I made a comprehensive list of every time Mello and Near interact/mention each other/think about each other in the manga (minus a few brief mentions because they didn’t feel notable enough; things like Near saying that Light wants him and Mello dead, etc). I compiled this for my own reference, but I figured someone else might find it useful so here it is!
Chapter 59
- Mello walks past a room at Wammy’s House where Near is sitting and appears to look in
- Mello and Near are called into Roger’s office and informed of L’s death
Chapter 60
- Mello thinks about how much he wants to beat Near, establishing their rivalry and Mello’s primary motivation throughout the mafia arc
Chapter 61
- Continuation of Roger’s office scene
- There is a flashback where Mello receives a paper graded less than Near’s and glances back to see a crowd of students admiring Near’s score
- Mello hands L’s role over to Near
- Near is quite willing to work with Mello and looks sad, or perhaps a little annoyed, when he leaves
Chapter 62
- Near pulls Mello’s photo out of… where exactly?? His shirt???
Chapter 63
- Near says “it might be better if the notebook moves from the hands of the Japanese police into someone else’s possession”. I find this line interesting because the context suggests that he wants Mello to get the notebook; he’s talking about how he’s going to let L, who he sees as incompetent, deal with the kidnapping, i.e., he assumes L will fail to negotiate and the Death Note will be handed over to the mafia, so the line suggests that this could be a good thing (or at least the lesser of two evils, in which the mafia having the Death Note is more favourable than the task force having the Death Note). Maybe Near assumes that Mello acquiring the Death Note will result in the SPK ultimately getting more information about it, which isn’t technically wrong, but there is the intermediate step that many of his employees will be killed… there is no indication that he predicted that, though
Chapter 64
- Near looks like he’s smiling each time Mello outsmarts Light. Per my previous ramble, this could be another sign that he wants Mello to acquire the Death Note and is excited that Light is failing to prevent this. Alternatively, he finds it funny that Light is so incompetent. Or a combination of the two.
Chapter 65
- Near interrogates Mr Yagami about whether Mello was eating chocolate, and sort of compliments his plan by describing it as “elaborate”
Chapter 66
- Mello kills most of the SPK’s members
- Near tells Light about Mello
- The task force receives the drawings of Mello and Near, in addition to information about Wammy’s House
Chapter 67
- Near tells Light he is going to capture Mello and tries to explain Mello’s thought process behind sparing Chief Yagami and certain members of the SPK – it’s clear he understands Mello’s psyche in depth, and also feels that he is one of the people who matters to Mello (“Kira, you and L are all just people standing in his way”), though obviously not in a positive way
- Near states that “Mello isn’t stupid”
Chapter 68
- Mello requests that the president tell him all the SPK’s movements, meanwhile Near tries to track Mello
Chapter 75
- Near mentions Mello when discussing the fact that the task force joined up with Kira
- He says the words “Luckily, Mello escaped”, suggesting that he is happy Mello survived. There are several ways to interpret this. A) He believes Mello will cooperate with him at some point, which is also supported in chapter 76. B) He believes Mello has the knowledge and skills to track down Kira on his own (and to Near, either of them catching Kira is a victory). C) He did not want Mello to die for sentimental reasons. Mello is someone he grew up with and canonically, he likes and cares about Mello. I could realistically believe that Kira aside, Near was just glad that Mello lived
Chapter 76
- Light says, “Near would probably believe Mello” and damn right he would
- Near once again analyses Mello’s thought process and basically implies that he needs Mello in order to progress through the case. He asks his team to give Mello all their information if they come into contact with him
- Mello thinks about Near whilst an attractive woman showers in front of him
- Mello visits Near’s headquarters in his classic dramatic fashion and Near welcomes him
Chapter 77
- Near defends Mello when Gevanni and Rester act wary of him
- Near compliments Mello’s achievements in the case thus far, which Mello misinterprets as Near using him as a tool
- Near gives back Mello’s photo (once again, pulling it out of his shirt) in exchange for information
- “Dear Mello” is written on the back of the photo which indicates to Mello that Near always intended to give it back and wasn’t just holding it for future blackmail or with some other malicious intent
- Mello gives his iconic “I’ll be waiting for you” line
Chapter 78
- Near lies to the task force about the circumstances of Mello’s visit
- Light tries to convince Near that Mello is lying to him, but Near doesn’t even entertain the notion
- Near says “I believe Mello over a Shinigami”
- Near volunteers to write Mello’s name in the Death Note, expecting the task force to say no
Chapter 79
- Mello sends Mogi to the SPK headquarters and tells Near he’s good at interrogating; Near is impressed with Mello’s plans
- Near justifies Mello’s questionable actions to Mogi
- Near’s hideout gets raided two days later whilst Mello is still on the phone, which suggests that they’ve been working together to interrogate Mogi for those two days (or they’ve at least been in contact with each other)
- Light proposes that Mello was responsible for the attack which Near doesn’t buy for a second
Chapter 80
- Near tells Mello that he’s going to escape from the SPK building
- Mello looks annoyed when the raid happens – it could be because his plan was interrupted, or some rare semblance of concern for Near’s wellbeing (I am firmly of the belief that he never wanted Near to get hurt or die, even if it was just because a victory by default is not a victory in his eyes), or it could also be related the fact that Near is discarding a very large portion of a fortune that Mello was a potential heir to
Chapter 82
- Near explains Mello’s thought process in detail to Aizawa with the context of their upbringing at Wammy’s House
Chapter 83
- Near asks Lidner to give Mello information about the case, except that Light is L as he has faith that Mello will also reach that conclusion – presumably, if Mello independently identifies Light as the prime suspect, it would strengthen his conviction
- Mello correctly assumes that Near wanted Lidner to give him all his information, but does a lot of mental gymnastics to convince himself that they’re just doing favours for one another rather than outright working together
Chapter 85
- Mello tries to guess what Near was thinking when he gave Mello information, nothing particularly notable but it’s interesting that they both have a good understanding of one another and their thought processes/working styles
Chapter 86
- Continuation of Mello pondering Near’s intentions in giving him information. Interesting to note that he doesn’t come across as angry at all when he thinks about Near – the interaction in chapter 77 was tense but it really feels like he mellows out after that (pun intended)
Chapter 90
- Near mentions that Mello is a wanted criminal, and that he “lets his emotions control him”
Chapter 94
- This is the first time Near’s finger puppets are shown, and Mello’s puppet is positioned next to his in the collection. They seem to be arranged by organisation (so the SPK’s puppets are together, the task force’s puppets are together, and Near and Mello’s are side-by-side in the middle)
Chapter 99
- Near is frustrated by Mello interfering, and asks Lidner to stop him “at all costs” – this is one of the few times that Near seems genuinely angry in the manga
- Near mentions that Mello wouldn’t respond if he contacted him
Chapter 100
- There isn’t much shown of Near’s reaction to Mello’s death (even his facial expressions are hidden) and he is very quick to cut Lidner off when she’s about to mention him
Chapter 103
- Near retrieves Mello’s puppet and gives him credit for the victory. His eyes are obscured in these panels
Chapter 104
- Near goes into detail about why he owes the victory to Mello, and explains that he has always believed the two of them could only surpass L together rather than alone
- Lidner mentions that in her last conversation with Mello, he said “I guess I’m going to have to do it”, and when he’s shown, he looks very sombre – Near doesn’t believe he thought far ahead enough to know that the notebook in Near’s possession was fake, but there is an implication that the act of kidnapping Takada was done in an effort to assist Near, rather than surpass him as was his goal in the beginning
- Mello’s eyes are obscured in the panel that’s shown of him, and Near’s eyes are obscured most of the time whilst he’s talking about Mello – this doesn’t necessarily mean anything but it makes them look sad. I find it hard to believe this wasn’t deliberate
Chapter 108
- Near is shown eating a bar of chocolate
