Shuichi Aizawa

Before the time jump, Aizawa is best recognized by the sizable afro crowning his tall frame, set above dark brown eyes and black hair. The later portion of the story changes his look considerably: the afro is gone, replaced by closely cut hair, and he has grown facial hair.

Sharp and well regarded across both the National Police Agency and the task force, Aizawa approaches the Kira case with complete seriousness. That earnestness leaves him with little patience for Misa Amane's theatrics or for the immaturity of Touta Matsuda, whom he frequently scolds. His regard for L is reluctant at best, since Aizawa insists on operating inside the law while the detective often strays outside it. The friction sharpens after the agency cuts the task force's funding and Aizawa discovers L had quietly withheld that Watari would have kept paying them, a deception that enrages him enough to walk away for a time before he returns. Among everyone on the team he voices the most doubt, openly challenging the reasoning behind L's conclusions, and once Light takes charge of the investigation, Aizawa is the very first to suspect him of being Kira. His commitment to the rule of law shows plainly in the finale, when he physically stops Matsuda from gunning Light down. Away from the case he is a family man, married to Eriko and father to Yumi and a young son, though the relentless hours strain his home life until chance and time ease the tension.

Chosen as one of the original officers assigned to the Kira task force, Aizawa is among the stubborn few who remain after the bulk of the team resigns, loudly insisting that L reveal himself in the flesh. He bristles at the surveillance of private homes, weathers the chaos at Sakura TV that costs Ukita his life, and clashes repeatedly with L's methods. When the funding dispute drives him out, he rejoins the agency and works alongside his friend Hideki Ide, the two secretly helping to box in Higuchi during the third Kira's capture. He is present for L's death and watches Light inherit the L mantle. After the time skip he serves under Light unaware, taking part in the raid that reclaims the notebook from Mello at the cost of Soichiro Yagami's life. Near's revelation about the forged notebook rules plants doubt in him, and a bluff that Mogi has been killed finally tips him over; he begins feeding Near information that helps unmask Light as the second L. From that point Aizawa becomes Light's chief obstacle within the team, and a trick involving a nail mark left on a notepad hardens his certainty. He carries the task force's own Death Note into the Yellow Box warehouse confrontation and witnesses Light's downfall. With Light gone and Near stepping in as the next L, Aizawa rises to deputy director, succeeding Soichiro Yagami.