Douglas Wolk of Salon describes Misa as being drawn in a "Japanese comics' tradition of cute, tiny, airhead girls with big eyes" and being a "lot cannier than she pretends to be". Wolk adds that the reader could "watch her measuring how much quasi-innocent charm to pour on in every situation".
She decides to devote her life to Light because he punished the criminal that killed her parents when she was younger in front of her eyes. Misa, unable to forgive the killer and wanting to kill the burglar herself, saw multiple delays in the killer's trial and the possibility he could get off before Kira killed him. According to Ohba, Light sees Misa as a "bad person" who killed innocent people, so he acts emotionally cold towards her and manipulates her. Light and Misa both act together as Kira for over five years, until Light decides that it is too dangerous for Misa to be Kira with members of the taskforce suspecting him and tells her to give up the notebook.
The Shinigami who follows her is Rem. Not long before Misa's introduction to the series, Misa was attacked by an obsessed stalker. Unknown to her, a Shinigami named Gelus had fallen in love with her, and was watching her during the attack. In order to save her life, Gelus wrote her stalker's name into his notebook, killing him. Consequently, Gelus himself died, since shinigami exist only to take human life, not extend it. Rem, who witnessed the whole event, then took Gelus's notebook which had been left behind, and gave it to Misa, and the two eventually grew to care for each other.
Misa performs two eye trades, cutting her lifespan in half twice: the first, with Rem; the second, with Ryuk. It should also be noted that, even though she cut her lifespan in half twice, she also gained the remaining lifespan of both Gelus and Rem when they died when they extended her life. So, the amount of time she will live is a quarter of (her original lifespan plus Gelus' remaining) plus half Rem's remaining.
According to 13: How to Read, Misa loses her memories related to using the Death Note at Light's orders and retains her love for Light. Misa falls into despair after someone "like Matsuda" "probably let it slip" that Light died. Misa's fate is not shown in the manga at all; she was last seen staying at the Teito Hotel. Ohba stated that this was simply because he did not have a situation to fit her in. Misa commits suicide a year after Light dies.
At the anime's finale, Misa appears dressed in Gothic Lolita clothing, standing outside the safety rail on the edge of a skyscraper and looking into the sunset.
Misa, born on December 25, 1984 in Kyoto.
Film
Misa is portrayed in the films by Erika Toda. In the film continuity, Misa has a brother, who is murdered along with her parents. Misa's personality is altered slightly from the manga. In addition, her appearance is slightly modified: while Misa has blonde hair in the manga and anime, she has brown hair in the films.
She is first seen filming a dorama called "Misa-Misa's Happy Sweets", where she states that she is baking treats to make her enemies fat. After filming of that section ends, she expresses support for Kira to a journalist. Her supervisor asks that the statement be cut due to controversies. Misa's attacker, Ryotaro Sakajo, the assistant director for "Happy Sweets", dies from a heart attack when Gelus writes his name inside of his Death Note. Gelus's Death Note then falls in front of Misa, who immediately picks it up. After reading the notebook, she finds Rem.
In the second film, Mogi replaces Ukita as Misa's victim during the Sakura TV incident. Additionally, Misa first learns of Light's identity as Kira when Soichiro rescues Sayu.
Misa is present at the final confrontation between Light and the police force, though she is handcuffed and restrained by another officer. When Light dies after Ryuk writes his name down in the Death Note, Misa breaks down emotionally. Her memory of the Death Note is erased, but she retains her obsession with Light, wishing him a happy birthday through a mini-shrine dedicated to him.
