1.28

News of Takada's death sets Aizawa's suspicion of Light burning hotter. Over the following three days, a parade of hopefuls volunteers to serve as Kira's new mouthpiece, sickening Ide and Matsuda. Light, believing Mikami and Takada stayed in contact, feels his trap for Near is secure, just as Near reaches out to confirm the meeting is still on for the twenty-eighth of January. Light agrees.

When the day comes, Near frees Misa by relocating her to a hotel, then walks the task force through unlocking the notebook from its safe, each man entering a private code. Aizawa, chosen to carry it, binds the notebook to his body and the group drives through the rain to the warehouse. Inside, they meet the SPK, with Near hidden behind a comical mask of L's face. He has everyone wait half an hour to expose anyone under Kira's control, then removes the mask and reveals what he is truly waiting for: the arrival of the killer who will try to write them all dead.

Mikami slips to the door and peers through the gap, taking in the faces inside and learning Near's true name, Nate River, while privately recognizing Light as his god. He begins scrawling every name into his notebook. Matsuda draws a gun, the SPK draw theirs in answer, and Near calms the room by revealing his countermeasure: knowing Mikami filled exactly one page each day, Stephen Gevanni had swapped the blank pages for forgeries, so the writing is worthless and the only unwritten name will belong to Kira.

Light, however, has out-maneuvered him. The notebook Gevanni tampered with was a decoy built by Mikami at Takada's direction, while the genuine one stayed untouched in Mikami's hands. Takada had carried out the recent killings herself, fed through Mikami's phone, so that Mikami only looked like the active Kira. Convinced he has won, Light asks Mikami whether the names are done and savors the reply. Near, unnerved by how quickly Mikami responded, invites him in and asks about the final countdown. As Mikami counts down with a wicked grin, Light whispers that victory is his, and the timer runs out.

The episode's odd title, 1.28, simply marks the date of the showdown, January 28th. It stands as the thirty-sixth and second-to-last installment of the series, adapting the chapters Face to Face, Inducement, and Patience, and it leads directly into the finale, New World. The Japanese broadcast aired on June 19, 2007, with the English dub following on June 29, 2008.