the King of Shingamis as well. Ryuk had two death notes on himself, from which he throws one into the human realm. Coincidentally, when Light was looking out the window, the falling book captures his eyes. Later, Light picks it up and takes it home.
Did the book grant Light special powers?
The light was just an ordinary person before he took the Death note. The book itself had supernatural powers. It had special powers that enabled the owner to kill anyone by simply writing their names on the note.
After reading the rules in the book, believing it to be a hoax, Light tried to test it out. He first wrote the name of a criminal. To his surprise, within seconds, the criminal died. Excited by these new powers, he goes on a killing spree, eliminating criminals. He was set on the belief of turning the world into a better place, by eradicating evils.
How does Light meet Ryuk?
After some time, he meets Ryuk. Just like any other human being, upon seeing the shinigami himself, appear before him, Light got surprised and falls back to the ground. But he soon keeps his cool and sits calmly before the God Of Death. Trying not to show his surprised look, Light instead tells Ryuk that he was waiting for him all along.
Ryuk is fascinated by Light’s reaction and is surprised by the number of people he had killed in the past five days. He informs Light about him being the new owner of the book. However, he does warn him that when the time comes, Ryuk would himself write Light’name in his book.
How does Light die?
During the killing spree, Light killed many people. Most of them died of sudden heart attacks. Now, one or two death from heart attacks would have most likely gone unnoticed. But that many people suddenly dying of heart attacks, is quite suspicious, isn’t it?
Many people were dying of sudden heart attacks. This made the situation suspicious and gained attention from the public and law enforcement. A special team was formed to catch the culprit. They named the suspect “Kira“, a Japanese derivation of the word for the killer.
Here we are introduced to another famous character, L, for the first time. He was a detective working with the police force to capture Light. It is believed that L is smarter than Light. Light might have a higher IQ, but L’s deduction ability and eye for details made him more skilled than Light.
Does L find out about Light?
While L was working with the police force, he had already gathered evidence. He set a fake L in a conference and broadcasted it on tv, believing Kira would try to eliminate him. Just like he predicted, Kira took the bait and killed the imposter. This proved that the killer was from the region where they had broadcasted.
Furthermore, he noticed that the killings were happening outside school hours, which made him suspect that the killer was indeed a high schooler.
The fact that L was indeed a genius, can be proved by the fact that he himself uncovered his true identity of Kira. Even though Light and Misa manage to prove their innocence, L didn’t give up on the fact that Light was indeed Kira. However, before he could bring the truth out, Light manages to kill him with the help of Rem, Misa’s Shinigami.
How did they find out Light was Kira?
Being a genius and the son of the chief of the police force, Light had the advantage of infiltrating the police. He gathered information on the investigation of Kira and planned moves with caution.
At first, Naomi finds out the truth, but Light kills her. Five years after L’s death, Near comes into the scene as a detective in finding Kira. At this point, Light is working with the police force. Here, Mello and the others find out about the police force having the death note. Mello tries to take it but is killed in the process.
Now Near’s suspicion of Light being Kira grew more and more. Near make a deal, to release the Director of the force in return for they give the Death Note, to which Light agrees. They decide to meet up at the Yellow Box Warehouse.
Here, it gets interesting, as the task force and Near’s crew get face to face, Light commands Mikami to kill everybody in the room. Light was convinced that he had won. He even came out to Near, saying he was indeed Kira. But that didn’t happen, as the book that Mikami had was a fake one.
Who killed Light?
His plan to eliminate everyone at the warehouse failed. Moreover, he even disclosed his identity as Kira. He tried to convince his team members, that he was set up by Near and tried to escape. Realizing he is in great trouble, he quickly took out the piece of Death Note from his watch. But before he could do so, he was shot by Matsuda, leaving him severely injured.
Light tries to run away, still getting followed by the police. In the end, he drags himself towards the stairs. Light, at this point, exhausted lays on the stairs. Ryuk, on the other hand, was watching everything. He told Light that after getting captured and spending the rest of his life in pain, it would be best to end it then and there.
Ryuk reminded Light, that when the time came, he would himself write Light’s name in his book and so he did. In the finale, Ryuk took his Death note out and wrote Light’s name on it. As soon as his name was written, Light had a heart attack and he took his last breath.
Will Light come back?
To this day, many fans still believe that Light might come back. Because Light was such a popular character, his death took fans by surprise. Some justify his death as a punishment for killing people, and some still wished that he should have won.
Many believe that the Shinigami that appears in the Ova, might be light. If you remember, at the beginning of the series, Ryuk tells that, the wielder of the Death Note, neither goes to hell nor heaven. This makes it possible that Light might have reincarnated as a Shinigami.
This might be true, as we see many similarities between the unnamed Shinigami and Light. The Shinigami sports a coat and carries a bag very similar to that of Light. Ryuk talks to him, as he was talking to Light. However, it is not proven yet and fans wonder if it will ever be.
At the end of the series, we see followers of Kira gathering in an unknown place. There a lady emerges and lights a candle, probably in the name of Kira, who they treated like a God. This adds more mystery to Light’s death.
Was Light truly evil?
Whether Light was truly evil or not, sparks debate to this day.
Light’s only wish was to eradicate evil and create a new world where only peace prevailed. But with time, he let the power get to his head. Over time, he started killing innocent people as well, thinking they were holding him back from creating a perfect world. His desire to create a new world and become a God, made him full of himself, only to take in on a path of destruction.
But we can’t really say that he was evil, as he did some good deeds killing the criminals. The problem started when he believed, he was the one to pass on judgments and that’s when he turned evil.
Many fans still hope that they could have got a different ending. However, it has been a long time since it ended. So, it is very unlikely to happen. But, if Light ever came back to life or in any form, it would certainly create a buzz.
