Everything that makes Mello interesting comes from being the kid who finished second to Near. Always one rank behind in the Wammy's House lineup, snapping chocolate bars instead of smoking, punching walls when he can't punch the rival across the hall. L's succession isn't strategy to him — it's revenge.
Character traits
Mello is fast, instinctive, and uses risk as a personal tool. Where Near's method is to weigh, Mello's is to compress: yank on the door once, then listen. That's why he joins the mafia, takes the notebook by force, and survives the explosion that scars his face — every time, it's 'act first, take damage after.'
There's a quiet undercurrent too: chocolate as a small thing to hold onto. The one thing nothing shifts about him is the candor — he doesn't hide his anger, doesn't hide his plan. The only successor still openly grieving L.
Role in the story
Death Note's split-successor design isn't accidental. Near is the head L lost; Mello is the will. They don't share work, mostly they snarl at each other — but the finale arrives together. Without Mello's last play, Near's solution stays incomplete.
His last move is the whole character in one move. He executes a plan he doesn't fully understand, and his death hands Near half the answer. A quiet kind of heroism, and a very Death Note kind of move — the winner gets named, somebody else paid the bill.
Tracking Death Note on Episodo
Mello enters around episode 28 and carries half the endgame. If you want to treat 'post-L' as a separate watch, the Episodo watchlist lets you bookmark it as a new viewing — your progress syncs whether you finish on Crunchyroll or Netflix.
