Hump Day Husbandos: Mello (Death Note)

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Lilia Hellal
May 10, 2023
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I have in the past covered Death Note in our weekly character spotlight column, specifically with our Waifu Wednesday piece on Naomi Misora. Since this anime series was one of the first I was ever exposed to – if we are not counting Pokémon that is – I feel that I do not discuss it enough here at Rice Digital.

So here is my own two cents on my favourite male character in the anime and manga. And while I agree on the universal hubby appeal of the one and only L, its chocolate-loving, leathered-up badass biker fiend Mello was always my best boy.

Spoilers ahead.

Who is Mello?

Mello is introduced in the latter part of Death Note as one of L’s successors. He becomes an integral part of the series leading up to its climactic finale as one of its two key deuteragonists, and he’s also completely designed to be Light’s foil. His place in the series is one of the more interesting parts of what is considered to be the weaker portion of the story, following the demise of the late but great L.

The basics you need to know before we go in-depth is that Mello is first seen involved with the Mafia and other mob affairs, primarily so he could work towards uncovering the identity of Kira once he left Wammy’s House, an orphanage that trained up potential candidates to succeed L. Mello’s genius puts him at the top of the establishment alongside the far less sociable and charismatic Near.

Why we love him

So when it comes to Mello and what he brings to the table, his entire deal is drawing parallels to the rest of the cast. He is a lot more rough around the edges in every possible way you can think of when compared to his fellow intellectuals in this story. Not only does he have quite a short fuse, he even dabbles in a bit of Mafia shenanigans in order for his goals to be realised. But said goals of his are completely emotionally driven, unlike his rival Near, when it comes to capturing Kira.

Much of Mello’s tactics, logic and way of thinking are spurred on by said rivalry with Near; even his own motivation for finding Kira is to beat out his competition and prove his own worth — but also to avenge L. Due to his sheer tenacity and drive to prove himself, mixed with his unpredictability in how he goes about putting his plans into action, these key elements to his character make him a substantial threat to Light – more so than anyone ever, in fact.

All this ups the stakes considerably, even considering the relatively small amount of actual action in the series that involves him directly. His mere existence in Death Note spices up the formula considerably; without him, Near’s story would have felt like a repeat of what had come before.

Why you will love him

With Mello being as unorthodox and impulsive as he is, he’s an exciting addition to Death Note. And going deeper into his actions further reveals just much of lasting effect he can have on the audience.

Mello has his own merits well worth mentioning, since this is where his softer sensibilities can be appreciated. Scenes such as how he treats Takada with a surprising amount of decency — despite having kidnapped her — and his constant care for his long-time buddy Matt are obvious signs of his moral compass.

Additionally, his key trait and motivation being his inferiority complex is actually quite a sympathetic one. Regardless of the life he previously led – one which we can safely assume was pretty rough, considering he was both an orphan and a competitor among the residents of Wammy House to be L’s successor — he’s been conditioned to be the best of the best, but always seems to fall short due to Near. He is, and always will be, second best, resulting in a mindset that makes him believe he’s never quite good enough.

In the end he makes the most significant sacrifice within the entire series, rivalling only that of Rem. While Mello is most certainly impulsive all the way to the very end, he ends up using his own methods rather than teaming up with Near to finally have one over him. It’s a bitter send-off, but one that makes me feel insanely proud of him even to this day for his tenacity alone.

Finally, it’s worth saying that he is the reason my younger self gave some light reading a go in the form of the prequel novel Another Note, since he is the narrator of it. But before you get to checking that out, be sure to watch the anime on Amazon Prime first in case you have not done so already!

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