#i absolutely adore masataka kubota's light

[astersofthesky]

I am currently watching the Death Note Drama (2015) and I couldn't help but notice how the characterization for drama!Light seems a lot closer to the manga than in the anime in a sense that both manga and drama Light have not developed the "god complex" yet early on in the series.

Expanding just because. Manga!Light did lose weight and sleep for five days when he did the killings. He hid himself in a blanket when he realized he killed two people. He was willing to sacrifice his life because it's already a "point of no return," meaning he can't stop even though he wanted to.

You know, very like his drama counterpart. Yeah, Ryuk actively manipulates drama!Light into the continuous use of the Death Note though, BUT even that feels a lot more closer to the manga because if you've read this analysis post about Light, you'd understand. Here's a TLDR tho, Light told Ryuk he'd be "god of the new world" because of three reasons;

(1) Ryuk is looking for entertainment.

(2) Ryuk could very much kill when he wanted to. What better way to entertain a bored shinigami by doing something unexpected?

(3)-this one is of my own opinion- Light was offended.

Anyways, back to the manga, we see Ryuk appearing and then proceeds to tell Light he dropped the note cause he was bored and that probably was like an ice cold bucket poured in Light "admired by all" Yagami's head. He thought he was "chosen" yet Ryuk denies this. Yagami Light is a prideful man, he has to make himself feel he was chosen because he's "special" as it always has been the case for him. He starts developing this idea in his head that "you're wrong ryuk, i am special because i am the only one who can do all these 'sacrifices' to enact justice. I will be someone special! I will be the new god of this world!"

Which makes you realize why he tells Ryuk that in what qualification does he see himself deserving the title, it's because he's the top student of japan! Yagami Light is so prideful he thinks he's doing something heroic and altruistic, when in reality, his pride was the biggest factor why he started this "kira" thing.

That's why i said drama!Light is closer to manga!Light in this regard. However drama!Light is just a lot more genuine and good in his intentions, but with people screaming in his ear "Kira is our savior! Kira is kami!" it's so easy to indulge to in the voices until you start to believing in yourself that what they say is real. Like waking up the pride and arrogance lying sleep in his subconscious.

This is why the anime differs slightly at Light's origin. Anime!Light is already a man with a "god-complex."

Imagine anime!Light trekking up a huge mountain of praises and he was just one step closer to the peak when suddenly he can't find any stone to further advance in his steps so he just stays there, dormant and bored because maybe this is the only height he can climb with his limited resources but suddenly, a magical rope appears and he uses that to pull himself towards the upmost top. The magical rope was the Death Note. The one thing he was waiting for so he can reach the higher heights.

So when he claimed "I will be god of the new world." you CAN see that this man REALLY believes he is higher that all humans, that he was a "god" over them, and the Death Note was a testament to that.

Meanwhile, manga!Light and drama!Light took its time to actually solidify their god complexes over the course of the series.

Short mention for movie!Light!! A man who had an extremely high sense of justice that actually believed in the justice system so he was heartbroken to know the truth that the system is very much flawed. He gets the Death Note and decides to do what the law can not. So I think he had also developed his "god complex" much earlier than the manga and drama Light because the very reason movie!Light started killing is because "The law is useless, the police is incompetent. My judgement is better and it actually BRINGS results." is a perfect recipe for feelings of superiority over the others.

It's really interesting, how these Light's vary from one another.

[mikami]

A fun question, if you feel like answering: Which of the live action characters, from the drama, movies and musicals (even clips included, they don't have to be from the full-length musicals that are available!), has come closer to your image of the manga characters appearance-wise? Interpretation and changed canon aside, 'cause that would completely eliminate the drama and half of the other plots XD. Just on appearance and physique and such.

GOOD QUESTION... I am someone who struggles a lot translating 2D into an image of a 3D person in my head, so for the most part my image is always like "no, this is not quite right", but there are some where I feel they hit my idea of the character pretty well.

Gouki Maeda as Matsuda in the TV Drama is literally perfect, absolutely impeccable casting and styling both.

I absolutely adore Hinako Sano as Misa, but if it's by 'matching my mental image of Misa in the manga' then Tomomi Kasai's cosplay performance from 2014 comes closest!

Masataka Kubota's Light can come pretty close to my idea of Light, too! Not at the start, but towards the later parts of the drama when his hair is grown out more and he makes a serious face:

And Shugo Oshinari's Mikami is like... are his facial features necessarily how I pictured Mikami before? No. Are his expressions so unbelievably on-point for how I would translate Mikami's expressions into irl? YES YES YES!

I wish they had given him a different wig though... He's looked more like Mikami in a past role than he did with that hair, ah....

.... I guess this whole post was me praising the casting of the Drama but really, they did a stellar job.