Everyone and their mother knows that Death Note is a phenomenal show, easily beloved by both anime fans and those who don’t know their Lupins from their Luffys. However, that doesn’t mean that the series is flawless, especially considering modern standards.
While its cast was certainly memorable, its female presence is lacking, and most women characters were either killed off too soon or relegated to stereotypes and side characters. So, let’s take a moment to reflect on and appreciate the women of Death Note—may they get better screentime in another world.
Misa Amane
The original goth queen, Misa’s popularity has certainly made a comeback since the show’s initial debut. Whereas we once made fun of her as an annoyance, we’ve since grown out of our teenage zeal for animosity and can now appreciate her for who she is: a wildly charismatic breath of fresh air in a series full of self-important dudes.
Misa’s only crime (besides murder, of course) was falling for the wrong guy, but isn’t that true of everyone? Although she had Rem for support, Misa deserved not only the love of someone worthy of her, but she also deserved some female friends who could have gotten her out of dodge before it was too late.
Rem
Hello Miss Thing! Rem was notable for being the only female-presenting shinigami, as well as the only shinigami with a sense of morals. Although she wasn’t the first death god to fall for Misa, she was by far the most sensible, and was ultimately one of the least morally dubious characters in entire series (DESPITE being a literal god of death).
Unfortunately, her death was a result of a choice between saving Misa or letting her die, and she loved Misa too much to let that happen. Considering the aftermath of this whole situation, I think it’s safe to say that a box of tissues is in order.
Kiyomi Takada
The bad news: Takada is yet another cool girl who fell right into Light Yagami’s slimy little hands. The good news: She’s otherwise a badass, and we need to talk about it. Takada is impeccably sharp and crafty, to the point where Light sought her out in order to further his goals.
Unfortunately, her talents were wasted on him, and the writers committed a Bechdel-Wallace Test sin by pitting her and Misa against each other. Can you imagine how much would have gotten done if those girls actually teamed up? They could have realized their man was trash and gotten out of that whole situation together. What a dream team. Excuse me while I mourn the loss of what could have been.
Halle Lidner
Miss Lidner was yet another cool-woman-anomaly in the midst of a sausage fest, but at least she was on a team that didn’t verbally or psychologically manipulate her. As an underling of Near, Halle is what Wedy ultimately failed to be. Wedy was, more or less, a one-dimensional femme-fatale figure (sorry, girl). Halle played multidimensional chess at any given time and did so flawlessly.
She had her hands on multiple decks, including Mello’s and Takada’s, and kept calm and level-headed even in moments when her life was at stake. It’s undeniable that she played an essential part in bringing Mr. Potato Chip to justice, and she gets extra points for not dying in the process—yay!
Sayu Yagami
Oh, Sayu. Sweet, sweet Sayu. You were just an innocent caught in the crossfires of your brother’s megalomania. Every woman on this list (except Halle) suffered an unfortunate fate because of Light, yet the rub is even worse for Sayu, being that she was his little sister.
Sayu had no idea what was going on behind the scenes; in her mind, Light was her awesome older brother who was bringing criminals to justice. Until she was kidnapped, Sayu was a bright, bubbly, and intelligent girl with a lot of promise in her future. I truly hate that the writers made her trauma become such a defining part of her end-game characterization, and I like to think that she eventually comes to terms with what happened and rises above the memory of her brother.
Naomi Misora
Full disclosure, Naomi is my favorite character in the entire series and one of my favorite anime characters of all time, so this part is a little biased. That said, I think the bias is merited, because the author of Death Note LITERALLY admitted that he had to kill Naomi off early, or else she’d solve the case too quickly.
Naomi really was that smart. She made quiet, yet consistent headway in her investigation even while grieving the death of her husband, Raye Penber, and stood strong all the while. Her only lapse in judgment was in succumbing to Light’s manipulation, but if she weren’t grieving, she wouldn’t have fallen for the bait, and even then, her response was human—more human than most characters in the series. Naomi would have been such a compelling character to watch throughout the series, as she was brave and quick-witted in a way that matched the leads and outpaced most of the task force, and to this day, I’m STILL bitter that we didn’t get to see more of her.
Naomi Misora, we see you. Rest easy knowing you could have solved the case in two seconds, without any tennis-playing foolishness.
(featured image: VIZ Media)
