SPOILERS Death Note, the plot holes and character mistakes

[Kulern]

Warning. Spoilers. If you havent seen it or read the manga. Dont read


But one part that doesn't make sense to me is.
Light has access to the police files. He knows they suspect a high school student. And his logic is confirm their suspicion by scheduling timelines automatically of his killings, while he is at school?

• This will suspect Light has access to Police files.
• One of the students has a dad or mom working in the police?
• That sudden change of killings? Will confirm he is a high school student!

Probably the WORST mistake he did, to make police send in investigators after him

Now i guess Light should get cred for covering his track, when he killed Raye Penber. The FBI agent, by having him write the names (Likely through Death Note manipulation, since i don't think a guy with a good conscious mind and free will, would would freely give away his employes names like that?). But it was alrightly planned.

However. Why would "Naomi" wife of Penber. Trust Light? He has all the motive to be the killer? And frankly, he also comes off as a shady car's dealer. With the whole "Oh yeah i am in the elite investigation unit". YEAH RIGHT! I would have fact checked that with L. Naomi has history in the FBI. There is NO WAY she would be so easily fooled like that!

But whats your view?

 

[Kulern]

 

[mdchachi]

You're right that both Light's timing adjustment and Naomi's choices look shaky at first glance, but within the story's logic they're more "hubristic gambles" than outright plot holes.

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Light changing the killing schedule
Light doesn't just randomly decide to match the "high school student" suspicion; he reacts to two separate conclusions L makes.

1. How L first gets to "student"
   
   • L notices the original Kira killings cluster around after-school/evening hours, with almost none during typical school time.
   • From that, he hypothesizes Kira has a student-like schedule, possibly a high schooler who is free in the evenings but busy during the day.
2. How L gets to "has police info"
   
   • When the police restrict certain criminal data to internal reports only, Kira's kill pattern suddenly changes in a way that tracks those internal details.
   • That strongly suggests Kira has some access to police records or is close to someone who does.
3. What Light actually does with that knowledge
   
   • After hacking his dad's computer, Light sees they suspect a student, so he tries to "disprove" that by killing during school hours using pre‑set times.
   • His logic: "If Kira kills at times I couldn't be writing, then they'll have to widen their profile beyond 'student' and I blend into the crowd."
4. Why this also incriminates him indirectly
   
   • L doesn't know who Kira is, but he now knows:
     
     • Kira can adjust timing on demand;
     • Kira responds directly to information that only the police saw;
     • therefore, Kira does have a connection inside the police, probably close family.
   • That's what narrows suspicion to households like the Yagamis—Light accidentally confirms L's "Kira is close to the police" theory.

So you're right that manipulating the timing after seeing the file is a huge strategic mistake; it does scream "I see your internal data." The show's point, though, is that Light is overconfident: he assumes he's cleverly disproving a profile, but L is looking more at causal responses than at alibis.

In other words, it's not that "Light deliberately confirms they're right he's a student," it's that he underestimates how much his counter‑move itself is data for L. That's not a plot hole so much as character hubris.

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Was Naomi Misora written "too gullible"?
Naomi is canonically very sharp: a former "first‑rate" FBI agent with "remarkable investigative ability," personally chosen by L in the Los Angeles BB Murder Cases prequel. That's why her fall feels off to many viewers. But look at what's stacked against her in that scene.animeanemoscope.

1. Her mental state and isolation
   
   • She has just lost her fiancé Ray Penber and quickly deduces Kira killed him by manipulating him into showing his ID and maybe giving up names.geeksundergrace+1
   • She resigns and investigates alone, with no official backup, sleep, or emotional support; her grief makes her more driven but also more desperate.
2. How Light designs the encounter
   
   • Their meeting is pure bad luck on her side: she just happens to run into the actual culprit before she can reach the task force.deathnote.
   • Light clocks her as dangerous almost immediately (knows details about the bus hijacking, correctly guesses FBI involvement, quickly narrows to Kira's methods).
   • He then deliberately steers the conversation to isolate her: "Don't tell the general police, they might be compromised; I can take you directly to the special team."
3. Why Naomi doesn't instantly suspect him personally
   
   • From her POV, Light's profile doesn't scream "Kira": he's a polite, top‑student teenager, son of the police chief, in broad daylight on a crowded street.deathnote.
   • The idea that "the chief's son is Kira and just randomly bumped into me" is a very unlikely hypothesis compared to "the chief's son wants to help." Fiction leans into that improbability for dramatic irony, but it's at least psychologically plausible.
4. The "I'm with the investigation" claim
   You're absolutely right this should be a big red flag. But notice a few points:
   
   • Naomi doesn't fully trust him; she refuses to divulge her full theory or her real name for a long time, and says she'll only present the core evidence directly to L.
   • Light counters by leveraging his father's authority ("I'm Chief Yagami's son, I can get you in")—that's a social credential she has no easy way to check instantly on the street.
   • She's trying to reach L as fast as possible, and Light is offering exactly the shortcut she most wants in that moment, which is classic manipulation territory.
5. The name reveal – where it becomes a real writing stretch
   The most controversial part isn't that she talks to him; it's that she eventually reveals her full name "Naomi Misora" to a stranger when she was hiding it carefully. In‑universe explanations people tend to use:
   
   • Emotional fatigue and thinking "Even if he's not legit, I'm just giving him my real name, not all my intel."
   • Light incrementally building trust (sharing his own name, invoking his father, walking with her, framing himself as an ally against corrupt police).
     Out‑of‑universe, though, you can argue this is where the writing prioritizes plot necessity (Light needs her real name early) over perfect realism. Even many fans consider this moment one of the series' weaker believability beats.

So: Naomi being perfectly rational would probably keep Light at arm's length, verify his identity through the FBI or a direct coded channel with L, and never disclose her real name in the street. But the anime leans on three factors to justify her mistake: grief, isolation, and Light's focused, sociopathic charm.

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Does this make them "plot holes" or character flaws?
I'd frame both issues more as character flaws than pure plot holes:

• Light's timing change shows his arrogance and his belief that he can "play around" the profile system, not realizing behavioral changes are themselves evidence.
• Naomi's trust shows how even a very skilled agent can be compromised by grief, urgency, and a manipulator who knows exactly which values to play on (justice, distrust of compromised institutions, desire to honor Ray).

That said, if you hold Naomi to real‑world FBI tradecraft standards, her name reveal is one of the few places where the story arguably cheats a bit to let Light win so early.

 

[Kulern]

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Does this make them "plot holes" or character flaws?
I'd frame both issues more as character flaws than pure plot holes:

• Light's timing change shows his arrogance and his belief that he can "play around" the profile system, not realizing behavioral changes are themselves evidence.
• Naomi's trust shows how even a very skilled agent can be compromised by grief, urgency, and a manipulator who knows exactly which values to play on (justice, distrust of compromised institutions, desire to honor Ray).

That said, if you hold Naomi to real‑world FBI tradecraft standards, her name reveal is one of the few places where the story arguably cheats a bit to let Light win so early.

The thing is. When L heard of Naomi's depression, he described her as strong willed and unlikely for her to act this way. So... emm i dunno

And we know Light cant use the Death Note without a real name and face.

 

[mdchachi]

L calling Naomi "strong‑willed" and unlikely to commit suicide actually fits her death scene once you factor in how the Death Note works: her will is overridden, not erased, and Light still needs that real name + face combo to do it.

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L's comment about Naomi being strong‑willed
L knows Naomi from the LABB/Los Angeles BB case and explicitly considers her a highly capable, mentally tough agent.deathnote.fandom+1
That's why, when he hears she is "missing" and apparently suicidal, he says that the Naomi he knew would not normally take her own life; it clashes with her established personality.

In other words, L's line is evidence of how wrong and disturbing her death is.
Naomi doesn't die because she gives up; she dies because the Note forces her into a state where she "thinks of nothing but suicide" and methodically plans a death where her body won't be found.
That's why fans and some analyses describe her fate as especially horrifying: a strong‑willed person remains conscious but is mentally hijacked by the Note's instructions.

So there's no contradiction:

• "Strong‑willed Naomi" is L's genuine assessment.
• The fact that even she ends up dying by suicide under mind‑control shows how absolute the Death Note's effect can be when the cause of death is carefully specified.deathnote.

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The "name and face" rule and what it means here
The core rules spell it out clearly:

• "The human whose name is written in this note shall die."
• "This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name.

That's why Light plays such a careful social game with Naomi:

• He already has her face from talking to her.
• He manipulates her until she gives him the real name "Naomi Misora," instead of the alias she uses at first.

Only after he has both can he write something like:

• "Naomi Misora commits suicide in a way that her body is never found, thinking only of how to die without inconveniencing others, within 48 hours.

Once that's written, her strong will does not protect her, it just means:

• Internally, she may still understand what's happening and that Light is Kira (depending on how you interpret the scene),
• but behaviorally, she's locked into following the Note's "script" of planning and carrying out suicide.

So you're absolutely right: Light cannot touch her without the real name and face, and L is also right that Naomi is not the kind of person who'd normally do this. The tragedy—and horror—is that the Death Note lets Light override that nature completely once he has the required info.

 

[Kulern]

Kyoko having the best takes though haha!

 

[Kulern]

I also think part of the reason why L starts suspecting Light the most? Is the sudden suicide by Penber's wife "Naomi"
Which to L. Was not in her character to act like this? Since "Penber" was the one given the task of tracking "Light", and Naomi was married to him. Which is likely, why L suspected Light the most out of all the suspects in the Kanto region?

 

[Kulern]

If you got the choice between being a gentleman? Or being falsely accused as a perv which might get you killed by a hidden death note if not careful?
What would you pick?

Towel... or non towel?

 

[Kulern]

But after having rewatched it. Despite Near arc making more sense in the manga. However, the anime has aged very well
But i still feel its very reckless to shoot in crossfire mode : D