Misa Amane

Misa Amane (Japanese: 弥 海砂, Hepburn: Amane Misa) is a fictional character in the manga series Death Note, created by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata. A famous model, Misa seeks out Kira (Light Yagami) as she supports his cause to "cleanse the world of evil". Using her own Death Note, a notebook that allows its owner to kill anyone simply by knowing their name and face that she received from the Shinigami Rem, Misa does everything she can to aid Light. This includes shortening her own lifespan by half, twice, in order to receive the eyes of a Shinigami, giving her the ability to learn a person's name just by looking at their face. Although Misa fills the traditional role of the love interest, her relationship with Light is one-sided as he uses her simply for his own gains.

Misa Amane
Death Note character
Rem and Misa Amane,
drawn by Takeshi Obata
First appearanceChapter 25: "Fool" (馬鹿, Baka)
Last appearanceChapter 108: "Finis" (完, Kan)
Created byTsugumi Ohba
Takeshi Obata
Voiced byAya Hirano
(Japanese)
Shannon Chan-Kent (English)
Portrayed byErika Toda (films)
Fuka Yuduki (musical)
Sakura Kiryuu (musical)
Hinako Sano (TV series)
In-universe information
AliasKira II (第二のキラ, Daini no Kira, lit. "Second Kira")
NicknameMisa Misa (ミサミサ)
RelativesLight Yagami (fiancé)

In the anime adaptation, Misa is voiced by Aya Hirano in Japanese and by Shannon Chan-Kent in the English version. In the live-action adaptations, she is portrayed by Erika Toda in the films, by Fuuka Yuzuki in the musical, and by Hinako Sano in the television drama.

Creation and conception

Tsugumi Ohba, the writer of Death Note, decided to create Misa to be the second Kira before serialization began. He felt that having the story solely consist of males would be "boring" and wanted "a cute female". Ohba, intending to introduce her with the Shinigami Eyes, described Misa 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 needed another character to make the eye trade and so decided to use Misa.[1] 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".[2]

Ohba ultimately decided to introduce Misa after the death of Naomi Misora. He and Takeshi Obata, the artist of Death Note, wanted to use the gothic lolita design to convey the "gothic imagery of the Shinigami and that world".[3] Ohba said that they're "into that fashion" and that having Misa first appear in unusual clothing would be "more interesting".[1] Obata, imagining a mix of an "energetic Japanese artist" and a "foreign rock and roll singer", felt "set" with Misa's design after drawing her for the first time. Obata said that he felt "apprehension" regarding the length of Misa's hair; personally he wanted her bangs to be "straight across" but believed that creating Misa completely within the bounds of gothic lolita style would be "too much".[1][3] 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".[3] Obata revealed that his editor warned him that the scene with Misa in restraints in chapter 33 was on "morally thin ground for a children's magazine", so they placed the title logo over the middle of it. This was a surprise to the artist, as he said he "held back" when drawing it.[4]

When the Near and Mello story arc began and Misa became a top idol, Obata decided to drop the gothic lolita style and 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.[3] In response to a question inquiring which characters the creators faced the most difficulty in creating, Obata selected Misa. The artist 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".[5]

When designing color images, Obata assigned colors to characters to "get the atmosphere right". He assigned pink and black to Misa.[4] 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.

Appearances

In Death Note
Misa as she appears in the Death Note anime

Born in Kyoto on December 25, 1984,[6] Misa Amane is a famous model known as "Misa Misa" from the Kansai region who possesses a Death Note given to her by the Shinigami Rem.[7] Prior to her introduction in the series, Misa was attacked by an obsessed stalker. Unknown to her, a Shinigami named Gelus had fallen in love with her, and 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' Death Note which had been left behind and gave it to Misa.[8]

Misa moves to Tokyo in order to meet Kira, a vigilante who uses his own Death Note to serially murder criminals in order to rid the world of evil, as she agrees with his goal.[9] A year prior to her introduction, Misa's parents were murdered in front of her eyes by a burglar. She was unable to forgive the killer and even desired to kill him herself, but following multiple delays in his trial, she began to worry of the possibility he would get off. However, he was killed by Kira leading to her worshiping him.[10] Using her Death Note, the media and her Shinigami Eyes – in exchange for half her remaining lifetime she received the ability to see a person's name and remaining lifespan just by looking at their face – she is able to identify Light Yagami as Kira and earns herself the moniker "Fake Kira" or "Second Kira" by the task force trying to stop him.

Having fallen in love with him, Misa vows to do whatever Light says in exchange for him becoming her boyfriend. Light agrees in order to use her Shinigami Eyes and even though he tells her upfront their relationship will only be an act, she believes she can ultimately win his love.[11] According to Ohba, Light sees Misa as a "bad person" who killed innocent people, so he acts emotionally cold towards her and manipulates her.[12] 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 task force suspecting him and tells her to give up the notebook. During the series, Misa performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice: the first, with Rem; the second, with Ryuk. Misa loses her memories related to using the Death Note, by relinquishing ownership of it, at Light's orders and retains her love for him. The rest of her 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.[13] The author speculated that after someone "like Matsuda probably let it slip" that Light died, Misa fell into despair and "committed suicide... something like that".[13] Her death date is given as slightly over a year after Light's.[14]

In the anime's finale, Misa appears standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper and looking into the sunset. The official anime guidebook lists her date of death as unknown.[15] Misa's English dub voice actress Shannon Chan-Kent said of the scene: "To see her commit suicide, inside I felt like, 'No Misa! Don't do it!' But it felt like the right thing for the series, the right decision. I'm sure everyone else knew it was coming but I didn't know!"[16]

In film
Erika Toda as Misa in the Death Note film series

Misa is portrayed in the films by Erika Toda.[17] In the film continuity, Misa has a brother, who is murdered along with her parents. 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' 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 who was at the TV station attending a fair. 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. 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 Star, 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.[18]

Toda reprises the role once again in Death Note: Light Up the New World.[17] Ten years have passed since Light died. Misa continues her work as an actress while her activities are secretly supervised by police officers. She regains her memories after cyber-terrorist Yuki Shien gives her a Death Note. Initially refusing to cooperate with him, due to Light's death, she makes another eye trade from Ryuk and helps Yuki escape with the six Death Notes he collected by killing two of the Task Force investigators. Although she fails to kill Ryuzaki (whose name was written on a Death Note prior similar to L), she commits suicide by writing her own name, scribbled "Misa Amane dies in Light Yagami's hands".

In other media

In the live-action television drama, Misa is portrayed by Hinako Sano.[19] Unlike the manga and anime, she has a red death note. Her hair is also brown instead of blonde, similarly to the live-action films. When she goes to dig up her buried Death Note, Mikami's assistant steals it, and Mikami uses it to help Kira. Her Death Note is burned by a fire set by Mikami; consequently, her memory of the Death Note is erased.

In the musical adaptation, Misa is portrayed by Fuka Yuduki and Sakura Kiryuu.

Reception
A cosplayer dressed as Misa.

Briana Lawrence of Anime News Network felt that even though Misa was the typical annoying girl clinging to the main character, "In a series full of geniuses it was amazing to see an average person get a hold of the Death Note. Her presence made things even more complicated for Light and she kept him on his toes as much as L did (maybe even more than L did)." Lawrence was disappointed that the epilogue of the series did not show Misa's ultimate fate.[20] In a review for Death Note, Michelle Yu, from Anime News Network, praised Misa, saying she's physically beautiful and a "good-looking female addition to the screen", while also describing her as a "little diva with some serious issues and a very whiny voice".[21] In a Salon.com article, Douglas Wolk 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 added that the reader could "watch her measuring how much quasi-innocent charm to pour on in every situation".[22]

Tom S. Pepirium, an editor of IGN website, describes Misa in a review of the Death Note anime episode "Performance" as being the "show's weakest and most annoying character". Pepirium points out the tone in which the character is written, feeling that her motivation and obsession with Kira are "in league with Death Note's 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". Pepirium uses "girly sophomoric pink fluff" and "Jar Jar" (a reference to Jar Jar Binks) as figurative descriptors for Misa.[23] He has also compared Misa to Dot from Animaniacs.[24] Pepirium said that he wished that Misa was a more serious character at times, instead of being a "silly lovesick, big-eyed anime characterization".[25]

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 stated that at the end of the film she saw the character of Misa as "quite endearing".[26] Erika Toda from The Star said that she views Misa as a "complicated and fascinating" character. Toda said that she does not comprehend why a person would willingly use a Death Note, but added that she admired the fact that Misa "does everything she sets out to do", though that the actions of Light and Misa are criminal.[18] Reviewing Death Note, THEM Anime Reviews called Misa "adorable, yet tragic", while also commenting how she becomes "pathetically infatuated with Light and obediently does his bidding", while at the same time threatening his immunity to the Task Force tracking him down.[27]

See also

References
  1. "How to Think." Death Note 13: How to Read. VIZ Media. 62.
  2. "How to Think." Death Note 13: How to Read. VIZ Media. 60.
  3. "Takeshi Obata Production Note: Characters". Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 128.
  4. Death Note 13: How to Read VIZ Media. 117
  5. Death Note 13: How to Read. VIZ Media. 191.
  6. Volume 4, Chapter 31, Page 121
  7. Volume 4, Chapter 29, Page 90
  8. Volume 4, Chapter 27
  9. Volume 3, Chapter 25, Page 192
  10. Volume 4, Chapter 29, Page 93
  11. Volume 4, Chapters 29 and 30
  12. "How to Think". Death Note 13: How to Read. VIZ Media. 65.
  13. "The 13 Truths About Chapter 108." Death Note 13: How to Read. VIZ Media. 200.
  14. Death Note: How to Read 13. VIZ Media. 16.
  15. Ohba, Tsugumi (2007). Death Note A Animation Official Analysis Guide. Shueisha. p. 9. ISBN 9784088741970.
  16. Regev, Nir (July 3, 2020). "Shannon Chan-Kent talks voicing Death Note's Misa Amane (Interview)". The Natural Aristocrat. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  17. "2016 Death Note Film Brings Back Erika Toda as Misa". Anime News Network. 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  18. Kitty Sensei (January 14, 2007). "Here're a few hints of the second and concluding part of Death Note the movie, The Last Name". The Star. Archived from the original on August 2, 2009. Retrieved September 1, 2009.
  19. "Live-Action Death Note Show Casts Misa, Light's Father". Anime News Network. 2015-05-31. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  20. "Death Note GN 12 - Review". Anime News Network. 2007-08-05. Retrieved 2016-04-06.
  21. Yu, Michelle (March 3, 2009). "Death Note V4 - Review". Anime News Network. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  22. Wolk, Douglas. "Death strip". Salon.
  23. Pepirium, Tom S. "Death Note: "Performance" Review". IGN. March 19, 2008. Retrieved on September 1, 2009.
  24. Pepirium, Tom S. "Death Note: "Friend" Review". IGN. January 28, 2008. Retrieved on September 1, 2009.
  25. Pepirium, Tom S. "Death Note: "Confession" Review." IGN. January 28, 2008. Retrieved on September 1, 2009.
  26. Lee S.W., Christy (January 28, 2007). "A Name to Remember". The Star. Archived from the original on December 19, 2008. Retrieved April 8, 2009.
  27. "Death Note Review". THEM Anime Reviews. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
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