Misa Amane
Encyclopedia
, also known as the second Kira is a fictional character
in the Death Note
anime
, manga
, and film
series.
, writer of Death Note, decided to create Misa to be the second Kira before the serialization began. He felt that having the story solely consist of males would be "boring" and that he wanted "a cute female." Ohba, intending to introduce her with the Shinigami Eyes, described her as having to be "spontaneous and not too bright" and that he determined her personality "from the start." Since Light Yagami
would never want to trade for the Shinigami Eyes, Ohba wanted another character to use to trade for the eyes, so he decided to use Misa. Ohba said that the conception of the name Misa "was kind of random but I think it was from "kuromisa" (Black Mass
). It must have been based on something".
Ohba ultimately decided to introduce Misa after the death of Naomi Misora. Ohba and Takeshi Obata
, artist of Death Note, wanted to use the gothic lolita design to convey "gothic imagery of the Shinigami
and that world". Ohba said that he is "into that fashion" and that having Misa first appear in unusual clothing would be "more interesting". Obata, imagining a mix of an "energetic Japanese artist" and a "foreign rock and roll
singer", felt "set" when he drew Misa for the first time. Obata said that he felt "apprehension" regarding the length of Misa's hair; personally he wanted her fringe
(bangs) to be "straight across" but believed that creating Misa completely within the bounds of gothic lolita style would be "too much". Therefore Obata designed her so she looked "a little more natural" and to appear "cute" to people who "weren't into the Gothic Lolita style".
When the Near
and Mello
story arc began and Misa became a top idol, Obata decided to make her look like "a popular actress". Obata said that he remembered "having a lot of fun" while looking through gothic lolita magazines and drawing Misa. In response to a question inquiring about which characters the creators faced the most difficulty in creating, Obata selected Misa. Obata said that he had difficulty comprehending the concept of "doing anything for the person you love" and that he felt like the character controlled him when he drew her. Death Note 13: How to Read also states that Misa "required a lot of artistic variation" because of her "many expressions" that ranged "from goofy to serious".
In the manga, Misa wears jewelry with a crucifix
theme; in the anime adaptation, she wears fleur de lis jewelry, although the cross is retained on the collector's figure included with Volume 5 of the DVD series.
When designing color book covers, Obata assigned colors to characters to "get the atmosphere right". Obata assigned pink
and black
to Misa.
, singer and actress who is infatuated with Light Yagami
. She usually refers to herself in the third person
by calling herself "Misa-Misa" to be cute, although this is omitted in the English dub of the anime, and she tends to be hyperactive. Despite her hyperactivity, she rarely, if ever, allows her personal feelings about anyone to interfere with Light's plans, showing her unflinching loyalty to him. She, like Light, is corrupted by the power that comes with owning a Death Note. However, unlike Light, she neither wishes to become a god, nor loses her original personality. Despite this however her playfulness hides a deeply twisted and disturbed girl.
Douglas Wolk of Salon describes Misa as being drawn in a "Japanese comics' tradition of cute, tiny, airhead girls with big eyes" and being a "lot cannier than she pretends to be". Wolk adds that the reader could "watch her measuring how much quasi-innocent charm to pour on in every situation".
She decides to devote her life to Light because he punished the criminal that killed her parents when she was younger in front of her eyes. Misa, unable to forgive the killer and wanting to kill the burglar herself, saw multiple delays in the killer's trial and the possibility he could get off before Kira killed him. According to Ohba, Light sees Misa as a "bad person" who killed innocent people, so he acts emotionally cold towards her and manipulates her. Light and Misa both act together as Kira for over five years, until Light decides that it is too dangerous for Misa to be Kira with members of the taskforce suspecting him and tells her to give up the notebook.
The Shinigami who follows her is Rem. Not long before Misa's introduction to the series, Misa was attacked by an obsessed stalker. Unknown to her, a Shinigami named Gelus had fallen in love with her, and was watching her during the attack. In order to save her life, Gelus wrote her stalker's name into his notebook, killing him. Consequently, Gelus himself died, since shinigami exist only to take human life, not extend it. Rem, who witnessed the whole event, then took Gelus's notebook which had been left behind, and gave it to Misa, and the two eventually grew to care for each other.
Misa performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice: the first, with Rem; the second, with Ryuk. It should also be noted that, even though she cut her lifespan in half twice, she also gained the remaining lifespan of both Gelus and Rem when they died when they extended her life. So, the amount of time she will live is a quarter of (her original lifespan plus Gelus' remaining) plus half Rem's remaining.
According to 13: How to Read, Misa loses her memories related to using the Death Note at Light's orders and retains her love for Light. Misa falls into despair after someone "like Matsuda" "probably let it slip" that Light died. Misa's fate is not shown in the manga at all; she was last seen staying at the Teito Hotel. Ohba stated that this was simply because he did not have a situation to fit her in. Misa commits suicide a year after Light dies.
At the anime's finale, Misa appears dressed in Gothic Lolita clothing, standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper and looking into the sunset.
Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto
.
. In the film continuity, Misa has a brother, who is murdered along with her parents. Misa's personality is altered slightly from the manga. In addition, her appearance is slightly modified: while Misa has blonde hair in the manga and anime, she has brown hair in the films.
She is first seen filming a dorama called "Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets", where she states that she is baking treats to make her enemies fat. After filming of that section ends, she expresses support for Kira to a journalist. Her supervisor asks that the statement be cut due to controversies. Misa's attacker, Ryotaro Sakajo, the assistant director
for "Happy Sweets", dies from a heart attack when Gelus writes his name inside of his Death Note. Gelus's Death Note then falls in front of Misa, who immediately picks it up. After reading the notebook, she finds Rem.
In the second film, Mogi replaces Ukita as Misa's victim during the Sakura TV incident. Additionally, Misa first learns of Light's identity as Kira when Soichiro rescues Sayu.
Misa is present at the final confrontation between Light and the police force, though she is handcuffed and restrained by another officer. When Light dies after Ryuk writes his name down in the Death Note, Misa breaks down emotionally. Her memory of the Death Note is erased, but she retains her obsession with Light, wishing him a happy birthday through a mini-shrine
dedicated to him.
, a Malaysian newspaper, writer Kitty Sensei theorized that Toda did not have "the time to think much about how fans would react", citing film shoots that Kitty Sensei described as "physically and mentally exhausting" such as the straitjacket
scene. Toda said that undoing the straitjacket took a lot of time, and at times she waited in the jacket between takes. Toda also said that on one occasion, she wore a blindfold for an hour during filming.
as receiving a "power boost compared to the main series".
website, describes Misa in a review of the Death Note anime episode "Performance" as being the "show's weakest and most annoying character". Pepirium cites "the tone in which she is written". He feels that her motivation and obsession with Kira are "in league with Death Notes dark sensibilities". He says that when Misa "spouts" her "deep and fully realized" affection for Kira in "her wacky, excited, poodle
-like way" the information "loses all impact". The reviewer uses "girly sophomoric pink fluff" and "Jar Jar" (a reference to Jar Jar Binks
) as figurative descriptors for Misa. He also had compared Misa to Dot
from Animaniacs
. Pepirium said that he wished that Misa spent more time in a "somewhat serious state" instead of a "silly lovesick, big-eyed anime characterization". In a Salon.com
article Douglas Wolk includes Misa in a grouping of characters that he describes as "neatly-wrought".
said that she views Misa as "complicated and fascinating". Toda added that she does not comprehend why a person would willingly use a Death Note; Toda said that she admired the fact that Misa "does everything she sets out to do" but that the actions of Light and Misa are "criminal".
Christy Lee S.W. of The Star
said that Toda's portrayal of Misa in the second film "may seem rather annoying for being overly bubbly and cute at first" and that the character "grows" on the viewer "after a while". Lee said that at the end of the film she saw Misa as "quite endearing".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
in the Death Note
Death Note
is a manga created by writer Tsugumi Ohba and manga artist Takeshi Obata. The main character is Light Yagami, a high school student who discovers a supernatural notebook, the "Death Note", dropped on Earth by a god of death, or a shinigami, named Ryuk...
anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
, manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
, and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
series.
Conception and development
Tsugumi OhbaTsugumi Ohba
is a writer best known for the manga Death Note. His real identity is a closely guarded secret. As stated by the profile placed at the beginning of each Death Note manga, Ohba collects teacups and develops manga plots while holding his knees on a chair, similar to a habit of L, one of the main...
, writer of Death Note, decided to create Misa to be the second Kira before the serialization began. He felt that having the story solely consist of males would be "boring" and that he wanted "a cute female." Ohba, intending to introduce her with the Shinigami Eyes, described her as having to be "spontaneous and not too bright" and that he determined her personality "from the start." Since Light Yagami
Light Yagami
, also known as is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga and anime series Death Note. He is an extremely intelligent, athletic, popular, but bored young man who finds the Death Note dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk by sheer chance...
would never want to trade for the Shinigami Eyes, Ohba wanted another character to use to trade for the eyes, so he decided to use Misa. Ohba said that the conception of the name Misa "was kind of random but I think it was from "kuromisa" (Black Mass
Black Mass
A Black Mass is a ceremony supposedly celebrated during the Witches' Sabbath, which was a sacrilegious parody of the Catholic Mass. Its main objective was the profanation of the host, although there is no agreement among authors on how hosts were obtained or profaned; the most common idea is that...
). It must have been based on something".
Ohba ultimately decided to introduce Misa after the death of Naomi Misora. Ohba and Takeshi Obata
Takeshi Obata
is a Japanese manga artist. He works as the artist in collaboration with a writer. He has also mentored several manga artists, including Kentaro Yabuki of Black Cat fame, Nobuhiro Watsuki of Rurouni Kenshin and Busou Renkin, and Yusuke Murata of Eyeshield 21.He originally became noticed in 1985...
, artist of Death Note, wanted to use the gothic lolita design to convey "gothic imagery of the Shinigami
Shinigami (Death Note)
In the manga and anime series Death Note, are a race of extra-dimensional beings who survive by killing humans to extend their own lives. Shinigami in this series are not responsible for every death that occurs; people will eventually die regardless of whether or not the Shinigami pay attention to...
and that world". Ohba said that he is "into that fashion" and that having Misa first appear in unusual clothing would be "more interesting". Obata, imagining a mix of an "energetic Japanese artist" and a "foreign rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
singer", felt "set" when he drew Misa for the first time. Obata said that he felt "apprehension" regarding the length of Misa's hair; personally he wanted her fringe
Fringe (hair)
Fringe are a shaped cutting of the front part of the hair so that it is combed forward and hangs or curls over the forehead. A classic fringe is cut fairly straight at or above the eyebrows, but fringes can also be ragged or ruffled, spiked up with hair gel, swept to one side or the other, and...
(bangs) to be "straight across" but believed that creating Misa completely within the bounds of gothic lolita style would be "too much". Therefore Obata designed her so she looked "a little more natural" and to appear "cute" to people who "weren't into the Gothic Lolita style".
When the Near
Near (Death Note)
, universally referred to by the mononym , is a fictional character who is one of the main antagonists in the manga series Death Note, and is a supporting protagonist in the film L: Change the World...
and Mello
Mello (Death Note)
, universally referred to by the mononym , is one of the main antagonists in the manga and anime series Death Note.-Character:Mello is the older of L's two potential successors raised in Wammy's House, Watari's orphanage for gifted children, in Winchester, England, United Kingdom...
story arc began and Misa became a top idol, Obata decided to make her look like "a popular actress". Obata said that he remembered "having a lot of fun" while looking through gothic lolita magazines and drawing Misa. In response to a question inquiring about which characters the creators faced the most difficulty in creating, Obata selected Misa. Obata said that he had difficulty comprehending the concept of "doing anything for the person you love" and that he felt like the character controlled him when he drew her. Death Note 13: How to Read also states that Misa "required a lot of artistic variation" because of her "many expressions" that ranged "from goofy to serious".
In the manga, Misa wears jewelry with a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
theme; in the anime adaptation, she wears fleur de lis jewelry, although the cross is retained on the collector's figure included with Volume 5 of the DVD series.
When designing color book covers, Obata assigned colors to characters to "get the atmosphere right". Obata assigned pink
Pink
Pink is a mixture of red and white. Commonly used for Valentine's Day and Easter, pink is sometimes referred to as "the color of love." The use of the word for the color known today as pink was first recorded in the late 17th century....
and black
Black
Black is the color of objects that do not emit or reflect light in any part of the visible spectrum; they absorb all such frequencies of light...
to Misa.
Character
Within the Death Note universe, Misa is a famous modelModel (person)
A model , sometimes called a mannequin, is a person who is employed to display, advertise and promote commercial products or to serve as a subject of works of art....
, singer and actress who is infatuated with Light Yagami
Light Yagami
, also known as is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the manga and anime series Death Note. He is an extremely intelligent, athletic, popular, but bored young man who finds the Death Note dropped by the Shinigami Ryuk by sheer chance...
. She usually refers to herself in the third person
Grammatical person
Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to a participant in an event; such as the speaker, the addressee, or others. Grammatical person typically defines a language's set of personal pronouns...
by calling herself "Misa-Misa" to be cute, although this is omitted in the English dub of the anime, and she tends to be hyperactive. Despite her hyperactivity, she rarely, if ever, allows her personal feelings about anyone to interfere with Light's plans, showing her unflinching loyalty to him. She, like Light, is corrupted by the power that comes with owning a Death Note. However, unlike Light, she neither wishes to become a god, nor loses her original personality. Despite this however her playfulness hides a deeply twisted and disturbed girl.
Douglas Wolk of Salon describes Misa as being drawn in a "Japanese comics' tradition of cute, tiny, airhead girls with big eyes" and being a "lot cannier than she pretends to be". Wolk adds that the reader could "watch her measuring how much quasi-innocent charm to pour on in every situation".
She decides to devote her life to Light because he punished the criminal that killed her parents when she was younger in front of her eyes. Misa, unable to forgive the killer and wanting to kill the burglar herself, saw multiple delays in the killer's trial and the possibility he could get off before Kira killed him. According to Ohba, Light sees Misa as a "bad person" who killed innocent people, so he acts emotionally cold towards her and manipulates her. Light and Misa both act together as Kira for over five years, until Light decides that it is too dangerous for Misa to be Kira with members of the taskforce suspecting him and tells her to give up the notebook.
The Shinigami who follows her is Rem. Not long before Misa's introduction to the series, Misa was attacked by an obsessed stalker. Unknown to her, a Shinigami named Gelus had fallen in love with her, and was watching her during the attack. In order to save her life, Gelus wrote her stalker's name into his notebook, killing him. Consequently, Gelus himself died, since shinigami exist only to take human life, not extend it. Rem, who witnessed the whole event, then took Gelus's notebook which had been left behind, and gave it to Misa, and the two eventually grew to care for each other.
Misa performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice: the first, with Rem; the second, with Ryuk. It should also be noted that, even though she cut her lifespan in half twice, she also gained the remaining lifespan of both Gelus and Rem when they died when they extended her life. So, the amount of time she will live is a quarter of (her original lifespan plus Gelus' remaining) plus half Rem's remaining.
According to 13: How to Read, Misa loses her memories related to using the Death Note at Light's orders and retains her love for Light. Misa falls into despair after someone "like Matsuda" "probably let it slip" that Light died. Misa's fate is not shown in the manga at all; she was last seen staying at the Teito Hotel. Ohba stated that this was simply because he did not have a situation to fit her in. Misa commits suicide a year after Light dies.
At the anime's finale, Misa appears dressed in Gothic Lolita clothing, standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper and looking into the sunset.
Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
.
Film
Misa is portrayed in the films by Erika TodaErika Toda
, is a Japanese actress from Kobe. She originally debuted as a gravure model at age 13.She starred in many dramas like Liar Game, Code Blue, Ryusei no Kizuna and Keizoku 2: SPEC. She has had supporting roles in many popular Japanese TV dramas such as BOSS, Nobuta wo Produce, Engine and Gal Circle...
. In the film continuity, Misa has a brother, who is murdered along with her parents. Misa's personality is altered slightly from the manga. In addition, her appearance is slightly modified: while Misa has blonde hair in the manga and anime, she has brown hair in the films.
She is first seen filming a dorama called "Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets", where she states that she is baking treats to make her enemies fat. After filming of that section ends, she expresses support for Kira to a journalist. Her supervisor asks that the statement be cut due to controversies. Misa's attacker, Ryotaro Sakajo, the assistant director
Assistant director
The role of an Assistant director include tracking daily progress against the filming production schedule, arranging logistics, preparing daily call sheets, checking cast and crew, maintaining order on the set. They also have to take care of health and safety of the crew...
for "Happy Sweets", dies from a heart attack when Gelus writes his name inside of his Death Note. Gelus's Death Note then falls in front of Misa, who immediately picks it up. After reading the notebook, she finds Rem.
In the second film, Mogi replaces Ukita as Misa's victim during the Sakura TV incident. Additionally, Misa first learns of Light's identity as Kira when Soichiro rescues Sayu.
Misa is present at the final confrontation between Light and the police force, though she is handcuffed and restrained by another officer. When Light dies after Ryuk writes his name down in the Death Note, Misa breaks down emotionally. Her memory of the Death Note is erased, but she retains her obsession with Light, wishing him a happy birthday through a mini-shrine
Shrine
A shrine is a holy or sacred place, which is dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, daemon or similar figure of awe and respect, at which they are venerated or worshipped. Shrines often contain idols, relics, or other such objects associated with the figure being venerated....
dedicated to him.
Actress's portrayal of Misa
Erika Toda said that, prior to filming, she felt "a lot of pressure" due to the character's popularity with audiences. She said the pressure vanished when filming began. In an article in The StarThe Star (Malaysia)
The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
, a Malaysian newspaper, writer Kitty Sensei theorized that Toda did not have "the time to think much about how fans would react", citing film shoots that Kitty Sensei described as "physically and mentally exhausting" such as the straitjacket
Straitjacket
A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with overlong sleeves and is typically used to restrain a person who may otherwise cause harm to themselves or others. Once the arms are inserted into the straitjacket's sleeves, they are then crossed across the chest...
scene. Toda said that undoing the straitjacket took a lot of time, and at times she waited in the jacket between takes. Toda also said that on one occasion, she wore a blindfold for an hour during filming.
Yonkoma
Death Note 13: How to Read describes Misa's "sexiness" in the Death Note yonkomaYonkoma
thumb|right|150px|Traditional Yonkoma layout, a comic-strip format, generally consists of gag comic strips within four panels of equal size ordered from top to bottom...
as receiving a "power boost compared to the main series".
Reception
Tom S. Pepirium, an editor of IGNIGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
website, describes Misa in a review of the Death Note anime episode "Performance" as being the "show's weakest and most annoying character". Pepirium cites "the tone in which she is written". He feels that her motivation and obsession with Kira are "in league with Death Notes dark sensibilities". He says that when Misa "spouts" her "deep and fully realized" affection for Kira in "her wacky, excited, poodle
Poodle
The Poodle is a breed of dog. The poodle breed is found officially in toy, miniature, and standard sizes, with many coat colors. Originally bred as a type of water dog, the poodle is highly intelligent and skillful in many dog sports, including agility, obedience, tracking, and even herding...
-like way" the information "loses all impact". The reviewer uses "girly sophomoric pink fluff" and "Jar Jar" (a reference to Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks
Jar Jar Binks is a fictional character from the Star Wars Saga , and the television series Star Wars: The Clone Wars. His primary role was to provide comic relief, but many reacted negatively to his character...
) as figurative descriptors for Misa. He also had compared Misa to Dot
Yakko, Wakko, and Dot
Yakko, Wakko and Dot Warner, also known as "The Warner Brothers " or "The Warner Siblings", or just simply "The Warners", are the three titular cartoon characters featured on the animated series Animaniacs. The trio of red-nosed Warner siblings were considered to be the stars of the ensemble of...
from Animaniacs
Animaniacs
Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs, usually referred to as simply Animaniacs, is an American animated series, distributed by Warner Bros. Television and produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven...
. Pepirium said that he wished that Misa spent more time in a "somewhat serious state" instead of a "silly lovesick, big-eyed anime characterization". In a Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
article Douglas Wolk includes Misa in a grouping of characters that he describes as "neatly-wrought".
Reception of the film version of the character
Erika TodaErika Toda
, is a Japanese actress from Kobe. She originally debuted as a gravure model at age 13.She starred in many dramas like Liar Game, Code Blue, Ryusei no Kizuna and Keizoku 2: SPEC. She has had supporting roles in many popular Japanese TV dramas such as BOSS, Nobuta wo Produce, Engine and Gal Circle...
said that she views Misa as "complicated and fascinating". Toda added that she does not comprehend why a person would willingly use a Death Note; Toda said that she admired the fact that Misa "does everything she sets out to do" but that the actions of Light and Misa are "criminal".
Christy Lee S.W. of The Star
The Star (Malaysia)
The Star is an English-language, tabloid-format newspaper in Malaysia. It is the largest in terms of circulation in Malaysia, according to the . It has a daily circulation of between 290,000 to 300,000...
said that Toda's portrayal of Misa in the second film "may seem rather annoying for being overly bubbly and cute at first" and that the character "grows" on the viewer "after a while". Lee said that at the end of the film she saw Misa as "quite endearing".
See also
- List of Death Note characters