Anime and mange endings?
After watching the series for the nth time (I'm embarrassed to estimate even to a community of fans), I find it easier to examine the finale more critically and refrain myself from screaming at a certain character, guess who. So, let's compare the endings of the anime and the manga.
I became a fan of the manga before the anime was completed in Japan, and considering how closely the anime had stuck thus far to the manga, essentially word for word and scene for scene (with fair pacing cuts), I really had no reason to expect that it would deviate. The only major deviation that far was L's death, which can't even be considered a deviation so much as an expansion of an otherwise brief scene. The second arc ("5 Years Later") was condensed more considerably, but I felt it adequately portrayed the story and themes in less words. Up to the first half of the last episode, everything between the manga and anime remained nearly identical. The only difference I noticed initially was that in the anime, Near never made his punishment for Kira clear - instead of giving him the death penalty, Near planned to have him locked up in isolation to rot away. It's not an essential detail, but perhaps knowing that the viewer might expect Light to relax and think more clearly since he knows he's in no immediate danger of death.
It's after Light's bleeding to death on the ground that the major changes begin.
First, Mikami commits a rather gruesome suicide in the anime, which did not take place in the manga until presumably after Mikami's incarceration (stated in the epilogue that Mikami died shortly after the warehouse incident due to "insanity"). In the manga, after Light denies him, Mikami freaks out and calls him trash. Which fits Mikami better? Considering how mentally unstable Mikami is at that point, I think both scenarios are a possibility. Mikami is so fanatical, he views Light as an idealistic god - to see him human and desperate shatters that divine image. So a) he flips shit at Light, and b) he can't take it anymore and immediately ends it all. And if we consider the possibility that it was Near who wrote Mikami's name in the Death Note anyway, to cause him to go insane and commit suicide, then Mikami's behavior doesn't have to be debated further.
Then there's our protagonist. Light "escapes" from the warehouse in the anime, and from there we abandon the dark, gritty warehouse for a much more visual and less factual spin on Light's finale. In the manga, of course, Light proceeds to beg Ryuk to write the names of his enemies in the Death Note, but Ryuk writes his name instead, reminding him that "he didn't take sides, and Light's time was up." Ryuk kills Light in the anime, but from afar, watching over like a pensive spectator - and the act seems purely ceremonial, as it's pretty clear that Light's going to die anyway.
Perhaps my personal biggest gripe about the anime ending when I first saw it was the cutting of two scenes I felt were thematically integral to the plot. First being the flashback scene that takes place in the manga immediately prior to Ryuk writing Light's name. It ties the loose threads placed in the very first chapter - with a young Light telling Ryuk he understands what he meant about "heaven and hell", and surmises that they don't exist at all. Ryuk is surprised and admits it was a lie. All humans go to Nothingness, not just Death Note users. To me, this is the ironic ending to a tale that was on the surface about Justice - only to find out that supposed "divine justice" (represented by our notions of Heaven and Hell) are only man-made fantasies, and in reality, all humans meet the same fate. Of course, this is still noted in the commercial break Death Note rules, but I had thought the scene was a good contrast from all the darkness of the chapter.
The anime also cut the epilogue, where Matsuda admits to liking Light even now, and accuses Near of using the Death Note on Mikami to manipulate him during the final showdown. Most importantly, we see the world one year later, when crime is back up and the world is it's normal, rotten self. After that, we see a group of Kira worshipers in the moonlight, praying for salvation. I thought it was also an interesting statement to see Kira become a religion, when of course we, the readers, know the real Light. None of this was alluded to, except for the cops caring for Light when they refuse to follow Near's orders to let him bleed to death and go out to find them (at least I believe this was the implication, that Near is being cruel, and with Matsuda's more gentle calling of Light's name as they see him leave..)
I did appreciate the more gentle atmosphere of the anime, but the cuts and changes hadn't felt necessary to me. Now, however, I'm starting to think differently and appreciate them both as they are - and understand the changes and their necessity. The anime frequently emphasized artistic visuals in the anime that weren't present or necessary even if they were possible in the manga version. With the ability to create a more complete scene with music and color, the producers took every chance they could to really weave a more artistic tale, using this to represent emotion and intent in a script that Ohba deliberately wrote focusing more on plot. Though mostly, I appreciate emphatically her choice to let audiences fill in the blanks, and not waste time with relationship filler or other personal problems that wouldn't end up affecting the plot, I applauded the anime for displaying so much depth. The best example I think is episode 25, the same intentions carried through to 37. The producers could have stayed with Ohba's script and illustrated the brutality of Light's downfall, but instead they made it more reflective and focused on Light's expressions and outlook - with no dialogue at all of his own.
It struck me as touching that when Light runs from the warehouse, he's met with a brilliant sunset ignoring completely the fact that how the fuck could it be sunset when they met at 1 pm. He's gasping, holding his wounds - but running through beautiful, vivid colors surrounding him. Then, we see flashes of Light as he was in the first episode, before he received the Death Note. In a sharp contrast, that Light is the one that looks lifeless, illustrated with gray, dreary colors and a sad, empty look in his eyes. That Light was meaningless, having nothing to commit to or fight for, and all he saw was a hopeless world. We flash back to the older Light, at the end of things, and still, the colors. Even when Light enters another warehouse to die on the steps, the coloring is still notably rich. So ultimately, I believe it shows that Light has no idealistic regrets and is seeing his "shining new world", so much more beautiful than the gray world he perceived six years ago.
It's definitely a pointedly different approach to the ending than the manga. But it seems pretty clear that the anime wanted to wrap it up in a way consistent to the aesthetic themes and visuals. And, to be fair, probably go for an ending that lets the audience off a little easier as opposed to cutting off right after the protagonist's tortured death. Give you some time to digest it with slower, less action-focused snippets of the characters (Misa about to commit suicide (?), Light closing his eyes, the police looking for him, and of course L) along with a piano piece.
Anyway, to reiterate in less words, the anime takes an artistic/emotive approach, the manga goes for furthered plot with dark irony.
To those of you who are familiar with both, which to you prefer and why?
I became a fan of the manga before the anime was completed in Japan, and considering how closely the anime had stuck thus far to the manga, essentially word for word and scene for scene (with fair pacing cuts), I really had no reason to expect that it would deviate. The only major deviation that far was L's death, which can't even be considered a deviation so much as an expansion of an otherwise brief scene. The second arc ("5 Years Later") was condensed more considerably, but I felt it adequately portrayed the story and themes in less words. Up to the first half of the last episode, everything between the manga and anime remained nearly identical. The only difference I noticed initially was that in the anime, Near never made his punishment for Kira clear - instead of giving him the death penalty, Near planned to have him locked up in isolation to rot away. It's not an essential detail, but perhaps knowing that the viewer might expect Light to relax and think more clearly since he knows he's in no immediate danger of death.
It's after Light's bleeding to death on the ground that the major changes begin.
First, Mikami commits a rather gruesome suicide in the anime, which did not take place in the manga until presumably after Mikami's incarceration (stated in the epilogue that Mikami died shortly after the warehouse incident due to "insanity"). In the manga, after Light denies him, Mikami freaks out and calls him trash. Which fits Mikami better? Considering how mentally unstable Mikami is at that point, I think both scenarios are a possibility. Mikami is so fanatical, he views Light as an idealistic god - to see him human and desperate shatters that divine image. So a) he flips shit at Light, and b) he can't take it anymore and immediately ends it all. And if we consider the possibility that it was Near who wrote Mikami's name in the Death Note anyway, to cause him to go insane and commit suicide, then Mikami's behavior doesn't have to be debated further.
Then there's our protagonist. Light "escapes" from the warehouse in the anime, and from there we abandon the dark, gritty warehouse for a much more visual and less factual spin on Light's finale. In the manga, of course, Light proceeds to beg Ryuk to write the names of his enemies in the Death Note, but Ryuk writes his name instead, reminding him that "he didn't take sides, and Light's time was up." Ryuk kills Light in the anime, but from afar, watching over like a pensive spectator - and the act seems purely ceremonial, as it's pretty clear that Light's going to die anyway.
Perhaps my personal biggest gripe about the anime ending when I first saw it was the cutting of two scenes I felt were thematically integral to the plot. First being the flashback scene that takes place in the manga immediately prior to Ryuk writing Light's name. It ties the loose threads placed in the very first chapter - with a young Light telling Ryuk he understands what he meant about "heaven and hell", and surmises that they don't exist at all. Ryuk is surprised and admits it was a lie. All humans go to Nothingness, not just Death Note users. To me, this is the ironic ending to a tale that was on the surface about Justice - only to find out that supposed "divine justice" (represented by our notions of Heaven and Hell) are only man-made fantasies, and in reality, all humans meet the same fate. Of course, this is still noted in the commercial break Death Note rules, but I had thought the scene was a good contrast from all the darkness of the chapter.
The anime also cut the epilogue, where Matsuda admits to liking Light even now, and accuses Near of using the Death Note on Mikami to manipulate him during the final showdown. Most importantly, we see the world one year later, when crime is back up and the world is it's normal, rotten self. After that, we see a group of Kira worshipers in the moonlight, praying for salvation. I thought it was also an interesting statement to see Kira become a religion, when of course we, the readers, know the real Light. None of this was alluded to, except for the cops caring for Light when they refuse to follow Near's orders to let him bleed to death and go out to find them (at least I believe this was the implication, that Near is being cruel, and with Matsuda's more gentle calling of Light's name as they see him leave..)
I did appreciate the more gentle atmosphere of the anime, but the cuts and changes hadn't felt necessary to me. Now, however, I'm starting to think differently and appreciate them both as they are - and understand the changes and their necessity. The anime frequently emphasized artistic visuals in the anime that weren't present or necessary even if they were possible in the manga version. With the ability to create a more complete scene with music and color, the producers took every chance they could to really weave a more artistic tale, using this to represent emotion and intent in a script that Ohba deliberately wrote focusing more on plot. Though mostly, I appreciate emphatically her choice to let audiences fill in the blanks, and not waste time with relationship filler or other personal problems that wouldn't end up affecting the plot, I applauded the anime for displaying so much depth. The best example I think is episode 25, the same intentions carried through to 37. The producers could have stayed with Ohba's script and illustrated the brutality of Light's downfall, but instead they made it more reflective and focused on Light's expressions and outlook - with no dialogue at all of his own.
It struck me as touching that when Light runs from the warehouse, he's met with a brilliant sunset ignoring completely the fact that how the fuck could it be sunset when they met at 1 pm. He's gasping, holding his wounds - but running through beautiful, vivid colors surrounding him. Then, we see flashes of Light as he was in the first episode, before he received the Death Note. In a sharp contrast, that Light is the one that looks lifeless, illustrated with gray, dreary colors and a sad, empty look in his eyes. That Light was meaningless, having nothing to commit to or fight for, and all he saw was a hopeless world. We flash back to the older Light, at the end of things, and still, the colors. Even when Light enters another warehouse to die on the steps, the coloring is still notably rich. So ultimately, I believe it shows that Light has no idealistic regrets and is seeing his "shining new world", so much more beautiful than the gray world he perceived six years ago.
It's definitely a pointedly different approach to the ending than the manga. But it seems pretty clear that the anime wanted to wrap it up in a way consistent to the aesthetic themes and visuals. And, to be fair, probably go for an ending that lets the audience off a little easier as opposed to cutting off right after the protagonist's tortured death. Give you some time to digest it with slower, less action-focused snippets of the characters (Misa about to commit suicide (?), Light closing his eyes, the police looking for him, and of course L) along with a piano piece.
Anyway, to reiterate in less words, the anime takes an artistic/emotive approach, the manga goes for furthered plot with dark irony.
To those of you who are familiar with both, which to you prefer and why?