New World (episode)

"Well, Light, it looks like you've lost. Remember how, in the beginning, when we first met, I told you that I'd be the one writing your name in my notebook. That is part of the agreement between a Shinigami who brings a notebook to the human world and the first human who picks it up. If they put you in prison, who knows when you'd die. And I don't wanna lie around waiting. So, it's all over. You'll die here. It was good while it lasted. We eased each other's boredom for quite a while. Well, Light, it's been interesting."

- Ryuk

New World (新世界, Shinsekai) is the thirty-seventh and final episode of the Death Note anime series.

Synopsis
The last episode continues immediately after the previous one. Light Yagami and Teru Mikami are both shocked that no one has died after 40 seconds have passed. Near swiftly orders Anthony Rester and Stephen Gevanni to arrest Mikami. He then reveals that while the pages in Mikami's notebook had been replaced by fake pages created by the SPK, they had replaced the actual notebook. When Takada was kidnapped, Mikami inadvertently revealed the location of the real notebook to kill her, despite Light already doing so without his knowledge. Near attributes his plan's success to Mello's actions. The notebook is confiscated, and as Light's name is the only one not written, Light is exposed as Kira.

Desperate, Light claims the entire situation is a set-up, though neither the Japanese Task Force nor the SPK believe him, especially after Light declared victory before Mikami's notebook was revealed to be fake. Out of options, Light confesses to being Kira and attempts to acquit himself by justifying his use of the notebook. When that fails, he tries to convince Near that the notebook the task force brought with them is a fake, creating a distraction so he can write Near's real name on a piece of the Death Note hidden in his watch. Matsuda intervenes and shoots Light several times, leaving him badly injured and completely cornered.

After seeing Light writhe in pain after being shot, Mikami suffers a mental breakdown and stabs himself with his pen, killing himself. His suicide creates a diversion that allows an injured Light to escape the warehouse. Near suggests that the task force not go after Light, as it is unlikely he has other hidden scraps from the notebook, and his wounds will probably stop him soon. However, Aizawa chooses not to follow Near, and decides to go after Light with the rest of the task force.

As Light runs away, he imagines passing a younger version of himself without the notebook. Ryuk, from atop a tower, reminds Light of his promise from the beginning: that he would be the one to write Light's name in his notebook. Ryuk understands that he would be bored waiting for Light to die in prison and admits that their years together were interesting. When Light, possibly out of blood loss and exhaustion, decides to hide in another warehouse, Ryuk writes Light's name down.

In the ending, the fate of all remaining Kiras is shown: Mikami's corpse is left alone in the warehouse; Misa Amane, dressed in her maid attire, goes back to the old Task Force building by railcar and is last seen standing in front of the safety rail; Light dies of a heart attack halfway up a flight of stairs, and sees an apparition of L standing in front of him.

Critical reception
Tom S. Pepirium of IGN wrote, "New World really works best when watched immediately after 1.28. The final two chapters really work better as one. Overall though, it was a deeply satisfying ending." He states that "Matsuda shooting Light is maybe THE stand up and cheer 'holy sh*t' moment of the series." The site gave the episode a perfect score of 10 and provided a final retrospective on the series: "This was the greatest anime there has ever been. This was the greatest anime dub there has ever been. And I will seriously miss tuning in every week."

Anime America included Death Note as number 4 in its "Top 10 WTF Endings in Anime." The ending is criticized for Light acting inconsistently with his actions prior to the finale and noting that Near's simple replacement of the real notebook would have been highly unlikely to succeed in light of Light having overcome far better plans to catch him over the course of the series. The review concluded that the creator must have wanted Light to fail in the end but couldn't come up with a good way to do it and as a result, the bad ending ruined the franchise.

Trivia

 * This and the previous episode are the only two to be rated TV-MA when it was released in the US.
 * Anthony Rester, whose real name is "Anthony Carter," has his name mistakenly written as "Anthohy Carter" in the fake notebook.
 * In the manga, Light's death takes place in the same warehouse where he is exposed as Kira. That is because Mikami does not commit suicide (which allowed Light to escape) in the manga.
 * Also in the manga, Mikami renounces Light and calls him "scum"; this scene was omitted from the anime.
 * During the credits scene, Misa Amane is shown standing on the rooftop of the old Task Force building, behind the safety rail. According to Death Note /A Official Analysis Guide of the Animation, her fate is left to the viewer's interpretation.
 * While Chapter 108 of the manga was not fully adapted for this episode, an image of a crescent moon appearing after Light's death was adapted (though the anime version did not include the Kira worshippers that appeared in said chapter).
 * The moon imagery, according to Ohba, is a play on Light's name, which is written as "月" (or moon).
 * When the episode was first released on DVD in Japan, the scene where Light is about to escape because of Mikami's suicide was slightly altered. An extensive blur was placed, and more "shaking" was added for effect. The DVD version of the scene would be used for the dub and the rewrite.

Episode Guide
Nowy Świat Uusi maailma (jakso) Le nouveau monde es: Episodio 37: Nuevo Mundo