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In the Death Note anime, Rem kills [Ginzo
Kaneboshi](http://deathnote.wikia.com/wiki/Ginzo_Kaneboshi) in episode 21 to
help Misa convince Higuchi that she is the second Kira. But why didn't Rem die
after this? If she died after killing Watari/L, but why not after killing
Kaneboshi?


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death-note
Why didn't Rem die after killing Kaneboshi?


That is because a Shinigami can die only if they try to **extend** or
**prolong** the life of a human. In this case, Misa was not in any danger, and
killing Ginzo would in no way extend Misa's life directly.

This excerpt from
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinigami_%28Death_Note%29#Overview)
explains that Shinigami can die only by saving a human life (emphasis mine):

> Like humans, Shinigami also can die, of sorts by extending the life of a
> human they care about (by saving them from certain death): the **purpose of
> a Shinigami is to end life, not give it, and hence saving a human is
> contrary to their nature**. Shinigami who die in this manner are reduced to
> dust. Their Death Note is left behind. The other way that a Shinigami can
> die is that they stop writing names in their Death Note- since Shinigami
> take human lifespans for their own when they write a name in their Death
> Note, if they stop they will eventually die when their lifespan runs out.

Hope this helps :D


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