Death Note Manga to Anime - What Changed?

Lately more and more attention has been drawn to the fact that the DN manga and anime vary in various crucial points, making them both engaging and unique stories to enjoy and think about. On basis of this, I started wondering what exactly changed from manga to anime? In the sense of… which scenes were adapted straight from the text, what was added, what was removed?

Well, I sat through the entire anime and compared it to the manga counterpart.

What resulted is this. It’s a bare-bones scene inventory. It’s not an analysis of the different implications, it’s more meant as a reference post to help with starting to compare the two. It also in no way means scenes not mentioned here are entirely unadapted - listing every small phrasing change was simply not within my capacity. And since this was a huuuge task as was, I also couldn’t pay much attention to minor alterations in body language and such either - let alone filmic mood-creating devices such as camera, coloring and music.

What this does is compare the scene selection as such. It answers questions as ‘Was this in the manga like this?’ ‘Is this scene in the anime?’ and ‘How was this scene order altered?’ essentially.One day I would love to do an actual analysis on what some of this means for plot interpretation, but as is, this is just a plain comparison that I think more people than just me might find interesting.

(While I did give my best, please note I worked on this hours and hours sometimes in the middle of the night, so I don’t claim a full absence of mistakes. Double-checking for yourself when you want to work with comparison analysis is probably always the safest bet.)

So yes, all 37 episodes of the DN anime, compared to the manga. Go!

Episode 1 (adapts Chapter 1):

SCENE ADD:

• Religious text read in class at the start of the episode
• Light’s walk home with the news of crime playing on TV screens
• Light putting the DN back down and then coming back for it (noteworthy is that the reason to come back seems to be specifically the fact that the note ‘can kill people’.)
• Dramatic new sequence of criminal killing after he finds his motivation

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light walking home with Yamamoto and his other friend
• Teacher at cram school throwing chalk at Light’s head for being inattentive as he contemplates murder
• Light curled up in his bed panicking after the first kills
• L sitting behind his computer making a comment that the ICPO need his help with this case

SCENE MOVE:

• Light’s first murders are shown when they chronologically occur, not as a flashback like in the manga (only Light deciding to kill more criminals gets a flashback position now)
• Ryuk’s scene in the shinigami realm is split into two - first an introduction to his boredom at the start of the episode, then after Light kills Takuo the manga start scene of ‘it’s been five days, I should get going’ appears
• In the manga Light’s ‘Because I was bored’ (and the subsequent flashback to his motivation forming) immediately follows Ryuk’s while in the anime it is delayed up until after he proclaims he’ll kill criminals systematically
• Ryuk’s question as to why most people had to die of heart attacks is placed before the flashback in the anime, while it is after it in the manga
• The ICPO meeting start is moved to Episode 2

SCENE CHANGE:

• Instead of flying out the window to show nobody on the street can notice him, Ryuk reveals this in an added scene of Sachiko coming in to bring some apples
• Shibuimaru and his gang physically assault the woman and open her pants while in the manga they corner her but only assault verbally

Episode 2 (adapts Chapter 2, with added scenes from Chapter 3 and 4):

SCENE ADD:

• Another scene in school in which Light is asked to translate yet another plot lampshading text
• Light walking home with Ryuk and rejecting random dude’s invitation to hang out
• Shots of daily life of people in the streets blended with talk of Kira discourse before the scene switches to Light checking the web

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light going home with his friends and joking around with them
• Light coming home and saying he’s only calm when he can watch the DN personally
• Light reading an adult mag with an article about Kira plus Sayu commenting on this
• Light joking about Ryuk during the testing for his fire trap
• Light going shopping for wood etc for his desk trap (the dialogue from this is moved to Episode 3 though)

SCENE MOVE:

• ICPO meeting is shown later than in the manga
• Sayu’s introduction already occurs at the start of episode 2 much earlier than in the manga
• Light’s fire trap experiment from chapter 4 occurs during the ICPO meeting scenes here and the same goes for the actual desk trap building
• L requesting the cooperation of the Japanese police is shown when it occurs chronologically rather than in a flashback

SCENE CHANGE:

• L shuts down the transmission before shouting ‘I am Justice’ in unison with Light - in the manga, L’s part of this is publically transmitted on TV

Episode 3 (adapts from Chapter 3 to Chapter 5):

SCENE ADD:

• L talks lengthily about the option of Kira being a student and what kind of moral motives Kira might have
• Another sequence of Light’s daily school life while criminals die in regular intervals

SCENE REMOVE:

• The dinner scene is cut short (in the manga Soichiro reveals the culprit of his current case might be a student and Light tells on Sayu for making him do her homework)
• L talking to the director of the FBI to send the agents to Japan
• Light noticing that Raye hasn’t been in his room because of his door security measures being unchanged

SCENE MOVE:

• Shinigami talking about Ryuk’s absence is moved to the start of Ep 4
• While, as said, Sayu’s introduction was moved to earlier, the second half of her studying with Light occurs in its original place, making this two separate instances of them studying together in anime continuity
• Light and Ryuk talking about the state of the shinigami world and Light stating he’s an optimist are moved to the end of the shinigami eye talk in Episode 4

SCENE CHANGE:

• Random-ass policeman in report on the case is changed to be Mogi
• Light hacks into his dad’s database at that point already (which is how he finds out Kira is suspected to be a student in the anime, as opposed to the manga’s dinner convo)
• Dialogue from when Light was buying wood for the desk trap in the manga is here used as he’s walking home from school with Ryuk
• Dialogue order in the scene of the shinigami eye reveal is generally switched around a bit

Episode 4 (adapts from Chapter 6 to Chapter 7):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light going down to the kitchen for breakfast and bringing a newspaper with Osoreda’s name back upstairs

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• More slight dialogue order switcharounds in the shinigami eye infodump scene

Episode 5 (adapts from Chapter 8 to Chapter 10):

SCENE ADD:

• Soichiro directly calling L to confront him about the FBI spying on them

SCENE REMOVE:

• Yuri dragging Light off to Spaceland despite the bus hijack
• The task force finding out about the death of the FBI agents before L
• L’s conversation with the FBI director is shortened (instead of talking about the sent file, the director essentially just says ‘bye, we won’t work with you anymore’)
• The task force reacting to the knowledge L was spying on them via FBI is cut
• L musing on the file order being relevant in the FBI agent’s deaths
• Ryuk commenting on Light’s acting after the family conversation
• Light and Sayu talking about New Years TV and dad not coming home
• The task force speculating L is actually Kira himself

SCENE MOVE:

• Light meeting Raye at the metro is shown when it occurs chronologically, rather than in a flashback
• Naomi asking the bus driver about Raye is moved to a little later
• Light’s musing on whether or not he made a mistake is merged with the later ‘just one detail’ scene in Episode 6
• Naomi angsting on the bridge is moved to the middle of Ep 6
• Naomi standing on the subway is also moved to that episode (and added in with some thoughts to connect it to her walking up to the NPA building)

SCENE CHANGE:

• The step of Raye calling someone of lower rank to get the files is skipped - instead he writes his superiors name down, thus involuntarily manipulating him into sending the files out

Episode 6 (adapts from Chapter 11 to Chapter 12):

SCENE ADD:

• Light musing even more to see if he overlooked anything

SCENE REMOVE: /

SCENE MOVE:

• Some of Light’s musing from earlier was moved to intermingle with L explaining shit to the task force and then climax in the simultaneous ‘just one detail’ thought
• Naomi approaching the task force building is moved to later

SCENE CHANGE:

• Light and Naomi don’t sit down inside the NPA building before taking their walk

Episode 7 (adapts from Chapter 13 to Chapter 14):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• While some undefined voice shouts ‘see ya, Light’ as Light walks up to his front door, the part where he is actually walking home with his friends and their conversation are cut

SCENE MOVE:

• L talking to the task force and Naomi talking to Light are shown in turns while in the manga, the scenes are mostly kept separate and don’t normally interrupt each other

SCENE CHANGE:

• While in the manga, Naomi concludes talking to ‘a member of the task force’ aka Light is good enough and tries to leave, in the anime she decides to try her luck at the NPA again anyway

Episode 8 (adapts from Chapter 15 to Chapter 17):

SCENE ADD:

• Scenes from Hideki Ryuga in a TV drama are shown (in the manga there’s just a concert of him on TV in the background)

SCENE REMOVE:

• Ukita getting frustrated with tons of phones ringing
• Light’s internal monologueing before going down for dinner is cut short

SCENE MOVE:

• Again, Light and L’s actions are shown with more scene changes back and forth than in the manga

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the anime, everyone is exhausted as hell after watching security footage and ice cream is being eaten - in the manga people are in high spirits then but also with less ice cream (none, to be precise)
• In the manga L first announces his idea of cameras and then says who they will be supervising - this order is reversed in the anime
• Generally the dialogue in L’s interactions with the task force is shortened in a lot of instances but expanded in others
• In the anime Sayu sits on the floor in front of the TV while Light and his mom eat dinner - in the manga she’s also on a chair eating
• I don’t think I need to explain to anyone that they made the chips scene more dramatic

Episode 9 (adapts from Chapter 17 to Chapter 19):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE: /

SCENE MOVE:

• A scene from the shinigami world that occurs before the tennis match in the manga now takes place after the entrance exams already

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the manga L and Light have their first conversation in standing and shake hands, in the anime they are sitting already and don’t shake hands

Episode 10 (adapts from Chapter 20 to Chapter 22):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Some of the side commentary the guys from the tennis club do on the match
• Half of L questioning Light in the café was removed (namely him asking Light to estimate what the fact that he told him he’s L means) and the rest is still shortened
• Dialogue at Soichiro’s hospital bed has been shortened down so much it might as well have been cut in half even if the gist remains (talk of Sayu is entirely removed though)

SCENE MOVE:

• Soichiro’s interaction with Kitamura that comes after the tennis match in the manga is shown to take place during it in the anime
• Demegawa’s introduction is now combined with him receiving the Kira II tapes after the hospital scene instead of taking place before it, with both scenes being separate

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the anime, L tells Light he suspects him while they are already walking away from the tennis court - in the manga this place takes place on it; visual cues of Light hiding his eyes behind hair seem removed from the hospital scenes

Episode 11 (adapts from Chapter 23 to Chapter 25):

SCENE ADD:

• A shot of Light staring out of the window with no dialogue

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light’s reaction monologue about the second Kira’s appearance is cut shorter
• L discussing the option of showing his face on TV as well as his analysis of why it’s a second Kira are shortened considerably

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• When L talks after Ukita’s death, his hair obscures his eyes pretty much the entire time when it only does so towards the end of the scene in the manga

Episode 12 (adapts from Chapter 26 to Chapter 27 - except for the last few pages of that one):

SCENE ADD:

• Misa at a photoshoot
• This is half a change, but: Light musing about the second Kira is moved from his room to his favourite café. Misa entering the café and them not seeing each other has no manga basis however.

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light’s arrival at the hotel, being greeted by Matsuda

SCENE MOVE:

• L elaborating on his reason for not immediately telling Light their second Kira hypothesis is moved into a flashback after Light’s arrival at the hotel (in the manga it is shown when it chronologically occurs)

SCENE CHANGE:

• L’s short fall from his chair is expanded to a long sequence of him shaking and making shocked noises
• In the anime, Misa directly asks Rem if she’d ever fall for her after Rem reveals that is the way to kill a shinigami. In the manga, Misa never voices this thought out loud but Rem guesses it and Misa admits to it

Episode 13 (adapts from Chapter 27 last few pages to Chapter 29):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• L talking more about precautions against the second Kira and some headthought are removed from the scene in which they discuss the diary Misa sent
• Some of the short objections Light voices in conversation with Misa were left out

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the anime, Light immediately uses Misa being his ‘girlfriend’ as an alibi for inviting her in by linking her to his earlier statement of having a girlfriend at all.

Episode 14 (adapts from Chapter 30 to Chapter 31):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Misa explaining the properties of the shinigami eyes to Light via her drawings.

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• Sachiko’s and Sayu’s pained expressions when forcing themselves to say Misa is cute are removed - they sound genuine in the anime
• When Misa approaches Light on his way home from the hotel, she literally physically jumps at him and knocks him to the ground - in the manga, she does not

Episode 15 (adapts from Chapter 32 to Chapter 33):

SCENE ADD:

• After Misa is confined, a dramatic sequence of metaphorical building standing occurs, including Light falling off one and then stopping by sheer determination.
• A short sequence of Watari putting on gloves, presumably for the ‘make her talk’ methods L mentioned
• In the manga, Rem only shortly alludes to her interaction with Misa that convinced her to forfeit ownership. In the anime, this is shown in an actual flashback

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light’s mention of having kissed other girls (Shiho, Emi)
• Guys at Uni gossiping about Light and Takada briefly
• L mentioning other Ls existing to Light briefly
• Some of L’s dialogue when they watch the confined Misa for the first time
• Light’s thoughts in his room afterwards (they are replaced by a single voiceless shot of Light standing there)
• Misa saying she was supposed to die ‘that day’ is removed, as is her ‘kill me while I’m still young and beautiful’ line

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• Light’s thoughts about the fight against L are underlined with a dramatic metaphoric sequence of him standing on a building
• In the anime, Light and L didn’t have classes after meeting at Uni and were planning to go to the caféteria while in the manga they’d have psychology class together soon after.

Episode 16 (adapts from Chapter 34 to Chapter 35):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• L telling Soichiro to not quit the police and the ensuing mini-convo

SCENE MOVE:

• Misa starting to refer to L as ‘Stalker-san’ is a mini scene interrupting Light’s and the shinigami’s scene in the forest now

SCENE CHANGE: /

Episode 17 (adapts from Chapter 36 to Chapter 37):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Aizawa’s short mention of finding Light’s fake diary is removed
• Yotsuba Eight’s first conversation is cut considerably

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• All of Higuchi’s text in his first (faceless) appearance is given to Rem - probably so his voice wouldn’t be recognized and the ‘who is Yotsuba Kira’ mystery could remain.

Episode 18 (adapts from Chapter 38 to Chapter 40):

SCENE ADD:

• Watari sipping tea amusedly as Aizawa struggles with the security measures (Aizawa’s struggle is in the manga, Watari is not)
• L to Matsuda: ‘You want to make yourself useful? Make me another cup of coffee.’

SCENE REMOVE:

• Rem and Higuchi talking about the real Kira etc.
• A lot of Light’s elaborations on his research on Yotsuba are cut
• L, Light, Matsuda and Aizawa musing on whether or not Kira is for hire now is removed
• Kitamura and Soichiro talking about why the police is now forbidden from pursuing Kira is cut super short
• Some of Soichiro’s and Aizawa’s dialogue about their family situations

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• Both Light putting his hand on L’s shoulder and later L putting his on Light’s are removed.
• In the manga, L directly calls Aiber and Wedy and they walk in through the front door (although Wedy still breaks in), in the anime they enter the building unnoticed by all but L and are already in the room sitting on a couch when L starts mentioning them

Episode 19 (adapts from Chapter 41 to Chapter 43):

SCENE ADD:

• ‘Are you annoyed that I’m the only one who has cake?’ segment is added
• ‘I’ll give you this strawberry if you keep this a secret’ is added
• The Yotsuba Eights arrival at the party is shown
• Short sequence of Matsuda sitting inside the room after being saved and Soichiro patting his shoulder

SCENE REMOVE:

• Light’s self-questioning over what he’d do with the Kira power is shortened a lot
• L commenting on Light’s hacking skills
• L briefing the task force and Wedy and Aiber about what they need to find out about Yotsuba is cut short
• Light’s phonecall with Misa is cut shorter
• L and the task force looking at the Yotsuba Eight profiles
• Aiber’s phonecall with Kida is cut short. Likewise, the conversation the Yotsubas have about it afterwards is shortened significantly
• Shimura and Ooi talking about the risk Coil and L pose is cut
• Aiber talking to L about his talk with Kira is cut

SCENE MOVE:

• Matsuda sneaking into the Yotsuba building is shown right after he runs off from set, not after a switch to the HQ as in the manga
• The order of scene changes between Matsuda and task forces is altered but not significantly so
• The Yotsubas discussing Matsuda is moved from being shown before him talking to Hatori and Shimura to after it

SCENE CHANGE:

• Misa wears an angel outfit in the anime’s version of the movie she’s filming with Hideki Ryuga
• In the manga, Matsuda at least tells Misa he’s leaving, in the anime he just rushes off
• In the manga, Matsuda listens on the door for over an hour, in the anime he just listens for a few minutes before he hears decisive words
• Matsuda’s interview with Hatori and Shimura lasts longer and Hatori brings up hiring Misa there instead of back in the conference room as in the manga
• Matsuda literally kicks the door open when reentering the party as opposed to… entering like a normal human being
• Matsui’s death in the newspaper is not shown in the task force like in the manga, but shown as Kida reads it in the paper
• Hatori’s panic to be killed after his careless words is empathized more

Episode 20 (adapts from Chapter 44 to Chapter 45):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Who’s surprised? Yotsuba Eight’s meeting talk was cut some
• So is the resulting debate about what to do about them in the task force. It starts out accurate but after L starts disagreeing with Light and Soichiro, dialogue is skipped
• L quizzing Misa on whether or not she realizes he is L. The following dialogue retains its gist but is also shortened down

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE: /

Episode 21 (adapts from Chapter 46 to Chapter 48):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Do I even need to mention that Yotsuba dialogue was shortened?
• L requesting Mogi to play manager is cut, we just skip right to Mogi and Misa in the car
• Aiber interviewing Misa is shortened
• Misa’s and Rem’s conversation is cut down to a fragment of what it is in the manga. Almost all of the situation explaining falls flat, as well as Rem’s statement of being female and Misa being pissed off Rem won’t just die for them etc
• Soichiro’s plan of going on TV to reveal their information and him being talked out of it by Light mostly is removed
• Mogi calling the task force about Misa running off

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• When Misa comes back, she just sits down on Light’s lap like it’s nothing in the anime - in the manga she keeps standing
• In the manga, L tells Misa she doesn’t need to meet up with the Yotsuba guys anymore (and gets his hair assaulted for it), in the anime it’s Light who breaks it to her
• Higuchi literally pinning Misa down onto the seat after she reveals she’s Kira only occurs in the anime

Episode 22 (adapts from Chapter 49 to Chapter 50):

SCENE ADD:

• Higuchi laughing wildly in the car at the end of the episode

SCENE REMOVE:

• The dialogue early into the episode, debating Misa’s stuff with Higuchi is cut considerably
• Some of the elaborations on the Matsuda-on-Sakura-TV plans are cut
• Namikawa, Shimura and Mido talking about their future after Kira is caught is left out

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• This is something that already happened in earlier episodes and I never noted, but L’s food is often less simply than in the manga or added into scenes entirely. There’s also a ton of added sequences of Watari walking in with food

Episode 23 (adapts from Chapter 51 to Chapter 52):

SCENE ADD:

• Longer version of Misa’s make-up commercial and L’s imitation of it

SCENE REMOVE:

• Ide’s and Aizawa’s conversation in the car is removed
• Higuchi’s thought about holding himself hostage is removed, making him seem more set on killing himself than in the manga, though the overall situation is entirely the same

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the manga, Matsuda just states vaguely that Kira is missing ‘one of th two conditions’ to kill him without specifcing the conditions, in the anime he outright says it’s his name that’s missing

Episode 24 (adapts from Chapter 53 to Chapter 56):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• The flashback to the note switcharound in the forest is shortened
• First bit of note discussion in the task force is removed, the scene starts only when Aizawa starts reading the rules. The rest of the scene is shortened with some of the dialogue order switched around
• L asking Light about having developed feelings for Misa when he says he’ll only see her outside is left out
• Also a majority of L questioning Rem is removed (including L asking about the meaning of the trade and about the option of memory loss etc)

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the anime, L’s eyes are often not shown because his back is turned to the camera or obscured by hair in the scene where they speak about Misa’s and Light’s innocence being proven - this cue is missing in the manga, his eyes are always in sight

Episode 25 (adapts from Chapter 57 to Chapter 58):

SCENE ADD:

• Intro sequence showing children in what presumably is Wammy’s House
• Flashback to small L and Watari
• L going to speak to Watari
• Dramatic-ass eye zoom scene after Light asks L if he doesn’t like having him here and L says no
• The entirety of Misa’s song and all that comes with the sequence
• The entire scene on the rooftop in the rain

SCENE REMOVE:

• A bit of headthought in the scenes in the HQ is cut, so all as usual
• A lot of Light’s headthought about Rem killing L and some of Rem’s
• L’s thoughts wondering about how/why Watari died and figuring it had to be Rem are removed
• Rem’s dying thoughts are removed
• L’s dying thoughts are removed
• In the manga, everyone sits down first and L’s death gets confirmed by Soichiro who seems to have accompanied him to the ambulance. Only then Light runs off to find Rem. In the anime, he runs off immediately, L’s corpse still on the ground

SCENE MOVE:

• L’s internal monologue about Kira’s return and the 13 days rule is moved to earlier in the scene
• In the manga, L brings up his testing plan that would bring Misa into trouble right after Rem figures Light’s plan, so Rem kills Watari and him immediately. In the anime, this is delayed to add in the rooftop scene

SCENE CHANGE:

• There is no power outage during L’s death in the manga
• The anime adds a long sequence of Light not yet smiling when holding L’s body - in the manga, he smiles from the second we are shown his face

Episode 26 (adapts from Chapter 59 and parts of Chapter 60):

SCENE ADD:

• All of the flashbacks, obviously. This is mostly a recap episode mostly and manga formats don’t normally do that after all
• The basis for the flashbacks: Light recovering L’s files and redeleting them or whatever’s happening there. This absolutely does not happen in the manga, the files are lost irrevocably. What Light gets from the computer is just the system (including the voice changers) not the content (he still does get the voice stuff in the anime though)
• Light looking over to L’s old chair and hallucinating / imagining him there
• Light dramatically writing on the HQ roof
• One image flashbacks to Light spending time with Wedy and Aiber respectively as he kills them
• The Yotsuba Group death scene (only mentioned in narrator text in the manga)

SCENE REMOVE:

• Soichiro coming back from talking to the superiors
• The task force talking about what became of Rem
• Narrator text about Light killing Wedy, Aiber and the Yotsubas is removed in favour of it all happening on the rooftop and the scenes being shown there
• Wammy’s daily life shots and Roger calling Near and Mello to his office

SCENE MOVE:

• The timer meant to send out the message of L’s death as well as the first scene showing Roger are moved to later in the episode instead of interrupting the task force talking scenes
• The part of the narrator text bridging the time skip that deals with Near is moved to the next episode

SCENE CHANGE:

• The anime adds a lot more ‘eyes hidden behind hair’ cues on Light when they are talking about L’s succession
• In the manga, Matsuda asks who will hide the note, in the anime he almost volunteers but is cut short when Aizawa says Soichiro should do it
• In the manga, Light suggests Misa and he move in together while they’re on a walk and his expression is normal. In the anime he does it while they are in a café and he looks entirely dead-eyed during it
• Wedy and Aiber’s death scenes are extended from one panel to whole short sequences. Aiber’s son is added (the manga just states he died ‘surrounded by his family’ and he was in a hospital and not at home)

SIDE NOTE:

From here on out so much is changed and mixed and matched, it’s a nightmare to document. Bear with me if I don’t catch everything, I’ll try my best (and it’ll still be a lot).

Episode 27 (adapts from the rest of Chapter 60 to the first 10 pages of Chapter 63):

SCENE ADD:

• Light raising his pen to kill Kitamura (standing in front of a mirror(?) in his giant-ass private library (?)) is explicitly shown

SCENE REMOVE:

• The two shots of Mello thinking about being number 2 to Near as well as the shot of him leaving the orphanage in the rain
• THIS ISN’T EVEN A SCENE REMOVE BUT LIKE. The entire character of President Hoope is removed. Since his arc is largely cut from the anime, the President is Psyeruth from the start
• Ill Ratt calling the Mafia from outside the SPK building
• The Shinigami in their realm discussing Kira
• Light’s internal monologue reflecting about the world changing
• Talk of Misa’s career is cut from the scene at the Yagami living room
• A looot of the task force discussion of Sayu’s kidnapping is cut
• Pretty much all discussion after Soichiro decides to hand over the notebook is cut

SCENE MOVE:

• The full talk of Roger with Mello and Near is placed before their post-timeskip selves have been introduced instead of in a flashback
• Soichiro meeting John Matckenraw takes place before the Mafia is shown and not after it like in the manga
• Mello’s dramatic ‘I’ll be number one’ is moved right to his first scene past timeskip when in the manga it takes place even after Kitamura’s death

SCENE CHANGE:

• Near giving instructions about the John Matckenraw thing is expanded a little but only to make up for his direct conversation with Matckenraw after he leaves Soichiro’s office being cut

Episode 28 (adapts from the rest of Chapter 63 to most of Chapter 66, excluding Shido showing up and confronting Ryuk from Chapter 65 ):

SCENE ADD:

• Light telling Misa to come along to LA is shown. She is packing and overhears Light talk to himself in the bathroom about possibly having to kill Sayu
• Everyone preparing for the journey (Light and Misa arriving at the airport, Aizawa getting his hair cut etc) is shown.
• Misa leaning on Light during the flight
• Light slapping the drink Misa offers him out of her hand

SCENE REMOVE:

• A lot during the flight kidnapping is shot shorter - mostly interactions between the investigation team or Light thinking
• A large part of what Mello says to Soichiro about the specifics of the exchange before landing is also cut - those specifics just.. don’t exist in the anime either
• Talk about the missile is cut short
• Light’s dialogue with Soichiro while Soichiro is on the helicopter (Soichiro and Sayu flying away is only seen in one textless image in the anime)
• Near questioning Soichiro about the kidnappers
• Near mentioning that the SPK must have had a spy in is removed, just like, well, everything indicating that. There is no spy in the anime, leaving Mello entirely without reason to kill them off (in the manga, he presumably did it to hide who was the spy before he could get found out). Nice manslaughter

SCENE MOVE:

• Mello talking to Soichiro via headphone is moved to a little later in the plot
• Small bits and pieces of dialogue change places all over this episode
• Shido’s first appearance in the shinigami realm, looking for his note, is delayed until later
• Meanwhile the death of the SPK is moved to before this

SCENE CHANGE:

• Soichiro telling Light that if he dies, he should save Sayu occurs with Misa and Light already having packed their backs in the manga - in the anime, they haven’t packed yet at that point and Misa isn’t even present
• Light and Misa own a parrot for some reason
• The one directly shadowing Soichiro is Ide in the manga but Aizawa in the anime
• The death of the SPK doesn’t happen while Near is on call with Light like it does in the manga
• In the manga, Light suggests Near and he share information - it is Near’s initiative in the anime

Episode 29 (adapts Chapter 66 to 74. More specifically: a part of Chapter 71, then the missing scenes from 65 and the rest of 66, then goes to a part of Chapter 68, then shows half of the flashback from Chapter 70 which isn’t a flashback here, then goes to a scene from 71, then back to the 70-ex-flashback, then continues on in normal from 71 to 74 ):

SCENE ADD: /

SCENE REMOVE:

• Ryuk’s and Shido’s dialogue is cut short - in the manga, Ryuk updates Shido on the note situation considerably more
• Shido handing out flyers about his note in the shinigami world
• Mello calling Soichiro about note details and the identity of the second L
• Soichiro and Sachiko speaking about not getting divorced
• Light confronting Near on, well, being Near
• Mello blackmailing the president of the US
• Misa telling Light Snyder’s name while waiting for him in lingerie (the lingerie is moved to another scene, while the name-telling takes place right after she finds the name because Light is already present while she finds it in the anim )
• The US president sending a special troop to storm Mello’s HQ but having his plans thwarted by Shido working for Mello
• Light talking to Misa and Ryuk before sending his note to the task force is cut short
• Shido talking to Mello is cut short
• The scene of Snyder exchanging the eyes it cut
• The president’s suicide is cut, unsurprisingly, since he isn’t actually a character in the anime to begin with
• The task force talking when they receive the note is cut very short, Matsuda volunteering to do the eye deal is given less focus
• Light’s shock and debate about his father volunteering is left out, we skip right to his end conclusion
• Talk before task force storms mafia HQ is cut short
• The entire scene at the mafia HQ is cut short in terms of missing dialogue and headthought etc

SCENE MOVE:

• The start of Volume 9 is miraculously moved into the middle of Volume 8 - the episode starts out with Sayu in the wheelchair. This originally happens after the troops storm the mafia HQ unsuccessfully
• Misa finding Snyder’s name and Light tricking him into revealing their location are moved to earlier

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the manga, Misa and Light are present when Shido appears before Ryuk - in the anime he is alone, going to grab an apple
• Two scenes from the manga are merged - Misa getting the letter from Snyder occurs with her wearing the outfit from when she only finds out Snyder’s name. A kiss between Light and Misa is added where none is shown in the manga. Also Shido is present - which is how he finds out the address of the Mafia - in the manga he isn’t there for this scene
• When Light’s father dies, Matsuda doesn’t pull Light back from the bed

Episode 30 (adapts Chapter 75 to 79, with some later scenes. More specifically: starts at 75, then goes to second half of 76, continues on to first half of 77, then 78, then a short segment from 81, then back to 77, then to the end of 79, then another scene from 81, then back to 79 again):

SCENE ADD:

• Dramatic sequence showing the state of the world (including Sachiko crying over Soichiro’s ashes)
• Segment of Demegawa on the airport as he flies to the US

SCENE REMOVE:

• Near calling Light about what happened with the Mafia
• Near explaining his reasoning for L being Kira is cut suuper short
• More task force discussion from the start of chapter 76
• Near and the SPK talking about disbanding
• Light hearing about the SPK being disbanded
• Lidner coming home and removing her audio transmitter to Near (she doesn’t even have that thing in the anime). The scene cuts right to her showering - all of her private conversation with Mello is also removed
• Near asking Light if they saw the first L’s face and the part of the convo relating to this
• Mello calling Mogi and guiding him to Near

SCENE MOVE:

• Matsuda talking about whether or not Kira is evil is moved to before Near’s reaction to the President’s choice
• Demegawa’s Kira’s Kingdom segment from Chapter 77 is moved to before the President’s announcement
• Near stating the task force members can contact him is moved to much earlier in the plot by being tacked onto the conversation about the fake rule
• Light calling the new President as Kira is moved to later
• Ide talking to Aizawa that he should go talk to Near is moved to earlier

SCENE CHANGE:

• When Light responds to Matsuda, his eyes are obscured in the manga, but not in the anime
• In the manga, Mello has been in contact with Lidner for a while already and she deliberately hides this from Near - in the anime he just shows up and threatens her randomly and they immediately go to the SPK
• In the anime, Light overhears Ide’s and Aizawa’s conversation

Episode 31 (adapts Chapter 80 to 83 . More specifically: starts at first half of 80, then goes to 81 although the scenes from it are out of order, then 82, then 83, then flashback to missing scenes from 81 ):

SCENE ADD:

• Mello watching the raid on the SPK on TV on an airport
• Aizawa sitting at home brooding over whether or not to go talk to Near and talking to his daughter (when did they even go back to Japan? I am thinking that isn’t mentioned in the anime, but I might be missing it)
• Extended sequence of Aizawa and Mogi searching Misa’s apparment
• Misa’s super empty face sitting in her apartment as Light at work monologues about how he had her sent the note to someone else
• Teru thanking Ryuk for coming and stroking the DN lovingly (although him stroking the DN also appears in the manga in the deleted letter-burning scene)

SCENE REMOVE:

• Near’s first call to the task force after the raid is cut
• Near’s lie that Mogi died is cut, obviously, because Mogi is never in his custody in the anime
• A lot of Aizawa’s talk with Near is cut short
• Mello and Matt observing Aizawa and Mogi
• Aizawa’s and Mogi’s private talk is largely not taking place since Mogi still was never held hostage by Near
• Again, Matt observing Mogi and Misa and being on call with Mello is removed
• Mikami pulling a ‘this is terrible’ face at Kira’s Kingdom (and well, saying ‘this is terrible’) as well as his thoughts about Demegawa and him making the eye trade are all removed
• Teru receiving the note and burning the letter that came with it

SCENE MOVE:

• Light seeing Mikami on TV is moved to later - so is him telling Misa to give up the note and send it away
• Aizawa and Mogi go visit Misa after Aizawa tells Light he talks to Near and not before
• Mogi and Aizawa deciding Misa should be observed by Mogi is moved to later
• Light picking out Mikami is shown in a flashback at the end of the episode

SCENE CHANGE:

• Instead of visiting Near in person, Aizawa only talks to him over the phone
• Man, Mikami killing off Demegawa and co. is made more dramatic for sure

Episode 32 (adapts Chapter 84 to 88):

SCENE ADD:

• Every shot of Mikami’s daily life in between the flashbacks of his backstory is anime-only
• Mikami musing about why Kira doesn’t contact him

SCENE REMOVE:

• A few lines from Teru’s backstory narration are removed or altered, but no significant segments have been changed
• Mikami asking Ryuk if he’s really not Kira
• Rester telling Near what they researched about Light and Nears thoughts on it
• The TV stations campaigning on who will become Kira’s next spokesperson
• Mikami going on TV again to tell Light he would act if not told not to
• … more Mello and Matt observations and phone-calls were removed. Not sure why I keep mentioning this each time at this point
• Mogi telling Aizawa Takada was Light’s girlfriend is removed
• Light saying they should go back to Japan is removed (because apparently they already are in the anime - sorry, I keep losing track of this)
• Near and the SPK talking about Takada
• Mello doesn’t tail Misa and Mello to the airport because everyone is in Japan already and this scene doesn’t happen
• Light and the task force talking before he meets Takada is removed
• The whole ‘Light convinces Takada to tell Kira her own opinion’ deal and anything that happens during it doesn’t take place in the anime - rather, Mikami calls right during Takada’s and Light’s first meeting
• Takada’s and Mikami’s talk on the phone before it is given to Light is shortened a ton, Light and Mikami don’t really talk about further contact before Light hangs up

SCENE MOVE:

• In the manga, about the first thing Takada does is ask about Misa. In the anime this question only comes up after she’s already agreed to meet Light anyway
• Misa talking to Mogi over dinner and Mello overhearing it is moved to later (the call with Matt is removed though - instead Matt just sits there silently playing video games)
• Mikami doesn’t kill the Sakura TV dude at the start of the call to prove his identity to Takada, but kills himwhen Light asks for it

SCENE CHANGE:

• Mikami narrates his own backstory in the anime instead of it being told by a third person narrator
• In the manga Light calls Takada from the airport, in the anime he is sitting somewhere fancy
• In the manga, Mikami asks Light directly whether or not he’s God, in the anime he only asks ‘Who are you?’ and gets Light’s proof as answer

Episode 33 (adapts Chapter 89 to 92, with one scene from 93):

SCENE ADD:

• Short sequence of Near and Rester on the plane together
• Dramatic metaphoric sequence of Light and Near standing in an elevator in Tokyo Tower to underline their talk
• Mikami’s and Takada’s phonecall is expanded to her explaining the full ‘you will fake a note’ etc to him (instead of Light explaining it to her earlier)
• Takada’s laughter during the dinner scene is added

SCENE REMOVE:

• Near’s and Light’s call after Near arrives in Japan is shortened
• Near explaining the state of investigation to the SPK is shortened
• Two short task force talks and some Light monologueing in the car to meet Takada are cut
• Near thinking about Takada and X-Kira’s identity is shortened
• Light and the task force talking about Lidner and some other stuff

SCENE MOVE:

• Misa and Takada meeting and Misa trying to kick her are moved to a little later (in order to tack all scenes of Near thinking about the identity of X-Kira together)
• Lidner reporting about Takada’s and Misa’s meeting is moved to earlier, to right after the dinner scene ends

SCENE CHANGE:

• (Curiously enough, Teru’s speech from when he tried to contact Light again is still one of the files Near watches about him even though it didn’t take place in the anime - the assumption has to be that Teru made it at an earlier point without plot-relation)

Episode 34 (adapts Chapter 93 to 96):

SCENE ADD:

• Rester talking to Aizawa on the phone and Aizawa requesting to meet Near in person
• Lidner standing in Mogi’s and Misa’s way before taking them to confinement with Rester
• Gevanni is shown photographing the note

SCENE REMOVE:

• Rester’s suggestion to capture Mikami after his identity as X-Kira is confirmed and Near rejecting the thought
• A bit of Light and Takada flirting before she confronts him on Misa is cut
• Near wondering more about Mikami’s shinigami before the ‘Mikami is talking to himself scene’
• More Near talk about Mikami and the Shinigami from afterwards is cut as well
• Aizawa’s and Near’s conversation is cut a ton
• Light calling his family to say he won’t be home for New Years
• Task force talk after Takada says Misa hasn’t arrived yet
• Second half of Near’s and Light’s call about the Mogi+Misa-confinement
• Light updating Takada on what happened with Misa Light and Takada alibi-talking about profiling Kira through letters

SCENE MOVE:

• Aizawa testing whether or not there is written communication between Light and Takada is moved from Chapter 94 to before the meeting in 93
• Some of the talk about Aizawa being blindfolded when arriving at Near’s HQ is taken from the scenes cut from their previous conversation as that was the one that took place in person in the manga

SCENE CHANGE:

• While the previous conversation between Near and Aizawa was changed from in-person to phone, this one is changed from taking place in a phone-booth for Aizawa to Aizawa directly coming to Near
• Misa in the anime accepts the SPK confinement silently after first making a fuss - Misa in the manga only does so after proclaiming that at least it’ll make Kiyomi as the host look bad

Episode 35 (adapts Chapter 97 to 99):

SCENE ADD:

• (The parrot Misa and Light own is shown in the silent sequence. I’m just mentioning this because that has to mean it was specifically brought over to the SPK confinement room, probably… Or it’s a magical parrot. Who knows anymore. Excuse me.)
• Someone getting smacked down by Takada’s bodyguards is added to the silent sequence
• Mello phoning someone and then Mello and Matt sitting together with Mello putting his chocolate down are added to the silent sequence
• Takada undressing is actually shown
• Takada getting up before her eyes go to note-controlled before her death, as well as her arm burning

SCENE REMOVE:

• Near and Gevanni talking about the note
• Sayu’s guest appearance isn’t featured in the silent sequence
• Near and Light discussing the conditions for their meeting is shortened a lot
• Some of the talk after deciding the meeting and before Light meets Takada is cut
• Lidner telling Near about Mello’s actions is only in as a two frame flashback without words, the actual text is cut
• Light asking Takada basic questions about her name etc to confirm her mental state / calm her down

SCENE MOVE:

• The task force hearing of Takada’s kidnapping on TV is split in two with the first part moved to before Matt’s death (and the second to after Takada undresses, adding the segment about Matt dying)
• Near and Light talking about the kidnapping is moved to after Mello says ‘I’ll give you a blanket’ etc

SCENE CHANGE:

• In the anime, Matt keeps his smoke gun hidden behind his head and pretends to hold up his hands in peace as he steps out of the car. He is shot as he just tries to reach for the gun. Meanwhile in the manga, he just steps out with it openly in hand and is shot then
• More emphasis is put on Takada’s panic during the kidnapping
• Light’s and Takada’s phonecall has more emphasis on her doing as he says and she outright tells him to save her. She generally tries to get Light to pay attention to her state rather than Kira duties - in the manga, she doesn’t exhibit this behaviour. When Light does stick to his guns despite this, she starts to cry in the anime

Episode 36 (adapts Chapter 100 to 103, page 1):

SCENE ADD:

• Aizawa reading the note rules again while a sequence showing some of the deaths on the shows plays in the background
• Mikami’s sakujo sequence has been ridiculously expanded in terms of drama, showing him write far more and yelling and all

SCENE REMOVE:

• Lidner and Near having a short call about Mello
• Mikami taking cab and train to get to the warehouse
• Some of the dialogue before and in the warehouse is shortened (especially about Near keeping the mask on and about Mikami’s arrival)
• Mikami directly addressing Light as God as he walks in

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE: /

Episode 37 (adapts Chapter 103 to 107):

SCENE ADD:

• Mikami stabbing himself with his pen and Light’s subsequent escape as well as everything that follows (Light seeing his past self, Aizawa telling Near they won’t listen, Misa’s suicide, Light hallucinating L)

SCENE REMOVE:

• The lengthy explanations are cut shorter all through the finale
• Light doesn’t scream in the anime - he just starts laughing immediately
• Light’s speech is cut immensely as well
• Near defining what he thinks about good and evil
• Mikami denouncing Light and calling him trash (he just starts crying in the according scene of the anime)
• Light begging Ryuk to kill everyone and clinging to his leg saying he doesn’t want to die after Ryuk shows him he wrote his name
• The flashback to Light and Ryuk meeting and confirming heaven and hell doesn’t exist
• The entirety of Chapter 108 / the one year later epilogue

SCENE MOVE: /

SCENE CHANGE:

• has been covered under ‘scene add’ and ‘scene remove’ - since Light’s escape doesn’t occur in the manga, everything changes from there except for the fact that it’s Ryuk who kills Light - just under different circumstances. Some of Ryuk’s rather tranquil monologue while killing Light in the anime is taken from what he says to Light’s face in the manga though