V pna nterr gung sna freivpr vf abg gurve bayl shapgvba, naq V fubhyqa'g unir vzcyvrq vg jnf. Ohg V qb fgnaq ol gur nffregngvba gung vg vf gurve znva shapgvba. Jrer gurfr znyr punenpgref, ynetr cbegvbaf bs gurve punenpgrevmngvba jbhyq or qenfgvpnyyl qvssrerag, abg gb zragvba gur znwbe punatrf gung jbhyq unccra va Fuvawv orpnhfr bs gur ahzore bs guvatf ur naq gurl qb gung jbhyq fhqqrayl or oyngnagyl vanccebcevngr.

Nqzvggrqyl, V unir arire frra nyy bs ATR fgenvtug guebhtu. Zl rkcbfher unf orra jura V'q frr vg va GI yvfgvatf, purpx vg bhg va na rssbeg gb haqrefgnaq jung nyy gur ulcr vf nobhg, naq jngpu vg hagvy V pbhyqa'g fgbznpu vg nal zber. Yngure, evafr, ercrng. Guvf zrnaf V'ir zvffrq ahzrebhf rcvfbqrf, naq V'z abg fher rknpgyl jura va gur gvzryvar fbzr guvatf snyy. Fgvyy, guvf vf gur birejuryzvat vzcerffvba yrsg ol gur cvrprzrny fnzcyrf V unir frra bs gur fubj, juvpu vaqvpngrf vg vf cerggl pbafvfgrag guebhtubhg. Qvfphffvat ATR juvyr vtabevat gurfr boivbhf vffhrf vf, gb zr, qrprcgvir naq qvfzvffvir, naq vg'f abg n qvfphffvba V frr unccravat urer.

"Where mainstream shonen shows might include one or two token female characters that never did much of anything, Evangelion put women like Misato and Ritsuko in pivotal roles, which also helped the series break the shojo-shonen divide and capture the imagination of female fans as well."

Forgive me, but I have never really understood this perception of the women in Evangelion. Yes, Misato and Ritsuko apparently have significant rank, but that is not our first introduction to them. Ritsuko we first see undressing after a dive - shots of her gear and her body take president over her face. Still in her bathing suit, she meets Misato and Shinji in the elevator, getting up close and personal with the former because for some unknown reason Misato doesn't want to step aside to let her in. And Misato - what about our intro to Misato isn't overt fanservice? From her shadowed but obviously nude body in the credits; to the view in her car that is focused on how her short, short dress reveals her thighs; to the extremely inappropriate picture she sent to the young teenage boy who is coming to work with her, complete with arrow at cleavage; to the way she leans over Shinji to watch the Angel, practically shoving her breasts in his face.

Just in case we still missed what her real roll is supposed to be, in the midst of an Angel attack the male ranking commanders are struggling to deal with the threat, while Misato is on courier duty. A duty she performs with all the confidence and skill of a sitcom stereotype airhead teenager. She teases and flirts with Shinji, frets about her looks and her car in a life-or-death situation, makes up on-the-spot excuses for her behavior (some of which needs no further excuse than life-or-death situation), and apparently has no sense of direction. Welcome to our powerful female character.

Our intro to Rei at least is not intended to be sexual (beyond her also-nude silhouette in the opening), or at least I don't see a sexual intent in a girl with obviously severe injuries. Rather, Shinji meets Rei as incentive, a lovely young lady who despite her courage and self-sacrifice is helpless in the face of this threat. She is brought out specifically so that Shinji will man up and protect her, which of course works because Shinji is not an asshole. But again, this is a female character who's first characterization is given only in relation to the male lead.

So far the pivotal role of the ladies in Evangelion seems to be the same pivotal role of female characters in a harem anime. (rest of series) Guvf jvyy trg jbefr gur shegure jr trg va gur fubj, ernpuvat evqvphybhf yriryf jvgu Nfhxn.

The manga actually does end with religious imagery focused around Light. Well, around Kira. After the warehouse confrontation, we get a one-year-later scene, where the world has mostly gone back to what it was before Kira, as though those 5+ years never happened. Except that we see a cult that worships Kira lighting candles and praying to him.

In a weird way, Light accomplished his goal - he became a god.

A bit late to the party, but fridge horror moment:

No one wrote Matt's name in a Death Note. No matter what happened, he was going to die.

I am going to avoid the extreme sads of the best human (possibly best person) in the show dying and go speculate on fan theory.

One of the theories in the show is that users of a Death Note become shinigami when they die (because they cannot go to heaven or hell). We also learned from Rem that Ryuk got the 2nd Death Note by tricking the Shinigami King. The Jeweled Skeleton then tells Sidoh that Ryuk has his Death Note, and he must go to the human world to get it back.

Theory: Sidoh is Higuchi. The transformation from human to shinigami is probably traumatizing to some degree, maybe enough to suppress memories, or the memory reset could be part of the process. It may also take a long time (5 years?) and/or new shinigami may start with a default lifespan to have time to learn about being a shinigami before they need to start killing humans to extend it. So Sidoh is new, is learning the ropes, finds he needs a Death Note, and goes to the throne to ask for one.

Meanwhile, the Shinigami King has learned that Ryuk tricked him to get a second note (probably years ago). He's probably pretty miffed about that, too. So when a new shinigami comes to ask for a note, his right-hand person tells the new guy his note is the second one Ryuk took. Let's see how Ryuk deals with that little twist to his game!

Spoilers for end of series: Lrf, V xabj jr trg gur synfuonpx jurer Yvtug fnlf Qrngu Abgr hfref qba'g tb gb urnira be uryy orpnhfr ab bar qbrf, naq Elhx pbaprqrf gur cbvag. Ohg Elhx'f orra jvyyvat orsber gb jvguubyq vasbezngvba va gur vagrerfg bs ragregnvazrag, yvxr abg gryyvat Yvtug nalbar jub gbhpurf gur abgr pna frr uvz hagvy gurer vf n evfx bs vg NAQ Yvtug pna'g npg gb cerirag vg. Naq jura Fubvpuveb qvrf va gur znatn, Elhx guvaxf gb uvzfrys gung ur qvrq unccl naq cebonoyl jrag gb urnira. Fb V guvax Elhx qvqa'g pbeerpg Yvtug whfg orpnhfr gurer jnf ab ragregnvazrag va qbvat fb, naq vg'q cebonoyl or zber sha gb frr ubj Yvtug ernpgf fbzr lrnef qbja gur yvar, jura ur ernyvmrf gurer VF n urnira naq ur zvffrq vg.

I think I have spent more time thinking out different scenarios where L doesn't die than I have spent contemplating any other work of fiction, ever. Both the manga and the anime handle it beautifully (and that roof scene in the anime is the inspiration for my favorite bit of L/Light fanart ever), and I think there's some honesty to the way Light goes overboard when L dies, but my inner fangirl demands happy endings and this is not happy. I very nearly stopped reading the manga at this point. Naq gura qvq fgbc ng gur furre evqvphybhfarff bs Zryyb'f cyna gb trg n Qrngu Abgr. Ohg vg cvpxf hc yngre, gubhtu V erznva pbaivaprq Arne vf npghnyyl cerpbtavmnag, orpnhfr ur qbrf n ybg bs yrncvat gb pbapyhfvbaf naq gura cvpxvat gur rivqrapr gung fhccbegf gurz.

An amusing little bit of fanart. Okay, actually very large, but I think it's funny. Once on the DA page, hit download to see the actual comic.

Thank you! (Figured it was something like that.) ^_^

Well, except page 1 is in the wrong order. It's a doujinshi, so reads right to left. I should've mentioned that.

(Next week I think?) Bs pbhefr, lbh arire xabj vs lbh ner fpurqhyrq gb or uvg ol n ohf va n qnl be gjb, fb vg’f fgvyy n pencfubbg.

Be pnhtug va na rkcybfvba...

To mediate the horror of Light getting his note back, here's a mangaka's alternative take of the moment in the helicopter, as shown in the dj Star Light. I'm sorry I don't have a translation, but the images speak for themselves:

Light getting that Note back is one of the most heartbreaking moments of the whole series to me. We've just spent all this time with Light as a decent person! He can be a good guy! And then... it's gone. I sincerely think that the conflict between the life and values Amnesiac!Light has lead and the crimes Kira!Light justified was too much, and Light actually suffers a psychotic break. (Tomorrow) Jr'yy trg nabgure synfu be gjb bs Yvtug gur npghnyyl tbbq crefba V guvax - gurer'f n frpbaq jura Y snyyf gung Yvtug'f rkcerffvba, gb zr ng yrnfg, ybbxf gjvfgrq orgjrra gevhzcu naq ubeebe. Ohg vg'f whfg n synfu, vs vg'f abg whfg zr cebwrpgvat nyy bire gur cynpr. Gur Yvtug V npghnyyl yvxr vf tbar.