#aiber

[waifu4waifu]

actually diabolicial that light killed aiber and wedy. like probably to reduce the task force numbers as much as to "punish criminals." but like man you KNEW them. ur dad took a bullet her. that guy had kids.

[enneriver]

Death Note Summer by generaltifa on Deviantart (05/05/2008)

[pyreneese]

A few years ago, LxAiber seemed to be all over the place... We should bring that back.

[fndmfrenzy]

I rewatched Death Note focusing on the japanese 1st person pronouns the characters use (because I'm an otaku and I find it interesting). I'm not an expert, so I'm mainly going to point out everyone's pronouns and add a little analysis/opinion based on what I know or read online about their usage. Some characters probably won't get explanations because I have nothing to say. Also: since this is a piece of fiction the pronouns can tell us more about someone's personality. Also: I can only analyze the formality of the pronouns not the rest of the speech, because I don't know japanese that well!

Warning: like half of this post is about Higuchi because he's funny to me. And I included all of Yotsuba, who are pretty minor characters.

Kira Task Force:

Light Yagami Starting with Light as the main character, his pronoun of choice is 僕 (ぼく/boku). Boku is typically used by boys and young men. It's considered polite and humble. If I'm not mistaken only 2 other characters in Death Note use boku (Matsuda and Hatori from Yotsuba). It's a fitting pronoun for the perfect student and son, Light Yagami. It also gives a funny contrast to his ego-driven Kira speeches.

There is a couple of situations when Light uses 私 (わたし/watashi) (because it's gender neutral, and more... neutral in general). It's when he acts as L or Kira on the phone with someone, so in situations where he's trying to hide his identity.

L L uses 私 (わたし/watashi). It's gender neutral and usually used by men in formal settings. L comes accross as wanting to sound polite (he always uses honorifics for people, even correcting himself one time when he forgets to do so with Matsuda).

He yells out "Matsuda", but then corrects it to "Matsuda-san". He also calls Light "Light-kun" or "Yagami-kun". It's a funny contrast that he cares about this, because otherwise he isn't very polite (especially to Matsuda).

In the anime (sadly I don't think he uses any pronouns in that scene in the manga) when he calls Matsuda (who's in Yotsuba building) and pretends to be his friend he uses 俺 (おれ/ore).

Matsuda As I said earlier, he uses the same pronouns as Light - boku. He's the youngest member of the Task Force (save for Light and L) and his pronoun gives him that youthful feeling.

One situation I've heard him use a different pronoun was when he got busted by the Yotsuba Group, and introduced himself with 私 (わたくし/watakushi) - an even more polite version of watashi. Oh, he also uses watashi on Sakura TV, for similar reasons to Light's usage of watashi.

Soichiro Yagami 私 (わたし/watashi). I don't think he's ever shown using a different one? We only see most of the Kira Task Force at work, so it's expected that they all use formal pronouns.

Aizawa 私 (わたし/watashi). Except for when he's quitting the Task Force, then he switches to 俺 (おれ/ore). Ore is a masculine informal pronoun, considered more rude and rough. He's angry at L and it shows.

Mogi 私 (わたし/watashi), I think, but he doesn't talk much.

Team Kira:

Misa Amane Misa's main pronoun is her name. She basically talks about herself in 3rd person, which might sound silly in english, so most translations don't include it. It's cutesy and childlish and she probably does this as part of her idol persona.

She also uses 私 (わたし/watashi) at times (which is basically the most common pronoun used by women). As I mentioned before, it's considered formal when men use it, but for women it can be both formal and informal. Well, she uses it formally (when it's weird to just use Misa) for example in the Yotsuba interview. And of course, just like Light she uses watashi when posing as Kira (on the tapes in Sakura TV, on the phone in the 2nd part of the series).

Here's Misa using watashi during the interview:

Teru Mikami 私 (わたし/watashi)

Kiyomi Takada 私 (わたし/watashi)

Shinigami:

Ryuk 俺 (おれ/ore)

Rem 私 (わたし/watashi)

Yotsuba Arc:

Most of my research comes from Yotsuba arc (like all the specific examples above...) so I'm including the Yotsuba Group guys. But first, others from this arc.

Aiber 俺 (おれ/ore) usually, 私 (わたし/watashi) when acting as Eraldo Coil.

Wedy 私 (わたし/watashi)

Yotsuba Group: First I have to say that we see them most of them only at work, so they're going to use formal pronouns.

Hatori 僕 (ぼく/boku), but he uses watashi once when keeping watch on Matsui.

Takahashi He doesn't use any in the Kira Meetings (because he doesn't talk much). I'm pretty sure I heard him using ore (maybe at the party?), but I couldn't find it in the manga.

Namikawa 私 (わたし/watashi)

Mido 私 (わたし/watashi)

Shimura He actually is only shown using 俺 (おれ/ore). Even at the meetings. He's a very unassuming guy, so I feel like there's a contrast with him using the informal ore with his coworkers, when most of the others use watashi.

Namikawa and Mido still use formal watashi, even when the three of them are hanging out at Mido's house. The only one using ore is again, Shimura.

I think thanks to his kind personality his usage of ore gives a sense of familiarity, instead of sounding crass.

Ooi 私 (わたし/watashi) in the meetings. In a call with Kida, he uses 俺 (おれ/ore). I want to add that in a work setting ore can be used by people that are either older or in superior positions. Ooi is the oldest in the group, and de facto leads the meetings, but idk if it means anything. Maybe he uses watashi with the group, but ore one-on-one? Maybe that's the etiquette?

Kida 私 (わたし/watashi)

Higuchi We get more scenes with him and we get to see him switching pronouns. One of them is 私 (わたし/watashi). He uses it in those situations: - talking to Rem (and/or himself). He seems to respect her so he's usually formal when talking to her. This might be also him talking to himself, but since Rem's there let's assume it's at least half-aimed at her... Anyway, here Higuchi talks about marrying Misa:

Even when giving this ego-driven speech (again, about marrying Misa and some more...) he uses watashi:

Talking with Rem in the car:

- thinking. He's kinda inconsistent because he thinks with both watashi and ore. Mostly watashi though. Maybe he uses ore when he feels more confident? Here after confessing to Misa he's Kira:

And some more:

At least in two of those he's like "my life is over, i'll lose my job... oh and go to jail and maybe die... but my job...!"

- in formal/business setting. Ok that's a stretch, but before making this post I was convinced he used it more in the series. We can assume he would in a formal situation, but it doesn't happen in the manga so I have no proof. Huh. Here he pretends to be a lost businessman before shooting Light's dad:

Then there's 俺 (おれ/ore). It's typically used by men around family and friends. It can sound cocky, and indicates a sense of masculinity. Situations where Higuchi uses ore include:

- talking to coworkers. Higuchi doesn't talk that much during meetings and if he does he doesn't use any pronouns. I was wondering if he's more like Ooi (watashi during meetings, ore outside meetings) or Shimura (always ore). I think it's the second based on these two panels:

At least I think it's him talking to Shimura? This moment was cut from the anime so we don't know who's saying it, but it fits Higuchi (and the person saying it uses ore so that excludes most of the people there). The panel below it shows him responding to Mido with ore.

Below are other moments he uses ore with coworkers, during the Misa interview and on the phone with Mido:

Like with most things Higuchi does I think he's going for nonchalant, but it comes across as sloppy and disrespectful. Just look at him here:

His chair is so far back, he's leaning in it with crossed arms. He's trying to show how much he doesn't give a fuck about this interview... Even if it's in his interest to get info about L from Misa! Talk about posturing.

- date with Misa, including his Kira confession. I think it's common for men to use ore when talking to women they're pursuing? I've read about a shoujo manga where the male lead usually uses watashi, but it's a big moment when he switches to ore with the female lead to show he's serious about her (/interested in her romantically).

- thinking. This one happens before he confesses he's Kira:

And he uses ore after making the eye deal when he's like "I'm invincible" (lol). I don't know what to get from this, but there's like 3 panels where he thinks with ore as compared to 6+ with watashi.

Wammy's house:

Near 私 (わたし/watashi)

Mello 俺 (おれ/ore). He's the odd one out when compared to formal L and Near. Well, he is a thug and works with the mafia.

Matt 俺 (おれ/ore). I was surprised to find it so easily considering his lack of screentime.

[mizzmellos]

L has an exceptionally sound screening process for his employees.

[havingsomemorejohnlarks]

Death Note Spoilers!!

if you (somehow) havent watched death note and you are avoiding spoilers, best leave this post now cos im gonna be talking about the deaths

so i have a few of the sad soundtracks from death note saved on my 'grieving playlist' and i was listening to them last night because i wanted to break my own heart apparently? and here's what some of them make me think about!

Dirge - this one is fairly obvious as it plays when Naomi Misora dies, but it's more than that. When I hear this soundtrack, I think about how she had no idea what was coming her way. I think about how she was so intelligent and cautious and would have been a perfect addition to the taskforce, and I think about how young she was and how much life she had left that was taken from her. I think about how Aizawa walked right past her in the last moments of her life.

Also, of course, Raye Penber. Even after the investigation was complete, did anyone go back and think about the bus hijacking? about whether or not he came into contact with Light? Did anybody look back on the footage of him dying and think "I wonder if he saw Light in the last moments of his death"?

Requiem - L. Just L. He is my favourite character in the series so this one is pretty emotional for me but it's not just favouritism it is a little. Anyway, the fact that he knew he was going to die. You can't convince me he didn't - like, I'm sure he was clinging on to hope that he could solve the case but he also felt it slipping through his fingers. He knew but he still persevered in his mission because he knew he had to. Also, Watari. And the way L's voice shook when he died. He knew what was coming, but he also felt the shock of Watari dying. More than that - I honestly think he did so well with the Kira case considering he had no knowledge of the notebook. And his whole death episode, just- my heart.

Rem's Theme - Obviously Rem!! (I'm gonna use they/them pronouns for Rem because of the difference between manga and anime). Their dedication and feelings for Misa, the way they are so fully ready to kill for her even though they know what will happen if they do. Their protective nature. They are everything to me. Despite L being my favourite character, and Rem killing him, I don't hate them at all!! In fact, I don't put any blame on them for L's death. Their death is one of the most saddest ones. One of the comments on one of the youtube videos of this song is that this soundtrack sounds so gentle, slow and sad - exactly like Rem's story. This soundtrack is my favourite sad one in this show.

Also, added on to that. Misa. Poor Misa. Now, I love her as a villain and an innocent woman and I know she asked for it and knew exactly what she was getting into when she started something with Light, but I still think about how wonderful she could have been without him. And I think about how twisted and confused her psyche must have been!! She had the death note and the eyes, she lost her memories, she was told about her memories, she fully gained them back again and then she lost them again! She clearly wanted to be a "normal wife", as she stated herself and at that point, when she lost her memories for a second time, was she aware that Light had been using her? Or was she confused on why the guy she loves so, so much was treating her with boredom and contempt? Could she have had a better life without him? I think so. I just think she didn't know it.

Death Image - This one is one of the most heart breaking for me so I can't listen to it much 😭 When I hear this one, I think about a broken family. A traumatised, young daughter, a tired, over-worked and then dead father, a mother in absolute pieces who has no idea what to do now, and a cold, killing monster of a son who barely seems to care (although I believe, deep down, the part of him that was still Light Yagami, did care, but not enough to stop).

I also think about Mello and Matt and the ultimate sacrifices they made to help solve the case - and I think about how Near might have felt about it, about their deaths, about being kind of alone now (not that I think he ever minded being alone, but I mean ALONE alone).

Wedy and Aiber - people with full lives who could have lived happily.

All of those people. My heart.

L's Past - It has L in the title but I think about Light Yagami. I don't mean Kira because, despite them being the same person, they are also separate. I mourn for the person he could have been, the friendship he could have had with L, the family he could have supported and loved and the innocent, good man he could have been. He caused his own destruction and he ripped through every person in his path, knowingly or not. If his eyes had slipped right through the notebook, if he decided not to pick it up, if somebody else picked it up instead, if he could only have put it right back down, he could have been so good. But he didn't. He picked up the notebook and he wrote that first name down. And that was his fate sealed right there.

I hope you enjoyed this yapping session about death note and the way these soundtracks have me in a chokehold. I have happier ones I like but you know sadness is addictive, isn't it?

[deathnotepolls]

#34: Which Death Note character had the worst (to experience) death?

Naomi Misora

Light Yagami (manga)

Light Yagami (anime)

Matt

Kiyomi Takada

Teru Mikami (anime)

Misa Amane

Soichiro Yagami

Gelus

Aiber

Wedy

Results

Voting ended onJan 23, 2025

(Specifically manga!Aiber)

[hylianangel]

I'm actually so sad that the official translation randomly cut these two lines of characterization showing how close Aiber is with L.

Essentially changing "You gave me a better life, so I'd risk my life for you" to "This is fun" is a wild translation choice to me.

I mean I'm assuming it's for brevity reasons, but there's so much empty space in the speech bubble that they totally could have utilized, so I'm simply baffled.