Death Note ... "L" lives...?

For many Death Note fans, the question remains..... did L really die?

Would such an essential character in the series-- a character who captured the hearts of audiences throughout the world-- a character who was the backbone of Death Note, truly be eliminated, closing the door on any possibility of him ever returning?

I think not.

L, or L Lawliet, is a dishevleled young lad in his early twenties and the world's top-rated detective. With uncanny insight and an insatiable craving for sweets, L devotes all his time and energy to the cases he undertakes.

It is assumed, but never confirmed, that L's true birth name is L Lawliet. His date of birth is October 31, 1979 (1982 in the anime), making him 25 (22 in the anime) when he supposedly dies on November 5, 2004. However, certain things cause one to question the reality of L's death.

Near the end of the series, L mentions that he never had parents. It is also implied that L was a former resident of Wammy's House, one of Watari's orphanages/educational facilities for gifted children, so for all intent and purposes, L is an orphan.

Now, here is where the question arises...

If L was placed at an orphanage type home for gifted children, someone had to place him there. Yet, L stated he had no family and never knew his parents. In addition, when a child is placed at an orphanage, he will be given a name if he doesn't have one, or in the event he does, he will be given a new name to protect the identities of the birth parents. In fact, if the parents identities are known, that information will be sealed. In L's case, we don't even know if his parents identities were known or not. And, for L to be allocated a detective alphabetic tag of "L" for his first name from the moment of his birth or the moment he was named, would mean that the person who named L already knew L was going to work as a detective when he was old enough, along with other agents with an alphabetic letter for their first name as well. It only makes sense that the name "L" could not possibly have been the name given to Lawliet as the first name of his birth name. Even if Lawliet was in fact L's true birth name, "L" could not in all feasibility, have been his actual birth 'first' name.

Now, add to this, the movie "L. Change the World", released in 2008. The movie takes place during the supposed last 20 or so days of L's life. In the film, L, (played by the talented actor, Ken'ichi Matsuyama) protects the life of a young girl named Maki, and a famililess, homeless, unnamed little boy. In the end, L names the boy "Near" and turns him over to the supposed same orphanage he came from. But, it isn't over yet.... L then turns and begins to walk away, when suddenly he looks up into the sky and says "Watari, I want to live a little bit more in this world...". He smiles, and the camera continues to film him from behind until he disappears on the horizon and the credits begin to show.

Finally.... "L", aka- Ryuzaki, Suzuki, Hideki Ryuga, Erald Coil, Danuve-- is a detective/agent/case solver, who works with the FBI, Japanese Police, and several other world organizations, and as mentioned before, maintains contact with other agents who are named after letters in the alphabet as well. It's apparent the agents were assigned a letter of the alphabet to use as their first name for security and anonymity purposes. With this in mind, one cannot surmise that an agent who is to maintain the utmost secrecy, would use any part of his real name, and, they don't. They only know L as "L" and he, visa versa. It is clear, the tag "L" is the designated alphabetic label L uses with regards to the organizations for which he assists and the other agents he works with. Taking this into consideration, we have to conclude no one knows L's true name except the Shinigami and possibly the headmaster at the orphanage, but even then, he would be bound by law to never disclose this information to anyone, especially L. Keeping this in mind, L (believing his name to be L. Lawliet), wrote his name as such in the Death Note and thus expected his death to follow. However, considering all of the facts forementioned, it is impossible to believe L did actually die from writing the name L. Lawliet in the Death Note, when in fact, it is almost seemingly a fact that L.Lawliet could not have been his birth name. It is also surprising as insightful and perceptive as L is, he did not consider this possibility for a moment.... or maybe he did.

In truth. L's assigned name L. Lawliet should no more his real name than any of the other assigned names- Ryuzaki, Suzuki, Hideki Ryuga, Erald Coil, or Danuve. Think about it...

So, fret not, keep your fingers crossed that the Death Note series will continue and that L will return to warm the hearts of audiences throughout the world once more, especially since L Lawliet has proven to be quite the character on his own, no matter what the storyline.

Keep in mind, Tsugumi Ohba, story writer of the series, is a brilliant writer. Who knows.... he and famed manga artist, Takeshi Obata, just may pleasantly surprise us.

You can also help by signing the following petition:

http://www.petitiononline.com/deathn/petition.html

For more information on Death Note, be sure to visit these sites:

http://deathnote.viz.com/

http://wwws.warnerbros.co.jp/deathnote/

http://www.deathnote.com.au/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_Note_(film)