Dream with Our Eyes Open

The second Kira is an idiot. (I can't say I wasn't warned about that.)

And Light's not quite himself, and L is losing it ... which is not surprising when you consider that he basically thought he was playing a game of "Battleship," but it turns out that the opponent's battleships aren't staying put ... .

The plot is getting bigger and wilder, and Death Note is continuing to hold my interest ... and is still one cold mofo when it comes to how I feel about it emotionally.

I've got to get this off my chest: I cannot deal with Amane Misa, the extremely petite, extremely ditsy, pathetically cute top model who turns out to be the second Kira. She's supposedly 20, I think, but she acts like she looks, which is about 13 at the most. Light can't deal with her either, and his opinion isn't improved when she develops a massive instant crush on him. Matters are further complicated by the fact that Misa's shinigami, Rem, has a huge crush on Misa.

Light treats Misa pretty callously, giving her a big kiss that sends her into orbit, for example. And he's thinking quite cold-heartedly about killing her. But Rem has his number: she'll kill him if Misa dies. Light is thinking his way around all the associated possibilities quite agilely when L proves his reputation as a crime-solver to be well-earned by picking up Misa as the second Kira, knocking Light completely off-balance.

The story takes a turn for the grimmer as Misa is held confined and bound in isolation and questioned for days, until she starts to crack and asks Rem to kill her. Rem decides that the only way to save her is to take Misa's Death Note away and give it to somebody else. Following the Death Note rules, Misa promptly forgets that she had anything to do with the Death Note, totally confusing L and the police. Meanwhile, Light sets up a similar escape hatch for himself by giving his shinigami Ryuk instructions to dispose of Light's Death Note if he utters a certain keyphrase. Then he essentially turns himself in by telling his father that he might be Kira. He is also put in custody and isolation. After a week, he utters the keyphrase, Ryuk removes the Death Note - and now both Kiras are amnesiac about what happened.

The trouble is, both the police and L have no reason to change their minds about their suspects ... until people start dying again with the two of them still in custody. After a heart-stopping charade aimed at giving Misa and Light one last reason and chance to confess, L decides to trust them - to a point. He's got other things to worry about. The new Kira may also be more than one person ... and now the driving force seems to be that famous root of all evil, money, rather than misguided idealism. Death Note is heading for corporate crime thriller territory at high speed.

All very interesting, but a couple of things are bothering me. Light's actions with Misa are creepy, but they fit in with the way he's been going. After he loses his memories of the Death Note, he's a lot more ethical about her, refusing the string her along when L asks him to. But this doesn't necesarily fit in with the pre-Death Note Light either - he seems to have been a bit of a cad all along. Maybe his experience in the isolation cell is supposed to have improved him - I don't know. Then there's the idiot detective, Matsuda. I guess every story needs someone who puts his foot in it to move the action along, but still ... !

I did like it when Light loses it because L, despondent over his lack of success, sounds like he wants to give up - the two of them end up smacking each other around for a while (OK, to be accurate, L is kicking, not smacking). And guess what - it's not an instant bonding experience! I give the mangaka high marks for avoiding that. And L is still L, crouching gargoylishly in his seat, eating or drinking constantly, raccoon-eyed with lack of sleep ... he does get all twee when he meets Misa, though. However, this could be more L-brand calculated weirdo behavior, so it's forgivable.

And it's also interesting to contemplate which is worse: a Death Note in the hands of an egotistical, brilliant, amoral youth, or a Death Note in the hands of a moneymaking corporate entity.