#drama!light

Are....are you sure?

WARNING: THIS POST COMPLETELY SPOILS THE ENDING OF THE LIVE ACTION DEATH NOTE DRAMA. I RECOMMEND YOU PASS THIS UP IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED IT IN ITS ENTIRETY.

I just had a thought about the Death Note drama over Light’s birthday weekend:

The ending of the Death Note drama really messed me up, mostly in part of the writers making this pre-notebook Light Yagami actually relatable and kind of likeable. So, even though I understood the symbolism they were building up throughout the series, having him burn to death really messed me up, especially since I was very sure that they were going to kill him after his notebook burned up and have him die without his Kira memories. Trust me, the implications were clear that this was a viable path the writers could’ve taken after they took the time to show Misa and Mikami losing their memories when their notebook burned. Can you blame me for being worried that they’d actually do it to Light, too? But, that’s not what I want to talk about right now. It’s the fact that Light dies differently in the drama than in any other adaptation.

Usually, the trend is that Light gets killed by Ryuk who writes Light’s name down. In the drama, though, he dies “naturally” on his own.  There is a strong emphasis on fate in Death Note, what with the seemingly predetermined lifespans of humans, and these lifespans could only be altered by the usage of a Death Note through either cutting life short or indirectly extending it. As such, Light’s life isn’t cut short in the drama; this was when he was fated to die in the first place. Which makes me wonder: How would’ve Drama!Light died if he hadn’t accepted the Death Note? I just find this thought very tragic, since I stand by that Drama!Light is a sugar muffin without the notebook (as well as being a secondary caregiver to Sayu; ugh, now that just makes me depressed about Soichiro; there is just no way for that family to catch a break in ANY scenario [lol Death Note!]). Although, there is the silver lining in that the Death Note is clearly a tool for altering fate/lifespan, so maybe even just possessing it can alter the owner’s lifespan on some level through taking the owner’s plans for it into account, which could let Drama-notebook-less!Light live a bit longer? However, I can’t help but feel like that’s wishful, fanficcy thinking. Death Note is not known for being kind to it’s characters.