Misa Amane

Misa Amane (弥 海砂, Amane Misa) is a famous model, singer and actress and has an immense crush on Light Yagami. She usually refers to herself in the third person by calling herself "Misa-Misa" and tends to be hyperactive. She kills as the second Kira in order to attract the attention of the first Kira. Realizing that Kira lives in Tokyo, Misa moves there in order to meet him. She lives in a small apartment which is fully decorated in gothic style, showing her rather eccentric nature. It is from this location that Misa devises to start using her Death Note and enacts her plan to send the videos to Sakura TV. Her motivations are not revealed until she actually visits Light's house and explains her tragic past.

She decides to devote her life to Light due to the fact that Kira punished the criminal that killed her parents in front of her very own eyes as an adolescent. Misa, unable to forgive the killer and wanting to kill the burglar herself, saw multiple delays in the killer's trial before Kira killed him. Misa did not gain her Death Note through these events however, they were simply a coincidence. Shortly after beginning her modeling career, Misa was attacked by an obsessed stalker, who tried to stab her. A Shinigami named Gelus, who had fallen in love with her at some unknown time, was watching this and saved Misa's life by writing her attacker's name into his notebook. Unfortunately, since Shinigami are not meant to empathize with humans, Gelus himself died. Another Shinigami, Rem witnessed this and decided that the notebook left behind should belong to Misa, and delivers it to her, which turned out to be the wrong decision. Misa also performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half two separate times: the first trade with Rem, and the second with Ryuk.

When Misa first appeared in the story, her aim was merely to meet Kira and thank him for punishing her parents' killer. However, after she succeeded in enticing Kira to Aoyama through videos she sent to Sakura TV, her feelings changed. According to Misa, she saw Light in Aoyama, and fell in love with him immediately. She then found out his address and arrived at his house, asking to be his girlfriend and partner in crime, even if it is just to use her. Light agrees, but intends to kill her after she has outlived her usefulness. This does not happen, because Rem threatens to kill him if he does.

Misa is quickly captured by L, due to the fact that she started hanging around Light without knowing he was under suspicion. She carelessly left several pieces of evidence connected to the Second Kira. By erasing her memories intentionally, Misa allows Light to create a situation in which she is freed, but still under surveillance. Misa proves to be a surprising asset to the investigation by uncovering the identity of the Third Kira. She also establishes an alliance with L, who she only knows as Ryuzaki. This unlikely friendship begins when L tells Misa that he understands her feelings for Light, and touched by this, Misa kisses him and offers her hand in friendship. According to what L said, this makes her the first and only person to ever do so. According to How to Read 13, L may or may not have a crush on Misa, though Misa initially suspected that he was in fact attracted to Light. This caused her to be extremely jealous and exasperated at the 'handcuff situation'. Unfortunately, after learning that 'Ryuzaki' was truly L, Misa was not hesitant to try to kill him.

After regaining her memories as Kira, Misa trades for the Shinigami Eyes with Ryuk, and takes on the role of Kira again. She assists Light for several years until she reluctantly forfeits ownership of the notebook again, having become a liability. By this time, Misa's career has really taken off, and she has become a famous actress, appearing even in American films. She very briefly retires from the business so that her identity cannot be as easily uncovered by someone with the Shinigami Eyes. However, Misa soon returns to the entertainment world by taking part in the New Year's pop music festival. After her memories are gone, Misa ends up spending the remainder of Light's life (about two months) in the company of Kanzo Mogi, as he investigates her. Then they are both confined by the SPK.

According to How to Read 13, Her memory from the incident and the Death Note is erased, yet she still retains her love for Light. She is not brought to justice for her crimes, having no memory of ever committing them. Misa falls into despair after learning of Light's death through someone "like Matsuda." Misa commits suicide one year later on February 14, 2011 (ironically, Valentine's Day). It is also revealed that the cloaked woman who appears at the end of the manga is not Misa, but simply a follower of Kira.

Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto, has a height of 152 centimeters (approx. 5 feet) and a mass of 36 kilograms (79 pounds). Misa has a bust size of 76 centimeters (30 inches), a waist size of 51 centimeters (20 inches), and a hip size of 75 centimeters (30 inches). Her blood type is AB. Misa tends to wear crucifix jewelry, though the crucifixes were changed to 'fleur de lis' symbols in the anime adaptations (most notably on the Misa finger puppet). Despite this, Misa is depicted with a crucifix in the first anime opening and her model sheet image in the liner notes of the third anime soundtrack. She also has a crucifix on the collector's figure included with volume 5 of the DVD sets. As with Mello, the crucifixes may have been removed to erase traces of Catholicism in Misa's personality. While her eyes are predominantly light brown in the manga, they alternate between light brown and blue in the anime (green on the figure).

In the finale of the anime, Misa's suicide is neither mentioned nor seen. At the final credits, she is seen standing at the edge of a rooftop, standing outside the safety limit, with a sad face looking at the horizon.

Misa Amane in the films
Misa, portrayed in the film by Erika Toda, is seen filming a dorama called "Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets," where she states that she is baking treats to make her enemies fat. After filming of that section ends, she expresses support for Kira on camera. A supervisor states that the section will be cut due to controversies.

Ryotaro Sakajo, the assistant director for "Happy Sweets" and Misa's attacker, dies from a heart attack when Gelus writes his name inside of his Death Note. Gelus's Death Note then falls in front of Misa, who immediately picks it up and finds Rem.

In the film, Misa sent her envelopes from Kita-ku, Osaka. Misa had a younger brother who was killed by Yoichi Tamura, who also killed her parents. Misa became very depressed after the death of her family, and despite the fact that her family's murderer was punished, she remained unhappy until she met Light.

In the film, her memories of the Death Note are still intact when Light dies, and she witnesses the final showdown between Light and L. Misa cries in anguish as she can do nothing but watch as Ryuk kills Light. It is not known what happened to Misa immediately afterwards, but she was not prosecuted and her memories of the Death Note eventually vanished when both Death Notes were burned.

Misa does not commit suicide in the film. Instead, she is seen wishing Light a happy birthday from a shrine she has dedicated to him. She feels that a part of her life is somehow missing, or that she has forgotten something important. However, she just doesn't remember what it is.

Actress's portrayal of Misa
Erika Toda said that, prior to filming, she felt "a lot of pressure" due to the character's popularity with audiences. She said the pressure vanished when filming began. Kitty Sensei of The Star theorized that Toda did not have "the time to think much about how fans would react," citing film shoots that Kitty Sensei described as "physically and mentally exhausting" such as the straitjacket scene. Toda said that undoing the straitjacket took a lot of time, and at times she waited in the jacket between takes. Toda also said that on one occasion, she wore a blindfold for an hour during filming.

Reception
Tom S. Pepirium, an editor of IGN website, describes Misa in a review of the Death Note anime episode "Performance" as being the "show's weakest and most annoying character." Pepirium cites "the tone in which she is written." He feels that her motivation and Kira obsession are "in league with Death Note's dark sensibilities." He says that when Misa "spouts" her "deep and fully realized" affection for Kira in "her whacky, excited, poodle-like way" the information "loses all impact." The reviewer uses "girly sophomoric pink fluff" and "Jar Jar" (a reference to Jar Jar Binks) as figurative descriptors for Misa. He also had compared Misa to Dot from Animaniacs. Pepirium said that he wished that Misa spent more time in a "somewhat serious state" instead of a "silly lovesick, big-eyed anime characterization." Many fans of the series, however, have more mixed feelings on the character.

Reception of the film version character
Erika Toda said that she views Misa as "complicated and fascinating." Toda added that she does not comprehend why a person would willingly use a Death Note; Toda said that she admired the fact that Misa "does everything she sets out to do" and that the actions of Light and Misa are "criminal."

Christy Lee S.W. of The Star said that Toda's portrayal of Misa in the second film "may seem rather annoying for being overly bubbly and cute at first" and that the character "grows" on the viewer "after a while." Lee said that at the end of the film she saw Misa as "quite endearing. It's scary, really."