The Yotsuba Arc in Death Note was a pivotal point in the story, especially when it included the death of a main character who was a beloved one too. During the events of this arc, Light purposefully loses his memory of the Death Note and what he did after he was effectively cornered by his rival and the genius detective, L. Takeshi Obata, the illustrator of Death Note, spoke about the fact that his editors made him change Light’s design for a very interesting reason.
The journey Light goes through is complicated. From an innocent high schooler to a wanted criminal with a God complex, there’s nothing the boy will do to get his way, even if it means betraying others who trust him. His intellect was threatened by L but even then, he found a way around him at the cost of his own memory. Obata included a detail about Light during the Yotsuba Arc that made this storyline more effective but it wasn’t easy for the artist.
Obata Had To Change Light’s Demeanour To Make the Arc More Convincing
Light and L’s dynamic goes beyond cat and mouse at that point. The detective had the killer cornered and in his grasp and Light got so desperate, that he erased his memory of being Kira at all. There would be no way he would have passed L’s test without having to go through this. Pretending to not be Kira would have resulted in a slip-up. However, to make fans also believe that Light isn’t Kira, Takeshi Obata had to bring back Light’s Chapter 1 design where he looked much more innocent rather than the Light at that point who couldn’t stop making a creepy, intimidating face at every point.
In a special interview with Obata, he speaks about this change, why it happened and the challenge of doing it for a weekly manga:
Speaking of which, during the Yotsuba arc, when Light lost his memory of the Note, the editors asked me if “I could go back to drawing Light the way he looked in chapter 1, since he’s a clean slate”. I remember thinking that was kind of a tall order, and ended up pretty rushed. I had to ditch the creepy, threatening Light I’d been using up until that point, and completely reset him.
This reset worked in the favour of the plot. The viewers saw the side of Light that had been abandoned since the beginning of Death Note, showing that the boy was capable of good. However, the challenge of going back to a design Obata hadn’t explored in ages undeniably created a lot of pressure on the artist.
Was Light Capable of Good in Death Note?
Considering the entire reason he used the Death Note was to eliminate criminals, he did have the right motive but the wrong execution. He tried to become justice but got burned in the process. Light Yagami is a prime example of how a God complex and that much power can ruin someone so greatly.
Despite being a normal high schooler at first, Light had his own principles more advanced than a kid his age. The Death Note gave him the perfect way to create a world of peace but instead, it taught him how wrong his justice was and the consequences of his power abuse.
Death Note is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.
