#dn ng

My personal arguement: Taichi’s surname (formerly Kunugida, now Amazawa) represents his identity - how he sees himself and how he is seen by others. Consequently, the act of changing one’s name represents the decision of moving on from his [criminal] past and yearning for at least partial redemption. The episode thus expores the question whether one’s identity should be defined by their past actions (Taichi Kunugida) or by who they are working towards becoming in the future (Taichi Amazawa).

Let’s start with a brief elaboration on the two opposing viewpoints presented in this episode!

On one hand, we have Taichi’s girlfriend Hayaka, who sees him as Taichi Amazawa - she judges him based on his current actions and not based on the act of killing a young girl as  Taichi Kunugida. According to her, he is “no longer Kunugida”.

On the other hand, all other major characters in this episode judge him based on the killing that took place. This includes Taichi himself,  who does not feel like he deserves to live a happy life as a possible husband and future father. Of course, this is certainly a valid viewpoint, especially in the case of the older woman related to Taichi’s victim, who simply cannot forgive Taichi for what he has done.

Yet, Shien takes this a step further by planning to write down the names of Taichi and Namaki, his former partner in crime, in his Death Note. As the victim of a similar crime and as a Kira supporter, Shien judges both Taichi and Namaki based on their past actions and does not believe that they should get the chance to redeem themselves.

Now, how does this conflict further explore themes of regret and (partial) redemption?

This is when the episode presents us with a comparison between Taichi and Namaki. Clearly, Namaki is very much the foil to Taichi’s character - they share the same past but, in the present, choose to define themselves differently. While Taichi is living a quiet life and performing hard but honest work, Namaki is planing to commit further crimes and does not regret his past at all. Thus, he threatens Taichi in order to make him join his criminal ways once more.

However, when Namaki dies because of the effects of Death Note, Taichi finally feels like there might be a chance to partly move on from his past. After all, the person mainly tying him to those events is now gone. Additionally, that meeting with Namaki has reminded Taichi of how he is aiming to improve himself and choosing live with the consequences of his actions, instead of taking the “easy” route.

This results in Taichi not having nightmares about his past for once (something he shares with Shien btw - both have frequent nightmares about family killings but from constrasting perspectives). In my interpretation, he realizes that he has the chance to improve himself and thus accepts Hayaka’s wedding proposal.

Now, whether that would redeem his character or not is up to personal debate. I personally think redemption is a matter based on personal relationships and values - you can be redeemed in the eyes some but not be forgiven by others. It would be unrealistic for somebody to be “completely” redeemed, as there will always be someone who won’t be able to forgive you (often for justified reasons). In a way, I do believe that Taichi has become aware of this notion as well. He might never be able to completely move on from his past but, to some people, he can bring positive change. I’d like to think that this is what lead to his change of mind.

Now, how exactly does that moral conflict conclude with Shien writing down Taichi’s name in the Death Note?

Ironically, this one night without any nightmares (and thus to Shien’s eyes, without regrets) is the reason why Shien chooses to write down Taichi’s name after all (although I do personally think that Shien might have written down Taichi’s name anyway and was merely looking for ways to justify his decision).

Interestingly, Shien confronts Taichi upfront about his actions - which is something he did not do before killing Namaki! Shien once more makes his moral standpoint clear by referring to Taichi as “Taichi Kunugida” and states the following: “Even if you change your name, your sin will not go away.”

And Shien is right about that. Taichi will never be able to completely erase his past. However, Shien refuses to even acknowledge Taichi’s new identity, his regret, and how he is aiming to become a better person.

In the end, Shien does write down Taichi’s name at home, observing Taichi through live security footage. (Of course he cannot be seen at the crime scene during the crime itself, but I do find that sudden distance after such a direct confrontation interesting as well.)

Shien writes down Tiachi’s name: Taichi Kunugida - his old surname. It’s the identity that represents his crimes and that Shien sees him through.

And so he waits for Taichi to die - but nothing happens.

Shien stops....and he is forced to acknowledge that Taichi’s birthname is not the name that can be used to kill him. Thus, when Shien now writes down the name “Taichi Amazawa”, he is forced to admit to himself that he was wrong about what Taichi’s real identity truly was.

In the end, the name used to kill Taichi represents the identity that he chose himself - the identity that he is striving towards in the present, not the identity defined by his past.

Once again, whether this prooves that Taichi is a redeemed character is not entirely possible to answer. It goes without saying that this is a tricky subject to discuss. Yet, what this episode does state (in my personal opinion!!) is the following:

While our past actions can not be entirely ignored, they are not the sole thing defining our identity. Rather, our identity also depends on how we react to our past actions and how we are willing to improve ourselves towards a future goal.

Of course this statement is a fairly popular one that’s explored in all sorts of different media - but I simply liked the execution in this particular episode and how (given the nature of the Death Note universe), names were used to drive this point further.

Moreover, I am aware that the universe that this miniseries takes place in is not the canon manga universe. From what I’m aware (pls correct me if I’m wrong!), we don’t know how name changes affect the Death Note in the manga. It was really just fun to explore this idea further (bc I feel like this moral conflict is something the manga did not elaborate on to the same degree) and to give these lesser-known Death Note characters some more attention. New content! We love to see it!

To conclude this spiral of Death Note thoughts, I thought it would be fun to end this with some translations of Taichi’s name(s)! Thank you so much for the translations and your general help regarding this post, @misora-massacre!

To directly quote Blue’s messages:

[02:19, 1.6.2020] Blue: Amazawa is written 雨澤, those are the kanji for "rain" and "swamp" [02:23, 1.6.2020] Blue: Kunugida is 椚田, those are "oak" and "rice field" [02:24, 1.6.2020] Blue: Taichi is written with the kanji for "thick"/"fat" and "one" [02:24, 1.6.2020] Blue: ....... He shares two kanji with [Touta] Matsuda's [02:25, 1.6.2020] Blue: The da at the end of Kunigida "rice field" is also the da at the end of Matsuda [02:25, 1.6.2020] Blue: And the Ta at the beginning of Taichi "fat" is also the Ta at the end of Touta

Some things that stand out in my opinion (but that could very much be coincidental): The common kanji with Matsuda’s name, as well the possible translation of “one” for Taichi’s first name in contrast his two surnames/identities.