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From the first episode of Death Note:

それが人質の証言では

Question: I'm familiar with ではない, but don't understand what では alone means here?

George
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1 Answers1

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The context is

では / 追い詰められての /　自殺という事 / でしょうか?

それが人質の証言では / 「犯人は突然倒れた」と

(/ indicates the break in the bubble.)

それが here means something like but; here actually would fit better. では is で＋は, literally meaning in, by (the words of the hostages). So the whole line means Actually, according to the hostages, (they say) "the criminal suddenly fell".

sundowner
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  • RE the lone "では" at the very beginning of your context: is it meant to attach onto the previously stated sentence? Meaning literally something like: "As for and within that (previously stated sentence), ...". Or perhaps more idiomatically: "Seeing that, ...". – George Nov 02 '22 at 17:11
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    @George It is close to see that, that referring to the previous sentence. This dictionary entry may help. – sundowner Nov 02 '22 at 20:59