Light Yagami
Death Note character
Light Yagami or Kira as he appears in the manga
(Chapter 1 : Boredom)
First appearance Chapter 1 : Boredom in
1st Volume, Boredom
Last appearance Chapter 107 : Curtain in
12th Volume, Finis
Created by Tsugumi Ohba
Takeshi Obata
Voiced by Mamoru Miyano
Brad Swaile (English)
Tatsuya Fujiwara (Live Action)
Profile
Aliases Kira
L-Kira,
L the Second
Light Asahi[1]
Age 17 in beginning,
23 at death[2]
Gender Male
Species Human
Date of birth 28 February 1986[2]
Date of death 28 January 2010[2]
Nationality Japanese
Occupation High school student (Vol. 1-3)
University student (Vol. 3)
Police Detective (Vol. 7-12)
Known relatives Soichiro Yagami (father)
Sachiko Yagami (mother)
Sayu Yagami (younger sister)
Blood type A
Light Yagami (夜神 月 ,Yagami Raito?), also known as Kira (キラ ?) and the second L, is the protagonist of the manga and anime series Death Note. He is an extremely intelligent, athletic, popular, but bored, young man who finds Ryuk's Death Note by sheer chance. In the Japanese version of the anime he is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, and in the English version by Brad Swaile.
Tsugumi Ohba, the story writer of Death Note, said that his editor suggested the family name "Yagami" for Light. Ohba said that he did not feel "too concerned" about the meaning of the name (the kanji are "night" and "god"); he said that after he created the final scene in the manga he "liked" that the final scene created "deeper significance" in the name.[3]
Takeshi Obata, the artist of Death Note, said that he had "no trouble" designing Light as the character description presented to him, "A brilliant honors student who's a little out there," was "clear and detailed." As the weekly serialization continued, Obata simplified the design by unconsciously removing "unnecessary" lines and felt that he became "better" at drawing Light. When Chapter 35 appeared and the editor informed Obata that Light lost his memories, Obata felt that he had to "forget everything he learned" and draw Light in a similar manner as he appeared in Chapter 1. Obata said that he used "a lot of effort" to design Light's wardrobe. According to Obata, he encountered difficulty imagining the clothing of "a brilliant person," so he looked through fashion magazines. Obata envisioned Light as a "smart and formal guy" who wears formal shirts. Most of Light's clothing in Death Note is "fitted" and Obata avoided jeans.[4]
When designing color book covers Obata assigned colors to characters to "get the atmosphere right." Obata assigned clear or "lack of a color" to Light.[5]