I’ve posted abt this like a million billion times but I will never be over talking about the way that L’s death severely mentally affects Light in ways he neither expected nor admits to anyone, let alone himself. And the fact that it NEVER comes up overtly in a (typically very unsubtle) show just makes it even better.
Starting from the second half intro this SHOT is just gorgeous but also mirrors THIS shot from right before L dies
L’s death reflects his mind shattering.
Still from the intro, but what does light have left in his ‘perfect world’ after it all? Nothing except the death note, and two BLUE roses. Light recognises how empty everything is, this is his mind, and the only two things allowed to take up space are those two things in particular because if he looks around he’ll realise what that really means. And even if they’re the only things left they’re soaked in a puddle, they’re temporary too.
I also noticed THIS ONE in the intro recently, L (ONCE AGAIN WITH NO EYES BTW) literally inside of Light’s eye (it’s unclear if it’s meant to be a reflection or him metaphorically taking up space in Light’s head, maybe both). But the best part is light has no reaction. That’s his basic blank stare.
There’s these 3 from episode 26. Light turns in his chair, sees L, stares, then we cut to him and misa and his face doesn’t really change. he looks slightly more dead inside, if anything. But the implications of him hallucinating L saying something silent, and then immediately running to ask his girlfriend to move in with him without a change of expression are GOLDEN. Comp het final boss (he’s competing with Misa).
Killing L empties his world of passion, of meaning, but he will never admit that to himself. He can fill the void he carved out himself, kicking a screaming and bloody, with women and work and glorious purpose. But he can’t really, L keeps finding his way back in because he knows, somewhere deep down that light refuses to reflect on, that L and the death note are the only two things that ever mattered to him that deeply.
Of course he loves his family to an extent, his work, his image (I could write a whole other essay about the fact that he’s dressed like he was at the start of the series at the end of intro 2), but ultimately he lies to his family and goes into confinement for months to achieve his goals of killing L and continuing to reign as Kira. He considers killing Sayu, leads soichiro to his death. He never considers not killing L. He never stops thinking about him after the fact.
Idk how much of this makes sense I can barely verbalise what I mean but just HNNNNGGGGG
stormborns
theartofmadeline
andulkaphoto
