watching light die in an unfamiliar environment, all his friends wanting him dead, defeated made me sad for him. he was outwitted, dumbfounded and bleeding to death wishing he had done something different with his life. sure, he was a physcopathic, egotistical serial killer with a god complex but i still felt bad for him because of the reasons i just listed. it’s funny because that’s how light wanted bad people to die, in gruesome ways, alone, without help, running from authorities and i guess he got a taste of his own medicine.

I originally intended to write this post just to share my thoughts on the different adaptations of Teru Mikami. However, while I was thinking about how to discuss his appearance in Death Note: Light Up the New World, I decided that I would also go into detail about one of the worst ideas ever conceived in the Death Note franchise, one that I'm surprised people don't talk about more often. If you'd like, you can skip ahead to the paragraph beginning with "FINALLY" to get to the main point of this post.

I think it's safe to say that Mikami was one of the best things about the second half of the anime. His extreme sense of justice, his creepy and exaggerated facial expressions, his epic way of writing in the notebook, and so on, made him one of the most beloved characters in all of Death Note. I'm sure he even managed to rekindle some people's interest in the story after the tragic deaths of L and Soichiro.

The first thing I want to discuss is the differences between the anime's Mikami and the one featured in Death Note Relight. In the series, Mikami spends most of his screen time being portrayed as a stoic badass who acts as a ruthless crusader against evil. We even get a flashback to his tragic childhood, which allows us to empathize with him. However, once we reach episode 36, we finally get to see just how horribly disturbed he really is, as he writes down the names of the Task Force and FBI agents with a demonic unhinged expression on his face. I still remember how shocked I was the first time I saw such a cold and calculating character completely lose his mind. It's easily one of my favorite twists in the series.

However, the Relight movies portray Mikami differently. We get new scenes in which he mercilessly murders a television crew simply for criticizing Kira, as well as another scene where he talks to Ryuk about the role God has assigned him. In the latter, Mikami laughs like a maniac while spinning around in his office chair. From the very beginning, it's made abundantly clear that he's a complete nutcase who's even crazier than Light. Both anime versions of the character are quite interesting in their own ways.

Next, we have the 2015 J-drama. While this live-action adaptation is notorious for drastically changing the personalities of almost every character, Mikami is one of the characters who stays closest to his original counterpart, alongside Matsuda. The actor looks and behaves almost exactly like his manga counterpart while also adapting the character effectively to the live-action series' dynamics. I absolutely love how he recreates the iconic DELETE scenes without resorting to the anime's over-the-top exaggeration. Definitely one of the best casting choices in the series.

The storyline they gave Mikami in this adaptation also pleasantly surprised me. He's introduced in the first episode as the prosecutor who handled the case against the guy who murdered Misa's parents. The scene in which Mikami informs her that her parents' killer is being released from prison does an excellent job of showing just how disappointed he is with the justice system he works in.

After that, Mikami makes sporadic appearances throughout the first half of the show, watching the Kira phenomenon grow and receiving some information about L's investigation without directly interfering with the plot. The only notable exception is when he confronts an amnesiac Misa and demands that she reveal she is Kira. 

It's in episode 8 when Mikami truly becomes a major character. He steals Misa's notebook and starts purging criminals on his own until Light contacts him and convinces him to form an alliance. After being the one to kill L, Mikami assumes the same role he had in the original story: eliminating criminals in Light's place to avoid raising suspicion.

Mikami is eventually caught alongside Light when they attempt to kill Near. However, Mikami gets off much more easily here than he does in the anime, as he simply starts a fire that accidentaly destroys his notebook, erasing in the process his memories as Kira. I was genuinely surprised that Mikami survived the live-action series. My personal theory is that he ended up in a psychiatric hospital. Feel free to share your own theories about what happened to him.

FINALLY, we come to the Mikami featured in Death Note: Light Up the New World, a sequel to the 2006 live-action movies that revolves around the successors of Kira and L facing off against each other.

Mikami could have played a fantastic role in this movie, serving as the new Kira and attempting to evade the Task Force. Instead, we got one of the worst plot twists in the entire Death Note franchise.

To put it briefly, the main villain of this movie is Yuki Shien, who obtains a new Death Note that originally belonged to Mikami. As it turns out, Mikami had been secretly taking care of Hikaru Yagami, Light's secret son, this entire time.

WHAT...THE...HELL?!

Okay, first of all, let's provide some context. Just like in the J-drama, Mikami was the prosecutor who handled the case against the man who murdered Misa's parents in this universe. For some reason, Light decided to entrust his son, Hikaru, to Mikami before his death.

Hikaru received a new Death Note that Ryuk dropped into the human world and began mercilessly killing people, which eventually led Mikami to kill him and take possession of the notebook. Mikami himself was then killed by Yuki shortly afterward.

For starters, WHEN DID LIGHT HAVE A SON? WHO DID HE HAVE A SON WITH? AND HOW THE HELL DID HE EVEN HAVE TIME TO HAVE A SON?!

Let's remember that this movie takes place in the continuity of the 2006 live-action movies, where Light loses to L just a few months after becoming Kira. There are no time skips, we know what Light does all the time, and Light NEVER gets sexually involved with anyone. He doesn't even sleep with Misa.

But even if he had, how could Light have "entrusted" Mikami with taking care of his son? If Misa had gotten pregnant, she wouldn't have found out until after Light's death, meaning Light couldn't possibly have entrusted his child to anyone beforehand.

I also find it incredibly strange that Light would trust Mikami so much, considering that Mikami doesn't even exist in the 2006 live-action movies, and we're never given any indication that the two of them have any kind of relationship.

And if all that weren't enough, both Light and Mikami feel completely out of character here

Light isn't the kind of person who would willingly pass his legacy on to someone else. He's an egomaniac who wants all the glory for himself. He wouldn't want his son to accomplish what he himself failed to achieve.

And Mikami, according to the movie's novelization, abused Hikaru before eventually killing him. You're telling me that someone like Mikami, who practically worships Kira, would abuse and murder the son of the very man he considers a god? Shouldn't he see Kira's son as some kind of messiah?

Seriously, I'm at a loss for words. It's bad enough that they came up with an idea that was terrible from the very beginning, but somehow they managed to execute it even worse.

And it doesn't help that the actor playing Mikami doesn't look anything like the character. Is it really that hard to cast someone who wears glasses and has slightly longer hair? Seriously, what an absolute mess they did with Mikami there

(This isn't a question of "IF he would do it" or "WHY didn't he do it," but rather "if he actually did do it, what can he realistically do with this outcome.")

Let's say HYPOTHETICALLY that L is a psycho who doesn't really give a shit and just wants the Kira killings to stop at any cost.

He just illegally abducts Light by surprise the moment he is practically sure Light is Kira (which is pretty early on).

The killings would end and that would be significant circumstantial evidence.

Now what?

Can he even make a proper court case or something within the bounds of the law? Would the best move at that point just be to kill Light since obviously he can't just let him go? Or just torture him until he reveals the Death Note?

Instead of having L being in the first part and dying, then Mello/Near take over it should have been the opposite

I feel like L should have assigned Mello and Near to the Kira case because L was busy with other cases, or some other excuse, then after having Mello die and near fail then L comes and steps in

I'm 50/50 about it, but just a shower thought 🤷🏻

I've been thinking about this question for a long time, reading different opinions of people. It is generally accepted in the fandom that Light is still a villain, which I disagree with, judge for yourself:

In fact, who else was capable of this? Light obviously never killed before receiving the notebook, and yet, for the sake of a good cause, he decided to cross the threshold of his conscience, because it really tormented him, this man rejected his emotions, preferring a cold mind, for the benefit of all mankind, because initially, and until the end of the entire anime, this was his goal.

When people say that "Light is a villain because he killed innocents," I don't see any justification for this argument. He killed only those who deserved it, and all those who hindered him - they actually hindered him, his global and righteous goals. What would you do in his place? Are you saying that he should be resigned, give up his good purpose, and let himself be caught? Naomi, L, Ray, the FBI, he didn't kill them for nothing - they were a threat to him, Light had a valid reason to remove them, he didn't kill "innocents" just for fun - but because they posed a threat to him, not only for his global goal in the name of justice, but and his life as a whole. In his place, every smart person would have done so if they had decided to use the notebook, of course.

Well, let's see - who's the real villain here? I think it's not Light who's the villain, but L, who uses absolutely any methods to break the law, just to get his way, he doesn't know morality, the concepts of "friendship", "trust" - because Light, like him, used him for his own purposes in order to find out some information and catch, that is, L is ready to commit outright violation of the law, lies, hypocrisy, manipulation, and for what? Finally, justice has appeared - finally, people can live without fear - but no, Light is necessarily a villain, because he kills the scum from which the prison is not saved. Take real-life examples - prison doesn't fix criminals - it just makes them more careful. Bad people don't change. They get out of prison and continue to do what they did - rape children, kill just out of thirst for blood - are such people subject to correction? No, absolutely not. Well, a ray of light appeared in the gray world - Light Yagami, the only one who decided to use the notebook for the benefit of all mankind, to protect all the weak, and they want to catch him, even though the person is really doing what the police are incapable of.

For me, Light is an unprecedented hero, and he will always remain one. There's just not enough of that in our world.