#matsuda and L ARE friends and i will die on this hill

[cecenyss]

the Real mystery of death note is that Light somehow convinced the fandom that he is the socially competent one and L is the recluse with no social skills. Light thought it was realistic to respond to the emo freak at his college who said he was a world famous detective after hunching over like a gremlin taking his shoes off in public and sitting like a frog was "if you're telling the truth i respect you greatly." L frequently performs social tests on people close to him to see what they'll say with the goal of studying their responses and picked up a call from his friend in a potentially volatile situation by flawlessly imitating a douchebag friend who parties too much while likely never having been to a bar in his life. they are not the same.

[evelights]

Can i ask for 11, 19, and 20 of lawlight?

ask game

11. who tops?

they switch and i’ll die on this hill!

19. who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Watari is the one who finds out about their relationship first, L didn’t really have to tell him. in fact, L suspects Watari knew about them before he even knew about them, which kinda ticks him off.

it takes a while for Light to work up the nerve to tell his family, especially Soichirou. as someone who’s spent his whole life trying to maintain the role of the ‘perfect son’, he would understandably be a little hesitant about being open about his and L’s relationship to them.

20. what do their family/friends think of their relationship?

Watari is pretty indifferent. at first he was probably (understandably) confused, maybe a little concerned, but in the end he thinks Light is good for L, and vice versa. he’s never seen him so happy.

Soichirou is pretty shocked and slightly disconcerted when Light first tells him, but ultimately he just wants his son to be happy, and he’s pretty proud that his son can match up to the world’s three greatest detectives in such a way. as for his mom and sister, they were immediately supportive. they have no reason not to be, after all. sayu especially takes a liking to L and thinks it’s cool that Light’s boyfriend is all ‘mysterious’.

and as for friends, Misa (who, in my own little headcanon bubble, is a lesbian and knows it. good for her!) is ecstatic to learn that Light and L are officially Together. the rest of the task force members are relatively indifferent. sometimes Misa and Matsuda will bombard them with far-too-personal questions and Aizawa will threaten to kick them both out of the room for it.

[weirdcrocodilelady]

Me: *sees people are talking about Aizawa* my time has come. Aizawa just happens to be my NUMBER ONE FAVORITE CHARACTER IN ALL OF DEATH NOTE and I have yet to meet anyone who appreciates him as much as I do. I love Matsuda with my whole heart and I relate to him the most out of all the characters (I’m 23 and the youngest at my work and also a dumbass), but the reason Aizawa is my favorite is because I think he is the true moral compass of the series. Ohba said “only Soichiro is good,” but I believe in DOTA so I reserve the right to disagree :) All the task force members have strong morals, but Aizawa is the only one who COMPLETELY stands by his morals and acts according to his moral compass even when it doesn’t benefit him to do so.

Soichiro and Matsuda both refuse to be suspicious of Light even when so much evidence points toward him being Kira (I can mostly give Soichiro a pass for this because Light’s his son, but I still can’t say it’s great police work to dismiss a highly respected detective’s main theory just because you don’t like it), but Aizawa is able to put aside his respect for Light in order to look objectively at the case. That being said, even when he grows suspicious of Light he doesn’t rush to arrest and punish him without any concrete proof, because that would also go against his principles.

Another way Aizawa shows his ability to stick to his principles even when it doesn’t benefit him is the way he openly defies and stands up to L. I think the scene where Aizawa yells at L and then quits the task force is one of the best scenes in the entire anime, because it’s the first time the spotlight is put directly on Aizawa and we get to see how badass he really is--because really, what in the world has more Big D Energy than telling L you hate him? It’s also the first and ONLY time any of the characters calls L out for how sleazy and arrogant and cold he can be. Others may have protested against him before, but they were always commenting on specific incidents, not his entire character. Aizawa said “I hate him and the way he does things,” which is imo a lot more powerful of a statement than “I think this one particular thing you’re doing is wrong.” This is far from the only time Aizawa defies his superiors in order to follow his principles (”Near, I’m not going to follow your orders”), it’s just the most obvious and glaring example.

He’s also just basically a stand-up guy and loves his family and looks out for his colleagues and friends and the greater good, and whether or not you agree with his actions doesn’t change the fact that everything he does is based on the same solid set of principles, and he never changes his position or viewpoint just because doing so will work out more in his favor. He’s the only good cop in the series. Yes, this is the hill I will die on. Anyway, this really didn’t end up having to do with the original ask about Matsuda vs. Aizawa in the fandom, I just jumped at the opportunity to defend my favorite guy beause who knows when that opportunity will pop up again? I freaking love Aizawa, y’all.

(Also, I hope this didn’t come across as a Matsuda/Soichiro/L bashing sesh, because I swear I really do adore all three of them😰)

This isn’t an opinion that I personally agree with but I’ve seen quite a few people expressing that Matsuda is more sympathetic and a ‘better person’ than Aizawa ? Like if all the dn characters were to be ranked from good to evil Matsuda would be further on the ‘good’ side? Idk if you have any thoughts on this haha

I think there’s two reasons for that perception and they’re not necessarily based in the story: the average age of the viewers and the current political climate.

For one, Matsuda is just the more commonly relatable character. He is younger, making him a bit closer to the fandom’s usual age group, and he acts more whimsically while at the same time displaying obvious self-worth issues, etc. That makes him a character who is just that much more approachable - even if you don’t have any adult life experience, Matsuda is intuitive to understand. He feels more ‘human’, especially when you’re a teenager.

Aizawa meanwhile is older, more serious, married with kids... He also has a whole lot of distinct characterization and personal struggle, but I am going to guess it resonates a whole lot less with the audience that is most often in their teens and early 20s. He gives less room for projection - and as such, I think a lot of readers are just inclined to pay less attention to him.

Which then makes him stay in memory primarily as the category of his work: cop. And like, don’t get me wrong, cops have always sucked - but this has become more blatant and more common to point out in recent years.

So then a lot of the impression remains as “likeable and relatable young cop desperate to please” vs “just a cop ig” - and based on that, I understand why people default to viewing Matsuda as a better person. Based on the actual manga, I don’t think that’s fair. Aizawa has as much going on as Matsuda, they’re both interesting characters in their own right.

And they are both... decent normal people? I’d honestly feel weird trying to reason out who is ‘better’ and ‘worse’ morally - like, they’re just normal. I can’t really weigh the minutiae of their personalities and make some decisive judgment here. Aizawa has a more rigid moral code where Matsuda is more of a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, but that’s really all I got.

THEY’RE FLAWED HUMANS AND DECENT GUYS.

[cecenyss]

I stand victorious as you tremble before me

the Real mystery of death note is that Light somehow convinced the fandom that he is the socially competent one and L is the recluse with no social skills. Light thought it was realistic to respond to the emo freak at his college who said he was a world famous detective after hunching over like a gremlin taking his shoes off in public and sitting like a frog was "if you're telling the truth i respect you greatly." L frequently performs social tests on people close to him to see what they'll say with the goal of studying their responses and picked up a call from his friend in a potentially volatile situation by flawlessly imitating a douchebag friend who parties too much while likely never having been to a bar in his life. they are not the same.

[cecenyss]

I dare you

the Real mystery of death note is that Light somehow convinced the fandom that he is the socially competent one and L is the recluse with no social skills. Light thought it was realistic to respond to the emo freak at his college who said he was a world famous detective after hunching over like a gremlin taking his shoes off in public and sitting like a frog was "if you're telling the truth i respect you greatly." L frequently performs social tests on people close to him to see what they'll say with the goal of studying their responses and picked up a call from his friend in a potentially volatile situation by flawlessly imitating a douchebag friend who parties too much while likely never having been to a bar in his life. they are not the same.