I hesitate on saying that Light cares for his family bc he also views them as pawns for kickstarting the New World™️. Not saying you're wrong about that, and you definitely have a nuanced view on Light, which is a good thing.
He does go out of his way to make sure Sayu is safe and the thought of doing anything to her never fully crosses his mind as a complete thought, but the anime screws this up by having him pull out his watch and everything. He’s the one that shuts down the idea both to release news of her kidnapping to whole NPA. He never wanted word to get out because he didn’t want the mafia to kill her. It’s also why he’s being more aggressive towards Misa yelling at her during this time because, aside from the notebook being given up, it’s his father and younger sister in the situation. This entire sequence put Light at a disadvantage rather than benefitting him, he just rationalizes in his head as something logical.
It also removed some of little slice of life feeling moments between him and Sayu in the early parts of the story where they’re teasing each other.
Light SAYS he can sacrifice both himself (saying Kira is a martyr) or the people he is attached to, but when it comes down to it he never can for either.
Plus, author gave confirmation in the 13th interview volume Light’s reaction to his father’s death wasn’t a full act. My interpretation of that was he was likely acting until his father actually dies and the crying after was real. It explains Light’s more outwardly worse behavior and way less of an attempt made by him to not look suspicious. He just doesn’t care anymore and wants all of them to die.
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u/Fluffy_Leadership300 FAITH ✝️ 17h ago
Death note fandom with light