Light VS L - Who Was TRULY Smarter? (Death Note)

[@SethTheProgrammer]

spell yagami backwards XD

[@justsomeguywithabeard8467]

No u😂

[@christianw935]

Bruh😂

[@nafis99k75]

Can u make fairy tail power scaling

[@slimxafton]

uragay

[@CRMemer]

The kid whos name is yagami is gonna be laughed at.

[@Frenzy]

It's been 12 years, and I would still do anything to go back and watch this anime for the first time.

[@supersoaker317]

I agree it just isn't the same trying to rewatch this show

[@nimatamizi1788]

They fucked up the ending

[@adeldell8275]

@@nimatamizi1788 the ending was really well made. Near might have gotten lucky but so did Light throughout the show. The ending hits hard. Seeing Light finally lose and in a way regret his actions and the path he chose was devastating.

[@butteredtoast9471]

I put Death Note off for years. I felt like a massive fool after watching it a few years ago.

[@therealveridicalyt497]

I haven’t even watched it and know the story. Bad habit of mine I’ve literally never watched an anime without knowing most of the story

[@teerboyd]

"was L smarter than light?" L literally 1 minute after meeting light: *i'm like 99% sure you're kira, i just cant prove it*

[@hyninjax4897]

actually no

[@subwaytacoman]

@Ano Sora well L did cut down the search to Japan, in Lights city, then saw the time people were dying which were that of a school boy, and right after that information it changed, and they concluded that whoever it was had access to police information, which light basically lol

[@dumb4314]

🕯️:BREATHS* L: ayo clip that, clip that, clip that,

[@pxndxzo]

@Ano Sora plot armour is not what u just said-

[@triggerette]

yeah L figured it out, but even after so much suspicion (even from his own dad) and tryna prove his guiltiness, Light managed to out manuever all that and take over L's position.

[@theflurp2739]

the two sentances in death note that got me lol Misa: I can't imagine a world without Light! L: Yes, it would be dark..

[@bellaelleira]

LMAO still cracks me up till this day 🤣

[@NotRealSam]

@@bellaelleira what episode was that again XD

[@captain.dexter]

It is really lame joke but the way L delivered was way too funny.

[@Delirious_Bunty]

@@NotRealSam near the end before light can remember again

[@NotRealSam]

@@Delirious_Bunty Oh thx u so much

[@mildchaos6037]

L using bait on a Japanese only news channel to get Light to kill him was pure genius. Literally removed the hardest part of the process in one shot.

[@2nerC9]

He just got lucky that Light was just a kid and naive. Pure luck.

[@mildchaos6037]

@@2nerC9 a lot of investigations is pure luck. But to even think of that idea is genius.

[@darketernal3]

Light broke character because of plot. He saw himself the future ruler of the world and becon of pure justice. He does not harm the innocent. Except this time he kills because he fears the pillars of the future platform he stands on? No, he would have seen L as a tool for his future, only if misguided, not as a rival.

[@eganzacher5455]

@@darketernal3no. Light was a narcissistic asshole who was willing to put down anyone who even slightly disagreed with him. He was evil, he didn’t care about Justice. How did you not get that??

[@DrewEnar]

True as fuck. Light would not have killed that guy and regardless, if he had done it, then it was explained that convict was on death row. Light would have left a message saying "I only kill evil doers, He was a convict on death row for heinous crimes, so he I killed him" Immediately setting things on his favor. @@darketernal3

[@kirby5780]

L and his band of police officers: *trying to find out who Kira is* Light’s mother and sister downstairs literally hearing every phrases he screams out loud implying he is Kira: I’m gonna pretend i didnt hear that

[@mlikespizza]

LMAO FRRR

[@alexorr5772]

"I'll kill them allllllllllll" "I'll take a potato chip, and eat itttttt" "Light stfu with your play practice or whatever, me and mom are tryna watch Scooby Doo!"

[@jocelynb6043]

I wouldn’t snitch on my own son 🥲 I’ll just put my air pods in and pretend not to hear anything

[@beauty-jc9xy]

LMAOOOO

[@marinenico1993]

@@jocelynb6043 Your son is killing people, yet you'd defend him? You really need help

[@mnx8152]

Death Note, a series where two guys want to know each others names instead of just politely asking each other when introducing.

[@thethiccestyosh1289]

Death Note in a sentence

[@RealMiniLink]

Girls: Hi my names (insert name here) Guys: Death Note theme plays

[@jackb.207]

Your Name prequel

[@patrickho6540]

@@jackb.207 loved that movie

[@mello9586]

But L didn't want to know Lights name

[@HodajuciParadoks]

Ryuk...he is the smartest, he made someone to do his job and he gotten free apples. Lazy and brilliant.

[@xxwiixxw2880]

True but he is a god so it makes sense

[@billie1129]

his job is not to kill humans, they do it to survive, he just did it for fun

[@florentinocorleon]

I hope this is sarcasm, it’s like saying Kim Jong un is the smartest person in north korea

[@lejeanaguilar3230]

Why didn't I notice this while watching the movie

[@cigaftersx]

@@lejeanaguilar3230 there’s a movie?

[@ahverjanjua9358]

In the end L died knowing he was correct since the begining Light died knowing his life would have been better without the death note

[@MK12275]

He was still a young kid tho who thought what he did was right

[@iciebaconpro]

​@MK12275 ehh. In the anime. In the manga he doesn't even run, dude begs anyone to kill near and the others.

[@reymartluad4984]

In the manga, he was a pathetic little shit

[@Lo0serx3]

​@@MK12275 kid??? he was like 25 by the end of the series lol

[@MK12275]

@@iciebaconpro Well after doing what he did for a long time like that it's obvious he was going to lose his moral compass.

[@cool-as-cucumber]

L was crazy brave too, he basically challenged Kira to kill him without knowing if he could do that or not.

[@Pastelpinkplz]

You think killing so many criminals doesn't need courage? Even light knew he could get arrested or killed

[@cool-as-cucumber]

@@Pastelpinkplz Kira was killing everyone by hiding in his room while L challenged Kira knowing that he has ability to kill people remotely. L showed courage, insanity even by challenging Kira.

[@powerjolt7215]

This. For all L knew Kira could very well have killed him too after Lind. Luckily he couldn't and L got a great hint

[@JayceCH.]

@@Pastelpinkplz My man thinks its so brave to kill someone by writing their name 💀💀💀

[@xXJLNINJAXx]

@@powerjolt7215 to be fair, if he could kill him, the world was screwed anyway.

[@Kamyar5]

"I can't imagine a world without light!" - Misa "Yes, that would be dark." - L. Lawliet

[@kittylarkin1236]

@@TheKitcatFamily no one cares don’t act like you need to be spoon fed. It was funny.

[@Kamyar5]

@@TheKitcatFamily Ok bro chill out it was a misstype my guy I'll fix it just for you.

[@tiredsimp7892]

"Cut it out!" -Light Yagami

[@ignorant1126]

I loved that scene so much

[@apollo268]

No, that would be the absence of light.

[@tyrannosaurus3774]

The only reason why L lost to Light was because every time he managed to corner Light, that shinimagani pulled an unknown ability out of his ass.

[@a.e.richardson218]

yeah plot armor is the real winner here

[@FrenkieWest32]

You could also say the only reason he could corner Light is because he had the full support of police and investigative means behind him.

[@xsuploader]

@@FrenkieWest32 thats not the same thing though. The police were just tools L used to enact his plans the god of death pulling new things out of his ass had nothing to do with lights intelligence. It was plot armor.

[@xsuploader]

@rafael Perez the fact that humans can get shinigami eyes A god of death that cares for a human Sidoh not coming back for the notebook for like 6 years then suddenly he wants it back when its good for the plot The lifespan of deathnote users not being visible allowing misa to find him Lots of these new things just keep popping up and are often very conveniant for light and not L

[@BellroseJewel]

@@FrenkieWest32 This is actually true, how would he have narrow down the search to Japan and students without having multiple agents from around the world, granting him access to tv and other media and a prisoner who was secretly condemned to death... how much power do you need for people to allow and help you do this?

[@yuefari]

We all know it's the damn author Tsugumi Ohba how incredibly he plotted everything and made these witty characters

[@MeanyMan123]

L is smarter by far because he almost won a game he didn’t even know the rules to.

[@allain9081]

exactly. light needed help from supernatural entities and powers in order to "beat" L.

[@gooseliver572]

That’s what I’m saying if L knew the rules from the begging he would have won by far

[@unknownchicken2284]

Then again L had advantages over Logjt to. Like the worlds government for the most part while light was just one man. What's stronger? A man with immense power or many weak man but in such numbers the power may not matter

[@ViriatoIH]

Light messed up when he killed the fake L, otherwise no one would of ever known

[@donovannagai5947]

@@unknownchicken2284 yes that may be true but considering that there was many death notes witch different people and light could just erase his memories with the death note so they could never

[@ygproduction8568]

Although L died, having been able to corner Light without even knowing about the existence of Death Note is really awesome. He knew Light was the murderer but he just did not have enough evidence to probe it to everyone. For me L is the victor

[@fugakuagaku2102]

Yep, The officers and light's dad are stupids. Without those simps he can destroy light.

[@scorpio3201]

I don’t think L should have died and I hate the part of the show after he did die, it was just terrible compared to the first half before l died, they shouldn’t have killed him off, and honestly Neer was honestly terrible compared to L, they shouldn’t just scraped the parts after l died and instead kept L alive

[@fugakuagaku2102]

@@scorpio3201 I agreed with author's decision because L is the strongest opponent of Light. If he didn't kill L , Light will go down against L because he found out the existence of the Death Note. Light has a great advantage compare to L. 1.) L must find out who the kira was as soon as possible and Light can kill even without knowing who L was. 2.) L don't have a single clue or information about Kira and anybody can be kira while Light has a father who has informations and there's only 1 can be L. 3.) Light has a greater power compared to L 's. 4.) Light has a shinigami who can scout without being caught. 5.) L didn't know the existence of the miracle book and how Light kills. 6.) Light has a 2nd kira which can be a great help for him, 2nd kira has a power greater than light but 2nd kira love Light while L has a bias,stupid,simp officer and Light's father who are both troublemaker in L 's decision and plan. 7.) L needs a solid proof to win while Light just need to kill L. For me L is the victor and did a outstanding role before he die. If you switch the two on their position which L is the kira and Light is the investigator, Im sure Light will die too.

[@Extrinoo]

@@fugakuagaku2102 Wasn't there that guy who was literally challenging Light who was an officer though. Didn't he literally get Light killed

[@fugakuagaku2102]

@@Extrinoo Still useless against Light. Light can easily kill him if he found out he's the kira, besides he's not sure that Light is the Kira and if he found nothing against Light, his suspicion will be gone that's why after L died Nothing happened. He's a police officer of course he will do his duty but Light's power is beyond on L 's authority. Light can wiped them all but he didn't do it because they are not a problem for him and they will become benefits for him if he took L down. That was his plan.

[@dannygharris9338]

The problem is, L KNEW Light was Kira nearly the entire time. He just couldn’t prove it until it was too late.

[@enowmessi2844]

Yeah and that makes light superior

[@theprinceofthebadlands5204]

@@enowmessi2844 Not really. For nearly the entirety of his life, L has no idea what a Death Note is or a shinigami and even after he did, there were fake rules put into the Death Note and has to second guess if some of the rules in the Death Note are fake and which ones are real. L is needing to use his wits and real world tech to basically fight literal divine intervention. Light literally had gods on his side. The fact that he had such an advantage and COULDN'T even kill L without some very specific circumstances happening shows L must be smarter. Because L's advantages are far inferior to Light's.

[@xord893]

@@enowmessi2844 No not at all.

[@Paivren]

He did not know it. He suspected it, that's all. Right before his death, L even considered Light to be his only friend. This proves that he could never truly rid himself of the last remining doubts. It also proves how great Light was at acting and fooling everyone.

[@madsea6719]

@@Paivren No he knew it. He knew it even before. They litterally made a plot about Light losing his memory just to save him when L discovered he was Kira

[@greysonb4732]

You didn't mention L stealing Misa's phone right before they arrested her and then Light turning right around and calling Misa immediately, intending to tell her to kill L (since she saw his real name with her shinigami eyes) and L answered. Point for L definitely.

[@IamwhoIwannabe]

Yes correct

[@jaimevalencia6271]

Coulda just called her to be like I forgot something

[@prajjwaltiwari8644]

@@jaimevalencia6271 the point is, L saved himself from Kira there as that seemed like a precautionary act.

[@kristineh1601]

So true! That's one of L's best and most crucial moves. Definitely should have been mentioned.

[@sebaschan-uwu]

Bro that scene had me flabbergasted it was mad cool

[@jadewilliams9392]

L deserves a point for stealing misa’s phone and immediately arresting her. Just imo

[@xtreamzfn3423]

He only did that because they were gonna arrest her any way, they found misa’s hair in the 2 kite voice tages

[@DastardlyDingleberry]

@@xtreamzfn3423 But it was quite sneaky, that way he confirmed that Light was trying to contact Misa, the second Kira who only needs a fact to kill, so that she could kill L. Of course Misa didn't know that Ryuga was L so thats why Light had to call her.

[@toshirokorudo3255]

@@DastardlyDingleberry "the second Kira who only needs a fact to kill" Misa: "So Mt. Everest is 8,849m tall, eh?" Victim: *collapses*

[@DastardlyDingleberry]

@@toshirokorudo3255 😂😂😂🤣🤣 My bad. But because of your reply I don't want to change it anymore

[@hemendraravi4787]

Imagine if light was L then L would have no chance

[@IsTalkCheap]

Without L , light would’ve just been ight😂🥁 Imma see myself out…

[@ghrey8557]

Haha....ha

[@animenerd4036]

lol

[@hiroominase2184]

Here take this L.

[@IsTalkCheap]

@@hiroominase2184 gladly😭

[@borisenchev2893]

Without L, the world is just a word.

[@Daniero1994]

The problem was that he couldn't just shoot him right away without proving Light's guilty. That's the law. For L it wasn't about "Is Light a killer, but how to prove that Light's a killer". The moment L sat down and said "I'm L" he was already 99% sure.

[@sungod9797]

Wasn’t he 5 to 7% sure or something lol

[@Daniero1994]

@@sungod9797 He told Light that it's 5%, but even the author said that L lied in one of the extension mangas. Said that if L gives percentage, he's already 90% sure, and in Light's case it was even higher. L knew that Light is Kira from the get go, but never had enough evidence.

[@kmarbk4215]

Daniero1994 yup

[@paulooo_yo]

@@sungod9797 When he says that he counts under 100%, like 1% will be like 99%, and so on...

[@arandompanda1349]

@@sungod9797 if you have a bunch of suspects that have a .0001% chance of being kira and then you have a person who has a 5% likelyhood of being kira then the 5%, relatively speaking to the others is like 99%.

[@salamtibenjamin3726]

The fact that all this happens in only 25 eps

[@Alna38329]

Yeah :( I stopped watching after ep 25 BECAUSE I HATED HOW THEY KILLED L

[@RatNearBy]

@@Alna38329 I watched Death Note with my mom, and when L died, my mom thought he was pretending… BUT I CRIED AND HAD A GUT FEELING THAT HE WASN’T COMING BACK, and I was right… But… SPOILERS FOR THE END OF DEATH NOTE Near becomes the new L and wins

[@Alna38329]

@RatNearBy if I remember, this is what they exactly did in the Japanese live action.

[@andrewf6167]

While I do agree L was the superior, I think people have lost track of their focus. L's single goal is to catch Kira. Light is building "his perfect world" pretty successfully WHILE also eluding the greatest detective of all time WHILE living a normal life. There is more at play than the game of cat and mouse...it's more like a mouse building a house and starting a family while the cat is still hunting. Again, if the rolls were reversed, L would win hands down. But it is pretty darn close

[@nickojames93]

Yes, light is like a mouse building a house with a help of a construction worker while L is a cat cathcing the mouse build the house. But in reality the construction worker did everything for the mouse.

[@tylerqueen3490]

Yea and L could afford to do more because if he messed up he wouldn’t have ended up being in prison forever 😂and the whole police force wasn’t against him

[@demetria-n]

@@tylerqueen3490 if L messed up he died, and even when he didn't mess up he died.

[@cosmicverse7850]

Where is the evidence that if the roles were reversed, that L would win?

[@demetria-n]

@@cosmicverse7850 The fact that L wouldn't use the death note, if he did he would know the rules and be able to take advantage of them better than Light, (he doesn't know them and almost wins) and he has been hiding his identity for years, he also has the money and supplies for better planning and hiding.

[@TheInkTank]

Finally gave Death Note a chance and loved it. Been binging all your DN videos, and happy to see you're still making them.

[@ferhaan4112]

Dn

[@あき-h6u]

*deez nutz*

[@user-te7ws5sz1f]

@@あき-h6u *kneels cutely*

[@あき-h6u]

@@user-te7ws5sz1f Woah woah woah, pick yourself up, that knee & jaw pain hit different ✋😬

[@jacemasood3019]

You only JUST watched it?

[@novacorponline]

I think L is smarter, by quite a bit. L has a hard time pinning Light down because he's limited to the mundane while trying to collect evidence to prove literal magic. He isn't just solving Kira's identity, he's also learning an entire magic system's rules blindly. A lot of Light's wins are really cases of actual magic allowing him to do something L has no way of knowing can happen yet.

[@madokamagi4eva]

yea. it’s crazy that this is even a debate. i know that seems like an exaggeration but i could talk for hours why L is SO far ahead of light in terms of intellect

[@ulyx9804]

The magic system of the Death Notes effectively HAD NO RULES. Firstly, the offer of Shinigami eyes are given after L had ousted Kira's powers as being limited to being able to kill with only a face and a name, well after the rules of the book had already been established. Second, Rem was breaking all of the rules and literally dies to kill L and save Misa from execution. Third, the purposeful intervention of incorporeal but intelligent beings is absolutely unpredictable.

[@kasparkannel3108]

​@@madokamagi4eva do go on then, because as we see, he had quite a few losses

[@juangonzalez3759]

*divine power

[@username_kk2177]

@@madokamagi4eva Word

[@thomsasus]

On thing I think always gets overlook is, that in the scene where Light kills fake-L and reveals himself in Kanto/Japan, many people say thats its an extreme dumb ego-move by light, BUT L DOES THE SAME THING 5 SECOUND LATER. Why did he, after fake L died reveal himself on TV and started the "official" battle?? He could have just stayed hidden and would have literally the same informations (japan/student/member of a police family) and Light would have easily made more mistakes feeling way too comfortable and out of danger. Both have such an huge Ego problem.

[@Hymn_]

well, l is childish and want some fun. he stated it by himself

[@svenoliverratzi795]

Naah yes he want the battle, but he Shows everyone that Kira is real in lives in Japan. Thats is a lot of pressure for one Person who thought he is untouchable. Some people would be irrational but only light was the one who was cool and calm.

[@Barsee23]

he needed to test the theory that he couldn’t kill people without a face/name (and risked his own life to do it considering his status), also reassure the public that Kira was just a person who would be caught rather than a divine entity who was going to rule over them, also L was already a well known detective at that point so chances are light would hear about him eventually and know he would be working on a case as important as the Kira case

[@vivid5972]

I think it's not an ego problem but it's to make the story more interesting

[@brenosulzbacher]

He already stated how childish Kira was before the confrontation. His bait worked and was followed by him mocking Kira. If light was smart he would think carefully but instead he fully embraced the fight and made several mistakes later that made the search narrow into just people that Penber was investigating.

[@TierZoo]

super good video! I only just watched death note for the first time a month ago, but I agree with the power vs smarts argument. Light had so many tools at his disposal to influence things and mess up L's deductions, whereas L managed to keep pace with Light without using any supernatural aces in the hole. In particular I think there were many too many instances where Light would've been defeated had Ryuk not intervened in some way. Telling Light when he was being followed, showing him where cameras were, heck even just having a bad poker face and snickering to himself when a character lied to Light all directly influenced his actions and make Ryuk too OP to ignore from the equation. Other things that were so OP that they arguably damaged the narrative of Death Note: being able to erase your own memories by surrendering the notebook, and Rem killing L.

[@user-pw4qi4gc60]

I absolutely agree,

[@thatscoolbeans7694]

I love you ❤️

[@cashmantrevor6335]

Would you call this video S-tier?

[@clueanalysis2596]

Actually Light didn't have the "power" advantage, power meaning resources in this case. L had aton of people helping him and feeding him information. Supernatural is just a word in this case cause though the death note isn't real it has lots of rules, you need a name and face, without those the rest of the rules are meaningless.

[@gusiguess2974]

Two of my completely different, favorite creators together! You love to see it!

[@EndOfSmallSanctuary97]

I find it telling that whenever L was outsmarted, he accepted it calmly and reacted rationally, whereas whenever Light was outsmarted he went into a childish rage and started yelling and making threats. Also, as a side-note, you missed a pretty huge win for L, which was when he swiped Misa's phone after meeting her at the university. If he hadn't have done this, he would have been killed within seconds of her leaving.

[@thetreyceratops]

I mean he did just tell Light that if he died in the next few days, Light would be the prime suspect, so maybe he would’ve died a few days later

[@killcount4750]

It happened once also its a character difference

[@user-xg1jv4rw7e]

​@@thetreyceratops may be light could have received L's name from misa and write in death note that L will first tell everyone that the light is not kira and then get killed in an accident (maybe in a helicopter with watari) so yeah L could have died if he didnt steal misa's phone

[@MrEvldreamr]

He skipped the entire misa arrest which i thought was a massive win for L. In fact Light even admitted L beat him (before relinquishing ownership ofc)

[@killcount4750]

@@MrEvldreamr he never said L won and after this Light does the best feat in the show

[@ClydeYouTuber]

I'm gonna take the like button... and PRESS IT!

[@resurrectedpa]

Lol

[@LowellLucasJr.]

Now play some dramatic Gregorian chants with a violin and a 360 degree camera angling you pressing it in a dramatic way!

[@PopularNobody]

Blessed comment

[@Muz1k10]

Omfg🤣💀

[@stealthassasian]

I'm so glad to see clyde comment on something. Some dude was saying he passed away

[@ProudINC109]

It took a Shinigami to kill L. Light didn't even know L's name until he died.

[@MACA_Zeon]

Exactly what I'm saying. He couldn't get L name himself or any of his allies. A god of death killed L

[@Hackzyyz]

You can argue tho that Light was able to manipulate a god of death to do his dirty work so that’s pretty insane in and of itself

[@jeandelepiechat]

​@@Hackzyyzconsidering how intelligent this exact god of death was... not so impressive to be honest

[@chokoon21]

we all know Ryuk was the real winner here.

[@mohammedisam9094]

He definitely got what he wanted

[@theanimeguru3445]

Facts can’t argue with that

[@gwalvin6935]

We all know that the AUTHOR was the real winner here

[@jay4557]

Fr

[@chazl9531]

@@mohammedisam9094 *A P P L E S*

[@NatureTensho]

L intelligence is incomprehensible compared to light, the entirety of death note was literally like playing a game with your friend but not telling them all the rules and they still proceed to almost beat you

[@FallenFromGlory]

There is official material that says Light is more intelligent.

[@Mark12434]

@@FallenFromGlory who cares, near is stated to be smarter than Light, do you believe that too??

[@Shizuka136]

@XxneveragainxX these sources useless af the same author did write afterwards that L is smarter than Light so what is true his first or second words

[@dxshawn532]

@@Shizuka136 Which I why I tell people that what the author says doesn't mean anything. Not to be harsh but a lot of these authors are complete idiots during interviews. Sometimes they forget aspects of their own story and make erroneous claims like one character being more powerful when everything proves otherwise.

[@ihtishamhussain1785]

Don’t underestimate what Light had to do. I still think L is slightly smarter, but don’t underestimate Light.

[@spacemegainfamous]

You didn’t even count a point when, light was ready to tell Rem to kill L, but L saw through it, and said to Light if he died light would be arrested, thus giving him immunity against Rem, this was one major outsmart that you didn’t even mention

[@bl6st183]

That's why I said L is smarter than Light also, L started from nothing, and not knowing anything but planned ahead and had predecessors if he died

[@DaQuavious408]

right, why didn’t he mention this

[@paradox6458]

yea true L had nothing to start with while light basically had access to everything he would want to be honest i would say he is a stupid kira if i had a deathnote i would just ignore the police and continue my work knowing that there is no way they could ever catch me unless i announce it myself.

[@DastardlyDingleberry]

I agree. He had two Kiras after him and he kind of guaranteed a safety which was really smart. But tbh Rem could probably had killed L anyway and soichiro would have been like "There is no way my son could be Kira!"

[@Gopstop222]

Light wouldnt been arested for that did you even saw anime? L said that if anything happened to him in the next few days then everyone at HQ should assume light is kira that doesnt mean to arrest him

[@auntydoll8]

death note was one of the most intriguing story. so catchi. everytime i think i am done with this, few month later i find a video that send me back into the story and i love it.

[@kalebgraham2345]

The only thing I didn’t like was that L was killed off too soon.

[@bbgbunniexoxo]

Ong, I cried when he died ngl LOL

[@ilovehotcheetoss]

@@bbgbunniexoxo I cried when L and Light died

[@Joeli269-l9l]

I CRIED SO HARD WHEN LIGHT AND L DIED I HAD MY FAMILY TO MAKE ME NOT CRY

[@Tony-fh3ur]

It took me a brief amount of time to actually digest L's death

[@bbgbunniexoxo]

@@ilovehotcheetoss ehhh I don’t like lights character so I didn’t cry, but I felt so empty knowing they were both gone and Misa lost her lover

[@gyrozeppeli00]

It's not even close lol. Light outright cheated, with power of gods and simps on his side, while L has a rag tag team of your average police, the fact that he even managed to make it hard for Light was incredible.

[@eddyschmit4229]

big true

[@godspell.]

plus his encounter with naomi misora who is a big threat to him, it's pure luck because he wanted to deliver some spare clothes to his father, had he not do that and naomi succeed reaching L and work with him kira would lose quickly as stated by the author.

[@kaneki914]

okayyy buddy cheated ?? really ? it’s obvious it was more of a finesse cause of how well he knew the death note worked and he manipulated misa

[@godspell.]

@@kaneki914 i wouldn't say it's cheating tho more like an advantage from him, and the way that light met misora was pure luck.

[@idiot1902]

More like a drag team of cops they were so bad at their job bro they’re just there to side with either Light or L when the plot demands for it

[@FoxHound1414]

I mean L had to uncover and prove supernatural magic existed I’d give him the win lol

[@riyadalsabagh7984]

L was smarter but Light had leverage.

[@adolphgracius9996]

As soon as they talked about shinigamis, i would be like F this investigation.... I'm out

[@fazormcghee7936]

Without even knowing that supernatural powers existed

[@ashutoshnahariya4958]

L did one boom at the beginning where he faked/staged Linda L Taylor and light killed him and Light fall right onto L's plan. This was biggest win for L because now he knew he's from Japan and that to in a particular city.

[@hemendraravi4787]

Light is smarter he won he lived and people believed light

[@Phurzt]

Questioning who is smarter misses the entire point of Death Note. The point is that Light is immature and regardless how smart he is, he could never win because he is and always was predictable because of that immaturity.

[@law.liet._l6116]

L said "I may lose the battle"(he died) "but won't lose the war"(L's successors defeated light)

[@rivermaxwell3834]

L is more than a person

[@whyme8762]

Tbh light lost because of his ego

[@killcount4750]

@@whyme8762 no he would have won with his "ego" Kira x didn't listen to him once that's why he lost

[@whyme8762]

@@killcount4750 tbh I heavily agree but we seen what happened when light lost his ego, the guy was running circles around L

[@kimchikin94minmin]

@@whyme8762 Light could have won at the end, he almost tricked near to thinking that light already predicted it all, but he rushes to try write near's real name, he couldve just hide himself writing it but he instead rushed it and died

[@deadlyknights1119]

The fact that L locked onto Light in less than 2 weeks is absolutely crazy when you consider the fact that (He didn’t know how Lights powers worked) (It could have been anyone in the world) (Death were happening everywhere and L despite the genius curveballs from Light still found him). It’s absolutely insane just how smart L is. Light is a genius but L is THEE genius.

[@Aqsticgod]

but he isnt, all of that depends on the other characters being unreasonably dumb as well as lights ego. because otherwise, even for a genius detective, thats a huge leap in logic, and there are a lot of those in this series

[@samt7676]

@@Aqsticgod that’s pretty true he was making a lot of assumptions paired with light being incredibly stupid at times

[@guifdcanalli]

​@@Aqsticgod Thats basically L being smarter bro If you let your ego take the best of you, like Light did, you ARE being dumb, even in the times L was outsmarted he kept calm because thats the smart move Being a genius is not just being smart, is being wise to use your smartness (Something Light clearly lacked)

[@Boguardis]

It also is important to point out that Light made many more mistakes than L made. You could say this stems from carelessness or arrogance but I don't think so.

[@samt7676]

@@Boguardis wym you don’t think so that’s exactly what happened lol. Even if it was a person average in iq, they should never realistically be caught with the death note. They can make all the deaths look realistic and vary it to make sure no one suspects anything in the first place.

[@wellybelle]

if their roles had been reversed Light would never have come even close to catching L, the fact that L was only a half-step behind him despite the death note inherently putting anyone investigating it at a huge disadvantage is proof enough that L was smarter

[@Paivren]

Yes, Light had more knowledge of the supernatural and more "power" in a sense. But L had the entire worlds police force backing him up, as well as high tech equipment and millions of dollars. L also had fewer constraints put on him. He could use all his resources to catch Kira, while Light still had to use LOTS of time and effort to actualize his ideology (killing criminals), and to stay at the top of his game academically. Light had more supernatural power. L had more worldy power + time. It's not true that L was at a disadvantage overall.

[@mrhopoff_797]

Plus he never sleeps. What a strong brain

[@benjaminkwesiamponsah3529]

@@Paivren Well said, I think most people let their hate for light get in their way of their deduction. L had the entire police force, technology, fbi's from the US as well as independent investigators in his circle. Not forgetting the fact that L had been doing this for a long and was way experienced. Light had to rely on Ryuk was and incompetent and only became better as the series progressed.

[@championboy8928]

@@benjaminkwesiamponsah3529 🤣 that tells your presence of mind that you don't have watched and analysed death note cause L knows from start that light is Kira but the police is in his way and he was doing this all just to prove that light is Kira but light knows about the book and all the rules, then also L is far more intelligent then light so light had taken the help of shimigami to kill L not by himself and L knows that he is going to die cause he know every step that light was doing he was far better then light 😏 if you now also can't understand then no one can explain you.

[@benjaminkwesiamponsah3529]

@@championboy8928 well, that is your opinion thou. It's a matter of perspective, if that is how u see it , then it's how u see it . Glad to know u are the only person to have understood the series better than any one. And just so u know how the rules of engagement works, knowing that Light is Kira is speculative if you can't prove He truly is. At the end of the day our analysis of these characters depends on our feelings towards them.

[@sakuyaizayoi1945]

Just try to imagine how thinks would go if these characters switched roles. L wouldn't take the bait with the TV appearance of Lind L.Tailor, making it basically impossible for him to be caught. This mistake alone is so absolutely crushing, that I can never see Light as smarter than L.

[@LiamPowelluuu2]

I'd argue this mistake was more about impulsiveness, immaturity and arrogance than a lack of intelligence, Light's major weaknesses. I do agree L was smarter though but not for the reason you gave. He's smarter because he was working against supernatural forces he didn't have nearly enough information on, ones where the rules to the magic can be added to. He was at an unbelievable disadvantage and almost won.

[@jamesmikayelyan3357]

@@LiamPowelluuu2NO! Light didn’t know all the rules either, L also had the entire government at his side, there was no disadvantage, Light was just luckier, you could also say he got the harder side because it’s almost impossible for him to create his free world because of all the people against him

[@LiamPowelluuu2]

@jamesmikayelyan3357 Light had Ryuk explain the rules whenever he asked, what are you talking about? And having literal magic is obviously more of an advantage.

[@bachiwar6555]

That mistake doesn't mean anything, based on victims and timing it was already pretty obvious where Kira was even before that (Kanto, Japan), that's why it was the first place tested, he even tells Kira as it is not very important. The idea was more to check if Kira even existed or not.

[@melarie205]

L started from scratch, he had no idea that the death note existed yet he was still able to narrow his suspects down to one person, Light. He knew Light was Kira from the beginning he just needed evidence to prove Light is guilty and while L was searching for clues, this gave Light time to prepare himself. Therefore L is way smarter than Light.

[@proxsin7422]

It was coz light's father didn't believed L And light knew that from the beginning And later there was the rem plot and he managed to kill him

[@aytaf5430]

but don't forget he has the police and the whole world in his side.

[@proxsin7422]

@@aytaf5430 wtf people were critising L Only a few FIB agents were on his side and no one else Light was using his father to defend him since the very beginning

[@proxsin7422]

@@aytaf5430 you know nothing did you even watch the show properly

[@melarie205]

@@aytaf5430 no he doesn’t, the police believed him yes but did they help him? No. All the officers quit because they were afraid to lose their lives and the world was at Kira’s side at a point when everyone claimed Kira was the new God and they worshipped him

[@aimranemassa5090]

After He defeated L, Kira knew his end was Near

[@lexibyrd4930]

💀

[@MikhailVell]

And so, he face the final the curtain

[@vhyles]

Geez 😅

[@josephhayes7417]

b r u h XD

[@ala5rdd200]

nice word play

[@jackgreen5627]

L literally was against supernatural forces and almost won. His intelligence was in a different league to Light's.

[@Legend-gv2nx]

No, when you factor in other intelligences (social, emotional) Light is overall better. Also, when Light and L were working together to catch Higuchi, they were pretty much on par in their deductions. So no, L isn’t in a different league

[@thesublime7539]

L might be a bit smarter. ' in a different league' is quite a stretch.

[@renamamiya5300]

@Tommy Schultz all knows

[@ZZPikachu]

@@thesublime7539 Yeah like were these people watching a different show? Light and L are both extremely intelligent, roughly equal to each other, I’d argue that L is slightly smarter but that’s just due to the stupidity that comes with Lights ego.

[@holytrinityazure5044]

I can agree with L being slightly smarter, but if light's ego didnt take hold of him then I would even argue that light is smarter, but thats my opinion.

[@adamsunderland0823]

L knew light was Kira the day they met in person. That's worth at least 10 points.

[@maxedoutvibes]

Seth’s viewers: “Why dont you upload more often?” Seth: *has to read the entirety of Death Note and comprehensively break down each conversation between Light and L*

[@rc23dp2o]

So true lol, and people overlook this and get mad

[@bushy9780]

not to mention trying to find the one panel that has a drop of sweat on L's face

[@temp1326]

@@bushy9780 we’re now analyzing Seth

[@chrisbradley3458]

I’m a firm believer that L was smarter. He had minimal help and was crippled by the burden of proof.

[@loweit4842]

Most definetly, L narrowed it down to Light and Light only, with minimal help. Near narrowed it down to about 6 people with ALL the info L gathered.

[@Notorious_Grey]

We don't know how Light would have handled the burden of proof had the roles been reversed though.

[@elyase4626]

@@loweit4842 to be fair Near actually didn't have any of L's info on the case

[@ultimaz1565]

it's only your opinion, seth has all the evidence and thorough analysis. Light Wins because of being more powerful, aka OP

[@SkaPhilosopher]

L also had to work outside the law, though, so being crippled by the burden of proof was sort of equaled out by the fact that he illegally detained people and faked attempted murders and such. Conversely, Light worked entirely within the confines of being surveilled constantly and things of that nature.

[@pipernunyobusiness4514]

I do definitely believe that L was the smarter one throughout the show BUT the only reason he technically "lost" the challenge was because of Light's superior POWER due to L not knowing about the existence of Shinigami until it was too late.

[@vi3tboi09]

He never loss he knew he had to die in order to gather the evidence for Near and Mellow to eventually defeat him.

[@edwardsuou]

That doesn’t count as a loss though, Light did find an interesting way to kill L but that wasn’t a fair game, Light had the perfect opportunity in the form of Rem’s unconditional love for Misa alongside her acting as his slave. He didn’t outsmart L in any ways he just kept himself in the game without losing too much advantage and simply found a way around the no name problem. I was shocked when I first watched it but now I think it’s a pretty underwhelming method, I think it would’ve been better if L forced Light to get the special eyes (his final sacrifice) and rewriting Rem so she’s not that convenient.

[@mostpassiveuser8904]

L lost due to his self imposed rule of proving that Light was Kira. He could just hire an assassin. Light couldn't do anything to L.

[@LolXD91320]

L could have eliminated Light any time if he was so sure but he lost due to his ego

[@LolXD91320]

L is inferior to Light and will always be

[@princdom]

I cant believe this show has so much thought and smartness in this show, I always thought about how really deep it is

[@PiperWilson1]

L is definitely smarter. Light had a huge advantage in that he knew the rules of the death note & he had supernatural entities on his side helping him. L had no idea the rules of the death note or the extent of Light’s power, so he was basically in the dark & had to work only with his human brain.

[@juancarloscorrea8134]

Definitely agree but L also tunneled on Light

[@DastardlyDingleberry]

I think it's close between the two but that L is a bit smarter. L detective skills were really quite impressive, and Light only needed to one small thing to make something huge happen and it always goes the way he wants it. What I mean is for example. One small thing he does, starts to kill criminals every hour. What does that do? It results in L getting resented by the police and forced to reveal his face to them. He did all that just by writing time of death in the book. He also did this in episode 25. The small thing that doesnt take effort to do that Light did: Tell Misa to start punishing criminals again as Kira. And what does that do? It makes Rem feel really pressured, especially since Misa has halfed her lifespan again, and ultimately kills L and Watari. And L is also really smart because he almost perfectly countered a killer with supernatural powers, an untracable weapon, and an invisible, immortal god of death.

[@des6964]

@@DastardlyDingleberry If every one of light's actions had meaning, and were part of a well thought out elaborate plan, it shouldn't matter how simple the task was but rather the purpose of that task. You have to remember that Light didn't know anything about the U.S government or the whole world the same way L didn't know about the Death note. Light had to watch out for constant survalence of his actions and being in highly stessful situations while L had to deal with constant strange and unknown events and the constant fear of death. In the end, like the video mentions, they are both evenly matched. Snce the death note gives light a slighhhhtt advatage because of its power, light wins, but only looking at that slight power advantage is a very narrow way of viewing light's character as a whole.

[@caseykendall5506]

I would say they were mostly equal, but Light had one key disadvantage: he's an insane narcissist. This not only makes him arrogant to the point of being easily blindsided, not only does it make him easy to bait, it also meant he lacked the imagination to truly predict the actions of certain people like Aizawa or even his own pawns. He was smart enough to improvise ways out of most of the messes his arrogance got him into, but it only took one to ruin everything for him.

[@sidneyshaw9205]

@LNvn exactly. Light was literally out in the open drawing up every possible outcome.

[@Littlechonch]

10:13 Actually L’s strat here is beyond just getting a reaction out of light. I believe the point of this was that if Light wasn’t Kira he would’ve been more open to the possibility of there being a 4th card and more likely to bring it up especially with the deductive skills of his caliber. However since he is Kira he didn’t think to process the information the way a completely innocent person would and so did not mention the possibility of a fourth card. So ultimately it made L more suspicious of Light

[@aroncampos5720]

Yeah light basically blew his identity that day.

[@suryanshshirbhate5954]

@@aroncampos5720 well it can be looked that way but it is natural to make the maximum out of the minimum clues just like you do it in riddles so it is more natural to solve with the information you are being given rather than asking for more

[@ciape7547]

@@suryanshshirbhate5954 apparently, accounting for the differences between the languages, the original was similar to in english it saying a much more clearly unfinished sentence, and even ended with similar to a ... suggesting it was incomplete. Any normal person, not even a genius, just an average person, would be able to deduce that it is incomplete. Therefore, by him acting like there wasn't a fourth one was really suspicious.

[@neverbackdown1918]

Yup, that was an obvious victory for L. I also read what the other guy said. Apparently in Japanese, the message is obviously incomplete when put into the numbered order, rather than just being a jumbled sentence that doesn’t make any sense. Given that, a natural response would be to say that it is incomplete and that there could be 1 or more missing cards.

[@ts.tanishqsingh]

Yes, that is one of the biggest flaws of light since he cannot usually predict how one acts on emotion and he cannot predict someone else's view very well either since he only noticed the fact that L could very much read Light's body language only at the end when he formulated the plan about withdrawing ownership of the death note.

[@narratornavigatorstoryteller]

As someone who is a psych student obsessed with DN, I think that a character who is honestly overlooked as one of if not the smartest character in Death Note is Naomi Misora. She was able to deduce things about Kira that only her death confirmed for L, and the LABB case books prove how unbelievably smart she is.

[@shugyosha7924]

Yeah Naomi was smart, but she was very foolish to give her real name to Light. She understood the importance of hiding her name, yet still she divulged it for a pretty weak reason. Light got very lucky there - plot armour lucky.

[@trinalenay3525]

@@shugyosha7924 agreed!

[@SympatheticStrawmanVA]

Poor Ray...

[@jelanidacostabest8195]

@@shugyosha7924 I think they killed her off because in actuality such a character would have outed Light in no time whatsoever.

[@shugyosha7924]

@@jelanidacostabest8195 yeah. light made a lot of mistakes, naomi would've caught him

[@videogameaddict4041]

Seth, I enjoy your videos even though I’m not an active follower however the choice of music to put at the opening of this video got an immediate Like from me. I understand this seems insignificant but I felt it important to share

[@cizmas4724]

L knew about Kira’s identity after a few episodes he just couldn’t kill him because the law was in his way so he needed evidence

[@reddragonemperor1623]

Yes on other hand light doesn't sees laws

[@NeoReoxis]

He never wanted to kill him tho, convicting him was his goal from the start

[@shellynick763]

@@NeoReoxis yeah near confirms this when he mentions that killing light is not an option they will take

[@powerjolt7215]

Not really the law, but his own moral code

[@andrew-rn9ui]

@@NeoReoxis not personally but he wanted him on death row

[@premshetty9834]

Truly a legendary anime ... everyone must watch this before they die

[@cathycreamer4418]

Agreed

[@TheKitcatFamily]

I AGREE 🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️🙋‍♀️

[@ryuk6636]

Whoever watch this anime I will give you a death note

[@Sigmade_]

Wait L is still alive 😳😳😳

[@ryuk6636]

@@Sigmade_ Yes I erased his name from light yagami death note by using death eraser

[@icantbelieveyoudonethis4059]

Seth is the man with all the answers of the universe. Still waiting for Great White Shark vs Saltwater Crocodile btw

[@GogitoGTHD]

Shark rips croc in half?

[@icantbelieveyoudonethis4059]

@@GogitoGTHD idk people weren’t in full agreement last I mentioned it

[@stefanocremonini2656]

Great white shark easy. It is like compared a grizzly to a siberian tiger. There's too much muscles difference.

[@trevor8726]

@@stefanocremonini2656 shark prolly has more manuveuverbility too

[@michaelterrell5061]

@@stefanocremonini2656 That’s actually a pretty decent fight actually.

[@thomasseta]

This was amazing, thank you. Subscribed

[@Vampire.1228]

I would argue that Lights made more mistakes whether it be through his psychopathic tendencies or feeding his narcissism, where L is more self-aware and has made fewer mistakes

[@FallenFromGlory]

There is official material that says Light is more intelligent.

[@Legend-gv2nx]

Light is overall smarter when you factor in his social and emotional intelligence. Also, when they were both working together Light seemed to be a bit ahead of L in catching the new death note owners

[@DL-idk]

@@Legend-gv2nx On the contrary, I think Light has quite low EQ comparing to L. Yes he's popular, but that's because the people around him fail to see him as what he his: a narcissist and a sociopath. Everyone can be popular as long as they know how to pretend to be nice(L doesn't bother to pretend because he doesn't care if people like him or not). Knowing how to fake to be nice doesn't equal having high EQ. High-EQ makes you understand how other people feel and grants you emotional stability. If you can't resonate with anyone and is quite unhinged (just like Light), you're definitely low on EQ. Just look at those twisted smirks of Light's. That's not the kind of expressions a mentally healthy human could produce naturally.

[@hshshshs1214]

But all this did not prevent Light from winning

[@Axel-ye8tt]

@@DL-idk l emotional intelligence wasn’t higher no one in lights circle suspected him and L cosnthaly made police distrust him

[@alexfe7371]

Honestly, if light would’ve just put in more effort and wrote how people died in a sensible way he probably wouldn’t have been caught

[@s6r8h]

yea but he wanted the world to know there is a person who does this. he wanted the world to know that there is a “god” who brings justice into the world. his ego was too big to kill criminals like this. he wanted the attention and basically at the end of the series i dont think he even cared about criminals he became too greedy to thinking he is a god and superior than others and completely forgot his innitial cause

[@alexfe7371]

@@s6r8h yeah true but just saying if his ego wasn’t so big he could’ve really pulled it off

[@jarodandrews7425]

@@alexfe7371 if he makes every death inconspicuous then it wouldn’t make criminals fear committing crimes, which was what he wanted to accomplish

[@lynxsss5403]

L was way smarter because he was dealing with supernatural things, just like death note and he has no idea about these things but he almost won so L was way smarter then light.

[@diamondsrubies1964]

@@s6r8h true, true

[@justfassy1176]

Lights acting is what impressed me the most on this show. Dude could easily make millions being an actor and still manage to kill criminals behind the scenes🤣🤣

[@Hazaroth]

Then there’s Lind L Tailor’s acting

[@akabaneaki]

IKR i refuse to think no one tried to scout him. As a model at least then work his way into being a actor

[@dakodablack7312]

There’s a guy who went through this

[@barak363363]

You did a great job of analyzing

[@diegonin5181]

Other anime: Who is stronger? Death Note: Who is smarter?

[@jugemujugemugokonosurikire4735]

Naruto: Who can talk more?

[@abhishekrai7855]

Attack on titan: Who can stay alive longer?

[@bigfundamental1096]

@@jugemujugemugokonosurikire4735 more like who has better ancestor

[@nibbax7772]

Demon slayer: who can breath more?

[@lukejones7164]

Fairy Tail: Who has more friends?

[@Linkfan450]

I'd say Ryuk was the smartest character. Dude got to happily enjoy apples for a couple years with Light, and also took some of the lifespans of numerous characters. Didn't seem to get punished by the Shinigami King for anything either.

[@Dawahsunna]

I think we can all agree this is one of the most interesting debates outside vs battles this is definitely an outside the box take I fw it

[@TundraIsland]

Is it really fair to give credit for the bedroom camera scene being he only was able to confirm the cameras and know the cameras locations were because of ryuk

[@danielthetornado]

I say yeah, since Light was smart enough to take advantage of Ryuk's apple addiction and make him find the cameras

[@jamesmikayelyan3357]

And L only knew who to plant those cameras on because of the government and money he has control over

[@joshuabryant9845]

L was smarter, but tough to win when the deck is repeatedly rigged lmao.

[@mathiaszanotto7287]

In Death Note: How to Read, Light is stated to be more intelligent than L.

[@retrox2776]

I believe the actions of characters in the story determine who is smarter and L definitely surpasses Light The only thing you can argue is that Light had a slightly higher IQ however higher IQ doesn't mean you can't be outsmarted. For example: if the chart placed Lights Dad over mello, would you believe it?

[@mathiaszanotto7287]

@@retrox2776 Don't talk about what ifs, talk about the facts. The fact is that Light's intelligence is higher than L's and even the author agrees.

[@retrox2776]

@@mathiaszanotto7287 K Because I'm hearing the author said this and the author said that so over the years. I guess I'm remaining neutral on this topic

[@mathiaszanotto7287]

@@retrox2776 Jesus Christ. I don't know if you read what I wrote, but I will rewrite it so you understand: In the thirteenth volume of Death Note (writen after the series end), which is a databook written by the author Tsugumi Ohba, Light is stated to be more intelligent than L.

[@caseykendall5506]

I would say they were mostly equal, but Light had one key disadvantage: he's an insane narcissist. This not only makes him arrogant to the point of being easily blindsided, not only does it make him easy to bait, it also meant he lacked the imagination to truly predict the actions of certain people like Aizawa or even his own pawns. He was smart enough to improvise ways out of most of the messes his arrogance got him into, but it only took one to ruin everything for him.

[@anteroshouldsleep3676]

Light isn’t a narcissist he got an god complex between these two things there are some important differences.

[@nolenada7941]

I think they're not mostly equal at all, because Light has more advantages especially that Ryuk helps him. I think so

[@Legend-gv2nx]

@@nolenada7941 L had the lots of resources and money to help him too, as well as an entire police task force

[@pawarsanjay2897]

@@Legend-gv2nx yeah right bro..... Light has more disadvantages....

[@nolenada7941]

@@Legend-gv2nx Yeah you also have the point, but still L's resources and money can't solve supernatural things. Especially those fake rules written on the death note . BTW they're both smart, it was really my heart can't accept L's death huhu

[@The_Nameless_Monster]

L was the smartest in the series He did 95% of Nears and Mellows job Light needed help from Ryuk ,Misa ,Rem He only won because he had an upper had due to the secrets of death note and also Technically Light cheated to beat L L had almost solved the case L won ALMOST until Rem killed L and herself

[@ShaggyDabbyDank]

He had almost 'solved' the case is the key word. He had 0 evidence for an arrest let alone a conviction in Japan. It would be akin to L knowing 100% that Light is Kira and having no physical evidence to prove it beyond 'It's just what I feel' and trying to explain that one time Light *might've* been writing names in the death note from the inside of a potato chip bag without being seen with a miniature TV in the bag while there are 63 cameras in the room. Like L wants to remain top detective, not look like an absolute crazy person to anybody he speaks to.

[@noahxmutindi351]

L contributed to absolutely 0% of the mello and nears work before he died he deleted all of the research and progress of the kira case

[@hadiekhan7267]

bruh it was about how you use the resourcesu have and the manipulation skills.Both were equal

[@sup2078]

L had the help of an entire police force 😐

[@GameZone-ib7eu]

@@sup2078 wth police force was taken away from Kira's case. L only had help from handful of officers. And even then almost all planning and analysis was done by L himself.

[@Pyro67152]

Light was dealt basically the best hand and in several occasions still almost lost to L, who had to basically learn the rules (including fake rules) on the fly. Light was given possibly an even better hand after L was gone, being the head of his own investigation and having his father's testimony clearing him, and he lost to Near, who admitted that he (by himself) was inferior to L.

[@reignadams6692]

L not being in posture isn't a nerf, L BEING in posture is an intelligence buff greater than that of Brainiac after conquering multiple* planets.

[@vietcongwarlord6931]

The whole point of being a detective is overcoming the burden of proof

[@cmath6454]

In the Los Angeles B B Murder Cases novelisation, L states that the posture was in fact a perception buff for him. Or it could have been his sadistic predecessor B. It's been awhile since I read it.

[@jawaun1875]

@@cmath6454 he could’ve just been lying tbh

[@hunters266]

Your profile pic really got me

[@DirtyBobBojangles]

@@hunters266 stop using that bright ass white version

[@thephoenix4093]

One mistake. L actually did make sure none of the NPA were kira. After their first meeting he explained he wanted to talk to them in person, apparently he set traps for them during the off screen conversations and he came to the conclusion they're not kira.

[@corvair5454]

he said he felt he didn't have the need to use the traps after all.

[@thephoenix4093]

@@corvair5454 nope, he actually said that after he used the traps he concluded none of them were kira.

[@Boguardis]

@@corvair5454 at least in the anime L said that he had set up the conversation so he could identify Kira. Not sure if the word "trap" was used or not but it was basically to trap someone into giving away they were Kira.

[@yayeet4250]

@@galanga21890 L has absolutely no reason to lie about his suspicions on the NPA, since they were going to be working with him for the foreseeable future. It is also very believable that he did indeed setup traps for them early on since he willingly trusts them with confidential information later in the plot. With Light, if L revealed his true suspicions of Light there is a high likelihood that Light would become much more conscious of his decisions or Light's dad would take offense to it.

[@mnmnrt]

what were the traps he set?

[@cebidd]

Even after a decennia people still talk, debate, and have conversations about Death Note. This just proves what kind of masterpiece this is. Truly intriguing.

[@brandonw6139]

A what

[@michielmanders9766]

I agree it's a masterpiece but people still talk about all kinds of garbage from decades ago so that alone means little.

[@Beetless]

whats a decennia?

[@christofferhenriksen7631]

@Tectectonic what is the other?

[@crimson6864]

I assume you mean a decade, can’t say I’ve ever heard someone say decennia before

[@HeatleyBros]

L is waaaay smarter. Only reason Light stood a chance, is because of the life-saving powers of the death note that he LEARNED throughout the story. Light had multiple get out of jail cards available whereas L was basing things off the real world, not magic. Put it this way, if L had a death note, you think Light would have ever caught him? Probably not, mostly because L has to high morals to have ever used the deathbook to begin with. Yet another example of why L is smarter than Light lol

[@tonebrown2961]

L had to prove, in a court of law that a teenager, that also knows police procedure, was killing people with a notebook. For just using conventional knowledge, L being able to deduce who, what, why and where Light was, and profiled him correctly. He couldn't PROVE, using legal means, that Light was Kira, especially after the memory loss.

[@juliuskingsley4434]

If they had the notebook, yes he could.

[@kismetfolly4954]

@@juliuskingsley4434 you forget light killed him barely 24 hours after they received the notebook and learned of it's existence. he could have absolutely prosecuted light he just didn't have time

[@justlurkin]

ok ? and he failed to do that. L had a whole justice department and any means possible to capture Light. All light had was his brains and a book and shinigami that were completely neutral but just happened to be in his possession.

[@tonebrown2961]

@@kismetfolly4954 and it doesn't matter. Lesser people have gotten away with worst stuff with almost the same amount of resources. If it wasn't for L, there wouldn't have been a real idea of where to even START looking. L mitigated the damage by finding Misa and Light and handcuffing Light to him. He KNEW it was Light, but he had to prove it and there was never enough proof to any kind of satisfaction. Gibbs' gut was not on deck 😂

[@kismetfolly4954]

@@tonebrown2961 i agree with you i think L is smarter, the other dude made it seem like L should have been able to prosecute light as soon as he got his hands on the DN, which he couldn't have since he died almost 24 hrs later

[@ahmedalibaba8082]

I definitely feel like the reason Light won is that he had more tools at his disposal than L. Such as his Pre-existing knowledge of the death note, Ryuk and Rem, the death note, and more.

[@psychopompous489]

L had the prestige of being the worlds greatest detective. He could've gotten armies on his side if he tried hard enough.

[@sharoonaftab8894]

@@psychopompous489 it doesn't work like that. What can armies do against gods?

[@psychopompous489]

​@@sharoonaftab8894 Feed the god an apple when you put the short list of Kira suspects in Japanese Guantanamo bay.

[@yayap9988]

@@psychopompous489 But you can’t see them unless you touch the death note. And why would Ryuk eat an apple given to him by the enemy team? He said he wasn’t on anyone’s team, but he enjoyed Lights schemes so much that he helped him out.

[@psychopompous489]

@@yayap9988 My bad. Allow me to correct my mistake. *Don't* feed the god an apple when you put the short list of Kira suspects in Japanese Guantanamo bay.

[@TheFloorGeneral100]

L smarter in raw intellect, but lights ability to manipulate people and the things around him was plot breaking No wonder someone else had to mess up for him to lose

[@machina5]

Agreed, Light's charisma was his greatest skill.

[@justbored730]

@LionPro x1.4* a x0.4 would actually make you weaker.

[@powerjolt7215]

I agree, though I would say L is also more experienced in using his deductive abilities.

[@bigboss6145]

Lights loss was his own (or more like the authors) fault. If he had given Mikami a spare page or two to always have on him in the event of a DN switcheroo, he'd have won. Its a common sense solution.

[@NitenGale1]

@@bigboss6145 Not really if he's constantly being tailed anyway. He didn't know how far Near or especially Mello would go. Best to not have this dude have anything on him.

[@GissellCalderon-gn8lz]

i thought a lot about the potato chip choice as well- he probably did consider that one of his family members would suddenly have taste buds for barbecue chips. but i think most of lights movements are banking on the fact that he so overwhelming KNOWS people, & KNOWS how to anticipate their actions to a point he figured that he was absolutely sure no one would suddenly want barbecue chips. it’s because he’s so sure of himself, not that that very assured personality let him win in the end, but it did score him a lot of wins.

[@d3l_nev]

L vs Light is like a chess match. L only has pawns and a king, Light has Queens instead of bishops and L still manages to get rid of all of Lights pieces except for one queen. L always knew Light was Kira, I think that's the biggest outsmart ever.

[@iliillillilli2991]

…L playing with queen odds sounds better.

[@speenta4879]

⁠@@iliillillilli2991 in chess a very common problem is that people go to extreme lengths to protect their queen and rook Light was willing to let his allies die to further his goals Where L was concerned with the well bring of people Very apt comparison

[@iliillillilli2991]

@@speenta4879 Whatever move minimizes the centipawn loss, who cares whether it means protecting or sacrificing pieces. A centipawn is a centipawn. That’s how I like to view the way light analyzed situations, of course not literally centipawns though. But light had stockfish up his sleeve, aka the magic deathnote cheat. L, on the other hand, only played by the rules. Of course, stockfish wins, or should I say, light with assistance from the deathnote wins. Just like a cheater in chess can beat any grandmaster with ease using stockfish.

[@Aqsticgod]

is it really? i eman if it wasnt for light being an egotistical dumbass, L would have moved on, he even admits his own leap in logic is just an assumption and gut feeling, but if you ask me it was too perfect and even for someone of L's intelligence, he would need a lot more than "hes just too perfect, too unsuspicious" then man he should suspect half of japan under that bullshit logic.

[@d3l_nev]

@@Aqsticgod In one move L knew Light was in Japan, in Kanto region. Second move and he knew Light was a student and related to the police. On the third move, L only had around 3 suspects. Now, that logic would be stupid in a vast amount of people, but when you already have a profile, and you know your suspect has access to classified information, being too perfect is actually suspicious, because you can avoid behavior that could harm your image, resuming, if Kira wasn't Light, he would've been caught way too long ago, so it's not a shitty logic. Light had an untouchable queen on his side of the board.

[@juiceecads3894]

i always thought it weird that the death note community conceptualizes the war between light and L as a battle of smarts as opposed to ego. after all, the writing makes a point from the start to show how every loss is a blow to the ego of whoever takes it, and there's plenty of signs peppered throughout that both of them are in it for the ego boost (what comes to mind is L's depression at the start of the yotsuba arc & how light literally believes he's a god and the only person who can do what he does). as a matter of fact, i believe that this is why near won in the end. he was a recluse who didn't have an ego or reputation to threaten (unlike light, mello, and L), and that key difference really shows at the end of death note, where near is entirely calm and emotionless whilst light loses his shit like a child after being caught.

[@Short-mistress]

Na Mello didn't have a rep he cared about L or even loved him. He says stuff similar to an avenger.' I want Kiras head' was in the manga first thing he said was but how was it kira did kira kill him?! Then the voice on the brink of crying says But he promised me he'd find Kira and execute him. The competition remark didn't happen until Near insulted L calling him a loser. Then Mello leaves saying Near should be the one to succeed L. This mirrors a lot of Sasuke leaving to join Orochimaru vibes.

[@juiceecads3894]

@@Short-mistress Mello may not have had a public reputation... but you can't argue that he doesn't hate to lose just as much as L did

[@Short-mistress]

@@juiceecads3894 He lost that at the end and let himself die so Near could beet so no his lose thing is not actually there. I read this manga more than fifty times I know it by head

[@jessetheanimenerd3304]

@@Short-mistress Well that's just Halle's theory. Something that even Near doubted. So it's up to interpretation.

[@Short-mistress]

@@jessetheanimenerd3304 his literal words were only I could do it. Mello put his life down while talking to Halle. I have the manga series not just the anime. The anime also shows Mello like he's depressed and shown like he's going to die.

[@bloodmoneyhistory6845]

L had a whole backup plan after his death… can’t get no smarter than that

[@xsuploader]

I posted this in another comment but when you think about it that was wataris plan

[@firstlegend5105]

@@xsuploader not really, L told Watari beforehand that if something went wrong, he would always be sure to press the button

[@xsuploader]

@@firstlegend5105 I wasnt talking about deleting the evidence. Thats standard practice I was referring to training Near and Mellow to be the next L after L died. This was wataris plan since he set up the orphanage.

[@firstlegend5105]

@@xsuploader Yes Watari did trained the orphanage but it doesn't mean he knew about Kira's plan. This was at the time L was already known as a successful detective and launched his career ever since.

[@xsuploader]

@@firstlegend5105 I know. My comment was simply saying that watari was prepared if L ever died. Im not saying he knew anything.

[@Sil3ntB0bb124]

nice job on the video bro , fr, was about to fall asleep then suddenly i wanna watch death note all over again 👀😂

[@echtel1293]

I think the first slipup where Light kills Lind L. Taylor was largely because he was caught off guard. He has been living a boring life where everyone around him is simply too dumb compared to him. Now after that first slipup he just gets serious and being super cautious and taking L seriously 24/7. I don't think people understand how stressful and tiring it is to be always on your toes, always cautious and suspicious of everything 24/7 is.

[@Reality-Distortion]

It's basically striking a W before the second combatant knows at all that some game even started.

[@thatoneguy5001]

While that is true Light at that point had already known that the police were starting to look for “Kira” so he should’ve been more cautious to begin with

[@lucamarsiglia7284]

@@thatoneguy5001 lol caution? He became a pollice officer and the next L so Was all port of thr plan in the end, he need to be near the police to beat L

[@husseinrose4883]

L kept him in his toes and without him he became arrogant and kept slipping

[@Phantom-Neon]

@@Reality-Distortion true, but he probably would have won without that single blunder

[@KingpenGames]

L was smarter, because he only loss because of his lack of knowledge of how the deathnote works

[@shalindelta7]

Facts

[@alancasillas9748]

Yeah L is smarter because he knew less.

[@R1kual]

@@alancasillas9748 you’re all missing the point. Lights powers were irrelevant to his ability to win after episode 2. Yes light has Ryuk and REM but L has the entire world gov as well as the ability to monitor light 24/7. Not to mention that misa and rem put light in horrible situations that he couldn’t even control. Despite this, light still manages to outsmart L. It’s not like having the death note increases your iq it just makes finding you difficult.

[@Karaloft-TR]

And how unreal death sounded to the reality , ppl tend to forget that, L was smarter . Finding where kira is in 5 days from the whole world ..... he was genius

[@R1kual]

@@Karaloft-TR And how long did it take Light to find out he was the killer without no memory?

[@username_kk2177]

I think anyone who watches the show/reads the manga with an unbiased mind will conclude that L is the most intelligent, by a large margin. However, L was an experienced, hyper-gifted detective in his 20's while Light started as a smart high school student - what Light did and how far he got is still very impressive.

[@wastelandlegocheem]

Light took an L when he didn't sue for the camera incident. Coulda got the court to force L to legally leave him alone at least for a bit.

[@ForeignCapone]

@@wastelandlegocheem technically he couldn’t sue, his father allowed for the cameras to be installed. Light wouldn’t have had no say so since it is his parents house he was staying at

[@wastelandlegocheem]

@@ForeignCapone idk, iozawa said they'd lose their jobs and there'd be public outrage so it sounds like it would be illegal. Not to mention it would wane on at least the chief for his entire family feeling detrayed that they were being spied on.

[@skysheep747]

"Good-bye Ray Penbarrrr" if you ain't biased, you didn't enjoy the show :P

[@guifdcanalli]

The fact he had an all powerful killer notebook with a global range, yet L locked him into a very small district of Tokyo in months is actually impressive how Light was STUPID with the resources he had Light screwed up totally there, after that the entire series is just him controlling the damage of his godlike mistake

[@Izag-wn5kd]

Light and L’s intelligence is like two Olympic athletes breaking each other’s records. The better one is, the stronger the other must become. Light became smarter trying to beat L and lost when L was gone.

[@Nedgeyy]

L was smarter he just started with a disadvantage

[@Asmr_Joshua]

L is a fraud

[@Nedgeyy]

@@Asmr_Joshua wdym

[@6paths988]

@@Nedgeyywdym they both were at a fair advantage or if not L started off with a advantage

[@relax5367]

@NARWHALS LEAKS take away the god powers and he loses instantly

[@c7nal7ammadi78]

@@6paths988 no it’s not, L didn’t know the rules of this game, he didn’t know there was a deathnote, he thought Kira had powers

[@feuerhirn]

Dude, L is playing a game he doesn't even know the rules for and nearly wins. Don't get me wrong, Light is smart as hell...but man, L has to be smarter...

[@hshshshs1214]

You're wrong, Light is smarter. L lost already when Light lost his memory, and the rest of the events only went according to Light's plan and L could not do anything. This is a perfect victory for Light, where he outplayed his opponent on all fronts, even when he did not make a single mistake, unlike Light himself. L got into a paradox - if he proves that Light is Kira, then he will die. To consider the defeat of Light from his successors as the merit of L is stupid. Three brains against one, and even so Light would have won if Mikami hadn't failed the practical part of the plan. It should also be borne in mind that L was not 100% sure that Light was Kira, there was not a single worthwhile clue so that he could at least tell himself that he was completely confident in his theory. This can be seen in the manga at the time of L's death, when he thinks "Light Kira, I was right, but I...". And there is no need to justify Light's victory, like he had a magic notebook, Misa and the God of Death - the death notebook did not affect Light's victory in any way, Misa only interfered and because of her Light almost lost, and he himself outplayed Rem, forcing her to kill L and kill herself. These are not two brilliant assistants who, after your death, will be able to resolve the situation. Light could have won fast enough just by taking the eyes of the God of Death, but he won without them. If L had been smarter, he would have won no matter what, but he lost and couldn't do anything.

[@Gimoxd]

@@hshshshs1214 nah light just got a shinigamis, father and luck

[@Gimoxd]

@@hshshshs1214 L also doesn't know that there is a magicbook and devils and some rules of the book. Light got a help from ryuk. Ryuk help to see all the cctv and tell light that there was someone spying him. Light gather some info from her police father. Got a help from another death note user and having a shinigami that can sacrifice herself just to bring happiness for a dumb girl. And light being lucky to be there when the fbi girl will tell to yhe police officer that kira can kill someone not just by heart attack. Lucky ass

[@ryuk5673]

@@Gimoxd I guess I did help Light out there with Ray Penber. But I didn’t do it to help him. Ray Penber was just seriously starting to creep me out.

[@Gimoxd]

@@ryuk5673 so you really buy that phrase

[@mr.swishz906]

If L was in Light's position, I think L would get away from being accused as Kira. Here's the reason why: 1. L has experience in detective work, meaning he knows when to do things like kill people while not being tracked down, unlike Light who killed people during times a Japanese student would be free. So L concluded that Kira lives in Japan and is a High School student. 2. Light has so much power compared to L, such as having a Shinigami by his side that can help him gather information, having people that has the shinigami eyes which helps light a lot, etc. Oh and L already knew that Light has Kira, he just needed more proof. In the end, he died knowing that Light was indeed Kira. Light however died miserably knowing that if he didn't pick up the death note, his life would be so much better due to his intellect.

[@UchihaItachihd]

L🔥😭

[@Sleepycollegestudent]

But L can’t blend into society the same way light can. I think L, at least from an outside perspective would attract a lot more eyes

[@samyeharshel]

@@Sleepycollegestudent For that has to be a person even smarter than L to catch the Kira L

[@Pastelpinkplz]

so basically what you r saying is L is more experienced since he is a detective? Like duh Light was literally a 17 year old child and L was 24

[@Josuh]

ryuk should just kill him them lol

[@conduhmann]

The only reason he L lost was because he couldn’t *prove* that Light was Kira.

[@KatoBeyond]

Excellent video, Seth. Your work with Death Note has been exemplary( I especially love the Batman vs Kira video) and I hope you revisit the series in the future. Also, who's that handsome channel at 16:00? I do have a couple nits to pick, but let me start by saying that this video is exceptionally well researched and the analysis is spot on. First, I think L deserves a W for zeroing in on Light so quickly. As you mention, Aizawa is a great candidate for Kira but L cleared him through psychological profiling when he first met the NPA detectives. Light was shocked and appalled that he was even a direct suspect. I also think Light deserves an extra W for evading the cameras and wiretaps the instant they were installed, so it evens out. I think you were trying not to award points for plans or deductions that didn't end up leading to a significant victory but I wanted to mention these moments anyway. Secondly, Light's deduction about Near's intelligence. Yes, of course I'm going there. Near does say "We actually did exactly what you planned for us to do." He also adds that he would have lost, but I disagree. Near's plan was verified the second Light walked into the warehouse with Ryuk. Near already confirmed Ryuk's attachment to the Task Force, so if a shinigami was absent, that would mean Gevanni hadn't found the real Death Note. Near took precautions to ensure that Gevanni would be able to accurately report the presence of a shinigami. In other words, the fact that Light thought Near had to test the notebook to know it was real was depicted as a failure for Light and a W for Near.

[@grayfullbuster3261]

Right! Love it. More batman like videos, more death note, more mello more near!! 😁

[@baldbingus5491]

Lol just take my like already XD

[@Zero-ef4sc]

For your second point, it really isn't up for debate. 1) Near himself admits it, and he says it directly to everyone's face. He would have lost. 2) Him saying "we did what you planned us to do" is a deduction and prediction of Light's plans AFTER they found out that Mikami was hiding a Death Note. 3) Near's plan being verified could very easily be debunked by the fact that Mikami could have just taken page out of the Notebook, have Geovanni touch the real one, and it goes downhill from there. The presense of Ryuk proves nothing.

[@tsotsodonchev8888]

Where is it stated that Near took those precautions? It seems like headcanon and is contradicted by Near admitting he would've lost if Mello hadn't kidnapped Takada and forced Mikami to reveal the location of the real Death Note as a result. Near didn't have a definitive reason to assume Shinigami always have to be close to the Death Note they possess or its human owner. In chapter 104 he states that he only considered the possibility of the Death Note Mikami's been carrying being fake AFTER Gevanni told him about Mikami visiting the bank on the 26th day of the month instead of the 25th like usual. So Near wouldn't have taken the precautions you said if he went to the meeting without Mello having forced Mikami to reveal the location of the real Death Note.

[@KatoBeyond]

@@tsotsodonchev8888 I guess you could be right about Near not having a reason to think the Shinigami would stay close to the owner of the Death Note, I'll have to look into that. But I say Near made precautions because he set the time and place for the meeting specifically to allow Gevanni to report the presence or absence of a shinigami, or at least die( which would reveal he's being controlled by the Death Note). This happened before the Mello incident as well.

[@BrokenMessiah1]

L duh. Light lost the moment he killed someone who wasn’t a criminal (as far as he knew)

[@onepercentnow]

Thank you!

[@mlikespizza]

nahhh

[@alexorr5772]

Everyone who legitimately thought Light had pure intentions after that point must be really easy to gaslight. The veil of moral supremacy was so thin, mans was just a sadist with a God complex.

[@kurokun07]

some said light lost the day he said "i have to act like how soicihiro yagami would when in this situation" when L confronts him and reveal to himself saying he's L that day, light died, there's only kira

[@UnknownUn8verse]

Idk that's pretty subjective opinion if you ask me not necessarily facts Thing is L was going to stop Light that was his whole goal so regardless someone was going to die it was just a question of who was going to kill who first so morally speaking there is no right or wrong

[@caitlin74]

remember, this whole thing happened because Ryuk was bored.

[@xsuploader]

and the rest of us too.

[@neelp1956]

Bcz he was careless tho

[@yumikoo9394]

@@neelp1956 I mean of course lights first kill was out of curiosity but very kill after that was totally with consent and Ryuk did say he could pass the notebook onto someone else if needed

[@andrewcook1246]

One had a supernatural notebook and demin helping him the other was just some dude.

[@mistirion4929]

L vs Light Yagami in a nutshell: *You have outsmarted my outsmarting*

[@starflatinum244]

This is a JOJO References

[@ghettokage6104]

Fr 😂

[@geminibaby47]

Even in death L was hunting Kira. Whether or not he was smarter, he is the one who truly wins in the end because his only goal was to get Kira caught, whether L himself died or not. This ultimately happened, though he was not a witness to it. Although he’s dead, his incredible deductions and ensuring two successors led to Kira’s demise. Near and Mello did what they did because of L and the standard he set. They were a backup plan (or at least an option) all along. L was never going to let Kira get away with this.

[@djw_tekken8490]

But L took the L and his grave got twerked by light tho

[@DamianShively]

​@djw_tekken8490 it wasn't an L for l because he did what he sought out what to do

[@djw_tekken8490]

@@DamianShively both are great sad how much hate light gets tho

[@DamianShively]

@@djw_tekken8490 I can fully understand this but in the end L won even if he died light is smart but L is ahead of him

[@Gentleman_Nebula]

​@@djw_tekken8490he does a lot of fucked up things like manipulating literally everyone killing innocence

[@teddyeastside8051]

Almost all of Lights advantages came though circumstance. He just happened to have access to his fathers files. He happened to have knowledge of supernatural that no one else in the world could possibly know about. The person who randomly gets the second notebook just happens to worship Kira and follow his every command while also having the eyes. Ryuk just tells him he’s being followed. We never see how he somehow got a mini tv into a packet of crisps without anyone noticing even though the whole house was wired with cameras??? Somehow could see and/or hear inside without it being loud enough for the microphones or the bag being at an obvious weird angle to actually be able to look inside.

[@daikon3199]

Exactly what I'm saying. Even more examples of plot contrivances

[@animewarriors4927]

Too accurate lol

[@Pastelpinkplz]

he hacked into his father's file he worked for it?

[@lilx1652]

Ion know bro L was given authority to use the most important organizations how ever he wanted. On top of that L couldn’t prove it. Mello n Near managed to get a confession.

[@Zoinks3245]

For nearly every good supernatural/lucky thing that came to him, there was a negative as well. -yes he may have gotten his father’s files, but this led L to believe that Kira was in the police force -imo misa was more of a hate hindrance to light than anything else. -it’s Deathnote, unrealism(I’m regards to the potato chip bag)can just be written off as intelligence/skill.

[@FizzleFX]

13:46 the telephone bit was a clear win for L ... He just wanted to rush the kill and ran right into it

[@antoniob9498]

It's hard to say one won over the other. L had so much going against him from the start, that the fact he got to even know who the real Kira was in the first place is crazy impressive. Especially when your going against someone who has an invisible deity that helped him multiple times

[@yayap9988]

He had two incredible deities helping him. Rem helped him out to because he had a thing for Misa. If it wasn’t for Rem, I don’t think Light would have killed L.

[@faisl_543]

the main reason light wrote lind taylors name without hesitating is because he thought he was the smartest at the time and didnt even consider the possibility of a person being able to outsmart him.

[@kurt4ble]

L wouldn't know anything if it wasnt for Raye Penber so technically he got some help to atleast put up a fight against light

[@Nievenheimerchecker]

@@yayap9988 Misa nearly got them all killed and she gave L massive clues Without her Light would have won earlier

[@haniyalivingston9345]

I think L was more intelligent hands down. He narrowed his findings down to light pretty quickly even going on to give a pretty accurate insight of his thought process from complete scratch. I feel as though the whole show was L knowing that it was Light but just not having enough evidence to convict him. Light had a shinigami, the death note, and his dad’s computer files whereas L only had investigators that literally did nothing lol.

[@Hunter-gz6ec]

"investigators that did nothing" L could sit and be anonymous and he has hundreds of agents that were his eyes scouring japan. While Light was basically in plain sight the entire time. He also had to deal with Misa revealing most of his key secrets. L is smarter overall but Light is on par especially his social intelligence. His manipilative abilities were far better than L and Light weaseled his way out of being cornered multiple times because of his quick thinking. Lights downfall was his ego and him thinking he was invincible with the Deathnote and would slip up and make careless decisions. Light was also under much more pressure than L due to him being watched constantly and still planed and strategized against L while all of this without anyone finding out.

[@roronoalaw7772]

@@Hunter-gz6ec The pressure thing is subjective because L knew he could die at any moment

[@Nuclearburrit0]

@@Hunter-gz6ec Good assessment. Just because L is a bit smarter doesn't mean Light isn't on the same level.

[@Hunter-gz6ec]

@@roronoalaw7772 yeah true after they get up close

[@spacecookie1091]

L could die any moment and that's not a huge pressure even when he went up close with kira??

[@SaiScribbles]

My only problem with gauging Light’s intelligence is that he has so much invisible, supernatural help no one could have possibly predicted. This of course becomes harder for him to do once he’s up against Near.