Kiyomi Takada

Takada as she appears in the Death Note anime.

Kiyomi Takada first appears for a short period as Light Yagami's classmate and girlfriend;[5] Light appeared with Takada in public to disguise the fact that he also conversed with Misa Amane. Takada is a popular girl also known as "Miss To-Oh", short for To-Oh University, or "Refined Takada".[6] She returns five years later in the story as an announcer of NHN chosen by Teru Mikami to be Kira's spokesperson to the world. Light realizes that he can use this connection with Takada to his advantage and sets up a meeting with her, presumably for the benefit of the investigation. While the two meet, Takada receives a call from Mikami and Light reveals himself to Mikami as Kira. They create a ploy to force the Kira Investigation Team to remove all bugs from the room, after which Light tells Takada that he wants her to be his goddess in the new world. Light then tells the investigation team that he will be pretending to be Takada's boyfriend to catch Kira.[7]

Following Light's instructions, Takada asks Mikami to send her five pages of the Death Note. She tells him that he will continue his work in a fake book made to look like the real one. While walking to a broadcast, Misa runs into Takada and rushes her, jealous that she is not the most popular star. Halle Lidner, who has been sent by Near to act as Takada's bodyguard, stops her then, but Takada meets with Misa for a girl-to-girl talk soon after. Lidner sits in with them. By the end of the conversation, Takada is convinced that Misa is stupid and Lidner reports to Near about the love triangle between Light, Takada and Misa.[8]

Later, Takada tells of her meeting with Misa to Light, who assures her that she is the only one for him. He then writes a script for Takada that makes it sound like she has agreed to help capture Kira. She is subsequently kidnapped and forced to strip naked by Mello in an effort to set up a meeting between the SPK and the Kira Investigation Team.[9] Prepared to face such an event, however, Takada kills Mello by writing his name in a piece of the Death Note she managed to secret away in her bra.[10] Once Light hears about this, he uses a piece of the Death Note of his own to make her commit suicide. Takada's death was not mourned but instead considered an embarrassment to Kira's supporters that she would allow herself to be killed so easily and many spokespeople immediately started campaigns to become her successor, much to the Kira Investigation Team's disgust.[11]

Takada's death would ultimately result in Light's downfall. Unbeknownst to Light as he wrote Takada's name in his torn off piece of the Death Note, Mikami had visited his safe deposit box and wrote down Takada's name in the real Death Note just one minute later, unaware Light had the same intention. This allowed Near's right-hand man Stephen Gevanni, who'd been following Mikami, to discover the real notebook and Mikami's deception. This ultimately allowed Near to expose Light and Mikami as Kira and X-Kira, leading to their deaths and ending Light's reign as Kira (which is hinted to have been Mello's true reason for kidnapping Takada and knew it would likely cost him his life).[11]

In Death Note 2: The Last Name, she is played by Nana Katase, filling in the film the role Kyosuke Higuchi plays in the manga. When Rem gives her the Death Note, Takada kills a rival anchorwoman to become the lead anchor, although she does continue to kill criminals as instructed by Light via Rem. When she is arrested, Light kills her in order to regain ownership of the Note, although his action goes unnoticed by the other investigators. Shusuke Kaneko, director of the film, said that the film Takada bears importance in "reminding us the satanic power of the Death Note." Nana Katase, who read all of the Death Note volumes, describes her scenes, including those portrayed on video monitors, as "terrifying." Katase says that she and the film Takada have "a strong sense of justice", but that Katase personally would not kill anyone based on those ideals.[12]

In the Japanese special Death Note: Relight 2 - L's Successors, Light's meeting with Takada and Mikami is moved to earlier than it occurred in the anime and manga, as the mafia plot is omitted. As such, it is instead Takada and Mikami who kill the SPK.[13]