Light Yagami's Bedroom Was the Scariest Place in Death Note | CBR

The grim tale of Death Note showcases the chilling rise of Light Yagami as Kira, the self-styled savior of the world and the god of a new order. This was possible thanks to the supernatural notebook, but Light needed a base of operations to begin his bloody career as Kira.

Light was still living with his parents when Death Note began, being an otherwise ordinary high school senior with plans to attend a nearby college. He had every reason to stay in the Yagami household and made the most of it, transforming his own bedroom into a serial killer's HQ. How did he do it?

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Light hid the killer notebook in his school bag when he brought it home for the first time. He initially had no defenses against the outside world except the simple lock on his bedroom door. Even when Ryuk the shinigami arrived, Light realized he'd have to set up his HQ alone. He couldn't and wouldn't rely too much on Ryuk to help. Hiding the notebook was a major issue but Light was more than ready, visiting a nearby hardware store to begin building his first trap.

To protect the notebook, Light rigged a drawer in his desk with a plastic bag of gasoline, electrical wires, a false bottom, and a few drilled holes. The Death Note was hidden under the false bottom with an ordinary journal on top, surely enough to fool any nosy outside parties. In addition, if a person doesn't retrieve the notebook in just the right way, the entire desk will catch on fire, thanks to that gasoline and an electric current.

This desk was a fine defense, but Light was not done yet. He also set a slip of paper between the door and its frame and hid mechanical pencil lead in the hinges. If any police arrived to check the place out, they would see the paper slip but not the pencil lead -- that's how Light would know that police visited rather than his mother Sachiko or his younger sister Sayu (they wouldn't think to check for the paper slip). Light even adjusted the door handle a bit to see if anyone messed with it.

Finally, Light stayed connected to the world while operating as Kira in his bedroom. He used a fairly normal TV to check the news for criminals to kill, and a PC that allowed him to hack into the NPA's databases -- all right under his father's nose. Soichiro Yagami, who headed the Kira investigation, had no idea that his worst enemy was right upstairs slaughtering people behind a closed bedroom door.

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Many impactful scenes took place in this bedroom HQ in Death Note's first major arc. For example, Light saw a TV broadcast with Lind L. Tailor in that room, where he killed the false L and thus fell for the real L's trap. From the comfort of his room, Light declared war on L and redoubled his efforts to wipe out all crime. Not long after, the bedroom became a battleground when L's agents set up cameras and bugs to snoop on Light and gather evidence of Kira activity. Light famously dodged this with a tiny TV in a potato chip bag, watching local news while studying for college entrance exams. Since Ryuk had scouted out all the cameras and bugs, Light knew how to hide the tiny TV from their view, even using his own body as a shield. Eventually, the cameras and bugs were taken down.

This bedroom is also where Light and Misa Amane formally joined forces as the two Kiras. During their second meeting in that room, Rem the shinigami promised to kill L so Misa and Light could find happiness together (at least, that's what Misa wanted). However, Misa got herself captured, so Rem confronted Light in his room, demanding he finds a way to prove Misa's innocence and free her. If Light failed, then Rem would kill him, so he hatched a plan and bid a pre-emptive goodbye to Ryuk, and the rest is history.

KEEP READING: Do Death Note's Creators Regret Killing THAT Major Character?


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