Sunday, February 17, 2008

DeathNote Spin Off - L Change the WorLd


** Warning: Spoilers **

"No matter how talented you are, you alone cannot change the world.."

L Change the WorLd trailer


As the storyline went in the 2-parter series, L defeated Light in the immense Kira thriller and in the process, signed his own fate into the DeathNote. But no one knew how L spent the last 23 days of his life....... until now.

L was devastated by the death of Watari, his caretaker/butler/nifty sidekick/bodyguard/sniper. But more importantly to the orphan L, Watari was like a father. L sent a message to all the gifted agents raised by Watari, announcing his demise and stating that he will mourn for him.

Ryuk tried to tempt L into keeping the DeathNotes in continued use. However to Ryuk's dismay, L burnt the 2 DeathNotes, bring the Kira chapter to an end. L started to work on the other international cases he had previous postponed due to Kira, and he completed them in 5 days.

Meanwhile in Thailand, a deadly virus epidemic was exterminating a whole village. Blood samples were forcibly collected from the victims, without any intention to help them medically. It was confirmed when a bomb was dropped over the village to totally decimate it.

However, a little boy was the only sole survivor of the epidemic. He, a mathematical genius, was uninfected by the virus. F, an agent stationed in Thailand to investigate a world extermination program, uncovered the boy and rescued him, telling the boy to contact Watari and join up with him.

The blood samples were sent to a research facility in Japan for analysis into producing an antidote for the virus. The chief researcher secretly coded hidden messages, regarding the antidote, into his daughter's, Maki's, homework. His research assistant turned out to be a maniac wanting to change the world by reducing the human population, the destroyers of this ecosystem, through the use of this virus. Coincidentally, this lady researcher was also part of Wammy's House, codenamed K. Betrayed, the chief researcher committed suicide and destroyed whatever trace of the antidote which he produced, as it was vital to K's plan of propagating the virus, but not before he sent his daughter to look for Watari.

So the hunt for the information about the antidote began.

The concluding scene was perhaps the most touching of all. On the final day of his life, L left the boy under the care of his former orphanage, Wammy's House and named him Near before leaving with a smile on his face as he thought of Watari, silently wishing to live longer in this world.

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My heart goes out to L, putting his life on the line to solve the Kira case and once that was done, he's dragged into another mess; all these while knowing that he didn't have much time to live. That kinda sucked, it's like working right up till the day you die, literally.

A gifted orphan, a recluse, almost a weirdo. But all in a cute way.

Permanently in a slouch position, he squats on chairs with his 2 knees tucked against his chest. He downs sweet stuff like drinking water and i'm quite certain he has diabetes. Though blessed with 5 fingers on each hand, only his thumbs and forefingers are put to use, which makes me wonder what he usually does with the rest. And who can forget L's mask?

Ever so cute

His only friend? Turned out to be Kira, ironically through with his suspicions. His only regarded-relative? Ended up dead.

So imagine the pain he has to endure after losing both. And now that he only has 23 days to live, that just makes things crappier.

His attempts at social human contact with the little boy and the teenage girl can only culminate with him offering a skewer ladened with sweet stuff. You can almost wipe off the pity overflowing from L.

As described by K, "He can't do anything to help you, He's not almighty. He's hopeless when it comes to what his brains can't solve."

But L is not devoid of feelings.

The way he showed empathy to Maki when she was overwhelmed with her father's death.

The way he cared enough for Near to give him a tintoy robot that the boy was fascinated with at a street stall, as well as fruitful advice: "No matter how talented you are, you alone cannot change the world.."

There was a subtle hint of reflection on L's part. The way he might have felt that staking his life on the Kira case was a rash decision which, at that moment, he felt that he didn't have a choice. In his own way, he was trying to change the world, ridding it of Kira, and ultimately causing his own demise.

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i love the way they personified L's character, to open up this guarded box and unravel the simple complexities behind the great genius.

The glorification of L. :)

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