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I would frame things a little differently. Light makes a lot of mistakes because the Death note is incredibly powerful and there would be almost no reasonable w

I would frame things a little differently. Light makes a lot of mistakes because the Death note is incredibly powerful and there would be almost no reasonable way for L to catch Light without Light making obvious mistakes (and would also make for a boring story). Undoubtedly, the biggest mistake Light makes is revealing the existence of the Death Note, and all the rules therein, which not only gives L (almost) all the information he needs, but also traps him from any subsequent activity. Without knowing the rules of the Death Note, I don't think L could have done anything (besides outright abducting/murdering Light) to stop Light, even if he is 100% sure Light is "responsible". That said, I feel like a much simpler solution than what's proposed at the end of the essay is: 1. Gather up the names you want to write over the course of a week. 2. Wait another week, then write it at a specific point of time of the week. 3. Keep to that schedule. The names need to be as public and as well known as possible such that it would be impossible to trace the flow of information. (Remember, the goal is fear, not specificity.) Keeping to that schedule means you will never leak more information thereafter.

michaelscott 7y ago
I agree with this completely; Light makes up for what I would say is an inferior deductive ability by using a supernatural item with rules that defy ordinary logic and reason (L catches on early that such a tool must exist with his TV announcement stunt, but he can't possibly know the ruleset of such an item). The only way Near and Mello end up overcoming this advantage is by: (1) Mello obtaining a Death Note of his own, allowing him to ascertain the real ruleset, and (2) Near not being directly involved in Light's life the way L was, and there not leaking any extra information about himself until the finale. That last bit is especially critical considering L was taken out precisely because he was physically present and therefore had his real name observed by Shinigami eyes. I think the most under-utilized ability of the Death Note in the series is the ability to specify manner of death. Light uses this on occasion, but he could've have made many criminal deaths seem accidental or suicidal in addition to staggering their occurrences in time in order to throw L off from the very beginning.
- arugulum 7y ago
  >I think the most under-utilized ability of the Death Note in the series is the ability to specify manner of death. Absolutely. This ability is so significant that it completely overshadows the ability to kill people. If anything, the deaths should be treated as an unfortunate byproduct of being able to control people for 23 days in a row.
  - chacha2 7y ago
    There were limits to this ability though. All behaviour had to be in character.
    - arugulum 7y ago
      Agreed, but there is still so much you can do. You can make dictators liberalize their countries. You can make billionaires donate away their wealth. And so on.
- Kaiyou 7y ago
  As far as I remember the only reason Light lost at the end is because a character managed to make an exact replica of a Death Note overnight. A magic book that can hold infinite names. It was this plothole that ruined the ending for me.
  - faceplanted 7y ago
    To be fair to him, it's generally portrayed as a generic black notebook with words on the front, and the only way to notice that lack of infinite pages is to write hundreds or even thousands of names.
    - Kaiyou 7y ago
      I was more concerned with the ability to copy infinite or even just a couple of hundred sites overnight.
squirrelicus 7y ago
> Remember, the goal is fear, not specificity. I think that's where your proposal breaks down. Light is powerhungry and arrogant, but he's also very moralistic. A character that proritizes fear over accuracy would be a different character than Light. He wants to build a better, even perfect, world. And for that, he must have accuracy. Otherwise he's a mere tyrant, something he believes he is not. Of course, it's worth saying, the great archetypal tragedy of the story, and what makes it excellent literature, is that his goal is unacheivable. Humans are deeply imperfect and powerless to end evil completely. And the process of trying turns us into the worst of all monsters that can possibly exist.
- arugulum 7y ago
  >Light is powerhungry and arrogant, but he's also very moralistic. A character that proritizes fear over accuracy would be a different character than Light. He wants to build a better, even perfect, world. And for that, he must have accuracy. Otherwise he's a mere tyrant, something he believes he is not. Somewhat. You're right that Light is extremely ambitious in his goal, but fear is also explicitly his chosen strategy. (Also, Light very clearly leans into being a tyrant. He says that eventually, he wants to start executing useless people as well.) Another thing to consider is that (and I believe this happens in the manga), the news reporting itself responds to the Kira phenomenon, and starts publishing names accordingly. For us, let's think "Top 10 people in the world Kira should kill right now" listicles. The upside is that the information becomes more readily available. The downside is that you (our hypothetical, less-evil Light) may eventually want to exercise some discretion over who's being killed, and that would be where information gets leaked, and that's where I think this strategy might falter.
- fennecfoxen 7y ago
  Is that really meant as the tragedy? I'm not sure to what extent it's really intended that way. Light's attitude to criminal justice is a distressingly realistic one in a country where 99% of arrests lead to confessions. Just a little light reading that's close at hand from a few years back: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confess https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confe... https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/12/03/silent-screams https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/12/03/silent-screams See also any critical commentary on Nissan and the extraordinary case of Carlos Ghosn.
rolltiide 7y ago
Death Note ended when L died.
- magpi3 7y ago
  This is a significant spoiler for those who haven't seen the show. Please delete it.
  - flocial 7y ago
    I agree, it's not only a spoiler but adds nothing to the main subject under discussion.
  - egypturnash 7y ago
    Do spoilers for a decade-old comic book/tv show really matter?
    - homonculus1 7y ago
      Yes, why wouldn't they? As long as it's culturally relevant, people benefit from experiencing it without spoilers. You shouldn't take that possibility away from them just because you already got yours.
  - rolltiide 7y ago
    lol wow and people were agreeing with me for a few hours there too but looks like consensus flipped! oh well too late for me to do anything about this decade plus old spoiler @dang do your thang
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - keerthiko 7y ago
      everyone agrees with your point, but the fact remains that your comment was not only a spoiler but also added nothing useful to the discussion in this thread or to the thesis of the article.
Haga 7y ago
The notes opponent could always do a fragmentation of the public. Given enough time such a binary search over people + your search providers knowledge over your searches would tighten the net.
h1d 7y ago
It's not about hiding. Light was aiming to rule the world, as in completely eliminate any opposing parties, and you can't kill them without revealing part of yourself.

michaelscott 7y ago

I agree with this completely; Light makes up for what I would say is an inferior deductive ability by using a supernatural item with rules that defy ordinary logic and reason (L catches on early that such a tool must exist with his TV announcement stunt, but he can't possibly know the ruleset of such an item). The only way Near and Mello end up overcoming this advantage is by: (1) Mello obtaining a Death Note of his own, allowing him to ascertain the real ruleset, and (2) Near not being directly involved in Light's life the way L was, and there not leaking any extra information about himself until the finale. That last bit is especially critical considering L was taken out precisely because he was physically present and therefore had his real name observed by Shinigami eyes. I think the most under-utilized ability of the Death Note in the series is the ability to specify manner of death. Light uses this on occasion, but he could've have made many criminal deaths seem accidental or suicidal in addition to staggering their occurrences in time in order to throw L off from the very beginning.

arugulum 7y ago
>I think the most under-utilized ability of the Death Note in the series is the ability to specify manner of death. Absolutely. This ability is so significant that it completely overshadows the ability to kill people. If anything, the deaths should be treated as an unfortunate byproduct of being able to control people for 23 days in a row.
- chacha2 7y ago
  There were limits to this ability though. All behaviour had to be in character.
  - arugulum 7y ago
    Agreed, but there is still so much you can do. You can make dictators liberalize their countries. You can make billionaires donate away their wealth. And so on.
Kaiyou 7y ago
As far as I remember the only reason Light lost at the end is because a character managed to make an exact replica of a Death Note overnight. A magic book that can hold infinite names. It was this plothole that ruined the ending for me.
- faceplanted 7y ago
  To be fair to him, it's generally portrayed as a generic black notebook with words on the front, and the only way to notice that lack of infinite pages is to write hundreds or even thousands of names.
  - Kaiyou 7y ago
    I was more concerned with the ability to copy infinite or even just a couple of hundred sites overnight.

squirrelicus 7y ago

> Remember, the goal is fear, not specificity. I think that's where your proposal breaks down. Light is powerhungry and arrogant, but he's also very moralistic. A character that proritizes fear over accuracy would be a different character than Light. He wants to build a better, even perfect, world. And for that, he must have accuracy. Otherwise he's a mere tyrant, something he believes he is not. Of course, it's worth saying, the great archetypal tragedy of the story, and what makes it excellent literature, is that his goal is unacheivable. Humans are deeply imperfect and powerless to end evil completely. And the process of trying turns us into the worst of all monsters that can possibly exist.

arugulum 7y ago
>Light is powerhungry and arrogant, but he's also very moralistic. A character that proritizes fear over accuracy would be a different character than Light. He wants to build a better, even perfect, world. And for that, he must have accuracy. Otherwise he's a mere tyrant, something he believes he is not. Somewhat. You're right that Light is extremely ambitious in his goal, but fear is also explicitly his chosen strategy. (Also, Light very clearly leans into being a tyrant. He says that eventually, he wants to start executing useless people as well.) Another thing to consider is that (and I believe this happens in the manga), the news reporting itself responds to the Kira phenomenon, and starts publishing names accordingly. For us, let's think "Top 10 people in the world Kira should kill right now" listicles. The upside is that the information becomes more readily available. The downside is that you (our hypothetical, less-evil Light) may eventually want to exercise some discretion over who's being killed, and that would be where information gets leaked, and that's where I think this strategy might falter.
fennecfoxen 7y ago
Is that really meant as the tragedy? I'm not sure to what extent it's really intended that way. Light's attitude to criminal justice is a distressingly realistic one in a country where 99% of arrests lead to confessions. Just a little light reading that's close at hand from a few years back: https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confess https://www.economist.com/leaders/2015/12/05/forced-to-confe... https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/12/03/silent-screams https://www.economist.com/asia/2015/12/03/silent-screams See also any critical commentary on Nissan and the extraordinary case of Carlos Ghosn.

rolltiide 7y ago

Death Note ended when L died.

magpi3 7y ago
This is a significant spoiler for those who haven't seen the show. Please delete it.
- flocial 7y ago
  I agree, it's not only a spoiler but adds nothing to the main subject under discussion.
- egypturnash 7y ago
  Do spoilers for a decade-old comic book/tv show really matter?
  - homonculus1 7y ago
    Yes, why wouldn't they? As long as it's culturally relevant, people benefit from experiencing it without spoilers. You shouldn't take that possibility away from them just because you already got yours.
- rolltiide 7y ago
  lol wow and people were agreeing with me for a few hours there too but looks like consensus flipped! oh well too late for me to do anything about this decade plus old spoiler @dang do your thang
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
  - keerthiko 7y ago
    everyone agrees with your point, but the fact remains that your comment was not only a spoiler but also added nothing useful to the discussion in this thread or to the thesis of the article.

Haga 7y ago

The notes opponent could always do a fragmentation of the public. Given enough time such a binary search over people + your search providers knowledge over your searches would tighten the net.

h1d 7y ago

It's not about hiding. Light was aiming to rule the world, as in completely eliminate any opposing parties, and you can't kill them without revealing part of yourself.