Top 10 Tricks in Death Note

Here are my ten favourite tricks in Death Note. These are in chronological order of appearance in the series. Spoilers ahead. 

1. Determining Kira’s Location 

Performer: L

This was the pivotal scene where L outsmarts Kira in the beginning, when the broadcast is aired to the “world” (it was only aired in the Kanto region of Japan). From this scene, L gains three valuable pieces of information. One, that Kira exists. Two, that Kira can kill without being there in person but cannot kill under other circumstances. Three, that Kira is in the Kanto region.

2. False-Bottomed Drawer

Performer: Light

Light came up with an ingenious way of hiding the Death Note. If an intruder tried to ransack the drawer in his room, the Death Note would go up in flames.

3. Fake Name 

Performer: Naomi

Naomi manages to dupe Light by giving him a fake name. He is unable to kill her at first because of this, and Ryuk finds it very amusing.

4. Checking the Door

Performer: Light

Light suspects that there are video cameras in his room and around the house because of two reasons. One, he placed a piece of lead at the door and it broke. Two, he tilted the door handle at a certain angle. The intruder put the door handle back to the angle he left it, which could not have been done by a family member (it’s too careful, a family member would have put the handle to its normal position).

5. Writing in a Blind Spot

Performer: Light

This is one of the best scenes in Death Note, where Light takes a potato chip and eats it! He dupes L and the police on the taskforce by appearing to be studying in front of the video cameras, when he is actually writing down names and listening to the news hidden in the potato chip bag.

This scene is unforgettable because of its intense music and emotions. The cinematography of the animation is brilliant. It also shows us again how intelligent Light is, and what a great character he is.

6. Profiling with Tennis 

Performer: L

The tennis match between Light and L was really fun to watch. It was interesting because at this point in the anime, L already revealed to Light that he was L and that he suspected Light to be Kira. Both are super competitive so there was that dynamic present as well.

7. Memory Control

Performers: Light, Misa

Both Light and Misa gave up their Death Notes, which resulted in them losing their memories of the Death Note. This helped them later on when they were interrogated by Soichiro and L.

8. Fake Sakura TV Show 

Performer: Matsuda

Matsuda plays a key role in the series, especially in his involvement with Higuchi. The fake Sakura TV show brought forth Higuchi’s death as one of the Kiras.

9. The Fake Notebook 

Performer: Mikami

Mikami made a duplicate Death Note, which was a replica of the real Death Note. This was done to fool Near because he knew that he was being watched.

10. Switching the Notebook

Performer: Gevanni

Gevanni, who works with Near, broke into the locker where Mikami hid the real Death Note. Gevanni switched the real Death Note with a copy he made, which ultimately brought down Light’s downfall. Gevanni is a heavily underrated character, in my opinion.

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There are almost 90 tricks in the series! You can see why Death Note is such a great anime, and why it’s one of my top three anime. What were your favourite tricks in Death Note? Thanks for reading.

Death Note notebook

I did a gift exchange with fellow blogger, Bambi. You should check out her blog! Bambi lives in America while I am in Canada.

I got the notebook from the anime, Death Note! P.S. I took these photos on my bed so that explains the stuffed animals.

Nice cover material

Third page of the rules

The rules are all there 😛

String and feather pen

To my pleasant surprise, there are already names in here. The names of the actual characters who died are here. The writings are in Japanese Kanji. I appreciate this because it sticks closer to the original series and not the English dub. Do not fret, I can read some Chinese (which is basically the same as Kanji) which means I will help in translating. I’ll show some photos, but please – if you have not watched or finished the series but plan to, stop reading here. These are spoilers! I did not take photos of all the written names because that would be a lot.

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The first name Light Yagami wrote in the Death Note: Kurou Otoharada. He was the criminal at the nursery home. Light tested out the Death Note by writing his name.

Takuo Shibuimaru’s name is written in different ways. Light wasn’t sure of the spelling of his name. He was the person on a motorcycle who was harrassing a woman. At this point Light was still testing out the notebook.

Lind L. Tailor was a criminal sentenced to die, and went on live television while pretending to be L. This was L’s plan to find clues on Kira. Light killed him, thinking that he was the real L.

Light tests the boundaries of the Death Note by getting inmates to do strange tasks, before their deaths.

In order to get the identity of the agent following him, Light comes up with an elaborate plan involving the death of criminal Kiichiro Osoreda.

Both Light and Raye Penber write on this page. Penber kills all 12 FBI agents without even knowing it! It is cool to know the number of characters who have touched and/or written in this notebook.

Naomi Misora (killed by Light) and Kiyomi Takada (killed by Teru Mikami) are amongst the other names written inside.

The last name in this is Light’s name, written by Ryuk.

The notebook has the major names of victims killed by the Death Note. It does not have all the names (which I am thankful for because A LOT of criminals died in the series). It is not 100% accurate. For example, the page Penber wrote on was ripped out of the Death Note. The fact that it has the important deaths in one place is something that I like.

The rest of the notebook pages are blank, free for the owner to use. Hence, the feather pen. You may be wondering if I will be writing in this. I wanted this because I am a huge fan of the anime, and also for cosplay purposes. As far as I know, I will not be writing names down.