#but then I have to see watari collapse and that whole scene again and how in the world and I supposed to keep it together right now

[cir-cea]

I SHOULD HAVE NEVER WATCHED DEATH NOTE WHY IS A BRITISH RAT DYING MAKING ME CRY RIGHT NOW WHAT IS THIS

[mikami]

Death Note Audio Drama 08

Disc 8: Live Transmission  - a summary / partial translation

Prior translations / an explanation as to what the fuck this is.

Despite the cover image, Near only shows up on the next disc, tragically.

In this disc, fundamentally nothing of interest happens. It entirely focuses on the span between the start of the Higuchi chase and Rem deciding to kill L, with very few additions that are at all intriguing.

Next disc though, major stuff is back in play, so look forward to that.

___________

MISA: Save the world. Love the world.

OMINOUS VOICE: Cosmé.... Misa....

MISA: Love the world, live yourself.

MAN: For the modern girl. Hypoallergenic cosmetics. Good for you and good for our planet.  

MISA: Let’s turn the world into a better place together.

MAN: Cosmé Misa is without pollutants or preservatives. With sustainable ingredients from free nature.

MISA: Everyone should be free, right?

MAN: Newly released and only by Yotsuba.

_________

We’re welcome back to Sakura TV’s special and reminded to stay tuned in for the shocking finale.

_________

TITLE MUSIC

_________

L and Light wonder about the person Higuchi is talking about in his car. They try to think of ways someone could sit on the backseat, but Wendy confirms there definitely is nobody there.

_________

Higuchi begs Rem to kills Matsuda or to give him his name. She refuses.

_________

L makes Misa call Higuchi.

_________

Rem suggests to Higuchi to give up the notebook, but then Misa calls and confronts him on the ‘start running, whore’. He tries to call her baby and sweetie and begs her to kill her manager. She’s like “uhhh, he’s not a bad person so, no.”

But then she gives the name out and the fake real name they give is...... Tsugumi Ohba.

__________

Higuchi stops the car to write that name and the task force speculate what he’s doing, but they can’t figure it out. They do see him using a pen though.

Higuchi counts down, but Matsuda obviously doesn’t die. Higuchi calls Misa again but Light tells her not to pick up.

__________

Higuchi decides to shoot Matsuda again, but when Rem suggests the eye deal this time, he agrees to it.

__________

L decides this mention of a contract is too suspicious and decides they want to make the arrest now.

___________

Higuchi kills that traffic cop, like in the manga. Higuchi’s attitude here is super jovial, he’s totally overjoyed that the eyes are working.

____________

L and Light figure out that Higuchi now only needs a face. They want Higuchi arrested immediately.

____________

The TV show goes on commercial break, since they want to evacuate the studio now. 

____________

Kitamura is watching his daughter’s Swan Lake ballet. L calls him for support. (Kitamura: “What do you want? And hurry up, I think the swan’s dying now.”) 

The police are instructed to keep distance and let Higuchi come into Sakura TV.

___________

Higuchi is yammering to Rem about his wishes to kill, not only at the TV studio, but also to kill Misa. Rem reminds him that more victims mean more evidence against him. 

____________

L figures out that Higuchi has a shinigami with him. L locks Misa to a chair, while he and Light take the helicopter to go to the TV studio. For this occasion, L ties Light to his hand with handcuffs. (Misa: “Hey L, don’t just leave me here. You’ve got two hands, why can’t I be chained to the other one?!”)

____________

The TV transmission continues, slowly zeroing in on a Japanese company as main suspect. Demegawa wants to remain at the studio in order to film Higuchi’s entry, Soichiro tells him to come along and evacuate but Demegawa refuses.

___________

A short snippet of Light being shocked Watari is a sniper, but no interesting info gets dropped.

___________

Wendy tries to hand Soichiro a gun, but Soichiro refuses, like in the manga.

Higuchi arrives at the studio. Demegawa determinedly lets it all be filmed. We hear the whole scene from film crew perspective. Higuchi arrives and sees the dummies, he understands its a trap.

He is circled by Soichiro, Wendy, Ivor and someone from the task force. They start shooting. Soichiro gets nonfatally shot and Higuchi runs and drives away in his car again. Ivor and Mogi follow in their own car, Wendy steals the Sakura TV transmission car to also chase. The whole car chase scene unfolds without interesting detail.

Higuchi gets surrounded and arrested eventually. Soichiro takes the notebook, sees Rem, then Mogi sees Rem, too..... You know the deal.

Light insists on taking the book, regains his memories. Hurray.

__________

TV report about Higuchi’s arrest. Demegawa’s broadcast was apparently completely cut off, just like all other media. But Demegawa is on the new report anyway and stating that the person arrested is Kira. He repeats his ‘not for awards, not for viewer numbers’ catchphrase.

They also let us know Higuchi is arrested alive.

_________

Kitamura is fucking furious with L and Soichiro. He hates how they did this and how many crimes they committed along the way. He wants to sue them all.

They argue about who gets to keep Higuchi. Soichiro eventually brings up that he could publicize that the police has been blackmailed, thus he strongarms Kitamura into keeping the investigation.

We also hear that Light collapsed upon regaining his memories and is currently in the hospital. L casually remarks that maybe Kitamura should at least send him a fruits basket.

_________

Ryuk eating apple noises. 

RYUK: I missed this.

LIGHT (weakly): Ryuk...

RYUK: How are you, boy?

LIGHT: I have a pounding headache...

RYUK: Well, it ought to hurt to get all those memories back into your head.

LIGHT: Wait... stop....

RYUK: Relax, boy. There are no bugs in this room. They’re too busy cleaning up after all this excitement. 

LIGHT: Well, then, do as you like. [in reference to Ryuk’s apple chewing]

RYUK: And even if so, you shouldn’t mind.

LIGHT: Who even sent me a fruits basket...?

RYUK: Wait, there’s a card.... Oh, you won’t believe this.

________

The task force examine the notebook and read its rules. L concludes there is more than one Death Note. They try talking to Rem, same-ish as the manga.

The 13-day-rule clears Light and Misa.

________

Light explains the fake rules to Ryuk, so apparently he literally just wrote them himself. Why Light even keeps his memories here despite Higuchi still being alive is a fucking mystery, but the writers just didn’t think it through, I guess.

Light now does kill Higuchi with his watch.

Soichiro then comes to visit and asks how Light is, expressing confusion that only Light reacted this badly to the book, but quickly forgetting about.

________

Phone ringing. L picks up.

L: What now? ... Uh-huh.... Oh really? .... Really, just like that? [starts yelling] Amazing! No, really! Amazing! Thanks for nothing!!

He hangs up. The call had informed him that Higuchi had a heart attack.

_________

Misa digs up the Death Note. Misa gives Ryuk an apple for Light. (Ryuk: “That’s my man.”) She’s also... starting to regain her memories already? Despite not having touched the buried notebook yet?? Who knows what’s up.

She then reads Light’s letter, but she doesn’t remember L’s name anymore. Ryuk here is the one who actively talks her into making the deal again, rather than Misa deciding for herself.

_________

L is still asking Rem questions, taken from the manga. Misa drops by HQ, L won’t let her in anymore. Light tries to convince L to say goodbye to her at least, but L refuses. He then tries to guilt trip L like “you just drop people when you stop needing them” but to no avail.

_________

Rem confronts Misa about the new eye deal while Misa renews her lipstick in the lady’s room. She is upset. 

MISA: You didn’t care about that when we made the trade.

REM: That was before... before you meant something to me.

MISA: Oooh, that’s sweet, really, Rem. But Light needs me.

Rem still tries to convince Misa that she made a mistake, since L is never going to let her see him again.

_________

TV report about all Yotsuba executives dying. It’s quick. More reports about how Kira is back and a lot of new murders are occurring. Higuchi’s name is explicitly mentioned and people wonder how he could die while in police custody.

Most of the reported murders are suicides? Because the audio drama just quietly changes this to a common MO for Kira, apparently.

__________

L is really pissed Kira is back in the game, hurray. Light is pretty calm about it, as L points out. This immediately directs L’s attention back to the idea of an original Kira (hence, Light). He immediately doubts the 13 day rule.

LIGHT: Ah, I see. You’re completely in the dark, so you declare me the suspect. Aren’t you getting bored of that?

_________

Rem is on the roof in the rain, talking to Ryuk. She’s mad at him for what he did with giving Misa the eyes again. Ryuk says that this looks like ‘plan B’, though he doesn’t know what that even means. Rem then figures it out.... that the plan is for Rem to kill L. “If I love Misa, I have to sacrifice myself.”

Thus she vows to kill L for Misa. And she flies off, with Ryuk calling after her to think it over once more.

[marxiehodgeheg]

Death Note (2017)

okay, so I just watched the Death Note movie and damn that shit was

WILD

so im just going to compile some small notes about how bad and how much they fucked Death Note like fuck man

Please Note: there are going to be elements of spoilers in this list so if you are planning on watching Death Note (2017) be aware (but in all honesty please dont watch it just watch the 2006 Anime Adaptation I beg you, I am doing you a solid)

lets begin

ok so first off, this shit is americanised so of course there is a buttload of whitewashing because if you didnt know Death Note is Japanese and set in Japan and the characters are Japanese - please. 

Light Yagami is a good boy™ so like how dare you make this shitty bad boy - hes doing other peoples homework please no

the Death Note lands right next to him - um no the Death Note lands 10 feet away from Yagami and outside his classroom stop this

also it starts raining right after he picks up the Death Note - spoooky

white!light finds some bullys who are obviously over school age and so he pulls the child abuse card on them if they were to hit him - he gets decked anyway. 

he gets caught with the homework and put into detention and oh no the light went out - creepy factor™ to the max - so spooked 

oh yeah, did i mention that this film is rated an 18 

so of course theres been swearing and cursing from everyone, even Light - sorry not my Light 

best part of the film was white!light shitting himself when he see Ryuk like yes 10/10 A++ content would watch that scene again

white!light also slaps himself and i wanted him to do it more 

theres more swearing, i mean i had to settle in for a wild ride with fucks and shits throughout this whole film, but like the anime was only a 15 

also Willem Dafoe as Ryuks voice was pretty cool, had a nice ring to it but anyway 

he goes to kill older bully because Ryuk says he wants to (obviously hes hesitant) but cant 

legit words from the film “i dont have a pen” Ryuk pulls out a pen “well its good you have one” im yeLLING

he writes older bully guys name down but oh no, Ryuk tells him to write down how so guess what 

HE CHOOSES DECAPITATION IM SERIOUS YALL THIS IS HIS FIRST KILL NO HESITATION JUST WRITES DOWN DECAPITATION LIKE WHO FUCKEN WROTE THIS 

FUCKEN GORE TO THE MAX YOU SEE THIS GUYS HEAD BE FUCKEN RIPPED FROM HIS BODY BY A TRAGIC ACCIDENT LIKE FUCK 

by this point i was already like #NotMyDeathNote i mean 

dad is introduced, but where is mother and sister - ill tell you where - non existant (mum is dead and there was never any sister) 

MORE SWEARING >:(

theres still apples tho and Ryuk still loves them 

white!light reads the Death Note rules (well he actually skims them but okay) 

comes across some scribble and sees a not “dont trust Ryuk”

HE PRONOUNCES IT RYE-UK NO LIE IM LIKE HOW THE FUCK DARE YOU NO ITS RYUK PRONOUNCED REE-UK FUCK YOU

its okay tho because Ryuk comes out and shuts him down with the correct pronunciation like yas bitch you tell him 

ALSO LET ME LOOK AT MY MAIN MAN STOP PUTTING HIM IN THE DARKNESS LET ME SEE HIS FACE NOT JUST HIS EYES 

Ryuk suggests shark attacks on the toilet as a not possible example of death - Ryuk i thought you were better than this 

angry scribbling of names - damn white!light is mad 

AND ANOTHER THING WHERE THE FUCK ARE THE HEART ATTACKS LIKE HE JUST KEPT SPECIFYING THE DEATHS - NO THIS IS NOT HOW IT WORKS YOU DONT NEED TO JUST KEEP WRITING THESE SHITTY DEATHS

you get one look at Ryuk and damn, my man you ugly im sorry they did you like that

okay back at school, watching the team practice and guess what 

HES GOT THE DEATH NOTE AND HES READING IT IN THE OPEN IN PUBLIC - BITCH PUT IT THE FUCK AWAY

OH BUT WAIT A GIRL SEES HIM - SHE NOTICES IT AND IS LIKE “oo Death Note whats that” AND HES LIKE “nah its nothing™” 

BUT IT GETS BETTER 

HE TELLS HER ABOUT IT AND LETS HER READ IT AND SHOWS HER HOW IT WORKS LIKE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON - MY LIGHT WOULD NEVER DO THIS 

I DONT EVEN KNOW WHO THIS CHICK IS BUT APPARENTLY HE DOES AND SHE KNOWS HIM SO IM LIKE WHAT THE FUCK THIS IS SO WRONG - WHO IS SHE?!?!?!

so new girl who im sure is supposed to be Misa Misa says to white!light “lets change the world together” and so these words obviously go straight to white!lights dick because theres sexual tension in the air

“can i kiss you?” “youre not suppose to ask” 

she just fucken pins him to the wall shes making him her bitch and theyre kissing ugh my eyes hurt 

cut back to school and they in class and they looking at each other like they fucked 

then theres more kissing like fucking straight white movie romances am i right 

theyre finding a name for the God who will rule the new world

of course its Kira like what else is it going to be

“Kira means light in celtic” and then quickly “also its similar to the word killer in Japanese” like damn bitch i wonder why you quickly said that - oh yeah because Death Note is actUALLY JAPANESE 

im so fucjing done with this film 

but now the death victims are leaving perfectly written Japanese messages on the walls like this doesnt mAKE UP FOR YOUR SHITTY WHITEWASHING

news time: white boy feels special for getting lots of praise and attention for killing bad guys 

were suddenly in Japan in a night/strip club 

hooded guy is introduced - hes speaks Japanese - finally we are saved by the Japanese guy who I assume is L

nope L is not Japanese just speaks it just like in the anime 

white!light is suddenly angry as detective dad for getting on the Kira case like damn what is your damage 

Watari is here but he is not cute and kind looking like in the anime, i am disappointed 

white!lights dad talks to L on the laptop - but wheres the garbled voice???????

L is introdu--

L IS BLACK, I REPEAT L IS BLACK - ARREST THAT WHITE BOY BECOME POWERFUL WE ARE SAVED 

“rest your glutes” - true words from L. a real line in a real fim 

movie!L is just as good and cute as anime!L 

nope wait, he actually appears in public himself instead of a decoy - im sorry but i cant have this - not my L

he might have had his face covered and hooded but still - not my L 

WHITE!LIGHT IS RUDE - HE TALKS TO RYUK LIKE SHIT - TELLS HIM TO SHUT THE FUCK UP HOW DARE YOU I WOULD HAVE KILLED HIM FOR THAT ALONE

finally found out Misa Misa replacements name 

its Mia

some cops walked off a building 

i kind of stopped taking as many notes by this point i was just not paying attention 

“if you fuck this were not the good guys anymore” - what part of killing people, be they bad or not, makes you the good guys? NONE

L and Light meeting in a cafe 

L becomes a cat and pushes shit off the table 

“youre the one who flew into the sun, im just the one to make sure you actually burn” - yooOOOOOOO L rekt u 

white!lights dad dares to be killed - Mia thinks about doing it but white!light stops her - she gets dumped 

she begs for him back 

she pulls out the i love you card 

it works because of course it would and theyre kissing again - like fuck no bitch you tried to kill my dad get the fuck out

Watari is targeted, his name is written in the book - LEAVE HIM ALONE

apparently people can be spared by burning the page with their name on it, what kind of bullshit

L is angry, he is so smad 

L GETS PINNED AGGRESSIVELY TO A TABLE UNHAND HIM YOU HEATHENS 

but another fault that L doesnt really get mad, hes actually a cool cucumber im sorry not my L

homecoming dance - really 

Mia gives white!light his outfit for it and also a hat with a note saying “i have it” 

have what idk

Ls old kids home is creepy™

white!light is wEARING A TOPHAT TO THE HOMECOMING DANCE WHA THE FUCK 

it was a decoy trick wow

oh no Wataris page is missing it cant be burned now, WATARI IS GOING TO DIE 

Watari dies before he can give white!light Ls real name HA

Take my Breath Away by Berlin plays at the dance - beautiful 

oh damn Mia actally outsmarts and FCUKS white!light - she wrote his name in the Death Note 

nope wait shes going to burn the page to bring him back fucking

she still fucked him over tho

L is still smad, but now hes got a gun and hes stolen a cop car 

theres a mangled L theme going on i swear

smashes through a “drive slow, drive safe” sign - good one L 

L finds white!light and chases him on foot

L IS RUNNING I REPEAT L IS RUNNING 

PARKOUR 

L IS DOWN AND OUT COLD IM 

now white!light has the gun

news flash: white boy is having regrets but white girl is living it 

its sad™

OH DAMN HE FUCKED HER OVER BACK IM YELLING

theyre on a ferris wheel and then it collapses spontaneously 

oh no white boy is having major regret about everything what a shame 

bye Mia, bye white!light 

oop Mia is dead 

L is okay 

white!light is in the water 

some random sees the washed up Death Note and picks it up 

white!light is in hospital - the random returns the Death Note to him

 memories of dead girlfriend™

father just now realised that his son is Kira

WHITE BOY SET THE WHOLE FUCKING THING UP - HE TELLS HIS DAD EVERYTHING LIKE FUCK HE MIGHT BE WHITE BUT HE FUCKING SMART 

L is still smad but now he had good hard evidence and proof of Kira

Ryuk is laughing and says that humans are interesting 

and then get this 

IT FUCING ENDS 

WHITE!LIGHT LIVES HE FUCKING LIVES AND LIKE IM JUST LIKE THIS IS NOT RIGHT WHAT THE FUCK NO PUT IT RIGHT FUCKING KILL HIM YOU COWARDS AND LET L LIVE 

but its okay because there are “funny bloopers” in the end credits 

more mangled L theme

im now watching the original 2006 anime and all is well 

Death Note 2017 whats that? 

[samtheflamingomain]

welcome to death note, where the plot makes no sense and the rules don’t matter

Unless you've been living under a rock the past few months, you're aware that there's a live-action American Death Note movie on Netflix.

I wasn't going to watch it because I knew it would be bad and I am a MASSIVE DN fan. I didn't want it to ruin one of my favourite things.

While I wouldn't say it did that, I will say that it was, without exaggeration, the worst screen adaptation of anything I've ever seen.

I went in with low expectations and knowing they'd have to change the plot around to fit into 90 minutes. The bar was so low and yet they managed to disappoint me at every turn.

So let's get into the details. Spoilers ahead, but who cares this movie is garbage.

I'll break it down into several aspects: acting and characterization, pacing and plot, visuals and sound, and finally, the sheer amount of nonsense and bullshit this film vomited into my face.

Okay. I hated every single character's personality. NONE of the characters were even remotely similar to the characters in the manga/anime. Light is a stupid, naive teenager who thinks with his dick. Mi(s)a is a sociopathic, manipulative cunt, Light's father is EXTREMELY stupid, Ryuk is not a neutral character (which is extremely important), and, finally, L. Oh, lord, L.

L is a cold, detached, calculating super genius detective. In the original. In the movie, he's a ballsy, irrational, emotional mess who somehow knows how to drive and wield a gun - unthinkable of OG L.

And to touch briefly on the acting: Nat Wolff is the only one I really have a problem with. He wears a constant look of confusion the whole movie and acts like a troubled child, not like a fucking serial killer.

Now, to your immense surprise, there is one character that I found was nearly spot-on: Watari.

And finally, the movie lacked in sheer number of characters. The ones I listed are, quite literally, the only ones in the film who speak. I get it, they didn't have time to do the Near, Mello, Takada, or Mikami plots. But I guarentee this movie would've greatly benefited from a Matsuda character, a Rem character, and Light's mother and sister.

Onto pacing and plot.

Again, I know they only had 90 minutes, but within the first ten minutes, Light has the notebook and hooks up with someone he barely knows (Mia), shows her the notebook, and they’re instantly dating and having some creepy murder sex. Within the first 30 minutes, nearly everyone knows Light is Kira.

Now to the main problems with the plot itself: there is no reason to give Light more motive to become a killer. It's his personality and his worldly outlook that causes him to take up killing. In the movie, they sloppily throw in some bullshit about his mom being killed, but they don't make that the actual motivation for killing. How do we know this? Well...

In the movie, his first kill is a bully at school (something OG Light was smart enough to realize is fucking stupid) and when told to add a cause of death, he immediately jumps to "decapitation" - revealing instantly that he's a sick fuck. Sure, bullies suck, but do they deserve to be fucking decapitated? Light Yagami only killed actual criminals (until he has to kill people investigating him).

This might seem petty, but it's actually super important: Ryuk shows up before Light kills anyone. In the original, Light needed no prodding from a Death God to begin his murder spree. In the movie, it's Ryuk that goads him into his quest. This goes back to the fact that Ryuk is supposed to be neutral. It takes away Light's agency and makes it feel like Ryuk is controlling him.

L makes WAY too many guesses with little logic or evidence. It takes a lot longer for L to deduce Light is Kira in the original. Movie L makes some very uncharacteristic leaps of logic just for the sake of driving the movie on.

There's a scene pretty early on that mimics a similar scene in the original with Light and L sitting in a diner together. In the original, it’s not super important. Movie version involved L outright accusing him of being Kira on flimsy-at-best evidence, and then, in what might be the worst event in the movie, Light readily admits to being Kira and taunts him about not knowing how he kills.

After some bullshit about Light mind-controlling Watari (more on that later) to try and get L's name and Watari dies, L goes on a destructive car/foot chase with Light. In the original, it's important for L to figure out how Kira kills before killing him. This movie L doesn't seem to care about anything but revenge and being proven right.

I keep saying this, but another horribly-written thing happens that might be the worst part: L has Light cornered with a gun on him and someone randomly comes and knocks L over the back of the head, the very epitome of a Deus Ex Machina.

Then we get to the climax, which is an extremely long scene where Light and Mia hijack the Seattle ferris wheel, take it to the top and fight over who should own the book. They've both written each others' names down and the pages need to be burned by midnight if they want to live (groan, unnecessary race-against-time). They spend a good 5 minutes dangling from the wheel when RYUK causes it to collapse; something OG Ryuk would have NEVER EVER DONE, because, as the movie fails to explain, Ryuk’s motivation is supposed to be boredom. I’ll touch more on why this happens in a bit. Mia falls to her death, Light falls into the water, into a coma, and wakes up two days later.

Okay, now I do have to give the movie a bit of credit here: it seems at first like a bunch of ridiculous coincidences that lead to Light outliving Mia. Turns out he saw all this coming (somehow) and had quickly used the book to ensure that: the wheel collapses, Mia falls from the wheel and dies, the page with his name is burned so he will live, that he's rescued from the water after his fall, that he's in a coma but murders continue via a random criminal writing in the book before delivering it back to Light just as he wakes from the coma. I'll pick this part apart in a minute because there is just so much wrong with this sequence of events that I can’t even.

And finally, the ending, if you can call it that. The writers were VERY clearly trying to be clever and leave us with a cliffhanger.

L is "proven wrong" about Light being Kira because the murders continued while he was in a coma, and is supposed to go back to Japan, before he suddenly remembers that Mia has a page of the book at her house. He gets there and finds the page she used to kill invesigators behind Light's back. The movie ends with L, shaking in uncharacteristic anger, about to write Light's name. Fade to black.

Finally, one last thought on the plot before I touch on other elements: this is a terrible adaptation, but an even worse movie. As a stand-alone movie, viewers new to Death Note would no doubtedly leave feeling confused and like nothing important was said in the movie. It does nothing to touch on the ambiguity of Kira's actions vs. L's. It has no underlying takeaway besides "Hey look at this cool book!"

Okay, quick thoughts on visuals and sound. Visuals are great (minus whatever bullshit paper mache project that is Ryuk). They dont' shy away from gruesome depictions of murders. I'd cite the incredible series of events that lead to Kenny being decapitated as the best example.

Hated the audio. Random songs start playing where score would've been better.

Okay, now onto the nitty-gritty details that make this movie absolutely fall apart.

Most of them are to do with the mechanics of how the Death Note is supposed to work. The original only has one page of rules and no names in it yet. Movie Book has pages and pages of rules and names filled in. There are rules that don't exist in the original (like the burning of the page to save the life of the victim, the fact that Mia can't see Ryuk after touching the note*, and most deplorably, the rule about "must be physically possible" being shattered into pieces at every turn.

*When Light first shows Mia the book and has her touch it, he assumes she’ll be able to see Ryuk WITH NO REASON TO BELIEVE THIS. In the original, Ryuk has to tell Light about this rule. In the movie, Light GUESSES that that’s how it works. And he’s wrong: unlike the original where Mia would’ve seen Ryuk, Ryuk claims in the movie that only the owner of the book can see him - super convenient for Light, who walks around school with the book in full view.

But there's a lot of other bullshit that ruins this monstrosity. There's a turning point in the movie where Mia tries to convince Light to kill his own father. The prompting event doesn't happen in the original, but I have no doubt that OG Light would've killed him without hesitation, as he outright says in the original. Because OG Light would be smart enough to know that leaving his father alive in that situation would immediately implicate him.

Here's one of the worst offenses (again, I know): Light writes the name "Watari" in the book. And it works. Watari is not his real name, and even if it were, who only has one name?

L does the whole "taunting Kira to kill him on TV" as in the original, but this event leads him to the conclusion that Light needs a name and a face - something that makes absolutely no sense for him to instantly know after one test.

Now, about the ending sequence at the ferris wheel and the hospital. The police are chasing Light and Mia, the two threaten the wheel's operator with a gun to take them up. And then he's later "officially" exonerated because the murders continued while he was in a coma, but because Light killed his mother's killer, his father "knows” he's Kira, which, of course, Light admits. If he's "officially" not Kira, why did he run from the cops and hijack a ferris wheel? L knows the power of killing can be transferred to another, yet doesn't explain this fact to anyone when the killings continue during Light’s coma.

And the biggest shitshow of nonsense? The way Light kills Mia and ensures he lives and ends up with the book again. Waaay too much of it is contingent on luck, along with some great rule-breaking.

Light writes: Mia takes the book, the wheel collapses, she falls to her demise, and the page with his name on it is burned. That's not how it works. There cannot be a passive action in a Death Note murder. He would've had to write: Mia takes the book, burns Light's page, then falls to her demise.

He also writes that he himself falls but goes into a coma, set to wake up in two days. Also impossible. You can't create a sequence of events that affect someone other than the murder victim. And you especially can’t use it to (directly) save someone’s life.

Essentially, Light is writing things he'd like to happen in the book. It's a Death Note, not a Life Note, and certainly not a Wish Note.

He also writes that criminal number one retrieves him from the water and revives him. The criminal would have to know there's a kid in the water, where he is, and how to revive him. Possible, but not foolproof because of the "physically possible" rule. If dude didn't know CPR, Light would've died.

Then, he has criminal number two retrieve the Death Note and continue writing names in the book for the two days he's in the coma, and then return it to him in the hospital. This is less about "physically possible" and more about somehow being able to brainwash him. The events leading up to his death have to be something he could conceiveably do on his own. See also: the brainwashing of Watari.

Let me explain a bit more: in the original, Light experiments with the "physically possible" rule. In one test he writes: (criminal) draws a perfect likeness of L's face on his prison wall before dying. This isn't physically possible because the criminal doesn't know what L looks like, so it's inconcievable that he could, under any circumstance, draw L's face.

Similarly, there's no way that Watari would think of going back to the orphanage to get L's real name, nor is there a conceivable way that a criminal would think to go to Light's specific hospital room and leave him the book. It has to be something they could potentially think of themselves.

Now, I know these are a lot of extremely fine details, but to people who know how the book is supposed to work, it all looks messy and contrived.

Finally, let me leave you with one last gripe/thought. Death Note is an IP originating from Japan. I get that it's a purposely American adaptation meant for American audiences, but something in the movie happens that kind of pissed me off:

Light chooses the name Kira (instead of his fans choosing the name) largely because it means "killer" in Japan, then decides to try and throw people off his scent by focusing his murders in Japan. I have no doubt that this was meant to be a nod to its Japanese origins, but it comes off as... kind of like kicking the original when it's already down. You're taking a Japanese IP, taking it to America, then using Japan as a scapegoat for American Light. Maybe it's just me, but it really made me think, "Haven't they suffered enough just by the fact that this movie exists?"

I'm sure there's a bunch of stuff I've missed due to repressing the memory of ever seeing this terrible movie, but those are my major (and minor) problems with it.

Don't see it. It's bad.

And DEAR GOD, PLEASE DON'T MAKE A SEQUEL.

Stay Greater.

[thatawkwardnerdytomboy]

My Review of the Netflix DeathNote Movie (Spoilers Included)

The Plot

Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, we’re presented with a bunch of cliches of high school life that we didn’t see with the original Death Note. The character, Light, who was a popular respected student at his school has been reduced to a school outcast who gets paid to do his schoolmates’ homework and gets assaulted for protecting his future love interest, a fellow classmate. When he’s assaulted, this love interest, Mia lies to the principal about how he was knocked unconscious and it seems as though Light doesn’t remember anything that occurred prior to this. When Light is approached by the shinigami (death god) Ryuk, in his classroom during detention, Ryuk destroys the room causing Light to freak out. In the anime, Light is both nervous and excited to meet Ryuk. Someone with Light’s mentality should feel entitled and even expect to meet such an entity, not cower and fear for his life before it. 

We’re then introduced to Light’s family...er...dad. Apparently his mother was killed off to provide motivation for him to push him to become Kira and his sister...I guess she doesn’t exist anymore? This scene should have been a way to show that Light has a normal supportive family which adds to his privilege. I feel that this was lazy writing and that it sends a message that people with broken families are more likely to become murders and sociopaths when this isn’t the case. If the writers decided to keep his original family, it would create the message that sociopaths can and do come from normal families. There’s a scene where after Light kills his mother’s assailant, he tells his father about the perp’s death. His father reveals that his mother was against violence but believed that “Karma is a bitch.” Would have been nice if they had some scenes that showed Light and his family bonding before her murder to actually make us care more about it. We get it, it’s terrible but we don’t even know who his mother is. 

There’s a montage of Light and Mia engaging in sexual activity as they kill more criminals and we see a cult of Kira rising around the city. We get a sense that they’re both taking more sexual pleasure from the murders than they are from each other. We’re then introduced to L as he is at the scene of one of Kira’s mass murders of two rival Japanese gangs and L and one of his constituents converse in Japanese. It’s also noted that Kira’s victims write out his name in Japanese on the walls around them before they die which begs the question...why didn’t they just keep this movie Japanese?! Oh wait, it’s just a way for Light to throw detectives off of his path and make them believe that Kira is Japanese and living in Japan because y’know, it can’t possibly be a Japanese American. Though L already figures this out. How? it’s not explained until later.  

We have a scene where Mia prompts L to take more kill requests from Kira worshipper sites online but Light is reluctant. Who’s Kira here? Light or Mia? L reveals that Kira resides in Seattle because one of his victims death’s was only exclusively televised live in Seattle and that his name and face was revealed to Seattle residents only. L makes his address to the city to call Kira out and of course, Light can’t kill him. I thought that it was an obvious but decent decision to have L masked even he’s supposed to make his public address on TV. I like the scene where Light sneaks up behind his father out of the darkness to ask him about the investigation and the conversation that ensues--the one time where we see Light in the correct character. Why is this guy not in the whole film?! 

Mia gives Ryuk the idea to kill all the agents who are investigating and stalking Light and even though he’s not supposed to, Ryuk goes through with it, having them walk off a building before the uncaring emotionless gazes of a woman and her child. Light’s father calls Kira out in a public address to which Light freaks out about being tested again and when he survives this, L becomes convinced without a doubt that Light is Kira. L confronts Light at a local eatery and accuses him to his face. Light freaks out when L pushes him too far--which is out of character. Light is also supposed to befriend L to keep his suspicions at bay and assist his father with the case but apparently, in this portrayal, Light isn’t smart enough to do this. 

When Light forces Watari to find L’s real name for him, L also begins to break character and freak out. The real L wouldn’t even allow this to happen. L also randomly shows up to the Turner household (Light’s dad doesn’t show the proper amount of shock at this moment). Mia is sent away while L interrogates Light and his father about why Light sent Watari away. L and his team then search the house. In the anime, L bugs Light’s house instead to spy on him. This also creates a sense that L is becoming unstable which detracts from his position of power over the situation. Watari is killed before he can tell Light L’s real name. Meanwhile, Light is at a school dance, doing normal teenager stuff to keep the agents spying on him off his back and we find out that Mia caused Watari’s premature death when she removed the page with Watari’s name. Manipulative much? Again, who is the real Kira here? Light or Mia? I think that the writers were seriously confused about this. Misa would never do this unless instructed by Light. 

We then have a cliche chase scene between Light, L and the cops who were ordered to protect Light. These two assholes knock people over as they’re running through a restaurant. As a worker comes into the alleyway to see what’s going on, L blabs to this random stranger about Light’s true identity and the worker who turns out to be a Kira cult member, clocks him with a 2x4. Very professional move L... The following scene is probably the most absurd nonsensical scene in this movie...Light and Mia trap themselves on a ferris wheel to escape the cops and they both admit to each other that they wrote each other’s names in the book as an act of revenge. The ferris wheel begins to collapse and they both plunge to their deaths, killing Mia. Light’s page’s magically and conveniently floats into a burning trash can and Light survives. A man later revealed to be a pedophile collects the Death Note and returns it to Light while he’s in the hospital. Light’s father then enters the room and accuses Light of being Kira because he found out that Light stole the newspaper clipping naming his mother’s killer from his room. We then learn (mostly through narration of course because lazy writing and this movie is too short) how Light killed Mia and saved himself as he explains it to his father. L loses his shit as he contemplates how Light slipped through his fingers. 

This movie was way too short and succumbed to lazy writing and cliches. It’s bad enough that they fell into American movie studios’ mistake of white-washing the cast which was supposed to be primary Asian actors (yes, Asians can be American too!), but to deviate from the anime’s source material so much confuses Death Note fans like myself. Even from an objective standpoint and my struggle to not compare this movie to the original source material, it’s still doesn’t bring anything new to the slew of vigilante justice movies out there in terms of the plot or the characters. Where the original Death Note subverts the cliches of vengeance and casts the protagonist as a villain, this adaptation falls back into the cliche of the protagonist being an angry young adult who’s had family taken away from them...as if we don’t have tons of films with this subject matter already. The cinematography in this movie, while decent, in my opinion was not enough to save it from it’s lack of direction and poor decisions. If I had to give this movie a grade/rating, I’d give it a 1/5 and I’m being generous. 

Light

Light isn’t portrayed as the sociopathic genius that he’s presented as in the anime, but clearly, just another angry teenager with a twisted sense of justice. He’s more reactionary than calculating and often makes decisions based on what’s going on at the time instead of being 2 steps ahead of his opponents like Light from the anime. If pushed far enough, he becomes frightened and paranoid whereas anime Light keeps his composure no matter what the situation is. He often mentions that part of his motivation to seek vengeance against the criminals in society is the murder of his mother but the film makes the mistake of failing to show us his relationship with his mother and why she was so important to him as well as her murder. A lot of films and TV shows tend to do this but the writers on this movie clearly don’t learn from other movie’s mistakes (especially about white-washing the cast) so I’m not surprised about this. I personally, don’t even think it was necessary to include this plot point to provide a motivation for Light to become Kira. Because another part of Light’s becoming Kira stems from his superiority complex and I believe that that the story would have been more gripping and psychological to show that this character feels so intensely entitled to assume his position as a god over the rest of his society. 

Misa

Misa’s (Mia) character in this film is completely different from the anime. Other than the fact that she is no longer a celebrity, she seems to be more like Light’s character than Light himself. She’s vengeful, sociopathic and calculating (exactly how Light is supposed to be but isn’t) instead of cheerful and hyperactive like Misa, which I think detracts from the tone of the story. In the anime, Light and Misa have a Joker and Harley Quinn type of relationship and Misa’s naive and cheerful air despite being used by Light punctuates her unsettling devotion to him. If this portrayal of her was used in this movie, I think it could have also provided a much needed break from the serious tone of the movie and added some contrast between her character and the other characters in the movie. I can understand why they chose to change celebrity Misa Amane’s character to that of average high school student, Mia. Could be that people who aren’t familiar with the Death Note anime would find it unrealistic and strange that a celebrity would be attracted to an average person (even though this does happen in real life and it adds to Light’s power and Light is in fact, not an average person in the grand scheme of things). I think that having a famous celebrity become obsessed with Light/Kira would show the impact of his actions on society. He’d be shown to be so powerful that after protecting this beautiful famous person, she’d fall under his power. Another thing that I think that the writers missed with their relationship is that when Light realized how obsessed this girl was with him, he used it against her and used her as a tool to achieve his goals. He was never interested in having a sexual relationship with her, but only keeping her satisfied so that she would stay attached to him and comply with his commands. 

L

Keith Stanfield’s portrayal of L was surprisingly decent/ok. Upon watching the trailer, I expected his performance to be laughably terrible but it was actually not the worst I was expecting. I thought that his his suspicions of Light were premature. In the anime, L didn’t suspect Light until they met and Light took an interest in his father’s investigation. Also, in the anime, Light became L’s friend to keep him guessing about his suspicion. In this movie, we get mounting suspicion, paranoia and a cliche chase scene like in a typical crime movie. Where L’s character fails is that he’s still missing a lot of L’s personality. It’s not enough just to make him an eccentric and intelligent man with a sugar addiction and strange quirks, L was supposed to be a childlike prodigy who’s patient and so meticulous and attentive that we watch him awake investigating every bit of footage and file on his desk while the rest of his team sleeps. Stanfield’s portrayal, while not the worst, was also not a good enough portrayal of L’s character. His physical appearance was nothing like L’s and I’m not just talking about the casting. But L is supposed to look Haggard, disheveled and he’s supposed to wear jeans and a white shirt to make him look as distinguishable from a law enforcement agent as possible. Stanfield’s character’s attire looks either ninja-esque or like something out of a NYC modeling catalogue. It’s just wrong and nothing like L at all.  

Plot Holes

This film has a lot of plot holes. For example, in the anime, the rules for the usage of the Death Note are clearly explained. However, in this movie, only a few are. So when Ryuk takes matters into his own hands and kills a group of agents, this comes to Light’s dismay. In the Death Note anime (unless I am mistaken) a shinigami (god of death) is not allowed to kill without the Death Note owner’s usage. We never find out why Misa lied about Light being knocked out by that bully and it makes it seem as though this might have been some way to manipulate him. But Light is supposed to be the manipulator, right? We also never find out what Mia’s motivations are for wanting to murder people other than her being bullied by that one guy at their school that one day. Misa from the anime had a valid reason to but Mia didn’t. Big lack of character development there. Also, through everything that happened, where were Mia’s parents? Are they not involved in her life? Is that why she’s so mentally fucked?  Stray Observations:

-What happened to Light’s sister? Why does her character not exist?

-There’s a shot of L giving his public announcement to Kira and to the citizens of Seattle and there’s an American flag waving behind him. We get it...this is the American version of Death Note...don’t bludgeon the fans of the anime over the head with this fact. We’re insulted enough as it is that this movie even exists. 

-When those police jumped off the building, there’s a woman and child who watched them walking into the building looking a bit curious. As the police are jumping, before they collide with the ground, their expressions hadn’t changed, especially the little girl’s. You would think that watching a bunch of people fall to their death would make these two background characters cry out in horror. Has Kira made people this accustomed to seeing death around them or do these two people just not have the capacity to show emotion?

-In the scene where L and Light are at the diner and L knocks all those objects off the table, none of the employees came over to see what was going on? Or were they told not to interfere with their discussion?

-At the end of the chase scene where L corners Light, a man enters the alleyway to see what’s happening and L tells the man that Light is Kira. If you’re a law enforcement agent and you’re investigating a mass murderer, why would you blab out that information to a random stranger especially when you know that said murderer has a cult following and this person is extremely dangerous? I hope that getting clocked in the head taught L a lesson about that. 

-This movie should have taken place in NYC, in my opinion. Whenever L made an address to the city, it should have been on screens mounted on the surrounding buildings in the city like it is in the anime. They could have taken advantage of the screens in Time Square and used the fact that NYC is so diverse that whenever something happens here, it quickly spreads to the rest of the world. The main and surrounding casts would have also been more racially diverse. No offense to Seattle residents but this story needs to take place in a bigger, more famous city.