L (Death Note)
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L Lawliet (エル・ローライト, Eru Rōraito), commonly referred to by his alias "L" (エル, Eru), is a character in the manga and anime series Death Note. He is considered the world's greatest detective, and he takes on the Kira investigation in the first arc. In the anime, L is voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi in the Japanese version and Alessandro Juliani in the English version.
Design and conception
Tsugumi Ohba, story writer of the series, created L as a "force of justice" and a "super detective" who stands between Light and Light's goals and advances the story. Ohba believed that the story would not hold much interest if L was significantly older than Light, so Ohba created L as a young adult. Ohba said that for L's name he wanted to use a single letter with a lot of significance; according to Ohba he considered "I" and "J" but decided that they did not "feel as good" as "L" and chose "L" "after careful consideration."[1]
Ohba said that he gave L the alias "Ryuzaki" because L is pronounced like R in Japanese.[2]
Takeshi Obata, artist of the series, described the thumbnails of L created by Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of the series, as having no "bags" under his eyes and a "plain face with no expression." Obata said that the thumbnail design was "great, and I wish I could have used it as is." Obata drew L as an "attractive young man" until Chapter 11, when the character appeared in person. After Chapter 11 Obata decided to contrast his appearance with Light's appearance; Obata said that he and Ohba held this idea.[3]
Ohba said that he left "everything" about L's character design to Obata. Obata asked Ohba if L could be "unattractive." Afterwards Ohba included ideas in his thumbnails, including L's manner of sitting, "he's English," and "he's listless." Ohba said that he added details regarding L's mannerisms and his "sweet tooth." Ohba credits Obata for the character designs.[4]
Obata said that, during the development of the early manga chapters, he feared that L would appear to be "so suspicious that Light would know instantly it was L if they ever met." When Obata's editor told him that he wanted L to have a face "looking cool based on the angle," Obata added black "bags" under L's eyes. Obata cited Devil Man's Akira Fudou when stating that he believed that black bags "looked cool." In addition, Obata thought of a "dead eyes" concept involving L having "mostly no eyebrows" and "all-black eyes." Obata believes that having black eyes usually makes a character "goofier," but the bags "sharpen the character's gaze." Obata believes that the design evokes "a feeling of mystery" and that the reader cannot determine L's true thoughts. In addition Obata said that the bags under L's eyes attracts speculation about L's lifestyle and past. He described the bags as "useful." Obata designed L with a "simple" white, long-sleeved shirt and jeans outfit to convey the idea that L does not put thought into choosing his clothing. In Death Note: How to Read 13, Obata presented an initial rough draft of L. Obata said that, with a "cool expression" and without the "bags" under his eyes the rough draft L looks like "a totally different person."[3]
When designing color book covers Obata assigned colors to characters to "get the atmosphere right." Obata assigned gold to L.[5]
Character
L, who also uses the aliases Hideki Ryuga (流河 旱樹, Ryūga Hideki), Ryuzaki (竜崎, Ryūzaki), Eraldo Coil (エラルド＝コイル, Erarudo-Koiru), and Deneuve (ドヌーヴ, Donūvu), the latter two for which he has developed reputations as the second- and third-best detectives in the world, is quite secretive and only communicates with the world through his assistant Watari. He never shows his face to the world, instead representing himself with a capital L in Cloister Black font. After meeting the Kira investigation team, he requests that the task force refer to him as Ryuzaki for discretion. The Kira investigation team never learns his true name.
When asked about L's nationality, Ohba responded saying "I think of him as a quarter Japanese, a quarter English, a quarter Russian and... maybe a quarter French or Italian? Something like that."[2]
L's disheveled and languid appearance masks his great powers of deduction and insight. He tends to second-guess everything he is presented with, and is extremely meticulous and analytical. He has several quirks such as preferring to crouch rather than sit, eating only sweet foods like desserts and fruits, and holding items very delicately. L stayed in England for five years, and during that time he was the champion in tennis for the England Junior Cup. L also secretly assumes the identities of the world's second and third best detectives, (Eraldo Coil and Deneuve respectively) a fact he and the Kira Investigation Team members keep to themselves.
L suspects early in the investigation that Light Yagami is Kira, but can not obtain any concrete evidence. In several situations, Light's seems to be proven innocent by the circumstances, but L remains skeptical. If Light were Kira, the case would be solved, and L has trouble letting go of this simple and complete solution.
Because of his initial suspicions of Light, L decides to join To-Oh University, the university that Light attends, using the name of Hideki Ryuga for investigative purposes. After L introduces himself as Ryuga, Light does not attempt to kill him since the name is conspicuously fake. Also, he has no way to know at the time whether the person is the real L or a proxy acting under orders. Light also reasons that L would have already introduced himself to Light's father earlier, and thus that if he somehow killed L, he would be easily uncovered as Kira. Light also fears that if he wrote Hideki Ryuga into the Death Note, that the face of the pop singer from which the alias was derived would enter his head, and would be killed by accident, which would lead L to the obvious conclusion that Light is Kira.
L tells Light that he is the first person that L could call a friend. In Death Note: How to Read 13 Ohba describes the statement as "a big lie." Ohba says that L has no friends and does not consider Light to be a friend. Ohba adds that L "probably thinks really negative things about him."[6]
L can easily present his conclusions publicly at any time, and with his reputation, is taken seriously.
In Chapter 58, Light tricks Rem into killing L for his own personal gain, making her believe that she must kill him for the sake of Misa's life. L's last sight before death is Light triumphantly smiling over his defeated rival, and in his last moment L confirms to himself that Light is the first Kira.
Death Note: How To Read 13 revealed many facts about L. His true birth name is L Lawliet. His date of birth is Halloween of 1979 (1982 in the anime), making him 25 when he dies on November 5, 2004. His height and weight are 179cm/50kg (5'10"/110lbs.), which would have meant he was severely underweight. It is implied that L was a former resident of Wammy's House, one of Watari's orphanages, as well as a safe haven and educational facility specifically for intellectually-gifted children. Therefore, similar to Near and Mello, L's abilities were discovered while living there, and he is most likely an orphan.
In chapter 38 of the manga, L suggests that even though he eats only sweet foods, he remains underweight because the brain uses the most calories of any organ in the body. He also says that if he sits normally, his reasoning ability would drop 40%.[7]
In the anime's finale, an apparition of L appears before the dying Light, who closes his eyes in the same fashion L does in the 25th episode.
L in the film
As there is no time delay between the first and second films, the second film begins soon before L supposedly dies. L retains many of the same characteristics seen in the original series. At the end of the first film, L eats potato chips in front of Light; Light had used a potato chip sack to hide a mini LCD television from security cameras while L filmed his room.
Unlike the manga and anime, in the second film, his original "death", caused by Rem writing his name in her Death Note, does not take effect, as L had written his own name in Misa's Death Note earlier. It is his self-sacrifice that allows himself stay alive for a longer duration (as he supposed Kira would kill him on that day), and allows the investigation team to apprehend Light. After Ryuk kills Light, Ryuk offers L the Death Note. L refuses, and Ryuk, saying that L is "no fun", leaves.
Twenty-three days after writing his name in the Death Note, and after burning all the remaining Death Notes and having a conversation with Soichiro, L dies peacefully while eating a chocolate bar, with a picture of Watari lying right beside him. He is portrayed by Ken'ichi Matsuyama, who also voices Gelus in the anime.
References
- ^ "How to Think." Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 61.
- ^ a b "How to Think." Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 59.
- ^ a b "Takeshi Obata Production Note: Characters." Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 127.
- ^ "How to Think." Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 62.
- ^ Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 117.
- ^ "How to Think." Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 64.
- ^ Death Note Volume 3. VIZ Media. 94.
See also
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