I must say… that was an amazing episode! I didn’t think Death Note would be able to surpass itself, but holy god, it did! I never expected this to happen to Mello and Takada at all. The people who say that the second half sucks really need to see this episode.
Mello, who started out as an annoying brat totally received my respect after this episode. He also shows that he’s only human, he knows that Near is about to get Kira, and he himself hasn’t been getting anywhere with Misa, so he decides to go for one final attempt to defeat Near, and he makes mistakes which cost him his life. He never knew that Takada possessed a few pages of the Death Note, and he had to pay for this. All the bad things I’ve said about him, I take them back after this episode.
And Light finally demonstrates how cruel he can be. If Takada gets discovered, it’ll mean that Near finds out about her, holding the Death Note and his plan will be gone, so he makes use of the fact that she was abducted by Mello to make her commit suicide. The question remains: will Near buy it? I think, though, that he’s become so focused on his plan that he won’t be able to notice this.
While I originally believed that this would turn into a “calm before the storm”-episode, it turned out magnificently. I doubt whether the next two episodes will be able to beat it, though we’ll see. This isn’t the first time that Death Note surprised me. I’m glad to see that after a bodgy middle part, Death Note managed to redeem itself completely, and I can’t wait to see the next episode!]]>
Death Note – 35
Just hope that they can finish subbing the series before next Friday — Viz sent out cease and desists to the sub groups, and they’ve got till the 22nd to comply.
Ouch… that will be too late. The next episode will probably get released next thursday, while the final episode only airs the Wednesday after that.
Probably some rogue fansuber will be found at tokyo toshokan. If not, well we can always learn enough japanese in one week to be able to watch the Ep RAW (if only that could be true).
well, i just finished that last episode, and came here to read, felt like sharing thoughts.
First and foremost , I share your first opinion, this episode is a great one, maybe the best one after the one featuring L’s death, so to say.
And also, Mello seemed more “human” and real than any other major character to me; he saddens with the death of his ally by Takada’s guards. Liked him even more in a way somehow, besides, he has cooler clothing than anyone!
Additionally, i think Near won’t buy the trick. Well, there is this fact, just before the suicide incident, Mikami leaves his office, to do something. Well, think about this; Takada is the connection inbetween Mikami and Light, Mikami won’t be able to communicate with Light during the incident and be coordinated. It is also emphasized throughout the series that Mikami can act on his own to serve Light’s interests. I deduced that Mikami possibly left the office to kill Takada, thinking in the same way as Light to avoid the exposure of Light as Kira (If i remember right, Mikami still has some pages of the death note). This should mean something, i mean , Near is constanly watching Mikami through the agent Giovanni. This should possibly alert Near, although he is currently too focused for his own good. My prediction is it that Near will get the “real” notebook somehow and handicap Light at the final showdown .
And there is the symbolic/metaphoric thing. Mello and Near are L’s successors. They are pretty much L reincarnated, or at least continued representatives of L (metaphors, again). Near, while acting alone won’t be able to stop Light, as it has been demonstrated. However with Mello manipulating incidents, ( sudden kidnap out of nowhere), Near and Mello,although competing with each other, ( and although one of them is dead as of now) will catch Light. This last paragraph-thing is just intuition. 🙂
Anyway, i can’t wait for the next one.
Quite some interesting theories you have there. I guess we’ll only know for sure when the episodes aired. Light and Near both have made plans, and they both tried to anticipate each other’s plans. Now it’s just a matter of whose plan is the best, and the loser dies.
The big question of this episode remains whether Near will think something behind the sudden change in Mikami’s pattern. Giovanni probably realized this, but Near himself could be too caught up in the plan that he already conjured to pay attention to this.
I don’t have read the manga, but I think it’s quite posible to have the loser not die. The one who “wins” dies in the end and the “loser” lives. Seems to me that this is a history with such a type of ending.