Who Could Solve 'The Kira Case'? Fan Theories About How Fictional Detectives Would Tackle The 'Death Note' Mystery Explained

Death Note is perhaps one of the most popular pieces of contemporary fiction to emerge from Japan's anime industry in recent years. The show features Light Yagami, also known as Kira, a powerful and compelling yet maniacal anti-hero with the single-minded goal of bending the world to his narrow moral vision.

The show follows multiple investigators as they try, falter and often fail to pin down the mysterious villain plaguing their world. However, the mystery-focused narrative arc of Death Note has led fans around the world to wonder, who could solve 'The Kira Case'?

What Is 'The Kira Case' And Who Do People Think Could Solve It?

'The Kira Case' is how most people refer to the in-universe mystery in Death Note. After a shadowy figure named "Kira" begins to kill criminals around the world with impunity, the task of tracking him down falls to a small team of investigators headed by a genius named L, and infiltrated by the killer himself.

Kira's method of murder is a magical notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, a fact that could bamboozle any sane detective in another fandom. Yet, internet users often called upon their favorite investigators to imagine how they would react to the mystery at the heart of Death Note. Redditor DapperSkeleton1 posted a joke about how popular on-screen detective Columbo would approach the case back in August 2021.

The aforementioned meme sparked a long discussion on Tumblr about just how Columbo would crack the case, a discussion that was recreated by voice actor Gianni Matragrano and posted to YouTube in November 2021.

What Is The 'Can Intuit The Mechanics Of The Death Note' Grid Chart?

In October 2023, X user @akie_works posted a grid meme split along an x-axis indicating "can" or "can't" solve the case, and a y-axis indicating "can" and "can't intuit the mechanics of the Death Note."

The chart placed various popular fictional detectives along the grid, with Disco Elysium's Harry Dubois ranking as high as Columbo, and characters like Phoenix Wright of Ace Attorney and Benoit Blanc being relegated to the "can't intuit" but "can solve" quadrant.

The post inspired various people to hypothesize and joke about how their preferred fictional detective would approach The Kira Case, with X users posting joke dialogues and memes in the voice and tone of their champions.

X user @imranzomg created a dialogue where Phoenix Wright from Ace Attorney, in classic fashion, takes a wild guess that Light Yagami has been killing people with magic. X user @DSPStanky on the other hand created a Disco Elysium meme referencing "I'll take a potato chip and eat it".

What Are Some Other Interpretations Of The Death Note Grid Chart?

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For the full history of detectives solving The Kira Case, be sure to check out Know Your Meme's encyclopedia entry for more information.