The supernatural crime thriller Death Note anime has thrilled fans around the world, and it all starts when brilliant high schooler Light Yagami picks up a killer notebook and resolves to rid the world of crime with it. He slaughters criminals by the thousands, and the world's top detective, L, directly challenges the super-killer Kira to a battle of wits.
The story of Death Note is told across 37 half-hour episodes, and as with any other show, some are more popular with the fans than others. After all, some episodes serve as a lead-in to others, or some episodes don't feature a popular character. Or they simply don't have that "wow" factor. So, what are the 10 least popular Death Note episodes on IMDb?
10 Episode 19: "Matsuda" (7.5)
This episode is named after the well-meaning but bumbling Japanese police officer Matsuda, who often serves as comic relief more than anything. His detective skills are minimal, and by now, he's getting pretty frustrated. So, in this episode, Matsuda takes his leave from Misa's movie set and infiltrates the Yotsuba skyscraper all by himself to get to the bottom of things. Perhaps this episode is not so popular because we don't see many of Light and L's cool tricks this time around. Light and L are reacting to Matsuda's gutsy move instead.
9 Episode 32: "Selection" (7.5)
This is the first of many epsisodes from Death Note's second arc that made this list. Taking place late in the series, "Selection" shows Light's determination to use endless proxies of himself for Kira. He's under investigation even from his own team, and he can't make a move as Kira without giving himself away. This episode is a low-intensity one, where Light and Teru Mikami set up Kiyomi Takada as the next Kira speaker and proxy notebook user. Mello, meanwhile, is simply watching Misa and hoping to get dirt on her. Not too thrilling.
8 Episode 30: "Justice" (7.4)
Now we see Light/Kira's world start to really unfold, but viewers apparently weren't that interested. Here in this episode, the American president announces to the world that his nation will no longer take steps to investigate or apprehend Kira, a move that disgusts Near and the police but secretly delights Light. Not long after that, Demegawa, the current Kira speaker, visits the U.S. and leads a mob to attack the SPK headquarters. Maybe with Mello out of the scene, viewers didn't feel too hooked on the narrative?
7 Episode 31: "Transfer" (7.4)
Another episode in the second arc. Taking place right after "Justice," this episode shows Light acting out of extreme pressure from both Near's SPK team and his own police team. He's about to get caught as Kira, so Light ensures that Kira's power is placed in safer hands. In this case, he mails the Death Note to Teru Mikami, a meticulous lawyer with a sense of justice similar to Light's. After that, Demegawa gets carried away as Kira's spokesperson, and Teru takes the initiative and murders him. But as with some other episodes on this list, "Transfer" doesn't show much in the way of cool battle-of-wits tricks.
6 Episode 20: "Makeshift" (7.3)
We now return to the first and longer arc of Death Note with an unpopular episode. This time around, Light and L are watching the live feed of Yotsuba's eight Kira suspects, courtesy of Wedy's spy cameras. Light and L pinpoint Reiji as an influental member of the group who is not Kira, and uses him to gain the upper hand on whoever Kira might be. After that, L assigns Misa to infiltrate Yotsuba as a model seeking work, and Soichiro expresses his concern that more people will die before Kira is finally captured. Overall, there's a lot going on here, but the episode doesn't have a lot of focus.
5 Episode 28: "Impatience" (7.2)
A lot happens in this episode and the plot jumps forward, but all the same, viewers didn't seem to enjoy it all that much. What transpires in "Impatience"? Mello guides Soichiro to a patch of the American Southwest desert, and a secret tunnel leads to the site where he trades the Death Note for Sayu's life. After this takes place, the notebook is launched away on a missile. Up in the Shinigami world, meanwhile, the dim-witted Sidoh starts his quest to find his own missing notebook. Sidoh might not be the most popular of characters, though.
4 Episode 34: "Vigilance" (7.1)
As with some other episodes on this list, not a lot happens in "Vigilance," least of all any cool Kira or L tricks to dazzle the viewer. Instead, this episode mainly serves as setup for what is to come. That is, Light is continuing to act through Kiyomi Takada over the weeks, and Near is patiently developing his own plan, whatever it may be. But this episode might have been popular because it pretty much boils down to "Light is doing stuff, and Near is doing some other stuff." At least Light and Near will come face to face soon and actually make something of all this.
3 Episode 27: "Abduction" (7.1)
This is the episode that kicks off the second arc of Death Note, but despite all the fireworks, the viewers rated this episode lower than most of the others on IMDb. What happens in this one? Roger Ruvie, at the orphanage in England, tried to name Mello and Near as the new L together, but Mello struck it out on his own. Now, in the present day, Mello has Sayu Yagami kidnapped, and Light's police squad receives chilling phone calls from Mello, demanding a trade for the Death Note. Near also places a call, and makes it clear that he's in the loop about the current L being an impostor.
2 Episode 33: "Scorn" (7.0)
Yet another episode in the second arc, which may show that IMDb's users didn't like Death Note's second arc as much as the first one. As for this episode's events, we see Light using Teru Mikami and Kiyomi Takada as his two proxies as Kira, but other than that, there are no particular tricks or traps going on here. Meanwhile, Kiyomi and Misa butt heads, each believing that the other isn't worth being Light's girlfriend. This episode may be unpopular because Misa and Kiyomi are simply being catty at each other, which is beneath them. And Light doesn't have any cool tricks to show in this episode, either.
1 Episode 26: "Renewal" (6.8)
And now, the lowest-rated epsiode of Death Note on IMDb. It is not difficult to see why, either. It's a recap episode! "Renewal" is the bridge between the first and second arcs of the story, and that's really all it is. We spend a lot of time going over what happened in the first arc, meaning nothing new is shown. And to set up the second arc, we witness Light become a police officer and assume the mantle of L, meaning that for now, he has no enemies at all. Finally, we see Roger Ruvie get an alert that he must choose whether Near or Mello will succeed the deceased L. Overall, not much is going on here. Bring on the action already!
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