Light's Reincarnation Theory

This Article, Light's Reincarnation Theory, is property of StillAlive.

There is a popular theory that the unnamed Shinigami featured in the anime OVA, Death Note Relight 1, is the reincarnation of Light Yagami. However, since a similar-ish Shinigami appears in the manga while Light is still in school, this is debatable.

The unnamed shinigami.

Similarities to Light Yagami

There are supposedly several pieces of evidence for this assertion:

Appearance and Physical Design

• He wears a coat that looks very similar to the one Light was wearing when he died which also seems to be stained with blood which might be alluding to light being shot by Matsuda before he died.
• He sports a red tie around his head that's similar to the tie of Light's high school uniform.
• He carries a messenger bag, almost identical to the one Light often carried with him when he was in high school.
• The Shinigami's mouth is shaped like Light's "Kira" smile.
• He also has bright red eyes, like Light's red eyes at certain points in the anime (Light's being a result of artistic coloring used during particular moments of intensity).
• Light also stands in the Shinigami Realm during the end of the second intro sequence - a possible foreshadowing of his reincarnation.
• The Unnamed Shinigami also sports goggles, which could allude to the fact that Light never made the deal for Shinigami Eyes. Perhaps the goggles are some kind of backup used by Shinigami who do not have the eyes.
• In the anime, right after Light regains his memories, he says "Just as I've planned!" in a voice identical to that of the Unnamed Shinigami.

Dialogue and Actions

• In the anime Ryuk tells Light that now he has something to look forward to after he dies. (It had been stated many times in the series the humans who use Death Notes don't go to Heaven or Hell at death, however it is never said he can't go to the afterlife at all). The "now" part of that sentence suggests that perhaps only certain humans can be reincarnated as Shinigami (perhaps only ones that have used a Death Note? In that case there may be other characters such as Misa and Mikami who also became Shinigami)
• The way he tosses the apple to Ryuk, as Light did when alive.
• The Shinigami walks into a bright flash of light at the top of the stairs.
• He walks with something of a limp, which could be related to the injuries Light sustained when shot several times by Matsuda.

• Ryuk himself has some vague dialogue that could be interpreted as him referring to the Unnamed Shinigami as Light: After looking at his own Death Note, Ryuk speaks to Light as if he were there; "You were not God. You were just...gone already?" This could mean Ryuk was addressing the unnamed Shinigami as Light or that he was simply reminiscing.

• Ryuk also allegedly addresses the shinigami as Light when he asks "Wouldn't you agree, Light!?" at the very end of the special.
• The shinigami doesn't stay to hear the end of the story, which could imply he already knows how it ends.
• In the Human world, Rem said "All Shinigami's ingestive system is either rotten or "evolved" and that they don't need substances to sustain themselves." Since, Light knows that only Ryuk likes the apples. He recalled at least some memories about Ryuk as he remembers him as a friend.

Arguments against

• While the goggles could be Shinigami Eye backups, they greatly resemble the ones worn by Matt, so there does not appear to be anything godly about them. They may also symbolize how Light didn't make the Shinigami eye deal.
• A similar Shinigami was seen in the manga while Light was still in school.
• He possesses an axe-like weapon of bones that is not similar to anything Light uses.
• He is taller than Light.

Continuity differences in Main Death Note and Relight films

Death Note Relight 1 contains updated dialogue, as well as a few new scenes, but does not outright contradict the events shown in the original anime or manga. L's Successors: Death Note Relight 2 essentially rewrites everything that happened after the time-skip in the original anime, and creates a few plot holes. The story contains many small adjustments to the plot, as well as a few major ones, such as Teru Mikami and Kiyomi Takada killing the SPK (an act originally performed by the Mafia). It is told from no particular point of view, although it opens with L reviewing the events of Relight 1.

Even some of the rules of the Death Note do not apply in the Relights. It is explained in How to Use VI of the Death Note rules that the conditions for death will not be realized unless it is physically possible for that human or it is reasonably assumed to be carried out by that human. However, in the added scene where Mikami kills the Kira dissenters, one of his victims die an unnatural death by having his head do a 360 degree turn.