I just read the new Death Note one shot.
And while it is obvious that Light Yagami and Minoru Tanaka are very different from each other I want to point out that even their names are in contrast.
The surname Tanaka 田中 is one of the most common ones in Japan. The fourth one to be precise and means “dweller in a rice pally” . Given the fact that rice agriculture has been the most common activity in Japan for centuries that surname describes a common person. Then there is Yagami 夜神 whose literal meaning is God of Darkness.
Light、ライト in Japanese. An appropriate name for the one who wanted to create a new world, to bring it into the light”. The most beautiful and talented human just like Lucifer was the most beautiful and most loved angel. The ones who betrayed the childhood teaching by committing unforgivable sins. The apple is a symbol of this. And it’s not a mere coincidence that it’s almost always Light to give the fruit to Ryuk.
And then there’s Minoru. Written like this 実。This kanji can be read in different ways but has two major meanings:
1-Fruit, and here the mind goes to the apple itself. The apple gives Ryuk satisfaction for a short period of time before the shinigami seeks another one just like Minoru entertained him for a little while but now Ryuk wants another person to do the same.
2- Truth or Reality: I want to stress on the reality part. Minoru realized his own limits, he knew that he wasn’t a genius like Light and that if he tried to become the new Kira he would have been discovered in no time. ( Here I would also add that I believe he did not want to become the new Kira because he didn’t want to kill people and while in the end he sold the death note to gain money he could have done the same by using the death note killing and controlling strategically people in simple ways without gaining attention like Light did. Also the kanji could even mean Kindness, in fact Minoru did not want to hurt people and also changed a lot of lives for the better. He gave them money so happiness and no more fear in the future).
Light saw himself above everyone else. He was a genius, he had it all but he wanted always more. He was greedy. He was a narcissist and thought he couldn’t fail.
Light wanted to be the best and set an impossible goal to realize. He failed because of humans.
Minoru did not believed in himself. He justify his achievements with saying that he could obtain high scores only because he WASTED time on IQ quizzies. But... isn’t that an ability itself? He WAS good at something but he didn’t realize it. He believed himself stupid but he was not.
He didn’t get angry or upset during his plan. Light had temper tantrums. Even Near wanted to meet Minoru because he believed that Minoru was interesting , and he didn’t even wanted to arrest him because selling the note wasn’t a crime itself. Minoru wasn’t a criminal.
Minoru while smart was meant to be the normal guy. He set a possible goal and in order to not be discovered managed to not be greedy. Many people would have surely wanted all the money but he did not, he never even thought about it. He was the winner among humans. He failed because of gods.
In the end it’s true that the death note leads only to the owner’s disgrace. Because it is an instrument of bored gods. After all Minoru did not even use the Death Note, he shouldn’t have had a condemned life like Light did.
Gods will be always above humans, they respect the laws but can always create more.
Light was a sinner, Minoru was not. Both died.
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