This untitled chapter is a Death Note manga epilogue chapter, usually referred to as a one-shot special or chapter 109. It was published two years after the end of the manga series. The story takes place three years after the Kira case is resolved.
Plot
Near is shown as the new L—the third chronologically. A new Kira emerges who had gained a Death Note from the Shinigami (Midora in Viz's translation of Death Note 13: How to Read), who had received the additional Death Note from the Shinigami King by bribing him thirteen apples she had taken from the Human world. The new Kira murdered elderly people in Japan to "relieve their pain." When Near's SPK subordinates asked him why he wasn't taking any action, he replied that he was trying to think what the previous L would have done.
The flashback of L's communication to the children at Wammy's House is shown again, when Near says that he has only heard L once. This is also where L admits that figuring out difficult cases is his hobby, and not justice at all. Near also says that he had come to admire L later on in his life. Near finally reaches a conclusion that the prevailing Kira was just a killer without a purpose, and he labeled the killer as "C-Kira" for "Cheap Kira". He announces on national television, under the alias of "L", that he was not interested in the case and that he had deduced that this Kira was not the real one but only an "abominable murderer". This resulted in C-Kira writing his own name in the Death Note.
Publication
The chapter was first published in Weekly Shonen Jump volume 11, released in February 2008. It was released as part of the hype for the L: Change the WorLd film that came out that same month. The movie was advertised on the magazine cover next to the mention of the chapter along with a picture of L. The movie was again advertised at the top of the color page of Near. Three full-color pages about the movie were also inserted between the color page of Near and the rest of the chapter.
The chapter was later republished for the first time in Japanese in the Death Note all-in-one omnibus volume, released in 2016.
While there was already an unofficial English translation of the chapter released, the chapter was officially published in English for the first time in the English Death Note All-in-One Edition omnibus volume, that was released in fall of 2017.[1]
Trivia
Near as a young man in the Jump Square poster.
- The chapter does not have an official number or title. Weekly Shonen Jump described is as a special one-shot chapter. Fans have also taken to calling it chapter 109, since it follows chapter 108 Finis. VIZ Media refers to it as an epilogue chapter.[1]
- Throughout this 44-page manga chapter, the identity of the new Kira is not revealed.
- Near is much older and resembles L a bit more.
- As more hype for the movie, the magazine Jump Square featured a cover page of L and a poster of Near in its 2008 February issue. The poster of Near (cropped image shown right) is commonly mistaken to be part of the One-Shot.
Chapter Guide
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 VIZ Media Announces Exciting New Manga Acquisitions at 2017 Anime Boston Convention. VIZ Media press release. April 3, 2017.