Does L die in Death Note live action?

It doesn't matter if you agree or disagree with Light; it stands to reason that he was the reason we finished Death Note. His genius and cunning made him impossible to catch, and by the show's ending, the one person who could truly challenge him was gone, leaving him pretty much invincible.

Most of us had good reason to believe that Light would've reigned as Kira for the remainder of his life — but did he? What happened to Light at the end of Death Note? Did he die?

Does Light Die At The End?

Near exposes Light's true identity as Kira in the final episode, causing Matsuda to shoot him. Ryuk, having decided that Light has lost, writes his name in his Death Note and kills him.

The ending is fairly the same in both the anime and manga, save a few details.

In the anime, Light escapes the Yellow Box after being shot and steadily makes his way to a hideout. As he limps across the street, he hallucinates his younger self walking towards him, symbolizing his regret at ever having picked up the Death Note.

“Well, Light, it looks like you’ve lost. Remember in the beginning, when we first met? I Told you that I’d be the one writing your name in my notebook – that is part of the agreement between the Shinigami who brings a notebook into the human world and the first human who picks it up.”

— Ryuk.

Ryuk sets off on a monologue about his promise to Light (that he would be the one who claimed his life) and writes his name in his notebook. Light dies of a heart attack in the middle of a flight of stairs, and the last thing he sees is an apparition of L.

It's the same story in the manga. Ryuk knew that Light must be truly desperate to beg him for help and decided that he would no longer be entertaining.

Some people also believe that Ryuk killed Light because he didn't want him to suffer in jail. It's nice to think that's true, but Ryuk in canon harbored zero attachments to Light. If he did, he would've killed the SPK and Task Force when Light asked him to.

Did Light Go To Heaven Or Hell?

Light Yagami went to neither heaven nor hell. Tsugumi Ohba confirmed that the afterlife doesn't exist in the Death Note universe and that all those that die go to "Mu" (nothingness).

Light figured as much after Ryuk said he wouldn't go to hell or heaven.

“Can’t go to heaven or hell... That’s told me everything, Ryuk. It just means that there is no heaven or hell, right?”

— Light Yagami.

Ryuk was surprised by Light's perceptiveness here. He agreed and told him that the place humans go to after they die wasn't decided by a God and that death was equal for all human beings.

Who Got The Death Note After Light?

Near burned Mikami and Light's Death Notes, and as told in chapter 107 of the manga, there were no more Death Notes in human possession. In the short stories that followed, two more humans got their hands on the Death Note.

The first one was dubbed C-Kira (Cheap Kira) by Near. This Kira killed hospitalized older people (his motivations were unclear).

When Near announced that he had no interest in the case, since he'd deduced the new Kira was a cheap wanna-be copy of the original one, the C-Kira wrote his own name in the notebook and died. The Death Note then made its way back to the Shinigami Realm.

The second time was when Ryuk got bored again and decided he wanted someone to follow in Light's footsteps. He picked Minoru Tanaka, a high-scoring middle-schooler, and presented him with the notebook, but the boy refused and asked him to come back in two years.

Minoru told Ryuk that he planned on auctioning the Death Note online, and as baffling as it sounds, the kid managed to make it work. Intrigued, Ryuk did as he was asked and returned to him two years later. He sold the book to the President of the United States and managed to remain untraceable by Near, who eventually admitted defeat.

The mystery psychological thriller manga, Death Note is one of the greatest shonen series of all time. This manga has had a long-lasting effect on manga and, through its amazing animated adaptation, anime fans everywhere with its smart writing, great art, and very memorable moments and characters.

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However, Death Note is no simple iconic manga series. It's one of the few manga that has been adapted into a live-action film not only by Japan but by U.S. Hollywood as well. Both of these live-action film adaptations aren't perfect, with one being more flawed than the other, and they both change a lot from the source material. This list will be taking a look at these game changing differences.

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10/10 NETFLIX: THE LOCATION

One of the most notable changes when it comes to the Netflix take on Death Note is, of course, the location that the story takes place. Whereas the original manga obviously takes place in modern day Japan (specifically the Kanto region), Netflix decided to go a route that would be a bit more natural for Western audiences that are just now being introduced to the series.

This new take on Death Note takes place in the United States. Along with the nation being changed of course comes character changes, with all the main characters being changed into Americans.

9/10 THE JAPANESE FILMS: NEAR AND MELLO DON'T EXIST

While the Netflix adaptation didn't even make it to Near and Mello's time, the multiple Japanese films do. However, this series of films decide to change things up by omitting these two controversial characters from the story entirely. This is especially notable due to the Japanese films going into the second arc of the Death Note story.

Instead of having L's two replacements step in to take up the battle against Light/Kira, this series of films found it better to make a whole new version of the story and have L live long enough to continue the battle in the second act.

8/10 NETFLIX: LIGHT IS MUCH MORE EMOTIONAL

Remember when Light was introduced as a bit of an intelligent sociopath in the original manga? Immediately readers were brought to know Light as one of the coolest characters due to his detachment from the world and the emotions in it due to his brilliance over most average people, especially those in his age group.

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While the manga version of Light was so smart he wasn't even fearful of Ryuk, this new Netflix Light tends to constantly show his emotions. This shows throughout the series with him actually caring for a few characters and yes, practically wetting himself upon meeting Ryuk.

7/10 THE JAPANESE FILMS: LIGHT'S FATHER SURVIVES

One of the main turning points in the original manga version of the Death Note story is the death of Light Yagami's father Soichiro Yagami. Soichiro's death plays a huge hand in Light/Kira's final downfall once he's exposed to Near. His death was due to a bomb from Jose and Mello and he dies in the hospital while in critical condition.

The live-action vision has Soichiro Yagami living until the end of the Death Note story. In fact, once the story reaches its conclusion and the death of Light, Light even dies in Soichiro's arms with Soichiro going home to tell his family Kira killed Light.

6/10 NETFLIX: THE BOOK HAS A NEW RULE

One of the biggest complaints from the Death Note Netflix adaptation is one big change to the rules of the Death Note itself. The thing about this change is that it felt like one of the biggest pulled out of thin air changes in the entire story. This was the added rule of having one chance to cancel a written death by ripping the page out of the book.

This was one of those rules that was definitely added just to help the plot move along instead of being something that made for a well-written addition to the lore of the film.

5/10 THE JAPANESE FILMS: L SURVIVES

In the Japanese versions of the series, there is a bit of a trick played by using the book as well, but this one isn't as big of a reach as that of the Netflix version and actually makes sense. In this version of the tale, Light attempts to kill L by having Rem write his name in the Death Note which Rem dies for.

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However, later on, it is revealed that L survived being killed by having his name written in the book. To do this he instead had written in the book, "L Lawliet will die 23 days from this date." The film ends with his death after this period of time and after the conviction of Light.

4/10 NETFLIX: L IS A LOT MORE EMOTIONAL

If one wanted to point out the largest changes in the Neflix adaptation of Death Note's character it would best be summarized with the word, "emotion." For those that thought that Light was a lot more emotional, please take a look at this new version of L.

Instead of being cool and almost just as detached from reality as Light, this version of L makes the character a lot more unstable. This time around he's a bit angrier and aggressive when it comes to his investigation.

3/10 THE JAPANESE FILMS: L IS A LOT MORE ARROGANT

The Japanese adaptations of the Death Note series aren't any better when it comes to changing the L character around. In fact, this version of L has quite a few similarities with the Netflix version.

Unlike the casually dressed L of the manga, this L is well dressed in fitted white clothes and shoes. He also drinks energy drinks instead of eating sweets. Additionally, he is very arrogant and constantly belittling his coworkers.

2/10 NETFLIX: LIGHT DOESN'T DIE

One of the most notable changes in the Neflix series is that Light doesn't die at the end of the film. In fact, it seems like this piece was just the beginning of the new character, Light Turner with a sequel being in the making at this very moment.

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While Misa falls from the ending setpiece ferris wheel and meets her end, Light falls and survives, waking up in a hospital.

1/10 THE JAPANESE FILMS: THE SERIES ENDS WITH AN EPILOGUE TALE

Much like the manga and it's epilogue tale that takes place years after the tale of Light and L, the Japanese films end with a third film taking place ten years after the original events of the first two films.

This film stars a Death Note Task Force leader, L's new successor, and a Kira supporter fighting for a new batch of Death Note books dropped onto the earth by Shinigami. This results in a three-way battle between the three parties.

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