Friday, 21 February 2020

21/2/20 - Favourite Character Praise Friday - Misa Amane


 Hello and welcome back to Favourite Character Praise Friday! This is one of my absolute favourite posts to write and I hope you enjoy my picking apart of my favourite characters enough to stick around while I examine my next victim, I mean, character. Don’t worry, I do not rank these characters in a particular order, it just so happens that some characters are better worth sharing praise for at a different point in time to others! Remember, every fifth instalment is Least Favourite Character Praise Friday, so keep an eye out for me probing at characters I can’t stand and raving about how well they were written in order to evoke such a reaction.

So, who is the subject of my next Favourite Character Praise Friday?

Misa Amane from Death Note!



Warning: The following will contain spoilers!

For those who don’t know, or haven’t had a chance to check out my analysis of why I dislike Light Turner from Netflix’s adaptation of Death Note, I’ll give you guys a quick info-dump about why I absolutely adore this show.

I have watched Death Note seven times in the last seven years, since I was introduced to it. Every single time I’ve revisited the show I have come across something new and interesting, and a completely new level of storytelling. I absolutely adore all of the characters, regardless of where they stand on the scale of “Kira is Justice” and “Kira is an over-glorified serial killer that needs to be stopped”. My absolute favourite of all the characters, however, is Misa Amane, aka The Second Kira.
She is a character that I immediately gravitated toward. Fifteen-year-old Imogen loved her just as much as I do now. She always struck me as a clever and sharp girl who was utterly devoted to the cause she served. She is one of those characters that I have never found myself disliking, even when the general consensus was that she was annoying.

I have many reasons for adoring her, including her character design and aesthetic, the way she is portrayed exceptionally well by every voice actor that has taken on the role, which I have seen, at least, to even how well she fits into the series.

But these are, arguably superficial means to like a character to the extent that I do. So, like with all of my other favourites thus far, I have dissected the reasons and I am presenting them to you now, for your reading pleasure.

She is actually immensely intelligent. The reason that she decides to follow Light is because she agrees with him and believes that he is right, and thus became subservient in order to assist him. She was his greatest ally. This was demonstrated by the fact that when Light lay dying in the warehouse, he called for her, begging for her to help him, even though she was nowhere near him. She showed off her intellect by orchestrating a rouse where she was able to take out several police officers indiscriminately and make a very strong statement to attract Kira’s attention. She was always aware of the consequences of her actions and was willing to go to any lengths to prove that she had no intention to harm Light. This was a very good method of showing compliance, whether motivated by emotion or methodical planning. By immediately saying that she would let him hold onto her note, she showed him a fierce level of trust, whilst also showing she was willing to help him. This was further exemplified by the fact she was willing to use her friend, who acted as a pasty, preparing the tapes she would end up recording Kira videos on, to her demise without hesitation demonstrated a cool and relentless resolve. Like Light, she was willing to use people that could be classed as disposable as pawns to do her bidding while she pulled the strings.

She is very selfless. It is demonstrated throughout the series, that when motivated to do so, Misa will not hesitate to do anything for a person if she feels strongly enough about them. When she was without her memories of her time as The Second Kira, she went out of her way to assist L and Light in catching Higuchi, the man working under the name of Kira. She took advantage of her status in the idol and acting industry, and the shortcomings of Touta Matsuda ((whom I will praise respectively at a later date!)) in order to manipulate him into confessing. She takes advantage of being allowed her memories to return briefly and retaining as much knowledge as she could from Rem, the Shinigami who first assisted her as The Second Kira, to help the investigation and subsequently return Light’s memories to him. Whenever she was acting as Kira, she was quick to do what she could for Light, solicited or not. She, aware that she had been blessed by Gelus, the Shinigami that died saving her, with an extended lifespan, was happy to half it to assist Light in killing criminals and becoming the God of the new world. She knew that she could have died that day and lived her life, grateful; to Gelus, to Rem, and to Light.

Her exuberance makes her an endearing character. Watching her interact with the stoic Light and the awkward L is entertaining as a viewer. There is a fascinating aspect of seeing the trio, two without their memories of being Kira, bounce off one another. L, despite his suspicions of her, grows fond of Misa, as do several other members of the Japanese Task Force, Matsuda and Mogi to name a few, both after spending extended periods of time in her company. She is a character that knows that people will love her, and doesn’t hesitate to flaunt that trait to the benefit of Light. Her likeable cheerful persona makes her a quick hit with both Sachiko and Sayu Yagami, and eventually, Light’s father warms up to her too. This is demonstrated by the fact that they are all so comfortable together post-timeskip, when in the Yagami household. Misa was always respectable, despite Light making out that his, once fictional, girlfriend had slept with him several times before Misa made herself known to him. Regardless of their inevitable first impressions that the pretty goth at their door was the girl who had slept with Light, they couldn’t help but find her politeness and cheeriness. It also made her a character that was easy to underestimate, whether or not she had her memories at the time. When Mello and Matt are observing her as she was once believed to be The Second Kira, Mello remarks that she is just a stupid woman, demonstrated by her dedication to Light, to whom she would soon become engaged.

Misa is a character that both fans and characters alike, underestimate immensely throughout the series - Light included. She is one of my favourites due to the fact that, despite being so devoted to Light she had the power to make immense change. It was after the rise of The Second Kira that more and more people started to fall in-line with Light’s ideals. She was able to manipulate Higuchi into confessing as she knew he was attracted to her, and wanted to pursue a romantic relationship with her. She is quick and adaptable, and had she not been a Kira supporter, could have been a better adversary than L because of her refusal to take prisoners. She makes that clear from the moment she proposes she pretend to be his girlfriend at the start of the show, she will kill anyone that she sees associating with him romantically.

Please, if you have opinions on Misa Amane, feel free to share them with me! Don’t forget you can check out my previous Character Praise by looking through the hashtags below.

And remember!

Per Aruda Ad Astra

No comments:

Post a Comment