Unless you have been living under a rock in the anime community you are very well aware of the phenomenon that is Death Note. For the uninitiated, Death Note is the story of Light Yagami an honor student and boy genius who one day finds a mysterious notebook that allows him to kill anyone by simply writing down their name in its pages. This notebook is actually the property of a Shinigami or the Japanese equivalent to the grim reaper used to keep the balance of life and death. Once he discovers the power of the book Light then decides to do what any other spiteful teen with a god complex would do, go on a killing spree. Killing all people who he deems as “evil”(the definition gets very broad as the story continues). He does this by killing any criminal whom he feels the world would be a better place without. It is because of the mass deaths of said criminals he is soon pursued by L, an agent of the International Police organization who also turns out to be a plucky teen genius as well obsessed with anything with sugar in it and bringing the mysterious killer to justice.
The story started out as a manga, was adapted into an anime(which was shown on Adult Swim) and finally was adapted in to not one but 3 Japanese live action movies. The one thing to me that really stands out about the live action movies to me is for Japanese movies they have really high production values, as if they were made with the idea of exporting them to America. The first two movies Death Note and Death Note the Last Name, basically adapt the manga liberally changing the material to fit 13 volumes of manga story into 2 hour and a half movies. The story I think benefits a bit from this by breaking it down to basics and makes it easier for the uninitiated to understand the basics enough that they might check out the manga or the anime series for themselves after watching the movie. The star of the first two films is Tatsuya Fujiwara whom you might recognize from the classic Battle Royale as Light.
The third movie Death Note: L Change the WorLd, which will be shown for 2 nights April 29 and 30th at select theaters. The first night being subtitled only version(April 29, which I will be attending) and the second night being dubbed(April 30). Death Note: L Change the WorLd is the final movie in the trilogy and stars Ken’ichi Matsuyama who went on to star in the film version of Detroit Metal City. The movie is based on the anime and manga but has an original storyline it chronicles the final 23 days of L’s life, as he solves one final case before the events of Death Note, involving a bio-terrorist group that aims to wipe out humanity with a virus 100 times the power of Ebola. It also shows the orgin of Near another character in Death Note. If your a fan of anime then your use to the same story being retold in manga form, 2 different animes (one being the one the original mangaka prefers) and a light novel, its always nice to have original content. So catch it while you can, I’m really looking forward to this.
Oh and Hollywood is planning a domesticated remake of Death Note Tenatively scheduled to begin production next year. I will stop here, because whenever I hear domesticated remake I am sure god kills kitten.
Want to win Free Tickets to the April 29th showing at the Riverview? We have 4 to give away courtesy of Viz Pictures. For a chance to win simply leave a comment and let us know what YOUR favorite anime film is, and why. We’ll pick 2 of you at random(each winner will get 2 tickets, I know your ladyfriend would enjoy the night out for some Death Note Goodness), and announce the winner on Sunday! Thanks again to Viz Pictures for making this contest possible!
Good luck!
Winners Announced Check it out here!
See the trailer Here!
