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Five a.m. Fandom Ruminations
I've been planning on writing Death Note fic for a while now, focusing mainly on Mello and Near, as they're my favorite characters. I wanted to reread the manga first though, or at least the second half, so I can ensure my characterizations are from canon rather than fanon. One of the things I've been wondering about is Near's speech patterns. It's really common to find him talking in a very unnatural way when he talks to Mello in fanfic - he refers to him in third person rather than second, e.g. "Is that what Mello thinks?" instead of "Is that what you think?" I definitely didn't recall him sounding that way, but it'd been a little while, and that voice is pretty damn prevalent, so I figured I'd reread and set it straight in my head once and for all. Turns out fandom's once again picked up an oddball trait that's not in canon and made it mainstream.
As evidence, I've transcribed the whole of Mello and Near's physical encounter when Mello shows up to retrieve his photo. I think it's quite possibly the most informative scene in the whole manga when it comes to understanding both of their characters, and more importantly for my purpose here, it focuses on them speaking directly to one another. From the Viz release, Volume 9:
Page 134:
Mello enters, holding a gun to Hal's head. Gevanni and Rester aim their guns at him.
Rester: Drop your gun!
Near: That goes for everybody. Put your guns down.
Near: It's meaningless for us to shed any blood here.
Gevanni: B-but, Mello killed the other SPK members... and he kidnapped and killed the Japanese police director...
Near: We have no proof of that, and I think Kira is the one who killed the director... but that's not important now. Don't make me say it again. Our goal is to capture Kira.
Page 135:
Near: There is zero gain for us in killing Mello right now.
Near: He got the notebook once, and was able to get closer to Kira than any of us. That's something we should respect, and pointing a gun at him is just plain rude.
Rester: ... Very well...
They lower their guns.
Mello: Well said, Near.
Mello: ...
Mello: So everything's gone as you imagined?
Near: Yes.
Rester: ?
Near: Though I didn't expect you to come all the way here...
Page 136:
Near: And thanks to you, Mello, I have been able to greatly narrow down my suspects for Kira.
Mello: ...
Mello: Near.
Mello draws his gun and points it at Near's head.
Rester: !
Mello: I'm not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle.
Page 137:
Rester and Gevanni cock their guns and point them at Mello's head.
Near: Commander Rester. Don't make me repeat myself. Please lower your gun.
Near: Mello, if you want to shoot me, shoot.
Mello: !
Mello: ...!
Mello: ...
He cocks his gun.
Page 138:
Hal rushes to face Mello.
Mello: !
Hal: Mello, if you kill Near right now, then even if you succeed in capturing Kira, it will be meaningless. And if you shoot Near, we'll be left with no choice but to shoot you. What good is there in both of you dying? That will only make Kira happy.
Mello lowers his gun.
Mello: Heh...
Mello: She's right. Near, I just came to get the photo you have of me.
Near: Yes.
Page 139:
Pointedly looking away from him, Near holds out Mello's picture.
Near: This is the only remaining photograph, and there are no copies of it.
Near: Also, the surveillance cameras here only monitor, they don't record.
Near: I've contacted all the members of Wammy's House and anyone else from your past who would know your face. It's not a hundred percent perfect, but I think it's safe to say that you won't be killed by the notebook.
Mello flips over the photo. The back reads "Dear Mello".
Mello: !
Mello: (thinks) So Near knew that he would be handing me this photograph sooner or later... Come to think of it, it must have also been Near's plan for Hal to give me the SPK's information on Kira...
Page 140:
Mello: Near, I have no intention of joining forces with you.
Near: I know.
Mello: But it would upset me to receive this picture without giving anything in return...
Near: ?
Mello: The murder notebook. It's a shinigami's notebook, and people who touch it are able to see the shinigami.
Rester and Gevanni: ?!
Rester: I-impossible...
Gevanni: Who's going to believe that? A shinigami...?
Near: ...
Near: I believe him.
Page 141:
Near: What advantage is there for Mello in coming up with such a stupid story about a shinigami really existing?
Near: If he were telling me a lie, he would tell me a normal - more meaningful - lie. Therefore, the shinigami exists.
Mello: The notebook I had belonged to a shinigami named Sidoh, who dropped it in the human world. He had to come down to get it back. But another shinigami had it before.
Near: We know that because there were rules written in English inside the notebook for human use, right?
Near: It would be odd for a shinigami to write rules down for humans to use when he wants to get it back...
Mello: And one more thing... There is a fake rule hidden amongst the rules written in the notebook. That's all the information I can give you.
Near: ...!
Page 142:
Mello: Near.
Near: Mello.
Rester: !
Gevanni: ?
Mello: Which of us is going to get to Kira first...?
Near: The race is on...
Mello: Our destination is the same. I'll be waiting for you when you get there...
So that's that. Near talks like everyone else, even when speaking to Mello. Proof's in the pudding. The delicious, inky, pulpy pudding. I also happen to think that scene contains evidence that Mello doesn't hate Near at all, but that's another characterization rant for another sleepless night.
As evidence, I've transcribed the whole of Mello and Near's physical encounter when Mello shows up to retrieve his photo. I think it's quite possibly the most informative scene in the whole manga when it comes to understanding both of their characters, and more importantly for my purpose here, it focuses on them speaking directly to one another. From the Viz release, Volume 9:
Page 134:
Mello enters, holding a gun to Hal's head. Gevanni and Rester aim their guns at him.
Rester: Drop your gun!
Near: That goes for everybody. Put your guns down.
Near: It's meaningless for us to shed any blood here.
Gevanni: B-but, Mello killed the other SPK members... and he kidnapped and killed the Japanese police director...
Near: We have no proof of that, and I think Kira is the one who killed the director... but that's not important now. Don't make me say it again. Our goal is to capture Kira.
Page 135:
Near: There is zero gain for us in killing Mello right now.
Near: He got the notebook once, and was able to get closer to Kira than any of us. That's something we should respect, and pointing a gun at him is just plain rude.
Rester: ... Very well...
They lower their guns.
Mello: Well said, Near.
Mello: ...
Mello: So everything's gone as you imagined?
Near: Yes.
Rester: ?
Near: Though I didn't expect you to come all the way here...
Page 136:
Near: And thanks to you, Mello, I have been able to greatly narrow down my suspects for Kira.
Mello: ...
Mello: Near.
Mello draws his gun and points it at Near's head.
Rester: !
Mello: I'm not a tool for you to use to solve the puzzle.
Page 137:
Rester and Gevanni cock their guns and point them at Mello's head.
Near: Commander Rester. Don't make me repeat myself. Please lower your gun.
Near: Mello, if you want to shoot me, shoot.
Mello: !
Mello: ...!
Mello: ...
He cocks his gun.
Page 138:
Hal rushes to face Mello.
Mello: !
Hal: Mello, if you kill Near right now, then even if you succeed in capturing Kira, it will be meaningless. And if you shoot Near, we'll be left with no choice but to shoot you. What good is there in both of you dying? That will only make Kira happy.
Mello lowers his gun.
Mello: Heh...
Mello: She's right. Near, I just came to get the photo you have of me.
Near: Yes.
Page 139:
Pointedly looking away from him, Near holds out Mello's picture.
Near: This is the only remaining photograph, and there are no copies of it.
Near: Also, the surveillance cameras here only monitor, they don't record.
Near: I've contacted all the members of Wammy's House and anyone else from your past who would know your face. It's not a hundred percent perfect, but I think it's safe to say that you won't be killed by the notebook.
Mello flips over the photo. The back reads "Dear Mello".
Mello: !
Mello: (thinks) So Near knew that he would be handing me this photograph sooner or later... Come to think of it, it must have also been Near's plan for Hal to give me the SPK's information on Kira...
Page 140:
Mello: Near, I have no intention of joining forces with you.
Near: I know.
Mello: But it would upset me to receive this picture without giving anything in return...
Near: ?
Mello: The murder notebook. It's a shinigami's notebook, and people who touch it are able to see the shinigami.
Rester and Gevanni: ?!
Rester: I-impossible...
Gevanni: Who's going to believe that? A shinigami...?
Near: ...
Near: I believe him.
Page 141:
Near: What advantage is there for Mello in coming up with such a stupid story about a shinigami really existing?
Near: If he were telling me a lie, he would tell me a normal - more meaningful - lie. Therefore, the shinigami exists.
Mello: The notebook I had belonged to a shinigami named Sidoh, who dropped it in the human world. He had to come down to get it back. But another shinigami had it before.
Near: We know that because there were rules written in English inside the notebook for human use, right?
Near: It would be odd for a shinigami to write rules down for humans to use when he wants to get it back...
Mello: And one more thing... There is a fake rule hidden amongst the rules written in the notebook. That's all the information I can give you.
Near: ...!
Page 142:
Mello: Near.
Near: Mello.
Rester: !
Gevanni: ?
Mello: Which of us is going to get to Kira first...?
Near: The race is on...
Mello: Our destination is the same. I'll be waiting for you when you get there...
So that's that. Near talks like everyone else, even when speaking to Mello. Proof's in the pudding. The delicious, inky, pulpy pudding. I also happen to think that scene contains evidence that Mello doesn't hate Near at all, but that's another characterization rant for another sleepless night.
no subject
i'm pretty sure it comes from the fact that near speaks politely, and in japanese speech it's often considered polite not to use the word "you" instead of a person's name, so in the original manga, near says "mello" a lot, even when speaking directly to him. people seem to have picked this up as meaning that near has some kind of autistic third-person speech impediment, when i think it was actually just intended to convey politeness.
i am convinced that near will have an english accent in the series because of this, that's almost always how they convert polite speech in anime, as i understand it. not that i mind, obviously-- my near is english, so he does have the accent, but... still.
anyway, i'm glad to see someone else recognizing this (i've ranted about it before, not sure where though). i'd like to think it will make a difference to how people write him, having the evidence all written out like this for them, but... mrr. we'll see.
no subject
the explanation above certainly makes a lot of sense, and i know that he does occasionally (at least twice?) refer to mello in third person in the anime, but it plays as more dismissive than polite - talking about him as though he isn't there, you know? which i always took to be part of the reason he got so INSANELY pissed off about it, aside from just being because he's mello and all. i don't know, but i definitely agree that i don't like it - could be interesting used sparingly, but it's really really overdone.
ps: also from the comment above - i'm gonna be starfacing over the idea of near with an english accent ALL DAY. omfg *_*!!!!