What was Misa Amane's Lifespan in Death Note?


Real life Misa Amane

Misa Amane was a crazy yet somewhat intelligent young woman who was obsessed with Kira and Light Yagami. Her obsession, devotion, and impulsiveness led her to obtain the 'Shinigami Eyes' twice. And though obtaining a pair of these peepers is as easy as putting on contacts, as Ryuk informed us, they are the most expensive pieces of eyewear you'll ever see.


The price of acquiring these devilish goods is half of your remaining lifespan. And Misa-Misa did this twice! This means that her lifespan should have been 1/4 of what it would have been had she not made the deal. But, like many things in Death Note, the topic of her remaining lifespan is not what it seems.


Misa was fortunate enough to have not one but two Shinigami be so in love with her that they gave up their lives to save her. As a result, their remaining lifespans were added to hers. To determine how long Misa would have lived, we first have to determine how much life each of her Shinigami fans had left to live.


How long did Rem and Jealous have left to live?


In Death Note lore, we learn that Shinigami add to their already long lifespans by writing human names in their Death Notes. Since Shinigami seem to live forever, it's not hard to imagine that both Jealous and Rem had a significant amount of life to live before throwing it away for Misa.


Transferring this lifespan to Misa undoubtedly meant that she would have extended her lifespan to the maximum for a woman of her age, race, and health. Though their lifespan was transferred to Misa, it wouldn't mean she would essentially become immortal; rather, it meant that she would simply maximize her lifespan to its natural capacity, given that the Shinigami years would be converted to human years.


So, how long would Misa Amane have lived?


Misa Amane was born on December 25, 1984, which makes her 19 years old at the start of the series. Japanese women have one of the longest lifespans on the planet, and if she led a relatively healthy lifestyle, she could have lived until 90 years old.


Let's assume Misa would have lived until 90 for this theory. Jealous saved her life by stopping a stalker, which would have resulted in Misa being granted the remaining lifespan of her Shinigami savior. This would have reset her natural lifespan back to 90.


However, she made the Shinigami Eyes deal with Rem and cut her remaining lifespan in half. Since she did this at age 19, her remaining 71 years were reduced to 35.5, which now set her age of death at 54.5. She then made the deal with Ryuk and cut her 35.5 years in half again, leaving her with 17.75 years remaining.


This now puts her age of death at a very young 36.75. But, fortunately for her, Rem decided to sacrifice herself to prevent Misa's execution at the hands of L, or rather the government. This then reset Misa's clock back to 90. She would have died an old lady if she hadn't taken her own life (presumably) at the tender age of 26.


More Death Note and Anime content awaits


If you're as big a Death Note super fan as myself, consider putting your knowledge of Light and crew to the test. Head over to my Death Note Quiz to see if you're smart enough to join the SPK.



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Matt Irving is the CEO of Super Easy Tech, LLC.
 
Matt is the founder of Make It Super Easy and and Super Easy CRM. He is a passionate software engineer, tech blogger, and gamer. Feel free to connect on any of the platforms listed below.

Posted by: Matt Irving on 09/22/2024