Few anime are as thought-provoking and hypothetical-inducing as the Death Note series.
It has inspired a darker, adult tone in anime and manga that came after. The live-action version produced by Netflix exists, too.
Everyone who has seriously viewed Death Note or read the Death Note manga can relate to chewing through the idea of having your own black notebook and shinigami (death god, though ‘kami’ does not translate well into English because of our connotation with the word ‘god’).
The Kira case gave the greatest young detective in the world a run for his money and his life.
Whether you too sit weird or like snack foods, there’s a little bit of L in every viewer and reader.
*Spoiler Alert*: Death Note has a few twists, and only one will really be mentioned in this article.
If you’re currently watching Death Note, come back later.
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L’s Age and Life
Light Yagami’s greatest nemesis was a scrawny, clever boy. Going simply by L, he curated a very intentional aura of mystery and gravitas that aided him in accomplishing feats FBI agents, and other law enforcement were incapable of.
We would say L is, at times, a bigger star of the series than Light.
Before his death and subsequent jumping of the shark in the second half of the story, L is responsible for the greatness of Death Note.
We will die on this hill. It’s a shame he was replaced by a cartoonish mob duo without a scrap of depth or believability.
The soul of Death Note resides in the first 25 episodes, for sure. We criticize because we care.
There are other anime characters like Light, but none that hit like L; many stories try to replicate L’s allure, though.
We are waiting for a manga or anime to come along and write such a complex character with care and, more importantly, RESTRAINT.
How Old Is L?
This is a very open and shut case, unlike the Kira case. We learn in Death Note 13: How to Read that L is a Halloween baby.
That’s fitting, somehow, that such an astute and serious man would be born on a whimsical holiday.
According to the Death Note 13 guide, his birthday is October 31, 1979. L is 24 years old in Death Note.
His birthday passes after the bulk of the main narrative events, so at the time of his death, he would be a year older, but the L we knew was 24.
L died on November 5th, meaning he had only been 25 for less than a week.
The best way to understand the character is as a 24-year-old.